Does my new concept have legs?

Hi everyone,

So I used to write prolifically in the Historical Romance genre, until a three year dry spell. For my New Years Resolution I told myself to write a new novel - so I began writing something contemporary, which was a first for me. I'm 60k into a book set in modern day Whitby in North Yorkshire. Very run-of-the-mill love triangle story. Then, two nights ago, I had this huge flash of inspiration for a story set in the Tudor court. I was so inspired that yesterday I wrote 5,000 words solid.

Below is the premise for the story. My question is simple. Do you think it has gumption?

The story centres around two sisters, Joan and Eleanor, from the gentry class of England. The elder sister, Eleanor, is betrothed to James, a highly eligible young aristocrat. However, Joan is naively in lust at first sight with James. One night, they're at a banquet/feast, and Eleanor is violently raped. James is found at the scene, accused of the rape, and so the engagement is called off. But Joan is so convinced of his innocence that she testifies in his favour at court, meaning that he is found innocent, and she is disgraced in the eyes of her father (who, rightly, believes he is guilty). Years later, once both sisters have grown up a little, the characters meet again. It would then follow the relationship between Joan and James, as a romance develops, but he continues to deceive her about what happened during the night of her sister's rape. They eventually wish to get married, but in order to gain her father's permission, James has to find someone to blame for the attack.

So it's a mystery 'whosdunnit' in essence (the fact it was James all along won't be revealed until the end) with some romance and some serious social commentary elements.

Does it have legs? Do you think there's a market at the minute for this type of thing?

Thank you for your time

Hi guys,

Thank you for this - it's certainly food for thought.

Eleanor doesn't know it is him (she's been put to bed early because she drank too much at the feast, left without a chaperone, and the culprit begins while she is sleeping, pinning her down so that she can't physically lift up to see who it is). Added to that, they had only met on three previous occasions so it wouldn't be an 'intimate' relationship in any sense yet.

James denies it - which is enough for his father to call off the agreement. His father is an earl, whilst Eleanor's father is only a knight, so it is easy for James/father to break off engagement from a position of status. I will change the bethrothment to being 'in the final stages of discussion' rather than there being any written agreement yet. I know from my own studies that these agreements can take months to be settled, especially in terms of the dowry.

I will change the trial scene to being an 'informal gathering of both families the morning after' where Joan, in a moment of thoughtlessness, sticks up for James. She regrets it and is punished by her father for doing so.


As to knowing that James is the culprit, I understand what you're saying with that one, but I think such an important part of the story is that he is deceiving Joan (the only POV character) and therefore the reader also. There's so much I want to do with his character arc that, by the time Joan finds out later, he's a different character. He isn't a sexual predator essentially - he was drunk and he did something disgusting but that doesn't make him evil.

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the (very) delayed reply. I think, ultimately, the idea didn't have legs. I would never trivialise rape, just for the record. That wasn't my intention, so if it came across that way then I do apologise.

Thank you for all your comments and discussion. It's always good to know something isn't going anywhere before writing it.