Z is for Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist

the general intellectual, moral, 

and cultural climate of an era,

or more simply, the spirit of the times

When I write historical fiction, my goal is to capture the zeitgeist, the spirit of the times in which my characters live. I research the setting, customs, clothing, food, manner of speech, furniture--everything that affects their daily life. I love to read newspapers of the era. From about 1850 on, they can reveal much about a setting including businesses in operation, social events, prices of goods, train and boat schedules, even humor of the times.

In my latest historical novel, Bluebird of Brockport, A Novel of the Erie Canal, I researched 1830 in central New York State where the canal ran from Albany to Buffalo. I had a general feel for the times from previous stories I'd researched, but I wanted details about canal life and the Village of Brockport that would pull the reader into the story and onto the canal boat with my heroine and her family. 

I believe I succeeded because several reviewers have said they felt like they were there while reading the story. Here's an excerpt from the first chapter when Lucina, age 18, and her sister Susan, age 17, are moving their belongings onto their canal boat.

 

“Mama says we’d best get on with the moving.  Come, Susan, I’ll help you lug your looking glass over to the boat.” She couldn’t resist teasing her sister, even though the mirror was no bigger than the lid on a keg and no heavier than a peck of apples.  

Susan gazed heavenward. “Ha, ha.  You’re about as funny as a mudchunker under a colic root.”

   As Lucina turned to climb the ladder, she took secret pleasure at watching Ezra attempt, without much success, to suppress a grin. He had three younger sisters of his own, close in age to her and Susan, and she’d seen him react the same way to them in years past.
 

For the rest of the morning, she helped her mother and sister set up the cabin while the menfolk hauled aboard crates, kegs, chests, and barrels of belongings and supplies. On a shelf near the stove, Lucina arranged Mama’s flatiron, kettle, and rolling pin. Hooks nearby held her long-handled spoon and spatula. The chamber pot found a new home underneath the bottom bunk.

    After a pause for the midday meal that Mama had brought from home—sausages and cornbread smothered in maple syrup, Lucina’s favorite sharp cheese, and Susan’s tender raisin cakes—work resumed.  By mid-afternoon, the remaining containers were offloaded from the wagon and set alongside the Bluebird of Brockport so Abel could start the journey back to the farm. 

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