The Duchess

by Christine Wells

As a writer of historical romance, it will come as no surprise to anyone that I love movies set in the time period in which I write, Georgian and Regency England.

The movie I've been awaiting this year with great anticipation is The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley, Ralph Fiennes and Charlotte Rampling.

The Duchess is based on Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire, a fascinating account of Georgiana's life, written by Amanda Foreman and promises to be a visual feast if the trailers and the wonderful costumes are anything to judge by.

I know some of my colleagues can't watch and enjoy period drama in the same way many doctors can't watch a show about practicing medicine--they're constantly pulled out of the story by inaccuracies or anachronisms, large or small.

I admit, it would be nice to watch period drama of any kind and trust that the filmmaker has every detail right. But storytelling is largely about choices--sometimes the storyteller eschews strict factual accuracy in order to tell the story in a more entertaining way. There is a line any storyteller draws for herself, beyond which she will not go, but the line varies and it's one to which the viewer is never privy. It will be interesting to see how closely the filmmaker has kept to Amanda Foreman's biography and what choices he has made.

What about you? Do you trust what a movie or television show tells you? Do you get annoyed about errors when a little research would have set them on the right path? Have you seen The Duchess? Did it remain true to Foreman's book? True to history?

To celebrate the release of my historical romance, THE DANGEROUS DUKE, I'm giving away a signed copy to one lucky reader who comments. I'll announce the winner at the end of the comment thread when the next post goes up.