The Novelty of Novels in Regency England

Ever wonder why writers like Byron, Coleridge and Scott wrote their long narratives such as Prisoner of Chillon, Rime of the Ancient Mariner (illustration right), The Lady of the Lake in verse? The answer may seem obvious: they were poets.

True. But there was more to it than meets the eye.

The fact was that poetry was respectable, but novels weren’t.

Jane Austen complains about the fate of novelists in Northanger Abbey:
Although our productions have afforded more extensive and unaffected pleasure than those of any other literary corporation in the world, no species of composition has been so much decried. From pride, ignorance, or fashion, our foes are almost as many as our readers. And while the abilities of the nine-hundredth abridger of the History of England, or of the man who collects and publishes in a volume some dozen lines of Milton, Pope, and Prior, with a paper from the Spectator, and a chapter from Sterne, are eulogized by a thousand pens — there seems almost a general wish of decrying the capacity and undervaluing the labour of the novelist, and of slighting the performances which have only genius, wit, and taste to recommend them. “I am no novel-reader — I seldom look into novels — Do not imagine that I often read novels — It is really very well for a novel.” Such is the common cant. “And what are you reading, Miss — ?” “Oh! It is only a novel!” replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame. (NA, Chapter 5)

To confirm this, the worldly John Thorpe dismisses Catherine Moreland’s novel reading in much the same way. When she asks him if he’d read Udolpho, he replies:

“Udolpho! Oh, Lord! Not I; I never read novels; I have something else to do.”

Catherine, humbled and ashamed, was going to apologize for her question, but he prevented her by saying, “Novels are all so full of nonsense and stuff; there has not been a tolerably decent one come out since Tom Jones, except The Monk; I read that t’other day; but as for all the others, they are the stupidest things in creation.”

While lending libraries and booksellers such as Lackington Allen’s Temple of the Muses (shown below) in London were thriving on the sensationalist success of these new novels, it was the poets that received the attention. No novelist of the time received the fame and notoriety of Lord Byron, though of course this was partly due to his Bad Boy image. The majority of novelists were women, which partly accounts for the condescention with which the novels were treated. Note that Thorpe cites only male novelists as worthy of interest. But beyond that, the novel was still in its infancy. It was struggling to break into the mainstream, which was still very much dominated by poetry. It’s hard for us now to imagine a situation where, if you had a story to tell and wanted it to get the respect it deserved, you were expected to write it in verse. The novel only really came into its own in Victorian England.

An important departure from the norm was Sir Walter Scott. Even though he is now rembered much better for novels such as Rob Roy and Ivanhoe than for his poems, he almost didn’t produce any novels. Later on in his life he wrote about his long struggle and uncertainty before finally taking the plunge and moving from poetic narratives to novels. Fortunately, his first novel Waverley, published in 1814, became an instant success, though, very significantly, he published it anonymously. He continued to use various pen names for his novels for several years, even though people knew that he was the writer.

In her usual caustic way, Jane Austen had this to say about his decision:

Walter Scott has no business to write novels, especially good ones — It is not fair. He has Fame and Profit enough as a Poet, and should not be taking the bread out of other people’s mouths — I do not like him, and do not mean to like Waverley if I can help it — but fear I must’ (letter, September 1814).

Scott was upfront about acknowledging the influence of women novelists on his writing, particularly Maria Edgeworth. He also openly admired Jane Austen’s talent and skill. Where Jane Austen can be credited with inventing the romance, he is generally credited with inventing the historical novel as we know it.

Waverley plays a role in my forthcoming novel, The Darcy Cousins. In a scene in the novel, Georgiana Darcy and her cousin Clarissa go on a much anticipated outing to Waverley Abbey, which was believed to be the inspiration for Waverley.

The outing provides a bit of a reality check to Georgiana, whose expectations were just a bit too high. Georgiana makes a sketch of the Abbey. I would think it was quite similar to the one above, since we know from Caroline Bingley that Darcy’s sister was very accomplished.
The Darcy Cousins will be released Feb 28, 2009.

Monica Fairview

Holding out for a hero

They don’t make swashbuckling pirate films like they used to(sigh). Remember those lovely old movies – Captain Blood, The Crimson Pirate, Prisoner of Zenda, Ivanhoe etc. etc? Swashbucklers are very rare these days – I suppose the Mask of Zorro was probably one of the last – and of course the Pirates of the Caribbean films came pretty close. I grew up with these old action movies and was very excited when I started formulating the idea for a swashbuckling romance of my own – and at long last it is coming out in the UK!

Wicked Captain, Wayward Wife is published this week and I have to confess this was one of my favourite books to write. Not only is it a ripping yarn but its hero charmed me from the moment he “walked into my head”. Of course, heroes are very personal and we each have our own vision of what a hero might be.

I wanted a man who was an adventurer, something of a pirate, or buccaneer, with a devil-may –care attitude towards life and women – until he meets Evelina, my heroine!
We have discussed before how characters are “born” and I know other writers find that sometimes their hero is just there, waiting for their story to be written. This is how it was for me. When I first started thinking about this story, Captain Nick Wylder strode onto the stage, ready to take control!

When I am writing a book I like to know each main characters’s back-story. Sometimes it comes to me piecemeal as the story develops and I realise why my characters will or will not perform the way I want. At other times, the back-story is complete before I start on the main novel. I thought you might be interested to read my notes on Captain Nick Wylder – unedited, just as they came out of my notebook!

Captain Nick Wylder b 1752 (28 in 1780). Ex sailor, well known for daring and dangerous exploits – nickname Wyldfire. Younger son of an earl. Black hair, blue, blue eyes. Gleaming smile (dimple)

Owns properties in the north of England. Went to sea as a boy and served under Admiral Howe (Richard Howe, known as Black Dick) in America – in the summer of 1776 (he was 24) he commanded one of the ships under Lord Howe when they took New York City (Washington left NYC in September 1776). Howe was known to be sympathetic to the rebels and keen to broker a peace – holds peace conference on Staten Island in September but it fails. British take Newport, Rhode Island in December 1776 When Howe resigned because he felt he had been under-supported in his peace attempts in 1778. Nick resigned too but before they could return to England they had to defend Newport (Rhode Island ) from the French under Count d’Estaing. The French ships were heavier and had a deeper draught than the British and could not cross the sand bar to meet the enemy so their assault failed. On the arrival of Admiral Byng in September 1778 Howe was free to return home (at the end of 1778). Created Earl Howe in 1788.

Now none of the above is in my book, except as a passing reference, but the experience made my hero the man he is when the book opens: brave, impetuous, a natural leader, a daredevil, used to adventure and with lots of experience of the sea.

And do you know, I think this could form the basis of another novel!

Oh, and the pictures? Well, obviously I don’t have a photograph of Captain Nick Wylder, but these are just some of the heroes who have influenced me over the years (well perhaps not Jack Sparrow, but hey, who needs an excuse to add JD’s photo?)

Wicked Captain, Wayward Wife is published in the UK in hardback on 5th February 2010 (paperback April 2010)

Celtic Magic

I’m a great lover of all things Celtic. As I live in England, I’m surrounded by ancient ruins and other Celtic memorabilia, so I’m in the ideal place to indulge my interest. I based the fantasy world of my Magic Knot Fairies’ series on Celtic mythology and have used areas rich in Celtic myth and legend to set my stories. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains of Ireland where part of The Magic Knot is set, and Wales where part of The Phoenix Charm is set. This summer I spent two weeks visiting castles and other historic sites in Scotland to do research for my third book, The Ruby Kiss that will be out at the end of 2010.Two of the most beautiful aspects of Celtic heritage are the intricate symbols and designs. When I visited Ireland, I took a tour around an ancient monastery and graveyard. The place was magical, full of beautifully decorated Celtic crosses. We also have Celtic crosses on Dartmoor in South West England a few miles from where I live.

The shape of the Celtic Knot gave me the fundamental idea on which my Magic Knot Fairies’ fantasy world is based. In my series, The Magic Knot is a magical pendant similar to a Celtic Knot possessed by every person with fairy blood. The three linked rings symbolise mind, body, and spirit. Lovers give their Magic Knot into the safekeeping of their soul mate—the ultimate demonstration of trust and commitment that binds them together in mind, body, and spirit for life.

Celtic symbols also gave me story ideas in the second book, The Phoenix Charm. My heroine is a water nymph. She has a sensual allure that her family were ashamed of, so they made her hide her natural gift by binding it with Celtic symbols painted on her skin. My heroine Cordelia has six Celtic symbols drawn on her back and mirrored on her front. These cover the energy centers of her body (also known as chakras in traditional Indian medicine).

The Celtic symbol of the maze traditionally marks the entrance to the Underworld, so this appears in the book marking the entrance to the Welsh Fairy King’s domain, as in Welsh Celtic mythology, he is also King of the Underworld.

My favorite piece of jewelry is a Celtic cross set with abalone shell that I bought when I visited Ireland to research my first book, before it was published. I’m convinced the cross brings me luck. Do you have any jewelry or keepsake that you think brings you luck?

To find out more about my contemporary fantasy series and to read excerpts, please visit my website.

He’s Pure Temptation.

Cordelia has sworn she’ll abstain from looking into Michael’s future—particularly when the image in the gilded smoke of her divination mirror shows him half naked. Yet she can’t resist watching the sexy rascal slowly running his hand down his ribs, over his abdomen, flicking open the button on his jeans with a little flourish like a magician performing a trick.

She’s Trying To Resist.

Respectable wise woman Cordelia restrains her secret water nymph sensuality with the Celtic symbols painted on her skin. But Michael’s powerful fairy glamour leaves her breathless, off balance, struggling for control. When Gwyn ap Nudd, the Welsh King of the Underworld, steals away Michael’s infant nephew, Cordelia must work with him to save the child. But how can she trust her instincts with Michael tempting her to explore the hidden elemental depths of her nature and insisting that she believe in the power of…The Phoenix Charm.

I have a novella linked to my Magic Knot Fairy world called The Feast of Beauty in The Mammoth Book of Irish Romance coming out in late January. This story is about the people of Lir the Irish Sea god.

The Feast of Beauty

Kate’s grandmother’s dying wish is that she should return her pearl pendant to the tiny fishing village in Ireland where she was born. At the village’s Midsummer Feast of Beauty, the unearthly silver hair and emerald eyes of Esras, the wealthy local landowner, mesmerize Kate. But how can she trust her heart to a man who claims to be a sea fairy king?

To read my free fantasy-romance short story, Jack’s Garden, visit the Dorchester website.

What I Read On My Christmas Vacation

As you blog-readers know, I went to Alaska for my Christmas vacation. I stayed in a house with no t.v., and I didn’t miss it one bit. Also, I had two really long plane trips, so I had plenty of time to read.

At the first editorial meeting in January, we were all asked what we’d read over the holidays. Here’s what I would have said, if I had been called upon:

1) THE RIVER KING by Alice Hoffman

I have loved Alice Hoffman’s work since I first read here way back when I was in college. This novel has sad, tender, and sometimes bad goings-on at a New England private school. I adored every word of it.

2) THE NINE NATIONS OF NORTH AMERICA by Joel Garreau

Because I am an egghead. This book is dated, but it’s fascinating. And, it made me want to live in the part of the country he calls “Ecotopia.”

3) THE LACUNA by Barbara Kinsolver

This is my bookclub’s pick for next month. I just loved that it had Frieda Kahlo as a character. I’ll have to think of something really smart to say when we discuss it in February.

4) WHAT I DID FOR LOVE by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Because a gal needs to read her some romance over the holidays!

What did you read on your vacation (if you got one!)

10 Things To Love About December

Guest Blog from author Caroline Linden:

10 Things I Love about December

1) The weather. This might sound strange, given that I live in New England, but December weather is usually pretty nice. Crisp and cool, only sometimes brutally cold, a chance of snow (which is perfectly acceptable), and that stark blue sky you only see in winter (or technically, for most of the month, fall).

2) The lights. I am a total sucker for those strings of little lights every mall and shop window is decorated with this time of year. Plus, they help make up for the fact that it gets dark in the middle of the afternoon now.

3) Baking. Yum. Need I say more? Even if you hate to cook and think your kitchen is inhabited by evil gremlins who will suck out your brains if you enter, you can still enjoy holiday baking. Just stop in front of your favorite bakery and breathe deeply.

4) Drinking. ‘Tis the season of hot mulled wine, mulled cider, eggnog, and champagne.

5) Fire. Candles and fireplaces were invented for December.

6) Books. Anyone in possession of a crackling fire and some cinnamon-y, clove-y, whipped-cream-topped hot apple cider, must be in want of a good book.

7) Sales. Especially at bookstores. Especially when those bookstores email the extra coupons right to you.

The internet. OK, I love the internet year ’round, but particularly in December, when it saves me from going to the shopping center with everyone else in creation. The books are mailed right to my door!!!

9) Catalogs. Yes, I like this form of junk mail. Holiday catalogs are so shiny and pretty (although there is a bit of confusion when the Victoria’s Secret catalog comes with the King Arthur Baking Catalog. So I want to fit into that underwear, or make the double-chocolate gooey oatmeal squares? Hmmm). And, then you can order online. See #8.

10) Vacation. Everyone deserves a day off at the end of a long year.

Anything to add to my list?

Lyssa: The one thing I’d like to add to the Things to Love about December is Caroline Linden’s latest (December 2009) release FOR YOUR ARMS ONLY, which, by the way, was just nominated for a Romantic Times award for Best British Isle Set Historical Romance. Congrats, Caroline!!

In a wonderful mix of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE meets Regency England, Caroline creates an exciting, intriguing, romantic world with dashing heroes and daring heroines, page-turning plots and breathless passion. Don’t miss FOR YOUR ARMS ONLY this December, and be sure to read DEEPER THAN DESIRE, an original companion story to this delightful romance.

Happy reading–and happy holidays!!

Regency Connections

I know I’m not alone in loving the research aspect of writing (see Melinda’s post below!) and I enjoy it all the more when my reading turns up something totally unexpected. Last week I was thrilled to discover that one of the Craven family whom I am researching for my National Trust book about Ashdown House was none other than a founding patroness of Almack’s Assembly Rooms, “the 7th heaven of the fashionable world.”

Victoria Janssen – Setting and Characterization Through Food

Setting and Characterization Through Food
Victoria Janssen 

I love food, both eating it and reading about it, and that interest sometimes translates into my work.  I use food for several different purposes, most notably to establish setting and to deepen characterization. 

My December 2009 Harlequin Spice book, The Moonlight Mistress, is set in the early days of World War One, and there are scenes set in Germany, England, and France.  Not only did I take into account local cuisines of those places, and what people might ordinarily eat in 1914, but what might be available to eat in the specific situations I was portraying. 

For instance, in an early scene, two characters are trying to escape Germany.  They stop in a small town and buy “sausages, cheese, fresh bread, a thermos of strong coffee, and bottled beer and lemonade,” even though the French character would really rather have croissants.  This idea is revisited when they’ve arrived safely in France:  “She could really have croissants, with thick creamy butter and clots of strawberry jam.”  In fact, they get buttered rolls and an “omelette…dense with soft cheese and thin ham and fines herbes,” subtly giving an impression of safety through plenty of good, fresh food. 

So far as characterization goes, the character Crispin likes a particular kind of chocolate, “nutmilk choc,” and it appears several times, as a gift from his sister and when he shares his favorite with others.  This is a fairly simple use of food as characterization. 

I got a bit more complicated with a werewolf character, Tanneken.  Her appearance, a small woman in widow’s weeds, contrasts with her sometimes savage werewolf nature.  I tried to show these contrasts through the ways she eats while in a tea shop, and also show that she has recently been through a terrible experience.   

For example:  She…ate a madeleine in one bite, then another.  She chewed, swallowed, and said, “You will not lock me up.  I would kill you first.”  She took one of the cream pastries and studied it a moment before popping it into her mouth.  She’s very hungry, but also somewhat detached from the everyday business of it.  Her words are at odds with her behavior. 

The waitress set down their plate of sandwiches.  Madame Claes took one and popped it into her mouth.  She did not appear to take any pleasure in the food, Pascal noted.  She simply ate it for fuel, like a soldier too long in the field.  The point of view character picks up on the above and learns something about her. 

“I prefer to strike directly whenever I am able, since my government will not allow me to be a soldier.  Even though I can rip out a man’s throat in less than a heartbeat.”  She picked up the last remaining madeleine and nibbled on it, delicately.  And, here, the contrast between manners and words is even more direct. 

Food detail also works wonderfully as contrast between the actual situation and what the characters feel.  A conversation about afternoon tea takes place in a shell hole, while the two soldiers are under bombardment:  “What was tea like at home, when you were a boy?  Cucumber sandwiches and little cream Napoleons?  Or beans on toast?”  We learn much more about the characters through this seemingly innocuous discussion than we would if they had simply continued to talk about the military situation. 

I’m only sad that my book is set too early in the war for me to include ANZAC cookies.  Which are delicious!

http://www.victoriajanssen.com/index.html

Keeping Jane Austen Alive Through My Writing by Mary Lydon Simonsen

A brief summary of Searching for Pemberley: Set against Regency England, World Wars I and II, and postwar England, three love stories intertwine in surprising and fateful ways. American Maggie Joyce, touring Derbyshire in 1947, visits Montclair, an 18th century Georgian country house, that she is told was the model for Jane Austen’s Pemberley. More amazingly, the former residents of the mansion, William Lacey and Elizabeth Garrison, were the inspiration for the characters of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice.  Through letters and journals written by the Laceys, Maggie continues to search for signs of the real Darcy and Elizabeth. But when her search introduces her to both a dashing American pilot and a handsome descendant of the Darcy/Lacey line, Maggie must decide how her own love story will end.

Greetings! My thanks to Kim and Jenn for inviting me to be a guest blogger. I have been asked to write about keeping Austen alive through writing. I thought a little background on the Jane Austen sequel bonanza might be of interest to readers of the Romance Junkies’ blog.

Jane Austen is a literary superstar. While many of her contemporaries, such as Fanny Burney and Maria Edgeworth, are seldom read, Jane is a world-wide phenomenon. She has always had her fans, some quite prestigious, such as Sir Walter Scott, Anthony Trollope, and Rudyard Kipling, as well as a secret group of World War I soldiers who read Austen in the trenches. Imagine what reading about Jane’s pre-industrial world must have meant to soldiers who were staring out at a landscape devoid of any living thing because of modern technology.

But it is because of modern technology that admirers of Jane Austen’s works can write prequels, sequels, and screenplays or portray Darcy as a werewolf, Elizabeth Bennet as a vampire, and have the Dashwood sisters from Sense and Sensibility being courted by sea monsters. The oldest tie-in I could find was Catherine Anne Hubback’s The Younger Sister, published in 1850. There are a few sequels in the 1920s and 1930s and Jane Gillespie’s novels in the 1980s. But things picked up considerably in the 1990s, and it had become an industry unto itself in the first decade of the 21^st Century. 

Jane first made the leap to the silver screen with the 1940 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. Although the costumes were all wrong (having been used in the production of Gone with the Wind), the plot had been tampered with, Greer Garson probably could have played Mrs. Bennet, and Laurence Olivier was wooden, it was still a success because, at its heart, it remained Elizabeth and Darcy’s story.

There were other adaptations, a 1980 BBC production was particularly good and faithful to Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, but it was A & E’s 1995 production of that novel with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth that reminded everyone of just how wonderful a novelist Jane Austen was, and she crossed over into superstardom.

When I started writing my novel, Searching for Pemberley, in 2005, I knew of one Austen sequel, Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, and that was because I was visiting my sister in Austin, and Linda Berdoll was being interviewed by the Austin Statesmen. So I went to the library to see if there were others. Oh my goodness! I had no idea. There was Pamela Aiden and Emma Tennant and Stephanie Barron’s mystery series as well as many others. But why should I have been surprised? I wanted to write a novel with a tie-in to Pride and Prejudice as well. 

But, of course, mine is different. In the first place, it’s not a sequel. My main character, Maggie Joyce, is an American living in post World War II London. When she learns that the characters of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, in her favorite novel, Pride and Prejudice, may have been based on real people, she travels to Derbyshire to find out. With all of these wonderful film adaptations of Austen’s work, in which everyone is dressed in the Regency Era style, people may not know that Jane Austen lived most of her life in the Georgian Era. So when Maggie reads the diaries of Elizabeth Lacey, who is possibly the model for Elizabeth Bennet, she is reading about events in the 1790s, such as the French Revolution, and the exodus of aristocratic émigrés from France to England. The madness of George III is in the future, and the kingdom is not yet being run by his profligate son, the Prince Regent and future George IV. 

The reason I write Austen sequels (another novel is coming out in December 2010) is because she gave us characters whom we care about, and because we do care, we want to know more about them. What were the early years of Lizzy and Darcy’s marriage like? Did Georgiana find true love? What was Captain Wentworth doing all those years at sea? Did Fanny Price find happiness with Edmund Bertram? 

If by reading Searching for Pemberley, someone, who has never read Austen, becomes curious enough about Pride and Prejudice to pick up a copy of her book, then I am a minor contributor in keeping Austen alive through my novels. But when you consider that the groundwork for any sequel has been laid by one of the greatest novelists in the English language, it is an easy task to build on that foundation. The difficulty comes in writing a darn good yarn; one that Jane would like to sit down and read in the front parlor at Chawton Cottage, Hampshire.

For more information, please visit my website at www.searchingforpemberley.weebly.com or my blog at http://marysimonsenfanfiction.blogspot.com.

Searching for Pemberley is available from: Amazon as well as Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, Chapters.Indigo.CA and Sourcebooks.

Captive Of Sin

Caught Up In The Fairytale
by Anna Campbell

There’s a school of thought that every writer has a single story they tell over and over again in different guises. One theme that they return to–a bit like your favorite flavor of potato chip in the pantry.

Am I giving too much information here about my eating habits? Hmm, Smith’s barbecue chips, where are you?

And, if the chips start talking back, maybe it’s time to see a doctor!

I’ve now written four books for Avon. The first was CLAIMING THE COURTESAN. A “Beauty and the Beast” story set in Regency Scotland. The second was UNTOUCHED. More “Beauty and the Beast”. The third was TEMPT THE DEVIL–do I really need to say it?

My latest Regency historical CAPTIVE OF SIN is out this month. It’s an intense, dramatic marriage of convenience story featuring a national hero with PTSD, a runaway heiress, an elopement, dastardly bad guys, a magnificent house on the Cornish cliffs, and lots of derring-do. Oh, and love scenes that PUBLISHERS WEEKLY called “luscious”. Thank you, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY!

I decided at last I’d broken the mold. This book was NOT a “Beauty and the Beast” tale. The world was my oyster. Perhaps, next time, I’d really go wild and, you know, do a Cinderella story instead!

My self-satisfaction didn’t last. This week, I noticed a discussion of the book which talked about CAPTIVE OF SIN as a “Beauty and the Beast” story. NOOOOOOOO!!!!!

Well, actually, now I’ve thought about it, YESSSSSSS!

Sir Gideon Trevithick returns to Cornwall after a year’s imprisonment and torture in India. He’s haunted by the ghosts of his past and his guilt that he survived when his colleagues didn’t. Convinced he’ll never lead a normal life and he’s unworthy of love or happiness, he intends to retire to his isolated estate on the coast.

So, yeah, I guess you could say we have a Beast who’s been cursed and who lives in his walled garden, shut away from the world.

Lady Charis Weston, England’s richest heiress, is running away from her greedy and violent stepbrothers. When Gideon offers her a marriage in name only to save her, she goes through with the ceremony. But Charis has every intention of fighting for her future. She loves Gideon and she refuses to accept that her love is unrequited. So, Beauty strives to lift the curse that holds the Beast captive.

Sigh, yeah, you’re right–how did I miss this?

The upside of all this is that I adore BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. It has to be my favorite fairytale. Someone who doesn’t know the story (how can this be?) once asked me why I loved it so much. I think it’s the combination of the tortured hero who by the end has become a real prince, whether he remains in his beast form or not, and the brave, unselfish heroine. Beauty is a bit more active than many women in fairytales! No snoozing through the good bits for our heroine here.

Do you have a favorite romance with a fairytale theme? CINDERELLA? THE UGLY DUCKLING? SLEEPING BEAUTY? I can think of a stack of keepers on my bookcase that fall into this category. What about you?