Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Sibling Advantage: by author Grace Burrowes



I’m hard at work on the eighth volume in the Windham family series, a set of Regency romances about the children of the Duke of Moreland. Like many titled fellows of the day, His Grace’s children were not all born to his duchess, though—once he learned of his two pre-marital by-blows—all of his offspring were raised under the ducal roof.

The Moreland Miscellany consists of three sons and five daughters, though Their Graces also lost one son to the Napoleonic Wars, and another to consumption. A family this size and of this composition would be typical of the day (George III had fifteen children, William IV had at least ten (all illegitimate), and Victoria had nine), but that’s a minor reason for why I constructed my cast of characters this way.

The Windham Family Tree



The sibling relationship is seldom without intensity. Siblings generally know us longer and better than anybody else on the planet, including our parents. Siblings are often the first people about whom we feel protective (though as toddlers we can be possessive of our parents), and particularly for boys, sisters are often the first females for whom they feel responsible (Dad having Mom’s protection assigned to him). At the end of life, when our children are grown and gone, and our parents deceased, it’s often our siblings with whom we have the most in common. 

Siblings can use their proximity to make our lives hell, or they can be the people with whom we share the best, most cherished memories. In either case, the relationship has depth, intensity, and range. Even in a situation were siblings no longer speak to each other, the relationship has presence, though it’s a silent presence.

When I’m casting around for how to sustain a reader’s interest across eight books, the sibling relationship is one tool at my disposal. In addition to the romances arcing through each novel, I can develop themes among the sibling cast that will resonate from story to story. For example, in each book in the Windham series, the brothers who have been lost to death are grieved by their siblings differently. One sister, Sophie, has a hard time with Christmas, because her brother died of consumption near the holidays. Her brother, Valentine, misses the departed sibling who was closest to him age, because that brother was also the closest thing he had to a friend in the familiar household. The loss shapes how the siblings relate to each other as adults, and it brings them closer together.

Using a sibling cast also allows me to use each book as opportunity for “epilogue scenes.” In book five, we get to check in with the couples we fell in love with in books one through four—as if they were our siblings. While I still have to do some character development for the secondary siblings from book to book, the burden is lighter because I know them all so very, very well.   

And this is probably the primary reason I use siblings in such abundance in my books: I am one of seven children, and I’m on very good terms with my siblings. They know me better than anybody, in some senses, and they love me better, too. When I turned to writing novels, the sibling milieu was a place I felt at home.

And in celebration of the sibling bond, to one commenter, Brookyn Ann and I will giving away one signed set of the first four books in the Windham series: “The Heir,” “The Soldier,” “The Virtuoso,” and “Lady Sophie’s Christmas Wish.”

What’s your take on the sibling bond? Do you like to see it in your books, get tired of it, wish there were more sisters and fewer bros?

For more about Grace's books, click here: http://graceburrowes.com/books/main.php 


Grace Burrowes is a child welfare attorney living in western Maryland. She does not own a TV, and thus has plenty of time to correspond with readers, and also to write more books. You can reach her through her website, graceburrowes.com, on Facebook (Grace Burrowes Author), or twitter @graceburrowes



20 comments:

  1. I love the sibling bond, in your books and in others. It may be because I have a strong bond with my sisters, or maybe because I think sibling relationships open up all kinds of possibilities in the books. That, and I REALLY like series, and having lots of siblings in the books means you write lots of books. Thanks!

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  2. I'm definitely a fan of the sibling bond. In this series, I'm actually wishing there were more BROTHERS! Of course, we haven't seen much of the sisters' interaction yet, so I have to reserve judgment. (This probably has something to do with my big brother becoming my best friend in our adult life.) I also like how someone with a small role in one story will return later to tell his own story. You can't write 'em fast enough for me, Ms. Grace!
    bonnieblue at wowway dot com

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  3. I love love love the Windham siblings!

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  4. I love love love the Windham siblings!

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  5. The connections you so beautifully portray in your characters is another reason why I love your series. Having no siblings I find their interactions interesting and like the first commenter, the bigger the family, the more books I can look forward to. ;)

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  6. Polly, it's odd, but writing a series family feels a lot like having a real family--you learn things going along that surprise you, and you sometimes get tired of them. I'm comforted by Julia Quinn's comment that it felt to her like the Bridgertons would never end. I get that.. but then I find myself thinking maybe Lord Bartholomew went into a witness protection program...? Nah. Eight IS enough.

    Anon--don't fret. We have "fraternal" stories for Douglas, Heathgate, Greymoor, Hadrian Bothwell, Axel Belmont, and many others. You'll get your dose of bromance.

    Heather--thanks!

    Livia, thank you too. In a big family, there's also room for a lot of variety, and that helps keep things interesting too. As fate would have it, my daughter is an only child. Gives me a different perspective on the sibling thing too.

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  7. I was really close to 2 of my sisters for a time thet depended on me to take care of them. The state took them away eventually and I felt kinda lost without them like I failed them somehow. I love to read books where the siblings are close and fight for each other. I wish there were more books with close siblings.

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    1. Gail, I hope you've reconnected with them since then. One of my clients came into foster care, was adopted, and over a period of years, it didn't work out. He came bouncing back into foster care but found his birth mom on FB (of all places). He's getting some much needed closure and answers that he wouldn't if he hadn't insisted on the right to look up birth mom. I can also tell you states are much better these days about placing siblings together if they can, and keeping them in touch if they're split up.

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    2. Yes, Ms Burrowes I did re-connect with my sisters years later.But they had moved on and had no place in their new lives for me. I did have a close connection with their adoptive mother.She told me that I had the tougher job of staying behind with my mother she said she wouldn't have wish that on any one. She also wished she could have took me too so that me and my sisters could stay together. I wish she could have too-it is one of my greatest regrets that I couln't go with my sisters:)

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  8. Thanks so much for coming today Grace! This post really hit home to me in real life because my younger brothers and I have only recently become friends...and with my fiction because my vampire characters rarely have families at all.

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    1. Brooklyn, my daughter is an only child. She doesn't know all she's missing, but the compensation is that she got my undivided attention for her minor years (and some major ones too). I worry though--when I'm gone, who will love my baby? Be nice to your bros... they may be the ones picking out your nursing home.

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  9. Hi Grace, the sibling bond in my family is good. It's just as the youngest child I was expected never to repeat the mistakes my siblings made:). Cheers Aretha zhen , arethazhen(at)rocketmail.com, please don't count me already have grace books. Cheers

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    1. I was No. 6. Every year on the first day of school I got, "Oh, are you John, Dick, Gail, Maire, and Tom's little sister?" From the teachers. By the time I was in junior high, one of my teachers graduated college with my oldest brothers. I got away with exactly squat that year...

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  10. Being an only child, I have always been drawn to sibling relationships in books. I've never had the kind of bond siblings share or experienced the rivalry, protectiveness, the compassion, the jealousy, the love and friendship, etc. that comes with siblings. Only now as I have two children of my own do I get to experience some of that through them. The sibling relationship is something truly special and unique. I love reading books based around siblings. I look forward to checking out your series. It sounds quite intriguing. --millie mcclain
    p.s. Brooklyn--thanks for introducing me to all the new authors (or new to me since I'm still new to the genre) through your posts.

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    1. Millie, you probably already know that only children tend to do better in school, make more money over their working lives, and generally show more indicia of success than children with siblings. I'm not sure anybody has proven who's happiest though--maybe having two kids is the best solution?

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  11. I really love sibling bonds, but I also like to see the dissonance in the relationships because I know what both feel like. My older sister and I can talk about anything and everything. She used to finish my sentences for me and answer questions before I had a chance to open my mouth. I LOVED that. But, she was also my ally against my brothers. One, in prticular, was really cruel and generally targeted me because he knew he could get away with it. Throughout it all, my sister was there to either shield me, comfort me, or bring bandaids. We still get along well, and my brother and I still fight. I've found that those dynamics are slower to change than other relationships.

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    1. Michel, very interesting point, about how sibling dynamics can get stuck for decades. Maybe that's the corollary to feeling eight years old every time you go home to see the folks.

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  12. I love the sibling bonds in books. Growing up with a brother, I wasn't too keen on the complications that usually happened between my overprotective sibling and my boyfriends, but in historical fiction I love that same situation. I'm also a great fan of your books Grace, thanks for stopping my Brooklyn's blog so we could get to know you and your process better.

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    1. Asa Maria, I love my brothers dearly, BUT... I don't know how their wives stand to be married to them sometimes. And it was my brother Tom who called me in the hospital when I went into labor on Ground Hog Day and asked me what I was going to do if the baby saw her shadow. ARGH.

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    2. My son's an only child, but he has 2 stepsisters so I guess he has the best of both worlds. :)

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