Exit the Actress (59 page)

Nell is still remembered today as the orange girl who captured the heart of the king.

My ever patient, laconic, wonderful, wonderful mother, who is part of every word of this book, told me that happiness is feeling like you are in the right place at the right time doing the right thing with the right people. This book has been an adventure in happy. There have been lucky accidents; fortunate coincidences; and, at each turning, unbelievable kindness.

I would like to thank:

Meredith Bryan, Eve Ensler, Chris Evatt, Candice Fuhrman, Sandra Gulland, Jainee McCarroll, Shael Norris, Sharon Kay Penman, Leslie Sil-bert, and especially: Dr. Sarah Carpenter, Dr. Roger Savage, and Dr. Olga Taxidou.

In London:

Kaleem Aftab, David Babani, Alex Kerr, David Milner, Charlotte Phillips, and Dan Pirrie; the boys: Jack Brough, Jamie Deeks, Dan Johnston, and Ewen Macintosh, who stood in the street outside the flat, cheering as I went off to my first agent meeting and have been cheering every moment since; Adriana Paice, Sadie Speers, and Aron Rollin for quietly understanding it all.

In Kauai, New York, and Los Angeles:

Consuelo Costin and Rafael Feldman; Tamee De Silva; Robert Dickstein; Benji, Terri, and Teddy Garfinkle; Dr. Hunter, Sally Moore, and Dr. Deborah Barbour; David Katz; Julie and Koko Kanealii; Max Miles; Neal, Melissa, and Koa Norman; Matt Nicholson for the first page and Naomi Nicholson for her beautiful photographs; Michelle Masuoka; Angela Pycha; Chris Reiner and Koah Viercutter; Amber Sky Stevenson; Edelle Sher;
Stuart and Maria Sher; Tora and Kirk Smart; Megan Wong; and especially my wonderful students: Amber and Chloe Garfinkle, Ely Smart, and Wyatt Miles, for every day making me remember the wonder of words.

In particular I would like to thank: Gaylen and Mike Tracy for their unending kindness; Chad Deal and Wendy Devore for being my family and keeping my room ready; Matt Pycha and Amber Naea for more than I could ever say.

I would like to thank my brilliant agent, Alexandra Machinist; my fantastic editors, Danielle Friedman and Trish Todd. Thank you all for believing in Nell. Stacy Creamer, Martha Schwartz, Cherlynne Li, Renata DiBiase, Alessandra Preziosi, Marcia Burch, and everyone at Simon & Schuster, who took such beautiful care of this book; David Hansen, who helped me to find Rory Friedman, who helped me to find the wonderful Tamar Rydzinski; and Noah Sher, who helped me to find it all.

I would like to thank Philippa Gregory, who with extraordinary grace and generosity took such time to encourage and help me, and has been so truly kind. Thank you.

And my family: Nicky, Tina, and my mother and father. You make everything better, sillier, stronger, safer, funnier, happier, and infinitely more valuable. I love you so much. Thank you.

T
OUCHSTONE
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EADING
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ROUP
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Exit the Actress

It is seventeenth-century London: England is at peace, Charles II has been restored to the throne, and young Ellen Gwyn has a decision to make. Does she obey her mother and follow her sister Rose into the
demi-monde
of prostitution or does she risk all and chart her own course? Ellen, better known to history as “Nell,” defies her family and becomes an orange girl, selling fruit at Covent Garden’s famous Theatre Royal. Her risk brings speedy rewards, and at the theatre she soon rises to become the most popular actress in London.

Outrageous, bright, and brimming with wit, beauty, and grace, she charms all who meet her, quickly befriending poet laureate John Dryden; playwright Aphra Behn; famed libertine Johnny, Earl of Rochester; and the last of the cross-dressing actors, Edward Kynaston. She is courted by men named Charles: leading actor Charles Hart; wealthy, young wit Lord Charles Buckhurst; and finally the most famous Charles of all, the king.

Weaving back and forth from the theatre to the court to the backstreets of Drury Lane,
Exit the Actress
follows Ellen, by means of her fictionalized journal entries, letters from the royal family, playbills, recipes, and many other creative and comprehensive documents. It chronicles this engaging and delightful heroine’s meteoric rise from humble orange seller to beloved royal mistress as she rises and falls in the high-stakes game of intrigue that constantly surrounds the king she loves.

1. Throughout the novel Ellen comes back to the idea of there being multiple Ellens. The last instance of this occurs in the final chapter when she writes, “Stepping forward, I gathered up my many Ellens, like a fisherman pulling in a net, and held them to me for this moment.” What do you think she means by her “many Ellens”? How many can you identify, and what are the defining characteristics of each one?

2. In a shocking moment early in the novel, a very young Ellen sees her sister Rose being groped in public, which leads to an even more shocking revelation when Rose says, “You think [Mother] did not
ask
me to be here?” While Ellen is determined not to live her sister’s life, this certainly seems like her mother’s plan for her. Why do you think Ellen is able to escape her fate and Rose is not? Do you think Ellen eventually succeeds in rescuing Rose from her life of prostitution, or is it too little too late?

3. Who do you think writes under the
nom du plume
Ambrose Pink? Do you think one of the main characters doubles as the gossip column writer, or is it someone we are never introduced to? Is Ambrose Pink a man or a woman?

4. Ellen’s relationship with Charles Hart was hardly a casual affair. Hart seems deeply in love with her and showers her with gifts and affection. Why do you think she is never able to completely fall in love with him? If their child had survived, do you think their relationship would have suffered as it did?

5. “The game is afoot,” says Lord Buckingham, as he makes up his mind to place Ellen as the next
maîtresse en titre
. Lord Buckingham has many reasons for choosing her, but he makes it clear that he expects her to help increase his standing with the king and perhaps, more
important, to push his cousin Lady Castlemaine out of favor. As Buckingham notes, “Her bright, whorish light is going out.” Do you think Ellen could have become one of the king’s mistresses without Lord Buckingham’s help? To what extent do you think she understands her relationship with the king to be a “game”?

6. Lord Buckhurst pursues Ellen in a manner that is persistent but hardly romantic. He first offers to pay her one hundred pounds a year to be his mistress, and then he declares in a letter: “I have decided. You are to be mine.” Why do you think she still chooses to run off with him and the rest of the “merry mob”? Should she have left Buckhurst earlier than she did, or was she right in trying to save face by not coming back into public life immediately?

7. Ellen’s attitude toward the queen is a fascinating combination of admiration and pity. Do you think she betrays the queen to the same degree the other mistresses do, or does Ellen redeem herself because of her seemingly unique approach to the affair?

8. John Dryden and Aphra Behn both play prominent roles in the novel and help to place it not only in a historical but also in Ellen’s artistic context. Allusions are made to many of their plays and poems throughout. Discuss Ellen’s prowess as an actress and comedienne in their works. What parts of her personality allow her to excel onstage and why do you think she is so beloved by the patrons of the theatre? What modern actresses would you compare her to?

9. While Lady Castlemaine plays the villainess throughout the novel, there is no denying that she was a very powerful woman. Her fertility was legendary; and the money, titles, and property she received from the king were enough to last her several lifetimes. Nevertheless, she seems sad as the novel progresses, and she ultimately loses the fight to remain as the king’s mistress once her looks have faded. In what ways is she similar to Ellen and how is she different? Do you think in her role in Charles’s life she was even more important than the queen at times?

10. Charles II’s letters to his sister Minette, the Madame of France, are brilliant glimpses into the kind of ruler he was. They show vulnerability, indecision at times, and ultimately a playfulness and levity that seem to define his reign. Discuss some of their correspondence. Do you think Minette ever offered a piece of bad advice? How much influence do you think she had over her older brother?

11. Johnny Rochester provides comic relief throughout the novel, but he also serves as a confidant to both Ellen and Charles. Though he is wittier than most and very well liked, his destructive streak eventually forces his exile. Ellen remains a loyal friend until the end, writing in her final letter to him, “[Charles does] not understand the blackness at the bottom of you…. All I can do is love you with all the light I possess.” What do you think of Johnny Rochester? Why do you think his darker moments are so painful for the king and Ellen to endure? And why do you think he and Ellen get along so well?

12. It is very important to Ellen that she owns her own property and pays for it herself, resulting in her purchase of Bagnigge House. Later, she also accepts a house at Newman’s Row from the king. Why do you think she insists on purchasing her own property but then eventually accepts the Newman’s Row residence? Does this undermine her independent spirit in any way, or would she simply have been foolish to continue to shun the benefits of being the king’s mistress?

Did you choose the court of Charles II as the setting for your novel, or was the character of Ellen Gwyn your primary interest and the court simply came with her? Did you consider any other of Charles II’s mistresses as a focal point?

Ellen was the first woman I encountered while researching my doctorate, and she caught my interest and refused to let go. I was fascinated by her contradictions. She was a woman working in the raciest profession, in the raciest court in Europe, but she was known to be utterly faithful to her lovers. She was described by Samuel Peyps as “a mad, mad girl,” but she moved easily in the most exclusive literary and sophisticated social circles of her day. She was small boned and red-haired at a time when voluptuous dark beauty was the ideal. I wrote about the Restoration London because that is where Ellen lives.

How did you come up with the fantastic idea of telling the story through letters, playbills, diary entries, and other historical documents? How accurately does the format you wrote in reflect the findings of the research you did to write the novel?

I really like primary documents. With respect to history, I am most interested in contradictory paper trails—the conflicting perceptions, misconceptions, jealousies, petty likes, dislikes, beliefs, and lies—that are the ingredients of what cook into hard, historical fact. Telling the story this way allows me to let characters speak for themselves and explore the roots of misunderstandings, legends, reputations, and rumours.