Juan Luis Vives, a Spanish Jew and leading Renaissance humanist, is not as recognizable a historical figure as his 16th-century contemporaries such Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Sir Thomas Moore and others, yet author Tim Darcy Ellis brings him back to life in the thrilling historical novel The Secret Diaries of Juan Luis Vives.
“I actually found Vives by mistake,” says Ellis. “Like others, I’d never heard of him until I gave a Spanish friend a book about exiles from Spain, and I thumbed through it first and this incredible character leapt out from the pages. Vives was very important in the 16th century but has been largely forgotten by the mainstream — and he really contributed to making the world a better place.”
Ellis continues, “It then became my mission to bring him back into the light, and writing a first-person novel allowed me to give him a human voice. As a Spanish Jew, he had to hold so much back in his academic writing, and yet you can feel the struggles that he endured.”
In Ellis’s novel, Vives has fled Spain to avoid the fires of the Inquisition, yet even in The Netherlands, he is not safe. When England’s Sir Thomas More offers him the role of tutor to Mary, daughter of Catherine of Aragon and Henry VIII, he eagerly accepts. While publicly navigating life as a “New Christian,” Vives is drawn into the secretive and dangerous world of London’s Jewish community. With a foot in each world, he is torn between the love of two women. Will his wily skills allow him to manipulate them both? The survival of his family and his entire people hang in the balance. (Read our review of the novel here.)
In a recent Q&A, Ellis revealed more about his historical novel and its protagonist.
Q: What is it like to turn a group of real people into a cast of characters (describing their mannerisms, crafting dialogue, etc.)? What steps do you take to ensure you’re representing them as accurately as possible?
A: It was a marvelous escape into another world — but giving authenticity to a novel like this takes time. My characters eventually became my friends, but as with friends I needed to get to know them gradually. The process necessitates meticulous historical research, and getting a glimpse of personal characteristics is difficult from the formal and “cagy” writings of the period. The 16th-century dialogue wasn’t going to work in a 21st-century novel, so I had to make them relatable to a modern readership.
Q: In your novel, the story of Juan Luis Vives unfolds through a series of his personal diary entries. How did you develop Vives’s voice?
A: I deliberately chose the first-person point of view because I wanted to give Vives his voice back. As a Spanish Jew living in self-imposed exile, whose family had been decimated by the Inquisition, he seems to have written in code and avoided reference to the details of the terrible events of the early 1500s. Few of his personal letters have survived, so I had to read between the lines of his life story. I studied just about everything there was to read about him and the experiences of the Conversos of the period. At times, I have questioned whether I have done him justice, but I feel that bringing his story to the light is important.
Q: How did your studies in medieval archaeology and your experience working for the Museum of London and British Museum influence your novel?
A: It really comes from that close association with the material culture of the period. It wasn’t all palaces and robes — Londoners were often living in squalid and overcrowded conditions, although Vives’s experience could be described as “middle class.” I understood what their houses looked (and smelled) like, and what food they ate and what accouterments they had at their disposal.
I am fascinated with this juncture between the medieval and modern period, where the characters feel really tangible to me for the first time. Through working on excavations in London I was intimately acquainted with the areas that are mentioned in my book — that is the edge of the old city — areas like Houndsditch, where my family lived and where immigrants tended to settle.
Q: Do you have any fun facts/stories to share about Vives or the others that you learned in your research that didn’t make it into the book?
A: Well yes! The first version of the novel was 120,000 words, but the final draft became 82,000 words, as I wanted to make it fast-paced and to read like a psychological thriller. Vives was always complaining about the cold and damp in England and Bruges — as opposed to his much-loved homeland of Spain — and he was a total hypochondriac! I didn’t think that made great reading, so I have referenced it sparingly in the final version. There is more backstory in the first drafts, which could be used to expand the story for a TV series. For example, he falls in love with a gypsy girl in his youth — Anna from Andalucia — and some of the spark of that story is cut from the final version.
Q: What can 21st-century readers learn from Juan Luis Vives, or what do you hope readers take away from your novel?
A: Vives dedicated himself to the Jewish concept of Tikkun Olam — repair of the world. He was a pacifist who said that “no war is greater than peace.” He was unafraid to take on the authorities, but he did it in a way that wouldn’t reveal his Judaism. Vives told the great leaders of his day — the Pope, King Henry VIII and the Holy Roman Emperor, as well as the archbishops — exactly what they should and shouldn’t do. Vives was the first writer to address the issue of the education of women, giving rise to the idyll of the educated Elizabethan woman. He wrote about peace, concord, love of our fellow man, education, training and healthcare for all. He was, and is, an inspiration!
For more information on Tim Darcy Ellis, visit his BookTrib author profile page.
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About Tim Darcy Ellis:
Tim Darcy Ellis (BA BSc, MHSc) is a writer and physiotherapy-business owner. He was formerly a professional archaeologist. Tim’s critically acclaimed debut, The Secret Diaries of Juan Luis Vives, is a fast-paced and meticulously researched historical fiction novel. He is passionate about bringing his love of history, archaeology and philosophy together through his writing.
Tim majored in Medieval Archaeology at the University of York (1988), and he worked for both the Museum of London and the British Museum in the 1990s. He requalified as a physiotherapist at the University of East London (1998). He then moved to Sydney in 2000 where he completed his master’s degree with honors in 2002 (University of Sydney).
Tim is currently Managing Director and Principal Physiotherapist of Excel Physiotherapy and Wellness. He is chief writer of Excel Life magazine, writing and teaching extensively on health and wellness and specializing in the treatment of complex hip and pelvic pain.
