Weekend Links

 

Happy (just past) longest day of the year!  Be sure and check out my giveaway post, and here's a few things to read...

2000 year old Roman face cream

A "Debo" Devonshire fashion collection from Erdem!

Must-see films that celebrate Paris

Much Ado About First Folios

Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815

8 Ways to create your own Bridgerton inspired garden

RIP Donald Sutherland

Contest time!

 We just moved in at our new house in January, and I am finding sooo many hidden treasures!  So let's have a giveaway.  There are several Ausen movie DVDs (plus one P&P 2005 poster I found at a yard sale!  Just a bit creased).  I have several of my own titles, autographed, and a bio of Princess Margaret.

More contests to come!

Just sign up to join my rarely-sent newsletter (I'm lazy, but they do have info on upcoming releases, historical tidbits, contests) at my website.  (You'll also receive a free 1920s novella, "The Girl in the Beaded Mask"!  If you're already subscribed, you're automatically entered)

Thanks so much for helping me clean out the new house!!!

The lives of Regency vicar's daughters

 I have a few blog posts left over from a tour I had when The Earl's Cinderella Countess was released!  This one was lots of fun--a bit of discussion on the lives of vicars' daughters....

The question I was asked is—what was life like for a vicar’s daughter in the Regency? Since I am a research junkie, I love this question! Eleanor (Ella) and her sister Mary (who will be the heroine of the next book in the series!) are in a slightly different situation, since their mother died when they were young and Ella took over many of the responsibilities of the vicarage. When I first started this book, my knowledge of clergy life in the 18th/early 19^th century was mostly from Charlotte Lucas (ewww, Mr. Collins! But she did seem to enjoy the job itself, having her own house and helping parishioners), and Mrs. Elton from Emma, who didn’t seem to do much besides be snobby and form musical societies. (Plus the Brontes, of course, though Patrick Bronte’s parish was very different from that of the St. Aubins’ father in my book, since Haworth was poor and industrial). So I enjoyed diving into it all a bit more.

A vicar’s wife would, like most women of the time, keep her household. If her husband had a good living (like Mr. Collins, thanks to Lady Catherine de Bourgh!), it could be quite substantial, with a rather large staff, a nice garden, chances to entertain. If it was poorer, like the Brontes, she might take on some of the more menial chores herself, but this was a position of respect and authority in the neighborhood. The wife (or, in my story, daughter) of the vicar would visit the poor and sick, counsel with them, bring them hampers, coo over new babies, witness weddings, keep her husband apprised of what’s going on with parishoners. She would also attend parties, charm the local gentry, organize church events like fetes, the flower roster, childrens’ activities. It was a big job!

Ella St. Aubin has been in love with Frederick Fleetwood, the younger son of their neighbor the Earl, since they were children, but never expected that she, the daughter of a vicar (who probably owes his living to Fred’s father!) could marry him. And she has to take over her mother’s role in housekeeping and parish duties, as well as looking after her younger sister, so is kept busy while Fred goes into the Army. Things change when they grow up, though!

Amanda Vickery’s The Gentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian England is a great source for more about women’s roles in the period! It’s a fascinating time….

Weekend Links

 

Happy June, everyone!  It's getting warmer here, and my tomatoes are finally growing in their new garden beds, yay.  I also have at least 3 books in process, so am wanting to tear out my hair and procrastinate by organizing shelves.  So here's some distractions for today!

The Worst Dads in Literature (Happy Father's Day, everyone!)

Are There Still Mysteries in Pari

Francoise Hardy's French Girl Style

Six Lives

A new adaptation of "The Decameron"

How French winemakers outwitted the Nazis

The Lemon Drop is this summer's "it" cocktail

Obsolete occupations from the Middle Ages