An Interview With Jean Fullerton

Writer Publishes Novel After Winning Harry Bowling Prize

Mar 10, 2009

Novelist Jean Fullerton talks about the setting and characters in her historical novel and the benefits of joining the Romantic Novelists Association

In an interview with Suite101 writer, Lynne Cobine, Jean talks about why she chose East London as her setting and how her characters are developed. Jean feels that by living in East London, five miles from where she was born, and her vast knowledge of the area provides the background that gives her historical East London books their distinctive authenticity.

I first fell in love with history at school when I read Anya Seton’s book Katherine. Since then I have read everything I can about English history but I am particularly fascinated by the 18th and 19th century and my books are set in this period. I just love my native city and the East End in particular which is why I write stories to bring that vibrant area of London alive. I am also passionate about historical accuracy and I enjoy researching the details almost as much as weaving the story. If one of my characters walks down a street you can be assured that that street actually existed.

How do you develop your characters?

That’s a very good question. I’m not actually sure but I often get a vision of them in my head, how tall they are, their hair colouring the sort of face they have. I have to know where they were born and raised and who their family were. Are they quick tempered or on a slow fuse. Are they impulsive or calculating and most of all how they would they react to X Y and Z. I have to have all these things fixed in my head before I can build them as fully rounded human beings. As characters are the driving force behind any good story, if any of those elements are missing then there is a danger that the reader won’t find my hero heroine and villain believable.

Where are your books set?

My books are set around the in the Victorian East End of London about 30 years before the time of Jack the Ripper. All my characters live and work close to the Thames in the close knit but very poor Irish communities clustered in Wapping, Shadwell and Whitechapel.

The heroine, Ellen O’Casey, in No Cure for Love, the first book of the series, is an Irish pub singer and the hero, Robert Munroe is a doctor at the London Hospital in Whitechapel High Street.

Why did you choose this setting?

I chose this setting because that is where I was born and grew up. My family arrived from Ireland in the 1850s and in fact my heroine Ellen lives in the very house I was born in, a one up and one down cottage, and it was exactly as I described it.

I know all the streets I describe in my books and I use contemporary diaries and reports to give them the authentic feel for my stories. I have a series of pictures on my website www.jeanfullerton.com showing the real setting and places in the book.

What are you currently working on?

I am currently working on the follow up story from No Cure for Love. It is again set in East London down by the river and takes place twelve years later. There are some of the familiar characters from my first book but new ones too and it is currently planned for released in 2009

You're a member of RWA - how did the membership of this organisation help you?

I am a member of the RWA and it has helped me enormously to understand the complexities of the publishing industry. I find the articles in the Romance Writers Report particular helpful as they cover a wide range of topics from self edition through to marketing. As a I am based in London, England the RWA have also provided me with an international network of fellow authors.

Which authors are you reading at the moment?

I am afraid to say I am reading non-fiction at the moment as research for the third book in my East London series but when I have a break I will be diving into CJ Sanson’s Revelation.

What is your day job?

I am a District Nurse by profession and my day job now is teaching Nursing Studies at a London University. I took the job specify as it gave me more time to write than my previous one as a Nurse Manager.

The copyright of the article An Interview With Jean Fullerton in Historical Romance Fiction is owned by Lynne Cobine. Permission to republish An Interview With Jean Fullerton in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.