I’ve been having a fun writing the novella about Malcolm/Charles and Mélanie/Suzanne’s wedding. I’ve thought about these events a lot and I know the characters well. It’s interesting–and at times surprising–going back in time and getting to know who Malcolm and Suzanne were before either had influenced the other. And the last couple of days I faced a unique challenge in telling the story of these characters I know so well–writing their wedding night.
As I’ve discussed before, with these books I instinctively faded to black the first time I got to a love scene. But this scene is different. The details matter in showing what the scene means to both Malcolm and Suzanne. It’s a challenge to work out what they’re both thinking and feeling and to decide how much emotional and physical detail to include.
There’s also the question of how much to “romanticize.” There’s a certain amount of awkwardness for both Suzanne and Malcolm which seems very real. But I found myself worrying it made them look too foolish. Then a bit later I worried I was getting too flowery. It’s a tricky balance. Just as Mel/Suzette tries to find the core of who she is throughout the series, I have to try to find the core of who these characters are in this scene and what’s true to them.
I think Dorothy Sayers gets the balance of reality and poetry perfectly in Peter and Harriet’s wedding night scene in Busman’s Honeymoon. What are your favorite love scenes? How detailed are they? What makes them work?
This week’s Fraser Correspondence addition is a letter from Mel/Suzanne to Lady Frances.
Tracy Grant - Novelist 
May 8, 2012 at 1:58 am
In Busman’s Honeymoon, there is also a later scene where Harriet and Peter are out for a stroll and are sitting in companionable silence on a wall. Peter reflects on the wedding night and thinks something to the effect that, based on Harriet’s reactions that night, his opinion of her former lover include “quite a number of epithets, among which ‘clumsy lout’ and ‘egotistical puppy’ were the kindest.” I have always loved and remembered that bit.
May 8, 2012 at 2:16 am
I remember that bit as well, Jeanne. Sayers does a great job with showing most of the wedding night through Harriet’s and Peter’s memories afterwards. Harriet’s thoughts the morning after are also lovely. Which gives me an idea for Suzanne’s POV the morning after…
May 8, 2012 at 12:09 pm
I also love Busman’s Honeymoon, but in that book they had known each other for years and knew they were in love. I’m thinking of a book called “The Chance” by the late, great, Edith Layton, my favorite by her. It’s about 2 people who get married barely knowing each other, and there is a lot of awkwardness and misunderstanding during the honeymoon before they finally get it right. She includes a bit more physical detail than we have seen in the Malcolm/Suzanne books, but I think she strikes a good balance between the physical and emotional.
May 8, 2012 at 7:36 pm
I liked the love scenes in Gaudy Night and the wedding night scene in Busman’s Honeymoon (and the reconciliation scene in The Scarlet Pimpernel – not very physical though) because those love scenes celebrate relationships that are complex. Also that the characters love and are not just in love. They have a history and are beyond the falling in love stage. So the wedding night is a meeting on a deeper level, which puts the past into perspective and makes the union emotionally touching.
A similarity between Harriet, Marguerite and Suzanne may be that none of them start out by loving their husbands. Harriet loved Peter on her wedding night, and we don’t quite know if Marguerite ever had one.
It seems to me that the love angle may not have been up front for Malcolm and Suzanne at that time in their lives, so the wedding might be a major wake up call perhaps?
May 9, 2012 at 7:14 am
I love that we all love Sayers. Good point that Peter and Harriet know each other very well by the time they marry, Karin. Quite the opposite of Malcolm & Suzanne in that respect. Edith Layton is a fabulous writer, but I haven’t read “The Chance” – must look for it. I’m still sorting out what level of physical detail is appropriate for this scene.
May 9, 2012 at 7:21 am
I love all those scenes as wel, Dorthe, and that’s a great comparison of Harriet, Marguerite, and Suzanne not loving their husbands at the start. I confess I’ve always been curious if Marguerite and Percy had a wedding night – it’s quite opaque in the novel. Neither Malcolm or Suzanne goes into their marraige thinking in terms of love, so the wedding night is indeed a wake up call. But it’s too simple for their feelings to suddenly turn romantic. On the other hand, there needs to at least be the start of an emotional and physical connection. I’m still trying to find the right balance.