I also had a bit of fun researching the history of handcuffs. Hand restraints have been around and documented since 600 BC, but it was only in the early nineteenth century that they were constructed with hinges, keyed openings, and ratcheting mechanisms. Weighing over a pound, they were heavy and difficult to carry, however, and the screw key lock made things difficult, since locking and unlocking were both time-consuming processes. However, American W. V. Adams invented a pair of handcuffs with an adjustable ratcheting system in 1862, which improved on English handcuffs. He made his version smaller, lighter, and easier to conceal as well as fitted with a smarter lock system. A key was only required to release, not to lock. This is why my hero refers to his handcuffs as of ingenious American design and also why he could carry a pair around.

A quick mention on the architecture of France related to the scene in Paris where my heroine gets in trouble: From 1853 to 1870, Napoléon III tasked Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann with modernizing the very overcrowded city of Paris, which was dirty and riddled with disease. Haussmann’s solutions were new sewer and water systems, train stations, and wide, open boulevards. Some historians say the latter was to accommodate Napoleon III’s large army. These architecturally unique boulevards are recognizable even today in Paris with their cream-colored, uniform apartment buildings. They all had the same rooflines, the same number of stories, and the same wrought-iron balconies on the top floor. Many French people of the era criticized Haussmann for changing “old Paris,” especially Victor Hugo who apparently disliked him and accused him of destroying the city’s charm. However, his work will be forever immortalized in the famous Boulevard Haussmann in Paris, which I have walked many times.

One last note: While I did my best to be thoughtful, mindful, and respectful in my representation, my experience as a woman of mixed-race West Indian descent and an immigrant to the United States will not be the same as someone who was born or raised in the United States, England, India, the wider Caribbean, or elsewhere. This means that as a writer, I might not be the perfect representation for members of another diasporic community. I can only write from my own lived experience and through the knowledge of my own sphere of existence.

I truly hope you enjoyed Valentine and Bronwyn’s journey to their happy-ever-after!

xo,

Amalie

P.S. For those interested in Marlborough pie, here’s the recipe and a brief history. Marlborough pudding pie is an apple custard dessert that dates to the 1600s and features sherry, cream, nutmeg, and a combination of shredded apples. It appeared in a 1660 British cookbook, The Accomplisht Cook, written by a Paris-trained chef named Robert May, before it traveled to the New World. Versions of the Marlborough pie appear in eighteenth-century English cookbooks as well as in American Cookery (1796) by Amelia Simmons.

Marlborough Pudding Pie