Profile

FULL NAME: Rebecca Alice Stirkwhistle

BORN: 14th July 1768, Iverleigh Warren, Kensington, London (aged 26 in Lust & Liberty; 46 in Sin & Secrecy)

FAMILY: The Hon. Tobias Stirkwhistle (father); Esther Stirkwhistle (mother); Abel Stirkwhistle (brother); Josiah, Obadiah, Priscilla, Cecilia, Septimus, Octavius, Decimus, Lady Irwina Stirkwhistle-Ziegler (paternal cousins); Lady Oliviera Vyrrington, Lady Riva Bært-Styridge, Lady Lavinia Isaacs, Lady Clementina Isaacs, Lady Diana Isaacs, Lady Georgiana Isaacs (maternal cousins)

ALLIES: None (actually one, but that would be a MAJOR spoiler!)

ENEMIES: Abel Stirkwhistle, Lady Oliviera Vyrrington, pretty much everyone else in Berylford

OCCUPATION: Schoolmistress

PERSONALITY: Tyrannical, controlling, malicious, domineering, spiteful

POLITICS: Unknown

FAITH: Catholic

Who is Rebecca Stirkwhistle?

If Lady Vyrrington and Abel Stirkwhistle are anti-heroes, Miss Rebecca Stirkwhistle is definitely a villain. She is a primary antagonist to both characters at stages of Lust & Liberty and, spoiler alert, in the upcoming sequel, Sin & Secrecy. Without giving too much away, she becomes central to the events of the early chapters of S&S, which serve as a catalyst for the rest of the novel.

While I try to inject redeeming qualities into Abel and Lady Vyrrington’s characters, Miss Rebecca remains totally evil. Her sole purpose is to squash any pleasure in the lives of her brother or her students at the schoolhouse. She does, however, know when to quit with some people. In Lust & Liberty, she crosses Lady Vyrrington, for example, and comes out the loser. From here on in, she bides her time, recognising that she is the weaker of the two combatants. With Abel, at whose hands she has suffered before, Miss Rebecca remains more defiant and stubborn, however.

The below excerpt should hopefully illustrate her character to a degree:

from Chapter I of The Berylford Scandals: Sin & Secrecy

“…While Abel Stirkwhistle could be cruel for his own amusement, the malice and draconian evil of his younger sister Miss Rebecca was on account of pure and uncompromising hatred for all humanity. Her brow was constantly furrowed, her eyes glaring hawkishly at whomever she should behold. Her lips were thin, well-wrinkled and permanently warped into a scowl. The ugly consequences of uttering such nastiness, such malevolence and spite. She was a tyrant taking the guise of a spindly, angular, bespectacled harridan. And she embodied the role as if it were her God-given duty. Her chief enemy, however, was her brother, whom she had never forgiven for being born a man, nor for being born first. And more besides…”

Origins & Basis

Rebecca, whose name was originally spelt true to its Biblical origins — Rebeccah — was the second character invented for the Berylford “universe”. And she was always an antagonist for her brother, Abel. Some of the scenes in the opening chapters of Sin & Secrecy have been there since day one. I love writing their fight scenes, because they can say some truly nasty things to one another — quite unlike any other brother and sister relationship in literature. I think even Cersei and Tyrion Lannister have more affection between them!

The acrimonious relationship between the two siblings was in part inspired by my own similar love-hate relationship with my own sister, though obviously exaggerated to a massive, violent degree. There are also elements of my former enmity with schoolmate and fellow writer Dale Hall injected in there. Not to mention every nasty female teacher I had in school. I think it’s easy to create a truly hateful character by only taking the absolute worst bits from real-life influences and putting them all into one person.

Literary Inspiration

Unlike Abel and Lady Vyrrington, I did not really base Rebecca on any famous literary characters. She is based more on people I have known in real life. However, if I were to name a character who I think she resembles, I would say Fanny Dashwood from Jane Austen’s Sense & Sensibility. Both are bullies, full of spite and self-absorption, with no real regard for anyone’s happiness other than their own.

What do you think? Does Miss Rebecca remind you of anyone, either from real life or in another novel? Let us know in the comments!

Profile

FULL NAME: Abel Stirkwhistle

BORN: 1st October 1756, Iverleigh Warren, Kensington, London (aged 36-37 in Lust & Liberty; 58-59 in Sin & Secrecy)

EYE COLOUR: Hazel

HAIR COLOUR: Brown, later grey

FAMILY: The Hon. Tobias Stirkwhistle (father); Esther Stirkwhistle (mother); Rebecca (sister); Liza Stirkwhistle (née Rowlands) (wife); Josiah, Obadiah, Priscilla, Cecilia, Septimus, Octavius, Decimus, Lady Irwina Stirkwhistle-Ziegler (paternal cousins); Lady Oliviera Vyrrington, Lady Riva Bært-Styridge, Lady Lavinia Isaacs, Lady Clementina Isaacs, Lady Diana Isaacs, Lady Georgiana Isaacs (maternal cousins)

ALLIES: Priscilla Stirkwhistle, Lady Oliviera Vyrrington, George Whitlocke

ENEMIES: Rebecca Stirkwhistle, all children

OCCUPATION: Socialite, politician (formerly), school caretaker

PERSONALITY: Sadistic, mischievous, roguish, secretive, irritable, severe, violent

POLITICS: Liberal

FAITH: Catholic

Who is Abel Stirkwhistle?

Abel is the main anti-hero of The Berylford Scandals: Sin & Secrecy. He appears in the prequel, Lust & Liberty, though nowhere near as often and much later than I first wanted. In the final version of the novel, he doesn’t physically appear until halfway through the story. When we meet him, he is recovering from a stroke, cared for by his sister Rebecca and his wife Liza. Once he recovers, he quickly becomes established as both a bit of a wind-up merchant and a force to be reckoned with. Probably one of the only people his cousin Lady Vyrrington fears to some extent.

While he is only a major player in the first book towards its end, Abel is the main character of the second. He, like Lady Vyrrington, is nearing his sixties. He is tired with his life, marriage and job, in which he makes many an enemy. But the main thorn in his side is still his sister, as you’ll discover. In the opening chapter of the first book, I give quite a detailed description of his appearance and personality:

from Chapter I of The Berylford Scandals: Sin & Secrecy

“…Tall and dark as his Italian heritage permitted, he had once been handsome too in his youth. But a sudden stroke in his middle-age had stolen all that from him and warped his body into that formidable and fearsome mass of flesh which Berylford had come to know and dread. He was all but entirely sunken on the one side; he did not walk or even limp but ambled spikily as a crab would. His neck and head were permanently askew, his lips would often spasm, bearing fangs intermittently – whether they were merely expressions of pain and frustration, or curses to the God who had visited this affliction on him, no one could say.

Either way, it had done as badly for Abel’s mind and temper as it had his body. While politically he remained liberal, sympathetic and even at times generous to those of classes beneath those of his own aristocratic roots, he paradoxically had an unforgiving nature and was capable of great cruelty, regarding little the lives of lesser Earthly creatures. For example, if a simple snail were to be slithering along the pavement, it would be the feet of some children of the town to kick it about the pavement in its shell. However, it would be the cruel foot of Abel Stirkwhistle – the steel–studded boot with the iron heel brought down with such malevolence that would crush the snail in its shell. And a brutal and sadistic socialite was he, and he relished his cruelty grandly…”

Origins & Basis

Abel Stirkwhistle is probably one of the only characters whose name has stuck from day one. I don’t know what it is about the surname Stirkwhistle. It just suggested to me something nasty and malevolent that went with Abel’s character, along with that of his sister. And I always intended him to be a villain to some degree. He started out as the sadistic and cruel caretaker of the school where four of the other main characters, collectively known as The Four Scallywags, study. That part of his character remains.

He was not supposed to be related to Lady Vyrrington in the beginning; originally they were just friends. But I could not justify the lady of the manor being friends with a school caretaker unless they were actually related. With this in mind, Abel couldn’t have the job for the love of it. He had to take it on to keep an eye on his sister — that’s how it developed.

I personally love writing dialogue for Abel — his character is so multi-faceted. That’s whether he’s talking to Lady Vyrrington or his sister Rebecca. He can be roguish and charming one minute, austere and threatening the next. It gives me an opportunity to write both light-hearted and black humour, but also drama that shows off his straight-up violent and evil side. When he exchanges threats with Rebecca — I find that so unlike any other sibling relationship, both in real life and in fiction.

Literary Inspiration

Abel, like Lady Vyrrington, originated in his older form. He is a combination of two Dickens characters. Mr. Tulkinghorn from Bleak House for the personality, and Jeremiah Flintwinch from Little Dorrit for the appearance and movement. The surname Stirkwhistle is also deliberately Dickensian. I injected the mischievous side of him myself to give him a redeeming quality. Despite his malice, I wanted to make him somewhat likeable, or at least relatable.

What’s your opinion of Abel? Likeable anti-hero or straight-up villain? Let us know in the comments!