Things Discovered Down the Rabbit Hole

It's always amazing to me that I can start out down one path searching for something in particular and wind up in a place I never expected to be. One path leads to another and before I know it I've learned something new. Something so wonderful or so mysterious that I'm compelled to deviate from my original course and follow the trail wherever it leads. I've always been that way.

It happened again recently as I was researching the history of the castle depicted on the cover of my latest title "The Sparrow Princess." I chose the photo for no other reason than the way it looked. It was an old, gothic style castle set high on a hill and surrounded by a forest of trees. I didn't know anything about it. And I didn't bother to find out, until now.

What I discovered was so intriguing I just had to share. My first stop was of course to "Google it." I used the search by image function, which works beautifully by the way. I learned that the castle is Marienburg Castle in Hanover, Germany, and according to Wikipedia, the castle was built between 1858 and 1867 as a birthday present by King George V of Hanover (reigned 1851–1866) to his wife, Marie of Saxe-Altenburg. There was not a lot of information to be found on this couple. I did learn that the King was completely blind for most of his life and not only did he never actually see this magnificent castle he had built, but he and his family didn't get to enjoy it for long either. For political reasons, it was soon abandoned. The castle sat empty for eighty years! Now it's a tourist attraction that draws thousands to Hanover each year. You can check out the website and even make reservations to visit. I'd love to do that one day.

I was curious to learn more about the time period when the castle was built and the family history of George V. That led me to two books picked up from my local library. The House of Hanover by Alvin Redman and The Illustrated History of The House of Hanover by C.J.B Gaskoin. I'm no history buff, and it was very confusing for me to read because there were a lot of Georges and a lot of Sophias. However, those texts led me to another book called "Saraband for Dead Lovers" by Helen Simpson (1935) and a movie by the same name produced in 1948 starring Joan Greenwood & Stewart Granger. It tells the story of the 18th century love affair between Princess Sophia Dorothea and the Swedish mercenary Count Philip Konigsmark.

I haven't read the book yet. I was able to find it on amazon and ordered it immediately. I'm looking forward to receiving it in March. I found the movie on amazon. But it was also available to rent on Amazon Prime, so I rented it instead. I have to say I loved it even though it was incredibly sad. It made me think of Romeo and Juliet and the concept of composting. (See my earlier post) Speaking of which, I'm sure this experience will serve as a new layer to be worked in with all the other rich organic matter already there in my psyche. And like all the rest of the stories I've heard and read over my lifetime, it's bound to show up sooner or later in the stories I create. Hopefully, it won't be too obvious.