I wish I’d known

With Samantha Rajaram

‘I wish I’d known how complicated the research for writing historical fiction would be. When I started writing The Company Daughters, I anticipated no difficulty in finding information about the Dutch Golden Age. After all, this was a well-known period of history.

‘But my personal interest focuses on marginalised populations who rarely control the narrative around their experiences. Their voices disappear from the historical record. Research – especially older research – often perpetuates colonial biases, which further complicated my own research.

‘So what to do when the record is missing? I turned to music. I’ve played instruments for years and often transpose the keys of songs. The same can be done with historical research when one cannot find perfect sources. For example, while I found little information about queer women during this time in the Netherlands, I found an article about 17th century sodomy trials at sea, enough to evoke a picture of the specific biases of the time.

‘Consequently, I learned that I should strive for verisimilitude, not absolute accuracy. When I couldn’t find specific information about the construction of the Dutch retourships sent to Java, I found approximations. I was further hampered by language — I don’t speak Dutch. But I could refer to paintings. I could study English articles describing similar boats at the time.

‘As in law (which I practiced for years), it’s rare to find research that’s directly “on point”. When it happens, as it did when I discovered Jean Gelman Taylor’s articles about Batavia, the discovery is exhilarating.

‘Had I known the challenges of historical research all those years ago, I might not have embraced such a daunting project. I had no research grant. I was a single mom of three, working two jobs, and going to grad school at night. In the end, my own ignorance helped make The Company Daughters possible.’