One of the most interesting parts of my research for No. 23 Burlington Square was looking into the nightlife in London for one of my main characters, Clara Goodwin – a hedonistic young woman tainted by scandal. After the horrors of the Great War, many young people were determined to enjoy life and embraced the exuberantly optimistic mood of the era. The twenties were a decade that witnessed great social, economic and cultural change in the Western world, and nightclubs, with their lively jazz music and colourful cocktails, were at the forefront of it all.
Agnes Humphries, owner of number 23, considers her niece, Clara, to be a flapper. Not necessarily a compliment back then, this new breed of young woman was daring to challenge societal expectations with their short, bobbed hair, high hemlines and make-up (previously not something that respectable ladies wore). As I researched the places Clara and other similarly “modern” young women might hang out, I came across the memoir of nightclub owner Kate Meyrick – who ran the 43 Club in Soho during this time. Her frequent brushes with the law made her notorious, but her business acumen and determination to create opportunities for women won her great acclaim.
Nightclubs became places where the boundaries of conventional behaviour were tested, and for someone determined to break the rules, like Clara, this was perfect. For the first time, it became more socially acceptable for women to go out without a male escort, smoke in public, and drink alcohol. These flamboyant venues attracted the elite of society, with proprietors turning a blind eye to the shady goings on of the underworld, as well as the sexual liberation of their clientele. Several venues were known to be “gay friendly”, like The Caravan Club and The ShimSham Club. Homosexual acts between men were still illegal, so they faced constant raids, but people like Neville, Clara’s gay friend, could be themselves in these more accepting environments.
The Sixty-Three, my fictitious London nightclub, is Clara’s happy place. Here she can dance her troubles away, removed from the dramas of her life, if only for a short while. And as she confronts some difficult truths about herself, she gets further drawn into this glamorous world, in a way she could never have imagined.
I hope you enjoy Clara’s story, and those of the others at No. 23 Burlington Square.
Jenni x