Gillian Bagwell - The Darling Strumpet

My many good friends in London, who gave me friendship and hospitality, believed in Nell and in me, and accompanied me on research jaunts. Some of the highlights:

Alice Northgreaves wandered around Windsor with me, provided general enthusiasm and many helpful suggestions and ideas, and also read the manuscript with an eye for Americanisms and anything that would strike a British reader wrong.

Donna Stevens also read the manuscript; made use of her contacts at The Tower to find out where Buckingham would have been held; took me to a luncheon given by the Worshipful Company of Gunmakers, where I really did feel like Nell Gwynn at Whitehall; and who has offered unflagging willingness to portray the third harlot on the left if Nell makes it to the screen.

Alison Guppy drove me to Epsom, where we had a delightful day, including an enormous lunch at the King’s Head, where Samuel Pepys stayed in the summer of 1667, when Nell was cavorting next door with Dorset and Sedley.

Laura Manning believed from the beginning, and frequently asked me “How’s the book coming?” when almost no one knew I had started writing it. She and David Lyon rescued me when I had lost my wallet in London, took me to see the dinosaurs at Crystal Palace Park, and found a fax machine on a Bank Holiday evening.

Tim Ross read parts of an early draft and educated and entertained me with his lexicon of twentieth and twenty-first-century London slang.

Clare Vicary and Alex Laing spent a memorable Bonfire Night with me on Blackheath and on the long tramp into Lewisham to get the bus to Brockley.

Buck Herron fed me many delicious meals and emotional sustenance.

Laura Tarantino spent a wonderful afternoon with me at Ham House. Fortunately, we didn’t know about the ghosts until later.

Jackie Rowe explored Oxford with me, and she and Laura Hewer took me out for a wonderful day at Audley End and Saffron Walden.

The habitués (and sons of habitués) of the Lord Nelson Pub and Ferry House Pub on the Isle of Dogs and the many other Londoners who lent their faces and voices to characters in Nell’s London.

The Reverend Canon Martin A. Seeley, Principal, Westcott House, Cam-bridge, who provided patient, thoughtful, and invaluable guidance about Dr. Thomas Tenison’s spiritual counseling of Nell, introduced me to the vicar of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields, unwittingly served as my model for Dr. Tenison, and gave spiritual care and friendship to my mother and truly heroic support to my family and me in many ways during my mother’s long illness.

The Reverend Nicholas Holtam, Vicar of St.-Martin-in-the-Fields, who also gave me very helpful comments about Dr. Thomas Tenison’s ministering to Nell, provided information about Nell’s grave, and introduced me to Malcolm Johnson’s book St. Martin-in-the-Fields and Edward Carpenter’s Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury: His Life and Times .

The Venerable Dr. William Jacob, Archdeacon of Charing Cross, who provided me with information about Nell’s grave.

Malcolm Johnson, for his very informative book St. Martin-in-the-Fields and for information about Nell’s grave.

My father, who introduced me to Nell many years ago, gave me occasional financial help as I was slaving over a hot computer, and provided suggestions about ballad-singers and music.

My sister Rachel Hope Crossman, who provided expert knowledge on pregnancy, childbirth, and babies.

My sister Jennifer Juliet Walker, who designed my gorgeous website.

The very helpful members of the staff at the Theatre Archives of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the British Library, the William Clark Davis Library, the Los Angeles Public Library’s Central Library, and the Dabney Library at Caltech.

Anne Melo and the staff at the Pasadena Public Library, for their help with my many Interlibrary Loan requests.

Alison Weir, who told me about the existence of Interlibrary Loans.

Hilary Davidson at the Museum of London, for allowing me to view so many beautiful pieces of clothing from Nell’s period.

The lovely lady at the National Portrait Gallery in London who in November 1991 took my mother and me down to the basement and pulled out Nell’s portrait for us to see.

Diana Gabaldon, for being an inspiration and for her lovely review quote.

C.C. Humphreys, actor and author of the Jack Absolute series, for his superb review quote, as well as for the first one, which was as pithy and piquant as it was unprintable.

Leslie Carroll, author of Royal Affairs and other wonderful books, for her enthusiastic review quote.

Stephen Jeffreys, whose brilliant play The Libertine introduced me to the Earl of Rochester. Samuel Pepys, whose diary recorded for posterity many scenes of Nell’s life on and off stage and left such a vivid picture of her times.

All the wonderful bloggers and reviewers for their help in getting the word out about The Darling Strumpet , including Sarah Johnson of Reading the Past , Amy Phillips Bruno of Passages to the Past , Margaret Bates of Historical Tapestry , Anita Davidson of Hoydens and Firebrands , Marie Burton of Historical Fiction Connection , Carlyn Beccia of The Raucous Royals , and Miss Moppet of The Misadventures of Moppet.

Jim Piddock, whose performance in the one-man show “The Boy’s Own Story” in San Francisco in 1982 inspired me to begin researching Nell with the thought of putting her life on stage.

Weston DeWalt, who gave me early advice and encouragement.

The late Leonard Michaels, whose class at U.C. Berkeley long ago gave me the confidence that I could write, which stuck with me for the many years when I wasn’t writing.

Jane Merrow, an early acting heroine of mine, who made my month with her great compliment, “I am a born Londoner and you brought old London completely to life.”

David Paul Needles, who has been there when I really needed him so many times. Khin-Kyaw Maung, a life-saving friend for many years.

Sarah Ban Breathnach and Melody Beattie, whose writing helps me every day.

All the authors whose books have given me so much joy.

And finally, much love and gratitude to my three fairy godmothers: Katherine, who took me in from the cold and helped me get my feet under me; Dilys, who rescued me when I had lost my way and led me onto the right path; and Mari, who guided me to the top of the mountain until I could see the sun rising ahead.

Nell has been in my mind and heart for a long time, and I’ve tried to tell the story of her life as fully and as truthfully as possible. When I knew the facts, I used them. When I didn’t, I surmised what was likely. Occasionally, I invented, based on what seemed possible and in keeping with Nell’s life and times.

Almost all of the major characters and many of the minor ones were real people in Nell’s world. Dicky One-Shank is my creation, but there were sailors who worked as stagehands, and Nell surely knew some of them. Jack and everything to do with him are my invention. He began as a fairly minor character, but kept shoving his way onstage, and the members of my writing group thought he was such a great villain that they urged me to make him a bigger part of the story and not let him drift away once Nell left Madam Ross’s.

Readers with detailed knowledge of the period may notice that I have given Charles Sackville his earldom and other titles a few years early. When Nell first knew him, he was Lord Buckhurst, but my writing group found they got confused between Buckhurst and Buckingham, so Buckhurst became Dorset.

I moved up Moll Davis’s pregnancy by about a year so it came at the same time as Louise’s and Barbara’s, but those two ladies actually did give birth within two weeks of each other.