A Grave but Cordial Thank You: 19th Century Advice on Thanking Gentlemen Strangers
(Met Museum)
Victorians had plenty of advice on how and when a lady should offer a word of gratitude, especially when that gratitude was in response to a service rendered by a gentleman stranger. Some believed that it wasn’t fashionable for ladies to thank strange gentlemen for small courtesies—e.g., holding doors for them or giving up their seats on a crowded public conveyance. To do so was considered unpolished and countrified. Better that ladies say nothing and accept such little services as their due.[…]Continue Reading
The Matrimonial Advertisement is now a USA Today Bestseller!
Dear Readers,
My Victorian romance novel The Matrimonial Advertisement is now a USA Today Bestseller! It made the list this week at #81 out of 150 titles. I’m so excited to have made it and so very grateful to all of you for your support and encouragement.[…]Continue Reading
Tea and Sympathy: A Prescription for Nineteenth Century Invalids
(Sheffield City Art Galleries)
A cup of tea is the cure for any ill. And, in times of shock, the more sugar the better. This maxim was as true in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as it is today. There was no illness, personal loss, or otherwise calamitous event to which tea could not be applied with sympathy—and vigor.[…]Continue Reading
Victorian Romance Cover Reveal & Sale!
Today, I’m thrilled to reveal the cover for A Modest Independence, the next book in my Parish Orphans of Devon series! Since the story is set partially in India, the cover features shades of orange and spice, with an auburn-haired Jenny Holloway at its center gazing out over an Indian tea field. It was designed by James Egan.[…]Continue Reading
A Holiday By Gaslight Audiobook!
I’m super excited to announce that my Victorian Christmas romance A Holiday By Gaslight is now available on audiobook! The audiobook is performed by British actor Alex Wyndham, who might be familiar to some of you from his work in the 2008 mini-series Little Dorrit, as well as in HBO’s Rome and BBC’s The Crimson Field. Alex does an absolutely brilliant job of bringing the characters of Sophie and Ned to life. I especially enjoy how he voices the working class accents of Ned’s parents and the blustering tones of Sophie’s unreasonable baronet father.[…]Continue Reading
