Ice Skating Fashions of the Nineteenth Century
For most mid-nineteenth century ladies, fashionable outdoor sport consisted of little more than horseback riding, or a spirited game of croquet. But with the winter came yet another option for outdoor activity. In her 1877 book The Ladies’ and Gentlemen’s Etiquette, Eliza Duffey states that ice skating “is to winter what croquet is to summer.”[…]Continue Reading
Victorian Advice on DIY Christmas Decorations
(Private Collection)
For many Victorians, homemade Christmas decorations were far preferable to those bought in a store. Why spend good money on glittery trinkets when you could make something much more meaningful yourself? An article in the 1887 edition of Household Words advocates for doing just that, declaring:[…]Continue Reading
An Anniversary and a Milestone
Dear Readers,
This month marks two years since my debut Victorian romance The Lost Letter was released in September 2017. Since then, I’ve released five more historical romance novels. I learned this week that, altogether, those six novels have sold more than 110,000 eBook copies!! […]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
Victorian Christmas Decorating, featuring Frosted Branches and Gilded Acorns
There’s nothing more quintessentially Christmas than a Victorian Christmas, complete with mistletoe, tinsel, and candles on the tree. But there was more to Victorian holiday decorating than tinsel and candles. Just like us, many Victorians had a fondness for glitter and gold. In my new Victorian Christmas romance A Holiday By Gaslight, there’s a scene in which the guests at a country house party decorate for Christmas by gilding acorns and artificially frosting the tips of holly and ivy leaves with crystals. These Victorian decorating ideas didn’t originate in my fevered authorial brain. They were actual methods used to create glittering, gold-flaked, holiday cheer.[…]Continue Reading
