Before He Was Red: When History Beats Fiction

When I first began researching Before He Was Red, I quickly realised that the history of this time and place was so rich and exciting that I could base the whole story on real life characters and events without compromising the drama of the story.

1876 - The Year of Three Sultans

The year of three sultans actually happened over a few brief summer months. Sultan Abdülaziz was deposed in May, his successor Murad V ruled for only 93 days before being declared mentally unfit, and Abdul Hamid II ascended to the throne in August. Amid this political turmoil, Abdul Hamid secretly married Flora Cordier. What life did they dream of building together? Who was the man Flora fell for, behind his dynastic role? And what an extraordinary person she must have been, a successful business woman alone in Constantinople in the misogynous and imperialist Victorian age, with the courage to cross the boundaries of her own world. Who was she? We know virtually nothing about her or about their relationship other than that they secretly married and that, when he took the throne, she vanished. What happened? 

Carving out the Story

So, the challenge wasn't finding the heart of the story or dramatic events to include, 1876 had plenty of those. The challenge was to take the wealth of history and trim it down to the essentials to explain why the empire collapsed without sounding like a history teacher. The years it took to write this novel was really about that: deciding what I needed to cut, what I could keep, and slowly but surely weaving a few key moments of history and what I imagined to be Flora’s and Hamid’s love story, into a coherent whole.

Every character in Before He Was Red is real, and their experiences are grounded in historical reality. The political tensions, the personal dynamics, even the weather patterns of that year, are all meticulously researched to create an authentic backdrop for the love story at the heart of the novel.

Sometimes the best stories are the ones history leaves unfinished, waiting for us to imagine the rest. 

If you're interested in learning more about the historical context of Before He Was Red, I've created a free guide that explores the real events that inspired the story. Download your copy here and dive deeper into this fascinating period of history.