A Woman's Devotion (Phantom Of The Opera x Reader)

Fact and Fiction in A Woman's Devotion

I hope you enjoyed A Woman's Devotion as much as my sister and I enjoyed writing it! Outside of fanfiction, I have a passion for writing historical fiction. Naturally, then, the setting of this story really enraptured me from the start, so much so that I can't resist sharing some historical tidbits that influenced the writing of this story. Now, what is fact and what is fiction in A Woman's Devotion?

Mainly, all the settings have true roots in history. The town nearest to Erik and Y/n, Elam, is most certainly real- but some fiction was tied into our portrayal. Officially, this story takes place in 1896, but Elam was only founded in 1901. Still, we included it due to this logic: towns don't just pop up overnight. There must have been some kind of pioneer civilization in the area before its "official" settlement. And why not choose a different town in Oklahoma? Quite frankly, Elam's "cluster of stores, a cotton gin, and a few homes"  (quote from Tulsa County Historic Sites) made the perfect backdrop for a story set in the Old West. Its contents were just sparse enough to add a rustic touch to the story, and thus, it was chosen.

Nowadays, Elam is no more, being renamed to Broken Arrow in 1902 with the introduction of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad. Its current name, bestowed by William S. Fears, is the English translation of what the Creek Native Americans who first settled the area called it. As a final fun fact, which theater people will surely enjoy, (let's be honest. You're a theater person if you've read this far): Kristen Chenoweth, Broadway's original Glinda in Wicked, is actually from Broken Arrow.

As one can probably guess, the area of the United States we're portraying had mass Native American populations throughout the 19th century. The "cheap" land these settlers sought really came at a high cost, though not to them. Native Americans first settled all that land, but they were forced out by the U.S. government. It is not a piece of my nation's history to be proud of, yet it is worth mentioning. Samantha and I tried to integrate these facts into the story, but because Erik and Y/n are French and Nadir is Persian (both probably quite unacquainted with American history), we couldn't fit it in. Still, it feels only right to mention it now.

Additionally, the possibility of Erik being shipped to Kansas State Penitentiary is completely factual, even if Elam possessed no county jail in 1896 and we invented one for the story. Nicknamed "Big Mac", the Oklahoma State Penitentiary only opened in 1908. Until then, high-profile Oklahoman prisoners were almost always transported to Kansas.

My final piece of history for the Old West settings in the book actually takes us to Arkansas. So what are Old West saloons actually like? To the best of our ability, this segment of the story is also fact. Perhaps the characters are being a touch dramatic when discussing the unbearable saltiness of the food, yet it was in a saloon owner's best interest to increase the salt factor. As Erik mentions in chapter thirteen, the drinks are the true money-makers, and getting clients thirsty from the salt will sell more of them. And the drinks themselves? Are they as disgusting as Christine and Raoul mention in chapter eighteen? Absolutely. To this day, it's still a mystery what the full range of things going into that whiskey was, but rumors (and some historical evidence) abound about any number of unpalatable things. So, really, their remarks about "silver polish" and "furniture polish" might not be far from the truth.

And where are the facts and fiction in the New Orleans segment of the story? Well, for one, the police station's address named on Y/n's missing poster is the correct historical site. For two, yellow fever was by far the most historically accurate disease my sister and I could contrive for this story. New Orleans' worst outbreak was in 1853, but until the last major outbreak in 1905, cases always saw a great uptick during the humid summer months. Lastly, the Algiers Courthouse is the historically accurate place for a civil wedding in New Orleans. Sadly, nowadays, they no longer offer marriage licenses, but in 1896, they most certainly did. The courthouse was actually built that year, so technically, Erik and Y/n would be some of the first to ever marry there.

As many may know, the French population in New Orleans was strong then and today. Many Haitian immigrants (French-speaking, of course) first took refuge in Cuba after the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804). In 1809, during the war between France and Spain, those same refugees left Cuba for Louisiana, thus creating the influx of French culture still found in New Orleans today. Many fires destroyed the French Quarter of New Orleans in the 19th century, yet those buildings were rebuilt using Spanish architecture (Spain controlled Louisiana at the time of reconstruction). Naturally, with such heavy French and Spanish influences in New Orleans, by the turn of the 20th century, immigrants speaking those languages (just like Y/n and Erik) flocked to the city. New Orleans is a beautiful, diverse city, which Samantha and I were so honored to write about. We visited the area many years ago and still treasure that experience, but back then, we never would have guessed the vacation would prove instrumental in the research for this project.

Lastly, there's St. Clare's Mercy Hospital Convent in Arkansas. Despite me writing all the chapters in that setting, Samantha first uncovered the location for our story and researched it. But here is the truth: this is probably the closest to fiction any major setting in the story gets. St. Clare's Mercy was actually built in Canada. Certainly not Arkansas, yet the building and history were beautiful, so our fictional hospital convent was based around it. The real-life St. Clare's Mercy opened in 1913 as a Home for Working Girls by the Archbishop M.F. Howley, only becoming a hospital in May of 1922. So Samantha and I certainly weaved a lot more fiction than fact into that part of the story. On March 3rd, 2015, the hospital was unfortunately closed, yet we hope its legacy has lived on in a small way with this story.

So there is the fact and fiction in A Woman's Devotion. On behalf of my sister and me, thank you for reading this far. This couldn't have been possible without you, and we hope you enjoyed the journey equally as much as we did.

Until next time, Beth.