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
A Halloween Tea Party for Unmarried Victorian Ladies
In the Victorian era, Halloween parties were rife with games designed to help young ladies see into their marital futures. These games were generally played at co-ed Halloween celebrations. There were even some which could be played by gentlemen. The bulk of these games, however, were geared toward marriage-minded females. It is therefore not surprising to find descriptions of Halloween parties—or Halloween Teas—that were strictly for women.[…]Continue Reading
The Etiquette of Broken Betrothals: Victorian Advice on Ending an Engagement
(Philadelphia Museum of Art)
In the Victorian era, a broken engagement was no small matter. If a gentleman jilted his fiancée, he risked doing untold damage to both her reputation and his own. Even so, if an engaged couple discovered that they were incompatible, Victorian era marriage manuals and books on etiquette strongly advised breaking the engagement rather than embarking on what would surely be a miserable marriage. As The New York Fashion Bazar Book of Etiquette (1887) explains:[…]Continue Reading
Victorian Valentine's Day Verses for Rejecting Unwanted Suitors
(Met Museum)
Published in 1875, The Lover’s Poetic Companion and Valentine Writer is a book intended for Victorian ladies and gentlemen “who wish to address those they love in suitable terms.” It contains a variety of Valentine verses, ranging from the sweet to the satirical. The book promises that these “Love Lyrics” are harmless and that even the more comical lines do not descend into vulgarity. But what these verses lack in vulgarity, they more than make up for in unkindness and—in some instances—outright cruelty.[…]Continue Reading
The "Dash It Alls" on Romance, Writing, and the Influence of Georgette Heyer
As some of you may remember, during the RWA Beau Monde’s 2015 celebration of the eightieth anniversary of the Regency romance novel, I wrote a weekly Georgette Heyer poll here on my site as my way of contributing to the festivities. These polls were quite popular at the time and a great way for Heyer lovers to connect over favourite characters, favourite scenes, and best loved phrases. It was during this time that romance authors Avril Tremayne and Jane Godman, editor Ali Williams, and I formed our own little Heyer group which Ali affectionately named the “Dash it Alls” in honour of Freddy Standen from Heyer’s 1953 novel Cotillion. […]Continue Reading
