When Jealousy is Not a Curse – My Georgette Heyer Addiction: Guest Post by Avril Tremayne
Today, I am very pleased to welcome author and fellow #DashItAll Avril Tremayne with a guest post on Georgette Heyer!
I’m admitting upfront to a case of author envy when it comes to Georgette Heyer – even though I write super sexy, ultra-contemporary romances that are a world away from Heyer’s bygone eras full of heroes and heroines who fall in love before they even kiss.[…]Continue Reading
Alternative Courtship: Matrimonial Advertisements in the 19th Century
For many single ladies and gentlemen of the 19th century, placing a matrimonial advertisement in a local newspaper was considered a viable alternative to traditional courtship. It was especially popular with those who were new to an area or those who had no family or social groups through which they might otherwise obtain an introduction to a suitable partner. Naturally, there were those traditionalists who frowned upon this method of acquiring a spouse. It was viewed as undignified, indelicate, and dangerous. Even so, matrimonial advertisements were utilized by men and women of every age and every class throughout the Regency and Victorian eras. […]Continue Reading
The Scandalous Regency Era Criminal Conversation Case of Aston v. Elliot
(Image via Wellcome Library.)
In January of 1818, on the second page of a small Irish newspaper, was a brief article with the sensational headline: “Projected Divorce in High Life.” This case, which would soon become notorious in both England and France, was not, in fact, a divorce. It was an action for criminal conversation – a tort, long extinct, in which an aggrieved husband could make a claim for damages against the lover of his adulterous spouse. These sorts of cases were always deliciously scandalous, and none more so than that of Aston v. Elliot – a case which involved noblemen, prostitutes, syphilis, a veteran of Waterloo, and some of the highest ranking members of the beau monde.[…]Continue Reading
Napoleon vs. Wellington: The Art of the Passionate Love Letter
Ranging from the desperately passionate to the treacly sweet, historical love letters are as informative as they are entertaining. But who amongst our favorite figures of the 19th century penned the most heart melting missives? Naturally, one would assume the honors for this would go to Byron, Keats, or Shelley. Their love letters were sublime, there is no doubt. However, if you have a yen to read truly smoldering love letters, might I suggest a gentleman who, when not busy conquering the world, expended his time writing scorching hot letters to his wife?[…]Continue Reading
Venetia and the Byronic Hero
(*Author’s Note: The following article was originally published in the April edition of The Regency Reader. I thought it was time to have it here in its entirety. Enjoy!)
As romance writers and readers, we are all intimately acquainted with the Byronic hero. That particular brand of brooding, mysterious, misunderstood – and did I mention handsome? – Regency rogue that has stolen the heart of many a sheltered young Regency heroine. He is Captain Conrad in The Corsair, Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, and Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre. And as dark and dangerous as he is, he makes the honorable, morally upright gentlemen with whom he shares the page seem downright unappealing.[…]Continue Reading