Author Archives: Diane Gaston

About Diane Gaston

Diane Gaston is the RITA award-winning author of Historical Romance for Harlequin Historical and Mills and Boon, with books that feature the darker side of the Regency. Formerly a mental health social worker, she is happiest now when deep in the psyches of soldiers, rakes and women who don’t always act like ladies.

Northanger Abbey

Updated on January 13, 2014 by Diane Gaston

Last Saturday the Washington Romance Writers had their first meeting of the year, which traditionally is reserved for Kathy Gilles Seidel, our resident Austen scholar. For the last six years she’s been working her way through a discussion of Jane Austen’s books especially as depicted in movies. Saturday was the last of this discussion series, ending with Northanger Abbey.

There are two movie adaptations of Northanger Abbey, one made in 2007, starring Felicity Jones and JJ Feild and shown on PBS as part of an Austen series. The other was made in 1987, starring Katharine Schlesinger and Peter Firth (not Colin).

I was able to watch the 1987 version and to reread the book. My impressions can be summarized by saying that I loved the book and appreciated anew Austen’s deft hand at characterization and her wit. I also thought the movie makers just didn’t “get it.”

Some of the discussion was around these issues:

1. Is Northanger Abbey a romance? Not really. It was more a character growth story, but more so a satire on the gothic novels of the period, specifically The Mysteries of Udolpho.

2. The film makers didn’t get the wit and satire in the story. The 1987 version changed the whole tone of the story. They did their best, though, to intensify the romance elements.

2. If Northanger Abbey were a romance, then Henry Tilney would not have made it as a romance hero, but in this story, he was the nicest guy in the book. The movie makers embellished Henry to make him more alpha-like.

Getting together with like-minded people, discussing topics like Jane Austen and romance writing is a wonderful pleasure. Each time I attend a meeting like this, I feel renewed and rejuvenated!

(Risky Regencies did a similar Northanger Abbey discussion several years ago, led by our talented Cara King. See here and here.)

What’s rejuvenating you today?

Posted in Jane Austen, Writing | 1 Reply

Twelfth Day

Updated on January 6, 2014 by Diane Gaston

Today is Twelfth Day, the day after Twelfth Night and the traditional end to the Christmas festivities. Twelfth Day or the Epiphany marks the day the wise men arrived to present their gifts to the baby Jesus.

During the Regency, Twelfth Night, the eve of the Epiphany, would have been a time for parties and balls, for drinking wassail. One feature of such parties would be a cake into which a bean was baked. Whoever found the bean became the Lord of Misrule.

In preparation for Twelfth Night, the confectioners shops put on elaborate displays of Twelfth Night cakes, which could cost anywhere from several guineas to a few shillings. In Chambers Book of Days, he states: “We remember to have seen a huge Twelfth-cake in the form of a fortress, with sentinels and flags; the cake being so large as to fill two ovens in baking.”

Chambers also tells of another Twelfth Night tradition. In 1795, the will of comedian Robert Baddeley made a bequest of one hundred pounds to provide cake and punch each year to the performers at Drury Lane Theatre. It is a tradition that continues at the theatre today.

On Twelfth Day all Christmas decorations the traditional day to remove all your Christmas decorations. In Regency times all the greenery gathered to decorate the house would be taken down and burned. To leave decorations up after this date would be considered bad luck.

I took down and packed away all my decorations last Friday.

Have you taken your decorations down yet?

A Marriage of Notoriety is now available in ebook as well as paperback.

Posted in History, Regency | Tagged Twelfth Night | 4 Replies

Omigosh!

Updated on December 30, 2013 by Diane Gaston

I totally forgot it was Monday!

It was a lovely Christmas! I hope yours was, as well.

I’m just back from Williamsburg, visiting the in-laws. We had a gathering of our whole family, including the cutest grandson EVER. He’s now 6 mos old and the current love of my life. So please excuse me for forgetting my blog day.

It has been a holiday season with almost no Regency tie-in. I have been re-reading Northanger Abbey in preparation for Kathy Gilles Seidel’s annual Austen workshop for Washington Romance Writers on January 11.

Tomorrow I’m anticipating two parties – lunch and an evening party. For the evening party, I’m supposed to bring something. Wouldn’t it be funny if I brought a Regency dish?

What should it be??

(Happy New Year, everyone!)

Posted in Jane Austen, Risky Regencies | Tagged new year's eve | 3 Replies

Regency Gifts

Updated on December 23, 2013 by Diane Gaston

It is too late for me to put anything on my Christmas list–Christmas is only two days away, yipes–but there is nothing to stop me from dreaming, is there?

So I might as well dream about receiving Regency gifts.

One item I would love to have is a Regency era nightgown. A reproduction of one, I mean. The nice thing is, I could probably get one of these someday. Here’s a particularly lovely one, from White Nightie.

I once had a nightgown something like this one. A college friend gave it to me. It had been her grandmother’s. I loved that nightgown and wore it for years until it wore out.

I’ve always wanted a piece of Regency era furniture. A pretty chest of drawers or something. This piece on ebay would do very nicely, I think. It would be lovely to furnish a home with such furniture, although I’d opt for modern beds and sofas. And electric lighting.