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How far would you go to keep a deathbed promise?

Surrounded by the bodies of slain monarchs, a dying prince extracts a promise from his friend, Horatio: “Tell my story.”

Rival kings of warring nations strive to lay claim to the throne, now vacant, but what will happen to the people who live there, at Helsingør’s Krogen Castle? How will Horatio preserve his honor and the prince’s legacy while surviving this murderous kingdom and the men who would rule it?

Despite the odds and threats against him, Horatio persists, weaving the story of his dear friend into the fabric of one of their oldest and most revered medieval texts.

But when a nefarious Spaniard thwarts his plans, Horatio must once again risk everything to fulfill his oath.

With the help of some unexpected allies in the form of Margrete, a courageous lady-in-waiting, and Lanier, a disgraced French nobleman, Horatio undertakes this perilous quest that will lead him on a journey none of them could have ever predicted, to a place none of them ever thought they would see.

And after their hard-fought journey will it all be for naught?

Will Hamlet’s glory be Horatio’s downfall?

What inspired you to start writing?

My earliest inspiration was love of reading—56 volumes of the Nancy Drew mysteries, Roald Dahl’s and Judy Blume’s children’s books, the entire Chronicles of Narnia, and more. At the same time, the school subject that I enjoyed most was English and composition. Creative writing was my therapeutic, creative outlet. More inspiration came from literature and authors that I studied. Detailed settings, complex characters, and themes about individuals taking responsibility to prove their integrity especially appealed to me. The works of Melville, Mark Twain, Faulkner, Ellison, and Morrison especially come to mind. I also read history books from an early age onward and learned from beloved teachers how to see history through literature and vice-versa. And so, my desire to write a fun and substantive debut historical novel based in literature felt as natural to me as breathing.

What was the hardest part about writing this book?

The hardest part was creating for the reader a clear and instinctive sense of my main character’s deepest risk. A Man of Honor, or Horatio’s Confessions is set in the early 1500s, when European Christian doctrine forced the belief that if a person’s honor failed, they would suffer excruciating physical and emotional torment for all eternity. Death was bad, but the decay of one’s honor and the consequence, damnation, was a visceral and real threat to people. Today, that belief generally is no longer prevalent, not in the western word in any case. One of my biggest challenges was to create and maintain that specific and genuine tension for the reader so that the characters’ fears and peril made sense.  

Does one of the main characters hold a special place in your heart? If so, why?

That’s a tough question because Horatio, Margrete, and Lanier each hold a special place in my heart. I know them inside and out. l love each for their own merits and human failings, and how they struggle to assert or regain their honor. I would have to say, though, that I worried most for Lanier because if he cannot find hope, he is doomed. As tough a man as he is, he is most fragile. I remember…I once read aloud an in-progress draft to my mother, cover to cover, and while I read a certain section regarding Lanier, I wept.

If your book was to be made into a movie, who are the celebrities that would star in it?

Thank you; that’s a fun question! I imagine:

Horatio: Bradley Cooper or Eddie Redmayne

Margrete: Emily Blunt or Amy Adams

Lanier: Russel Crowe or Michael Fassbender

Hamlet: Johnny Flynn or Mark Warren

Cristiern: Benedict Cumberbatch or Joaquin Phoenix

Fortenbraas: Tom Hiddleston or Jake Gyllenhaal

Reynaldo: Javier Bardem or Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Poul: Mark Rylance or Jude Law

The Canon of Lund: Ian McKellen or Peter Capaldi

Gertrude: Emma Thompson or Laura Linney

Claudius: Kenneth Branagh or David Tennant 

What do you hope your readers take away from this book?

Reading is an escape and an opportunity to learn, a precious luxury in our busy lives. So, first and foremost, I hope that my readers will enjoy the adventure. Readers don’t need to know Hamlet to enjoy the story, but I hope that if they do, they’ll find some nuggets and notions that intrigue them. I hope that my readers find, in A Man of Honor, or Horatio’s Confessions, examples of paths that we can take when faced with tough choices that test our integrity. 

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J. A. Nelson’s passion for exploring connections between history, literature, and evidence in written texts has shaped her life—from a BA (Occidental College) and MA (The George Washington University) in cultural studies to a two-decade career at the National Archives of the United States, working with historical documentary treasures and helping people access unique stories in those records. Ms. Nelson is a native of Culver City, CA, a Los Angeles suburb. She lives with her husband in Northern Virginia. A Man of Honor, or Horatio’s Confessions is her debut novel.

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