Derivatives, debt-equity swaps, margin calls, stock crashes—our modern-day financial swindles and booms are nothing new. Both the South Sea Bubble and the Mississippi Bubble mentioned in Sweet Revenge are actual historical events that took place in the early part of the eighteenth century, and had grave economic repercussions for both England and France. I won’t try to sum up the complex details here—for those of you interested in learning more, there are a number of excellent books on the subject, including A Very English Deceit: The Secret History of the South Sea Bubble and the First Great Financial Scandal by Malcolm Balen and The First Crash: Lessons from the South Sea Bubble by Richard Dale.
Though modeled on the original South Sea Company, my own New World Trading Company is pure fiction. But given current events in 1813, it could, with a bit of imagination, have been plausible. Despite his retreat from Russia during the previous winter, Napoleon still controlled most of Europe, including Spain. But under the leadership of Wellington, the British forces were making headway in the Peninsula, further threatening his aura of invincibility. As the Emperor rebuilt his army, and looked once again to conquer any opposition in Eastern Europe, he might well have granted trade concessions to anyone who could throw England—the lynchpin to a new alliance against him—into chaos. After all, he was notorious for passing out kingdoms and princely riches to his family and friends in reward for service to France.
And lastly, a morsel of history about chocolate! Some may take issue with seeing edible chocolate mentioned at this time in history. However, my research has turned up proof that chocolate was indeed served up in solid form. Sulpice Debauve, pharmacist to King Louis XVI, opened a chocolate shop on the Left Bank of Paris in 1800. By 1804, he had over sixty shops throughout France. Debauve & Gallais Chocolates still exists today, and though its bonbons are sinfully expensive, they are sinfully good. (Ah, the hardships of research!) You may visit their Web site at www.debauveandgallais.com.
I hope you have enjoyed the history behind Sweet Revenge. For more fun facts and arcane trivia, please visit my Web site at www.andreapenrose.com. I love to hear from my readers and can be contacted at andrea@andreapenrose.com.