Mother’s Day at the Macaronis
Over on The Macaronis blog we’re having a day of posting excerpts and articles to do with our characters’ relationships with their mothers.
I’m ashamed to say that this topic has made me realize how little my lads have to do with their mothers. Alec from Shining in the Sun being the notable exception, since his mum is extremely hands on in his life. In fact, many of my characters don’t have mothers at all, since they died early in their life, leaving them Conveniently an Orphan.
http://historicromance.wordpress.com/
I’ve recently had a streak of bad fathers as villains, but this makes me think it’s about time I gave some love to my mothers. As a mother myself, I would prefer not to be so easily written out.
March 10th, 2013 in
Uncategorized | tags: mothers
I enjoyed the Mothering Sunday posts today – thank you! As to the lack of mothers in your books, I blame the high death rate in those olden days. Plus your chaps are busy doing things their mothers wouldn’t approve of. I mean the adventuring!! What did you think I meant? Perhaps I should have focused on the fact that they’re so far from home and without the internet can’t keep in touch with their Mums easily, so there’s no point in your developing the character and the relationship.
I’m glad. It’s odd that mothers tend to be so invisible, given how important they are to us, but I agree that the survival rate wasn’t good in the days before antibiotics. I’d have stood a good chance of dying after my first child myself, had it not been for amoxycillin. And also it’s that much harder to stay in touch if you’re far away without a phone. I think that writing to their mums at all shows a fairly high degree of filial attachment in those days.
But I do note that even when the characters are at home, their fathers tend to be alive and their mothers tend to be dead. I think it’s because fathers are a good source of conflict, whereas mothers tend to be mediators, and if you need drama you don’t want someone in the middle of it trying to calm it all down and force everyone to be sensible.