I love historical romances. Especially those set in the Middle Ages and the U.S. West in the 1800s. In fact, my first completed manuscript was set during the medieval times. And I have another one that has done well in contests (unpublished and uncompleted).
Recently, I wrote the first couple chapters of a western. Just trying my hand at it and I placed it in a contest that allow published authors to enter categories they are not published in. The scores were good. The comments were interesting.
The main complaint I have is when a judge makes a comment about the morals of that time that are so narrow and uninformed, and most likely taken from movies about the period, I just shake my head. Not all women were treated like ladies and not all men treated them as gentlemen. If a woman who appeared to be a prostitute knocked on his door, I can promise she would never be allowed anywhere near his family.
History is a funny thing. People love to think back “in the good ol’ days” that everyone treated everyone fairly. They forget it wasn’t until the 20th century that women even had the right to vote. In the 1800s, women were considered second class citizens and treated almost like children.
The majority of women at the time had the choice of being a wife or, if they didn’t have family that could afford to take care of them, a prostitute.
Anyway, people really need to remember that the 1800s and earlier had harsher and tighter morals. Sure all kinds of naughty things went on, but they tried to keep it separated from their family life.
Sigh. This could be debated and picked apart forever. Let’s say this is my opinion and leave it at that.
Carla Swafford, Author 