Young ladies certainly weren’t bathing daily, given that a footman had to boil water, drag it upstairs, and fill a movable tub-but my heroines do! At the base, romance writers create escapist fiction, and we are not scholars, although we do go to great pains to be as accurate as possible. Putting on my literary professor hat, I would argue that no historical romance is strictly accurate.

What are your thoughts on diversity in the context of historical romances, and as a longtime HR (historical romance) author, have you come across any other stereotypes that you think are inaccurate to a certain extent? There are preconceived notions about the roles people of color have in historical romances and what counts as “historically accurate.” In your note to readers at the end, you attempt to disabuse them of the notion that Anglo-Indian marriages were taboo in the 18th century. The novel was labor-intensive, and I’m so grateful to everyone who helped me. Finally, my dear friend and marvelous author Sonali Dev read the final version out of the goodness of her heart-and even after all those versions, she found some errors that were corrected in the proofs. The second was a sensitivity reader, who read the book multiple times correcting language that might feel disparaging. One was a professor, who checked the novel for authenticity and accuracy in terms of history and detail-the correct adornment of Parth’s mother’s sari, for example. Over the years, my brother-in-law Sunil had told me stories from Indian history and mythology (“Parth” was a famous warrior and Krishna, also known as Sunil, once served as his charioteer). Writing a biracial hero was an enormous challenge and I leaned heavily on people’s help. When a non-white character is involved in that time period, there are always challenges to be mindful of, such as colonialism and orientalism. Can you speak to the kinds of research that went into crafting him and giving him an accurate portrayal? Parth is an Anglo-Indian businessman who grew up in England. By signing up you agree to our terms of use To switch gears a little bit, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, you mentioned that this novel is the first time you’ve written a non-white hero. Thank you for signing up! Keep an eye on your inbox.

Born to Be Wilde by Eloisa James