Karen, congratulations on your new novel, Naming the Dead. How has the story moved on from the first in the series, Paying in Blood?
It is exciting to release my second Alexander Baxby mystery,
set in Amsterdam during the so-called Dutch Golden Age. The action follows
straight on from Paying in Blood, the fictional physician and his Separatist
friends having fled England in 1608.
Baxby hopes to start his life anew in Amsterdam, free from
former spymaster Geoffrey and Archbishop Bancroft’s control. However, the
physician’s confidence is shaken when he retrieves the body of a young
Englishman from beneath the Blue Bridge, which connects the city to the islands
where immigrants live.
Can you describe our hero, Alexander Baxby?
Baxby is tall and lean, with unruly dark hair and a pencil
beard. He was raised by his mother near Boston in Lincolnshire, an
independently-minded young man from an independently-minded county. He makes
plenty of mistakes, but learns quickly, and remains loyal to his oldest
friends. His sensitive nose means he is also prone to sneezing fits throughout
the series.
When his mother died, young Baxby travelled to London, where
he was introduced to Geoffrey who found him work. After a distressing
assignment overseas, he became more determined to make his own way in the world.
However, he was delighted when Geoffrey duly arranged for him to train as a
physician in Lincoln. There, Baxby gradually adjusted to ‘middle-class’ ways,
met Separatist friends and excelled at his work, but was torn between
conflicting loyalties. Hence his desire to make a fresh start in Naming the
Dead. He hopes to find wealth and respectability in Amsterdam, and ideally a
good wife too.
Is he based on a historical figure?
Baxby is a fictional character, but typical of many young
men who came of age at the beginning of the seventeenth century. With poor
harvests, famine, plague and an increasingly cold climate, this was a
precarious period, particularly for those without wealth or family connections.
Young men flocked to London looking for work.
England had no civil service at the time. Instead, the
country was run by a system of patronage, with Robert Cecil at its apex. In
return for preference, each patron expected loyalty from those below. For some this
included performing covert activities.
Alongside Geoffrey, Baxby and his fictional friends, the
bishops and statesmen in the Alexander Baxby series are largely historical, as are
the key Separatists. John Robinson and William Brewster went on to lead the
Mayflower Pilgrims, whilst John Smyth and Thomas Helwys founded the first
Baptist church.
Who was Archbishop Richard Bancroft?
The English Church provided an alternative path to
advancement. Richard Bancroft rose from humble grammar-school roots in
Lancashire to become its foremost cleric, first as Queen Elizabeth’s Bishop of
London and then King James’ Archbishop of Canterbury. Given the close coupling
of Church and State, this meant he was also a privy councillor with
considerable political power. He would have been a formidable man to meet, with
a long list of achievements in these roles.
Bancroft worked with Robert Cecil to orchestrate King James’
succession, initiated annual fifth of November memorial services to remember
the Gunpowder Plot, and persuaded King James to commission a new English Bible.
As he had full control over its translation, the King James Version could more
accurately be named after him.
Alongside, Bancroft tried to purge Puritans from the English
Church. In Naming the Dead, Baxby fears his enforcers are pursuing them in the
Dutch Republic too.
The story is based in Amsterdam in 1608 – this was the
height of the Dutch Republic. What were the strengths of the Dutch at the time?
Undoubtedly, the Dutch Republic was an impressive military
and maritime power by 1608. William ‘the Silent’ of Orange had led the seven
northern-most low country provinces to independence from Spain in 1581. They
grew to eclipse their neighbours in wealth, engineering, trade and art.
There was less centralised government control than in
England, with each province represented by a Stadtholder at the Hague. Despite encouraging
Calvinist values and practices, such as self-improvement and taking personal
responsibility rather than relying on church authorities, the Dutch Reformed
Church did not enforce conformity and control the presses.
For me, the main strength lay in the Dutch Republic’s
ability to innovate on an unprecedented scale, funding new ideas and
exploration. The Dutch harnessed wind and water power, reclaimed land and perfected
ship design. They brought trading companies together to form the Dutch East and
West India Companies, founded the world’s first stock exchange and one of its
earliest newspapers. And of course, we still appreciate the Dutch Masters who
pioneered a new style of painting, often depicting the lives of the growing
middle-class.
What was the city of Amsterdam like at the time?
Amsterdam was a vibrant port for Baltic and Atlantic
shipping, and well-positioned for onward transportation across a network of
inland waterways. At its heart, busy Dam Square became a centre for European
trade which made its citizens the richest in the Republic. With increasing
confidence, burghers and guildsmen bought elegant canal houses we still admire
today. New businesses grew to supply goods to meet their tastes. By 1608, the
medieval city was too small. The council started to expand it by sinking piles
to build a new outer ring of bastion walls.
Alongside, Amsterdam welcomed poor and persecuted immigrants
from the rest of Europe, as described in Naming the Dead. English exiles lived
alongside French Huguenots, impoverished Norwegians, Sephardic Jews and Muslims
escaping forced conversion in Spain and Portugal. Unusually for that time, they
were allowed to worship according to their own customs, providing they were
discreet.
Was the Dutch Republic on friendly terms with England?
During Queen Elizabeth’s reign, the two nations were allies.
Dutch and English regiments fought together against the Spanish, winning
notable gains at the 1596 Capture of Cadiz and 1600 Battle of Nieuwpoort.
However, the relationship became more complicated once King James came to the
throne. Lacking military ambition and funds, he wanted the Republic and its
former occupier to make peace. The Spanish and Dutch eventually agreed a Twelve
Years’ Truce in 1609, after which the Republic became an increasingly threat to
England’s economic interests.
James’ approach was not popular with sections of English
society. Spain had been England’s traditional enemy, even threatening invasion with
an Armada. Puritans, who shared many beliefs with the dominant Dutch Calvinists,
expected England to align with its Protestant neighbour. City merchants wanted
fewer trading restrictions, so they could complete on equal terms.
Will we see a third novel?
There will definitely be a third Alexander Baxby novel.
Following the English exiles’ experience in Amsterdam, Thomas Helwys returned
to London to petition King James for religious liberty, for people of all
faiths and none. Similarly, Alexander Baxby will return to England, in very
different circumstances to when he left, for more political and religious
intrigue, murder and espionage.
In Paying in Blood and Naming the Dead, Baxby tells his
story to cell-mates in gaol in 1613. The two timelines will meet in the third
mystery, when King James’ daughter Princess Elizabeth marries Elector Frederick
of the Palatinate.
Get Naming the Dead at www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FCY3QDT1