Audio Interview with Lindsey Davis, Historical Crime Fiction Author, by Nigel Beale.
Lindsey Davis was born and raised in Birmingham, read English at Oxford, then joined the civil service, which she left in 1985.She started writing about Romans in The Course of Honour, the remarkable true love story of the Emperor Vespasian and his mistress Antonia Caenis. Her research into First Century Rome inspired The Silver Pigs, the first outing for Falco and Helena, which was published in 1989. Starting as a spoof using a Roman ‘informer’ as a classic, metropolitan private eye, the series has developed into a set of adventures in various styles which take place throughout the Roman world. The Silver Pigs won the Authors’ Club Best First Novel award in 1989; she has since won the Crimewriters’ Association Dagger in the Library and Ellis Peters Historical Dagger, while Falco has won the Sherlock Award for Best Comic Detective. She has been Chair of the UK Crimewriters’ Association and Honorary President of the Classical Association. Her Official Website is www.lindseydavis.co.uk.
We met recently at the Blue Met International Literary Festival in Montreal, and talked, among other things, about the historical mystery genre, Ellis Peters, Wilkie Collins’s The Moonstone, foreshadowing, the treatment of women, killing characters off, good men, favourite plots and authors, and lessons that can be learned from the Romans,
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June 15th, 2008 at 6:26 PM
I especially like the relationship between Helena and Falco. I like the way Falco is absolutely true to her and adores her but sees her as she is. I also like Helena’s trust in him, but sees him as he is and loves him for it. A perfect marriage for any time. Falco is a semi-domesticated rogue with gentlemanly instincts and that is what Helena loves. I feel as though I smell the sweat of ancient Rome when I read Lindsay Davis’ books and feel at home there along with Falco and Petro and ma and pa, the babies and Nux. My world has extended backwards where I have learned that people have not really changed, most likely,from what we are.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:15 PM
I disagree with you about Falco being absolutely true to Helena. On meeeting attractive women he appraises their face and body with x-ray vision,(meaning what is under the clothing too). Since he has been living with Helena Justina, I can recount at least 3 times where he was a split -second from being seduced by an attractive woman; think Vibia Merula from Ode to a Banker. His immediate comments after these encounters seem to support my assessment.
May 22nd, 2010 at 8:01 PM
I know I am almost 2 years too late to the discussion but I’ll add my two cents anyway. I actually like the fact that Falco still notices other women after meeting Helena and later. It shows he is still human and that he chooses to be faithful to Helena when in the pat he might have “indulged” e.g. Severina, the widow in Veii etc. I never got the sense that he would actually have cheated, even when he did find the female in question very attractive, especially since 99% of the time he ended up talking/explaining most encounters to Helena Justina and lapped up everything she had to say. Unlike someone like Petro (whom I also adore) who fobbed Silvia off with platitudes and a moral reputation whilst sleeping with everything he fancied, supposedly.