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Remembering Bath

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Since we’ve just started our Venetia read this week I wanted to tell you a bit more about my aunts Phyl and Nell who introduced me to Heyer.

They were both born about a century ago in London, with my father (now 99!) as the baby of the family. Their parents were of Irish descent, their mother (my g-grandmother) was in service according to the 1901 census and their father a maker of brass musical instruments. Neither of my aunts married. They shared houses and when I was a child we visited them in their wonderful house in Bath, on Lansdown Place West. This may be their house, I can’t read the house number.

Lansdown Place West is the continuation of Lansdown Crescent, one of the most beautiful pieces of Georgian architecture in the city, constructed between 1789 and 1793 and designed by architect John Palmer. It’s higher than the more famous Royal Crescent, with an amazing view of the city.

In front of Lansdown Crescent is a field still used for grazing, one of the original design features of the Royal Crescent (and possibly other places too)–the idea being that you’d have the pleasures of the town with the healthful idyll of country life.

The only (so far as I know) famous, or infamous, occupant of Lansdown Crescent was William Beckford who lived at number 19 and 20 (the ones with the imposing frontage). The houses have four floors, servants’ quarters in the basement, and mews behind the Crescent.

My aunts showed me the city of Bath. They took me to tea at the Pump Room and Sally Lunn’s, boat rides on the river, tours of the Roman Baths, and walks around the city. There was a shop, now moved to a different location in the Guildhall, Gillards of Bath, which was very little changed from Victorian times. Loose tea, stored in massive metal containers, was measured on scales, tipped onto a sheet of brown paper, and folded into a miraculous neat cube, tied with string.

My aunts loved Heyer, Austen and Georgian/Regency architecture, fashions, and furniture long before they became popular, and picked up antiques for a song at jumble sales. They taught me it’s possible to fall in love with a place and I certainly fell in love with Bath, thanks to them. They even suggested I write, although at the time I thought it was a weird idea.

Their house on Lansdown Place West became too much for them–all those stairs and continual maintenance, so they moved to an early eighteenth-century house in Batheaston (lots of stairs and continual maintenance) a few miles east of the city. Again, this may or may not be their house but it’s very close!

I’m so grateful for what they gave me.

Who were your mentors for writing or any other passion?

Posted in Jane Austen | Tagged , , | 7 Replies

Risky Read Along – Venetia Chapters 1-7

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Woot!! The read along begins. I am SO looking forward to everyone’s thoughts and remarks.

I’ll jump right in with some of my initial thoughts, in no particular order, right after I confess that I finished the book a couple of days after I started it. At the moment, I am pretending I have read only to chapter 7.

Favorite lines

There were a lot that I loved, including the very first line:

“A fox got in amongst the hens last night, and ravished our best layer,” remarked Miss Lanyon.

This happened out here at Jewel central except the fox ate all most ALL our layers. And one of the roosters. Also, no Lord Damerel has shown up so far.

But really, the use of the word ravished absolutely floored me. What kind of proper young Miss says that? And then, what does that sly comment reveal about her? She used ravished when she could have said ate. The sentence is utterly sexualized, and not just because of the ravishing. The fox inserted itself amidst numerous hens and yet, despite this orgiastic behavior, it took only the best. What a sly fox!

Heyer chose her words carefully and this sentence proves it. It’s a lovely set up for the framework of the novel. Damerel = the fox. Venetia = the best layer.  [Do you agree? Disagree? Am I full of baloney on this one?]

From the first sentence we know the speaker is clever, amusing and perhaps bold. We can also guess that she is among friends. A young lady of the Regency clever enough to turn this phrase won’t utter it unless she knows it will be properly received.

So, I can firmly say that I fell in love with Venetia (the character) from the very first sentence.  I want to be Venetia when I grow up.

Oh, the build up to Damerel’s appearance! I was getting impatient for him to show up, and honestly, in my copy, he physically appears on page 30 which isn’t all that long to wait. I would have skipped pages to get there only I loved Venetia too much to do that.

And then he kisses her! What?! I was astonished. I didn’t expect that he’d act PRECISELY as he’d been described. He didn’t behave with a noble bone (ahem!) in his body. And Venetia, she handles him so beautifully — true to her spirit. Poor Damerel, a goner before page 36.

By the end of chapter 7, the henhouse has been moved to Priory. Oh, my!

A Few Quibbles and Questions

I found the language to be a bit dense at time and so full of slang that some phrases I only guessed at by context. Sometimes there were several in a row, all denoting pretty much the same idea so, (whispering) I felt perhaps Heyer might have been showing off her research.

Another issue that kept coming up for me was the name of Edward’s estate: Netherfold. Am I the only one with a dirty mind? Or who kept thinking of Netherfield in Pride & Predjudice? To my mind, the former name emasculates Edward while the latter name simply makes the P&P estate seem far away. Once again, I think Heyer (and Austen) chose carefully.

I think there were similarities to P&P. There aren’t many (in terms of plot) but for me, they were quite marked — the language for one. I felt I could be reading Austen, which is never a bad thing. One similarity I saw was the impact of an ineffectual father and then elder brother who lays the real responsibilities on the competent daughter/sibling and who may well end up paying a price for their inattention to her. Though at least she had money as Lizzy Bennett did not.

I think that’s more than enough to get us started. What did you think? Favorite lines? Agreement or disagreement with anything I’ve mentioned? Things that struck you as you read?

Go!

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | 28 Replies

Happy St. Patrick’s Day (early)!

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Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s day, yay! It’s been a busy holiday for me this year. I attended the North Texas Irish Festival weekend before last to sign copies of Countess of Scandal and listen to some great music. Last weekend was our local parade and another booksigning–in a pub! (Every booksigning should be in a pub, it makes them way more fun than usual…). Today I’m talking to a local history group about the 1798 Rebellion, and tomorrow a party. But today we’re having a party at the Riskies!

St. Patrick’s Day was only “officially” placed on the universal liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church in the early 17th century, thanks to the efforts of a Waterford-born Franciscan scholar named Luke Wadding, but it was unofficially celebrated in the local Irish churches and in homes from a much earlier date. It’s a holy day of obligation for Irish Catholics (but if it falls on a Friday, the Lenten obligation to abstain from meat doesn’t bind on that day, so bring on the corned beef and lamb stew!). It became a public holiday in 1903, and the first parade in the Irish Free State was held in 1931. In the mid-1990s, the Irish government wisely realized St. Patrick’s Day was the perfect time to showcase Ireland and its culture and increase tourism. They formed the St. Patrick’s Festival, first held March 17, 1996. It was so popular it became a 3-day event the next year, and by 2006 lasted 5 days, with approximately 675,000 visitors. The second-largest Festival is in Downpatrick, County Down, where St. Patrick is rumored to be buried after his death in 461. 30,000 people attended their parade in recent years. Large parades and parties are also held in Belfast, Cork, Derry, Galway, Kilkenny, Limerick, and Waterford.

And the US isn’t left out of all the fun, of course! The first parade was held way back in 1737, in Boston. Other early parades included New York (1762), Philadelphia (1771), New Orleans (any excuse for a party! 1809), and Savannah (1813). In 1780, General George Washington allowed his troops a holiday on March 17 “as an act of solidarity with the Irish in their fight for independence,” which became known as the St. Patrick’s Day Encampment of 1780. (This now seems to be re-enacted on every college campus in the country on March 17!).

So everyone get out their green t-shirts and Chieftains CDs for our Riskies St. Patrick’s Party! Here is what you need for your dinner–shepherd’s pie, soda bread, and a shamrock-tini:

Easy Shepherd’s Pie (aka So Easy Even Amanda Can Make It):
1 1/2 lbs ground round beef
1 small onion chopped
1/2 cups vegetables (chopped carrots, corn, peas)
1 1/2 lbs potatoes (or 3 large ones)
8 tbsp butter
1/2 beef broth
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Salt, pepper, seasonings to taste

1) Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes)
2) While they’re cooking, melt 4 tbsp butter in large frying pan
3) Saute onions in butter until tender over medium heat (about 10 minutes). Add vegetables according to cooking time. Put carrots in with onions, add corn and peas either at the end of cooking onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.
4) Add ground beef and saute until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add Worcestershire sauce. Add 1/2 cup broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more broth as needed to keep it moist.
5) Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste
6) Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely.
7) Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Easy Soda Bread (my grandmother’s recipe!)
4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp soda
2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375
Grease a round pan. Mix ingredients thoroughly before kneading into a ball
Cut a cross into the top and bake for 50-60 minutes
Serve with fresh butter and a Guinness!

Shamrock-tini
1 1/2 oz melon vodka
1 ox melon liqueur (like Midori)
Splash of orange juice

Pour the vodka, Midori, and orange juice into a cocktail shaker. Add crushed ice and let stand for 5 seconds. Shake vigorously for another 5 seconds, strain into a martini glass and garnish with an orange slice!

For dessert, here is a great recipe forNigella Lawson’s Guinness Chocolate Cake! And you have a party…

And, speaking of nothing to do with St. Patrick’s Day, I got a new cover yesterday! This is for the third of the “Muses of Mayfair,” Thalia’s story To Kiss a Count, out in June! They look quite a bit like the Thalia and Marco in my mind, and her dress is soooo pretty, but I’m still trying to figure out that parasol… (The prequel to this series, To Bed a Libertine, is still available at Harlequin Historical Undone! It’s not Irish, either, but it does feature a Greek Muse who likes a good party)

What are your St. Patrick’s Day plans? What are some of your favorite Irish-set books (or any good books you’ve read lately! I’m in a bit of a reading slump and need to find something new…)

Posted in Risky Regencies | Tagged | 10 Replies

Who was Georgette Heyer?

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This week we start our discussion of Georgette Heyer’s Venetia, led by Carolyn. I’ve already read the first seven chapters and then some.


Georgette Heyer, 1902-1974, is credited with creating the Regency Romance, even now the most popular historical romance genre. Heyer’s first book came about when she was 19. She created The Black Moth, a Georgian story, as a way to entertain an ill brother. It was the start of a wonderful career of writing both Georgian/Regency novels and mysteries.

Heyer tended to depreciate the importance of her works. She wrote of one of her books to her editors:

“I think myself I ought to be shot for writing such nonsense, but it’s questionably good escapist literature and I think I should rather like it if I were sitting in an air-raid shelter, or recovering from flu. Its period detail is good; my husband says it’s witty—and without going to these lengths, I will say that it is very good fun.”


Reviewers also did not take her work seriously, dismissing her books as “froth.”

Still, Heyer was very serious about crafting her works. Her historical novels were based on impeccable research and her interpretation of the Regency world has formed the basis of the traditional regency genre (in my opinion), even though we now know Heyer did not always get it right and, to ferret out plagiarists, she is known to have inserted historical facts of her own creation.

Heyer was married to a mining engineer turned barrister. She had one son (who became a judge). She was an intensely private person. No book tours and publicity appearances for her.

The Private World of Georgette Heyer by Jane Aiken Hodge is a lovely biography of Heyer’s life. You can read her introduction here.

One of the vignettes Hodge writes of was how carefully Heyer researched the battle of Waterloo for An Infamous Army, claiming, for instance, that all of Wellington’s dialogue in the book was actually spoken or written by him. Around the time Heyer wrote An Infamous Army, she took her young son to the National Army Museum in Chelsea where Siborne diorama of the Waterloo battle is displayed. As she stood there explaining the battle to her son, a crowd gathered to listen, amazed that this mere woman spoke so knowledgeably. Little did they know they were in the presence of greatness!

In my 2005 trip to London we visited the National Army Museum. As I examined the diorama, I thought of Heyer explaining the battle to her son. The difference was, I knew I was standing where a great woman had stood.

I cannot wait to begin our discussion of Venetia!!! Be sure to join us for it!

What do you know of Georgette Heyer’s life? If you could, what would you like to ask her?

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 22 Replies
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