Cover Fun!

So I got a new box of books this week!  I do love it when I open those boxes and see the nice, shiny piles of real, live books and see all that hard work pay off.  I also really love the cover on this one.  Harlequin says the inspiration comes from this Les Mis poster--what do you think??

The Runaway Countess, Book One of The Bancrofts of Barton Park, is out in September!  You can pre-order it here at Amazon now... (if you'd like an advance copy for review let me know)

And if you are going to be at RWA next week, look for me there!  I will probably be in the bar....

Cover reveal!

It's new cover time!!  I always have a suspenseful moment just before opening a new cover file (will I hate it??  will it be hideous??), and I love this one.  "The Runaway Countess" (my first attempt at a "marriage in trouble" storyline) is out in September...

 

Wed to wickedness 

In Society's eyes, Hayden Fitzwalter, Earl of Ramsay and Jane Bancroft have the perfect marriage. But what can't be seen are the secrets hidden behind closed doors. Believing Hayden will never renounce his dissolute ways, Jane flees to her family's dilapidated estate in the country.

Years later, Hayden now longs to win back the only woman who has ever touched his heart. But first he has to convince her that this rogue is ready to be tamed….

BANCROFTS OF BARTON PARK 
Two sisters, two scandals, two sizzling love affairs

Pre-order from Amazon....

 

HOTW: Juliette Recamier

Today we'll take a look at the great French society leader, salonier, beauty, and patron of arts (not to mention cover subject for many a historical novel!), Juliette Recamier, who died May 11, 1849.

She was born Jeanette-Francoise Julie Adelaide Bernard to royal notary Jean Bernard and his beautiful wife Marie Julie in Lyon, where she was educated at the Convent de la Deserte before the family moved to Paris.  The family's fortunes went down during the Revolution, and she was married at the age of 15 to wealthy banker and family friend Jacques-Rose Recamier (the rumor had it that he had an affair with her mother and Juliette was his natural daughter, but this was never proven...).  Recamier himself said "I am not in love with her, but I feel for her a genuine and tender attachment which convinces me that this interesting creature will be a partner who will ensure the happiness of my whole life and, judging by my own desire to ensure her happiness, of which I can see she is absolutely convinced, I have no doubt that the benefit will be reciprocal .... She possesses germs of virtue and principle such as are seldom seen so highly developed at so early an age ; she is tender-hearted, affectionate, charitable and kind, beloved in her home-circle and by all who know her"

The marriage was never consumated, but Juliette kept herself busy with a popular salon that was crowded with artistic and political stars of the day.  Her health was never very good, so she often reclined on the low sofa now called a "recamier" in her honor, but that didn't stop the conversation.  She had a long romance with Francois-Rene Chateaubriand, the writer, politician, and historian often considered to be the founder of French literary Romanticism.  She had other admirers, including the duc de Montmorency, Lucien Bonaparte, Prince Augustus of Prussia, and the baron de Barante.

But one person who didn't admire her was Napoleon, especially considering her friendship with Germaine de Stael and her refusal to be a lady-in-waiting to Empress Josephine.  She was exiled from Paris, traveling to rome and Naples, and to stay with Madame de Stael in Switzerland (where they came up with a scheme for her to divorce in order to marry Prince Augustus, but it never worked out).  Sadly, she lost much of her fortune late in life, but still carried on her famous salon from her apartment at the convent of L'Abbaye-aux-Bois, until she died of cholera in 1849 and was buried in Montmarte.

Her style is still influential, especially to those of us who love the Regency period!  Everyone knows her image, even those who don't know who she was...

A few sources for her eventful life:
Eduoard Herriot, Madame Recamier (1906)
H. Noel Williams, Madame Recamier and her Friends (1901)
Stephane Paccoud, Juliette Recamier: Muse et mecene (2009)

Book Signing Info

If you're in the Oklahoma City area, I'm going to be doing a signing at Full Circle books with 7 other fabulous authors this Saturday (May 11) from 3 to 5...come and say hi :)

http://www.fullcirclebooks.com/events.aspx

HOTW: Eleanora Duse

For this weekend's heroine, we're going to take a quick look at Italian actress Eleanora Duse, who died on April 21, 1924, and was known in her time as a great innovator in the theater (and whose style is still very influential!)

Duse was born in Lombary October 3, 1858, and was literally an actor all her life--her father and grandfather had a troupe, and she started appearing regularly onstage from the age of 4.  As she grew older, she toured Europe, South America, the US, and Russia, gathering fame wherever she went as well as reputation for a naturalistic style (which she called "elimination of the self," a disappearing into a role).  She became best-known for her roles in plays by Ibsen and d'Annunzio.

As well as a very busy life onstage, she had a turbulent love life.  After an affair with journalist Martino Cafiero, which ended after a stillborn child followed soon after by Cafiero's own death, she married actor Teobaldo Checchi in 1881 (they had one daughter, but the marriage ended in divorce when Duse fell in love with another actor, Flavio Ando).  After Ando, there was poet (and Verdi librettist) Arrigo Boito.  Around the same time she started her own troupe, which added management responsibility onto her acting and made her already poor health worse.  Her affair with playwright Gabriele d'Annunzio (which was both professional and romantic) ended when he gave the lead role in his new play La Citta more to her great rival Sarah Bernhardt.  (Unlike Bernhardt, who was flamboyant and loved attention, Duse was very private and low-key, both in her life and her acting style.  She said, "If I had my will, I would live in a ship on the sea and never come nearer to humanity than that!"  Among others, Shaw and Chekov preferred Duse).  Later in life she had affairs with women, including Italian suffragist Lina Poletti, and possibly Isadora Duncan)

On a US tour in 1896, Duse was received by President and Mrs. Cleveland (who caused a scandal by inviting a--gasp!--actress to tea at the White House).  She was painted by Sargent, and the first woman on the cover of Time, among other successes.  She retired in 1909 (though she did give a few performances in 1921), and became known as a great mentor to younger performers and writers (including Martha Graham).  She said the meaning of life and art was "To help, to continually help and share, that is the sum of all knowledge; that is the meaning of art."

She suffered from bad health all her life, made worse by constant touring, and died in Pittsburgh on a US tour in 1924.  Her body lay in state for a few days in New York City before being sent back to her home in Asolo, where she was buried in the cemetery of Sant'Anna, which is still a pilgrimage site for theater lovers.

A couple sources on her fascinating life:
William Weaver, Duse: A Biography (1984)
Helen Sheehy, Eleanora Duse: a biography (2003)

Spring Cleaning!

This weekend I started a much-needed clean-out of my garage, and found boxes and boxes full of back copies of my books which need new homes!  So in the next few weeks I am doing a series of giveaways, starting today with book one of my "Scandalous St. Claires" series, One Naughty Night.  I will give away ten copies to the first ten people to leave their contact info in comments....

(And if you like it and leave a review on Amazon, I will also send you a copy of Two Scandalous Secrets!)

(Also, if you know where I could send some foreign language copies, let me know...)

One Naughty Night at Amazon....

HOTW: Juana of Castile

For this weekend's heroine we're taking a brief look at one of the saddest figures in history, Juana of Castile (Juana La Loca), who died on April 12, 1555...

Juana was born in Toledo on November 6, 1479, the 3rd child (2nd daughter) of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile (whose marriage brought the 2 kingdoms into personal, but not official, union, which would have immense consequences for poor Juana).  She was well-educated, not just in court etiquette, dancing, music, and religious studies, but also in languages, to prepare her for an important marriage.  She was also said to be pretty, with reddish hair, pale skin, and blue eyes (much like her youngest sister Catalina, who would go on to become Catherine of Aragon, queen of England!)  In 1496, she was betrothed to Philip of Burgundy (Philip the Handsome), son of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, and Duchess Mary of Burgundy (not really the greatest of marriages at first, since she was just a duchess and not a queen like her sisters, but with potential).  The proxy marriage took place in August, and she set out on a long journey to Flanders, where the official wedding took place on October 20.  She had 6 children, 2 emperors and 4 queens, but the marriage was an infamously bad one, passionate but stormy and unhappy, marred by her husband's blatant infidelities and his abusive treatment of her.

An unexpected series of deaths in her birth family (her brother Juan and his posthumous stillborn child, followed by her older sister Isabella and her son) left Juana the heir to Castile after her mother, and Aragon as well.  In 1502, she and her husband traveled back to Spain where she was named Princess of Asturias (the official title of the heir), and where she stayed to give birth to her latest child when Philip went back to Flanders.  She was torn between her birth family, especially her mother (who was astute enough to be very concerned about her daughter's health and terrible marriage) and her husband, but eventually returned to Philip.  Isabella died in 1504, leaving Juana Queen of Castile--and leaving Ferdinand very unhappy to have lost half his power, and to a mere daughter at that!  He remarried to try and have another male heir, which did not work out, and started plotting against his daughter.  (He lost his monarchical status in Castile although his wife's will permitted him to govern in Joanna's absence or, if Joanna was unwilling to rule herself, until Joanna's heir reached the age of 20, but this wasn't good enough for him).  He persuaded the Cortes that Joanna's "illness is such that the said Queen Doña Joanna our Lady cannot govern". The Cortes then appointed Ferdinand as Joanna's guardian and the kingdom's administrator and governor.

Philip was also not happy about this, not wanting to give up any power to his father-in-law.  The couple left for Spain in January 1506, but storms sent them to England, where Juana got to see her sister Catherine one more time.  They didn't arrive in Spain until April, when civil war was looming in Castile. Philip apparently considered landing in Andalusia and summoning the nobles to take up arms against Ferdinand in Aragon. Instead, he and Joanna landed at on 26 April and the Castilian nobility abandoned Ferdinand. Ferdinand met Philip on 20 June 1506 and handed over the government of Castile to his "most beloved children", promising to retire to Aragon. Philip and Ferdinand then signed a second treaty, agreeing that Joanna's mental instability made her incapable of ruling and promising to exclude her from government. Ferdinand then proceeded to repudiate the agreement the same afternoon, declaring that Joanna should never be deprived of her rights as Queen Proprietress of Castile. A fortnight later, having come to no fresh agreement with Philip and thus effectively retaining his right to interfere if he considered his daughter's rights to have been infringed upon, he abandoned Castile for Aragon, leaving Philip to govern in Joanna's stead.

This didn't last very long.  Philip died on Sept. 25, 1506 of typhoid (though there were rumors of poison), and Juana's attempts to rule on her own at a time of famine, plague, low funds, and public unrest, ended in disaster.  Her father was named administrator of Castile in 1510 (though Juana was always considered queen regnant, she had no official powers), and he confined her to the convent of Santa Clara in Tordesillas (which was the sight of some of the most dramatic tales of her life--it was said she carried her husband's coffin there with her, sometimes stopping to open it and take a look at him).  At the convent she was allowed to have her youngest daughter with her, but was closely confined and looked after by a staff appointed by her father, who reported to him.

After her father's death in 1516, her oldest son, 17-year-old Charles (eventually Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor) took over the ruling of Castile and Aragon, and kept his mother just as closely confined.  (He wrote to the convent, Charles wrote to the Convent of Santa Clara caretakers: "It seems to me that the best and most suitable thing for you to do is to make sure that no person speaks with Her Majesty, for no good could come from it").  There was a brief possibility of revolt, which came to nothing, and her condition deteriorated.  She died at age 75 and was buried in the Royal Chapel at Granada with her parents and husband.

It's now thought she suffered from clinical depression (exacerbated by an unhappy marriage and long years of unwilling imprisonment) and possibly schizophrenia, inherited from her maternal grandmother Isabella of Portugal, who also spent years suffering under severe mental illness.

A couple of interesting sources on Juana's sad life (she also features in many novels and a recent movie, Mad Love):
Maria Gomez, Juana of Castile: History and Myth of the Mad Queen (2008)
Julia Fox, Sister Queens: The Noble, Tragic Lives of Catherine of Aragon and Juana Queen of Castile (2012)

Heroine of the Weekend

I'm re-starting my Heroine of the Weekend posts with a look at Queen Victoria's most unconventional daughter, Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, who was born March 18, 1848!  As well as being the most beautiful of the princesses, she was a talented artist and sculptor as well as a supporter of the suffragist movement and women's rights.

Princess Louise Caroline Alberta was born at Buckingham Palace, the 6th child and 4th daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, in the middle of a year of revolutionary upheaval in Europe, which led her mother to say Louise would surely turn out to be "something peculiar".  She was always lively and vivacious--her family nickname was "Little Miss Why," and her artistic talent was recognized early on.  She was even allowed to attend classes at the National Art Training School in South Kensington, and even though as a royal she could never be a professional she later sculpted many memorials, among them a memorial to the Boer War and one for her brother-in-law Prince Henry of Battenberg, as well as a famous sculpture of her mother now at Kensington Gardens.

Her liveliness was strained after the death of her father in 1861, when the royal court went into prolonged mourning.  She wasn't allowed a debutante ball, as her older sisters had, and she was bored and dissatisfied.  She served for a time as her mother's personal secretary, writing letters and attending to duties Victoria was unable to.  Her mother, who had sometimes despaired of her pretty, energetic daughter, said, "She is (and who would some years ago have thought it?) a clever dear girl with a fine strong character, unselfish and affectionate."

After an unsuitable attachment to her brother's tutor, a clergyman who late became Canon of Westminster Abbey, and proposed marriages to the Crown Prince of Denmark, Prince Albert of Prussia, and William, Prince of Orange (all shot down by her mother!), Louise decided she wanted to break with tradition and marry a British subject, John, Marquess of Lorne, heir to the Duke of Argyll.  Her brother, the Prince of wales, objected, but Queen Victoria liked the idea of "new blood," writing to her son:

"That which you object to [that Louise should marry a subject] I feel certain will be for Louise's happiness and for the peace and quiet of the family ... Times have changed; great foreign alliances are looked on as causes of trouble and anxiety, and are of no good. What could be more painful than the position in which our family were placed during the wars with Denmark, and between Prussia and Austria? ... You may not be aware, as I am, with what dislike the marriages of Princesses of the Royal Family with small German Princes (German beggars as they most insultingly were called) ... As to position, I see no difficulty whatever; Louise remains what she is, and her husband keeps his rank ... only being treated in the family as a relation when we are together .. "

Louise and Lorne were married on March 21, 1871 at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, where she wore a lace veil of her own design.  The couple had no children, and though happy at first were later estranged.  Lorne was the only royal son-in-law with his own political career, and in 1878 was made Governor General of Canada.  Louise was homesick in Ottawa, appalled at the "rough" accomodations at Rideau Hall.  But she redecorated, became a social sensation in Canada, enjoyed the outdoors activities like skating and sleighing, and was patron of several charities as well as founder of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts.  After a serious sleigh accident on February 14, 1880, her health was never quite the same, and she spent more and more time in England, apart from her husband.  Lorne returned to England in 1883, where his hopes of growing a larger political career were frustrated and the marriage grew more remote.

Louise moved into the apartment at Kensington Palace where she lived for the rest of her life, and became preoccupied with her own artistic work, as well as family quarrels (especially with her sister Beatrice, who thought Louise was too close to her own husband, the handsome Prince Henry of Battenberg).  She became obsessed with physical fitness and diet (her family made fun of her for it, but she lived longer--and looked better--than any of them!).  She also became interested in women's suffrage, and made a point to patronize female physicians.

Her husband was in failing health and declining finances from 1911, and she was reconciled to him and nursed him until his death in 1914.  After World War I she mostly retired, except for some charity work. and lived at Kensington next door to her reconciled sister Beatrice.  She died Dec. 3, 1939, and was the first royal to be cremated.  Her ashes were first deposited at the Royal Crypt at St. George's, but were then moved to Frogmore with her siblings and parents.  Her sculptures can still be seen in London, a monument to a princess who lived her own life within the strict restraints of her birth and times.

For more info, Jehanne Wake has a great biography of the princess, Princess Louise: Queen Victoria's Unconventional Daughter (1988)

New Heroines!

So it's been MUCH too long since I posted on this blog, and I have been missing it!  Especially my Heroine of the Weekend posts.  So I have decided to once again start choosing an interesting historical woman to feature each weekend--and maybe once in a while have another post as well.  I just need a little help getting back into the swing of blogging things.  I've started by freshening things up here, posting pics of my latest releases, etc etc.  But who would you like to see featured in the next few weeks???  (for an idea of the kinds of Heroine posts I do, check out the links list of past Heroines...)

Hottie Monday

 What better way to celebrate a holiday weekend than the return of Hottie Monday??  This week's Hottie--Johnny Flynn, English indie musician and actor (he is revisiting his award-winning Viola in Mark Rylance's all-male Twelfth Night, which I wish I could see...)

 

Winner!

Thanks to the scary-stormy weekend here in my neck of the woods, I am waaay behin in choosing a winner for my "Rogue" drawing! The winner is....Rosa Alday. Congrats and I hope you enjoy the book...

Contest!

I have been a BAD blogger! But I am going to start posting here regularly again, and I also received a big box of copies of my May release, The Taming of the Rogue. So to celebrate--contest! Just send me an email to amccabe7551 AT yahoo.com and tell me what you love about the Elizabethan period (or about this gorgeous cover!). I will run the contest over the weekend and have a winner by next Tuesday...

(You can also read more about this book on my website...)

Heroine of the Weekend

Since today is my birthday, it seemed like a good time to get organized and start doing some blog posts again!! I'm going to start by adding in some new Heroines, since I have missed them. Today's Heroine is Bertha Morisot, born on January 14, 1841.

Morisot was born in Bourges, to a well-to-do and respectable family who nevertheless encouraged their daughters Berthe and Edma in their pursuit of art. (Edma married young and gave up painting, while Berthe was more ambitious). Berthe first studied with Barbizon School artist Camilly Corot, who encouraged her interest in plein-air landscape painting, and later with Edouard Manet, who became one of her greatest friends and colleagues and who used her as his model many times (there are rumors of romance, but no proof has come to light...)

Her first appearance in the prestigious Salon was in 1864, with 2 landscapes. She continued to show at the Salon, to mostly positive reactions, until she joined up with the rebellious Inpressionists in 1873. Her light, free style fit well with their aesthetic, though like the other female Impressionist Mary Cassat she mostly painted images of her own milieu of intimate domestic life, women in their homes, and landscapes.

In 1874 she married Edouard Manet's brother Eugene and had one daughter, Julie. She died of pneumonia on March 2, 1895 and was buried in the Cimetiere de Passy. Her paintings can still be seen in every major museum in the world and are highly sought-after in art auctions...

Some sources on her life:

Anne Higonnet, Berthe Morisot (1995)
Julie Manet, Growing Up With the Impressionists: The Diary of Julie Manet (1987)

Hiatus And New Book

Am on a short hiatus here while I finish some deadlines! But in the meantime check out my new November "Undone!" short story--just in time for the holidays

Heroine of the Weekend

I am off on vacation this weekend, but have to celebrate this week's Heroine--fashion designer Else Schiaparelli, who I love! She was born on this day in either 1890 or 1896 (I found conflicting reports...) Read about her life here and enjoy your weekend!

Heroine of the Weekend

It's a holiday weekend, and I am supposed to be making appetizers for a cookout tonight but have spent too long reading this morning, so no time for a proper Heroine post! But I do want to celebrate the birthday (September 2, 1838) of Liluokalani, last monarch and only Queen Regnant of Hawaii (I loved touring the royal palace in Honolulu on a trip to Hawaii and found the history fascinating....) Check out more about her life here...and have a great holiday!

Heroine of the Weekend

So it's been a while since we've had a Heroine, isn't it? I have been a blog slacker. But I'm getting back into regular posts now, starting with today's look at Anne Hutchinson, early champion of women's rights and religious freedom, who died on August 20, 1643.

Anne Marbury was born in 1591 in Lincolnshire, England, the daughter of a dissident Puritan clergyman whose family was a follower of John Cotton. In 1634 they went with him to North America and settled in Massachusetts. (Anne had married William Hutchinson in August 1612, and they took their children with them to the New World).

But things didn't continue very well once settled. Anne held a Bible study and discussion group in her home, which grew more and more popular as she was reputed to be a charismatic speaker and brilliant thinker (it was mostly women who attended at first, but she soon attracted men to her group, including Sir Henry Vane, who was later a governor of Massachusetts). The group grew to over 80 members and attracted the attention of the authoritarian church elders of the colony. At a time of strict uniformity, Anne expressed her own interpretations of the Bible, as well as her concerns about the lack of women's rights and racial prejudice toward the Native Americans. She was brought to trial in 1637, accused of being an "antinomian heretic". Despite being pregnant with her 15th child she was forced to stand before the judges and face their grilling for days on end (she miscarried). They declared "You have stepped out of your place, you have rather been a husband than a wife, a preacher than a hearer, and a magistrate than a subject." She was excommunicated and banished from the colony, moving with some of her followers to Portsmouth in Rhode Island.

Anne's husband died in 1642, and she moved to Eastchester Bay, which was then part of Dutch New Netherlands. Unfortunately she was caught in a dispute between the Dutch and local Native American tribes and was killed in a native raid in 1643. (One daughter, Susanna, survived, reputedly because of her red hair).

...you have no power over my body, neither can you do me any harme, for I am in the hands of the eternall Jehovah my Saviour, I am at his appointment, the bounds of my habitation are cast in heaven, no further doe I esteeme of any mortal man than creatures in his hand, I feare none but the great Jehovah, which hath foretold me of these things, and I doe verily beleeve that he will deliver me out of our hands, therefore take heed how you proceed against me; for I know that for this you goe about to doe to me, God will ruine you and your posterity, and this whole state.

Some sources on her life:

Robert E. Krieger, Anne Hutchinson: Troubler of the Puritan Zion (1980)

Eve LaPlante, American Jezebel: The Uncommon Life of Anne Hutchinson (2004)

Selma R. Williams, Divine Rebel: The Life of Anne Marbury Hutchinson (1981)

Heroine of the Weekend

We haven't had a Heroine in a couple of weeks! So let's take a look at Maria Anna (Nannerl) Mozart, born on July 30, 1751....

Nannerl, the older sister of Wolfgang, was born in Salzburg, and started learning the harpsichord from her father Leopold when she was about 7, along with her brother. The two of them became a sensation on the European musical tour circuit, visiting cities and royal courts. At first Nannerl was the number one star attraction, but as she got older that changed--"from 1768 onwards she was no longer permitted to show her artistic talent on travels with her brother, as she had reached marriageable age." She still played music in private and for friends, and her brother later wrote a few pieces for her. There is some evidence from his letters that she also composed, but none of her works survive. While he went on more tours she stayed home with her parents.

After her father refused to let her marry her first choice (it seems she was not rebellious at all, unlike her brother!) she married an older, well-to-do magistrate named Johann Sonnenburg, who was already twice widowed and had 5 children. She had three of her own, two daughters (one of whom died in infancy) and a son, who was raised by her father for his first two years. When her husband died in 1801 she returned to Salzburg with her children and taught music. She seems to have lived quietly for the rest of her life, though she did connect with her brother's widow and son later on.

Some sources on her life:
A novel by Alison Bauld, Mozart's Sister (2005)
Maynard Solomon, Mozart: A Life (1995)
Jane Glover, Mozart's Women (2005)

Wednesday

Here's a little something to help me get over the middle-of-the-week doldrums--my fantasy car (plus Richard Hammond, my secret Brit boyfriend....I watched a lot of Top Gear while I was sick...)

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Blog Tour

No Heroine this weekend (stay tuned next weekend!) but I am on a blog tour with Paula Quinn and Sue-Ellen Welfonder, so be sure and visit me on these sites to comment and win fun stuff!!



July 18:

www.seducedbyabook.com www.lovetoreadforfun. com http://maryinhb.blogspot.com http://www.thebookgirl.net http://www.reneesreads.blogspot.com/ http://simplystacie.net http://brokenteepee.com http://cuzinlogic.wordpress.com http://blog.readaholic.info http://booksandmakeup.blogspot.com http://blog.readaholic.info http://justanothernewblog.blogspot.com July 19 http://shamelessromancereviews.blogspot.com mybookaddictionandmore.wordpress.com July 20 http://saveyspender.com www.sosaloha.blogspot.com http://bodicerippernovels.wordpress.com http://ashleysbookshelf.blogspot.com July 21 http://readingwithstyle.blogspot.com http://asthepagesturn.blogspot.com July 22 http://inthehammockblog.blogspot.com Hangingwithbells.blogspot.com http://onebookshy.blogspot.com http://teddyrose.blogspot.com/ July 23 http://marthasbookshelf.blogspot.com/ July 24 http://thefictionenthusiast.blogspot.com sexywomenread.blogspot.com http://juniperrbreeeze.blogspot.com/ rexrobotreviews.com http://thecottagebookshelf.blogspot.com/ http://bookslikebreathing.blogspot.com Lushbookreviewss.blogspot.com www.startingfreshnyc.com http://j-rabbits-corner.blogspot.com http://www.bittenbyparanormalromance.com/

Heroine of the Weekend

Hello everyone! I am finally ending my long, illness-based hiatus with a short Heroine post, just to get myself back in the blogging mindset (and to celebrate feeling better!). Our Heroine is novelist Ann Radcliffe, born July 9, 1764, and considered the founder of the Gothic sub-genre thanks to her vivid use of dramatic landscapes and the supernatural (though the supernatural always had a logical explanation in the end). When I first started reading romances, Gothics were some of my favorites. Give me a cover with a girl in a nightgown running along a moonlit cliff and I was there! And I have Radcliffe to thank for those great reading experiences.

The reason this post will be brief is simply that not much is known about her life beyond the bare facts. In 1823, the year she died, the Edinburgh Review said "She never appeared in public, nor mingled in private society, but kept herself apart." She was born Ann Ward in London, the daughter of a haberdasher, and in 1787 married William Radcliffe, the editor of the English Chronicle, and started writing soon after. The couple had no children, but were said to have a happy marriage. She died on February 7, 1823, probably of asthma.

She published 6 novels in all, the best known of which are probably and The Mysteries of Udolpho and The Romance of the Forest. She was an influence on many other writers, including Walter Scott, Poe, the Shelleys, and Austen (who parodied "Udolpho" in Northanger Abbey).

Most of my info today came from the intro to my copy of Udolpho and from British Authors Before 1800: A Biographical Dictionary (1952, ed. Stanley Kunitz & Howard Haycraft)

Heroine of the Weekend

This weekend's Heroine is photographer Julia Margaret Cameron, born on June 11, 1815! She was pioneer in Victorian photography, and also one of the best sources for historical images of the period we have now...

Cameron was born in Calcutta, to a father who was an official in the British East India Company and a mother who was a beautiful French aristocrat (Julia was considered a bit of an "ugly ducking" with her mother and sisters!). She was educated in France, but then returned to India in 1838 to marry Charles Hay Cameron, who was 20 years her senior. 10 years later they moved to London, where her sister hosted a well-known artistic salon at her home Little Holland House, enabling Julia to meet many luminaries of the day (including Tennyson--she was soon his neighbor on the Isle of Wight).

She came to photography later in life, when her daughter gave her a camera in 1863, but took to the art very quickly. Within just a year she was a member of the Photographic Societies of London and Scotland and photographing her famous friends (such as Darwin, Browning, Tennyson, Millais, and the actress Ellen Terry) as well as her family. Her favored subjects were portraits and allegorical scenes in a Pre-Raphaelite style. She was a meticulous perfectionist who sometimes took hours to get a scene just right. She also registered her works with the copyright office and kept records of them all, which ensured many survived.

In 1875 she and her husband moved to Ceylon, where it was hard for her to find the necessary chemicals for her work. She died there in 1879. She once wrote, "I longed to arrest all the beauty that came before me and at length the longing has been satisfied."

Some sources on her life and work:
Joanne Lukitsh, Julia Margaret Cameron (2001)
Julian Cos and Colin Ford, Julia Margaret Cameron: The Complete Photographs (2003)

Tuesday

Over at the Riskies today, talking about deadlines (eep!) and summer movies...

Housekeeping

So, Lady of Seduction is out this week (eeek! How is it June already?), and I am at two blogs giving away copies and talking about the story right now. SOS Aloha and my own Risky Regencies. Come by and say hi....

Heroine of the Weekend

Our heroine for this last weekend of May is the youngest Bronte sister, Anne, who died on May 28, 1849! Though she is usually overshadowed by her older sisters Charlotte and Emily, her own work is now gaining in appreciation and she's being seen as a literary talent in her own right...

Anne was born, the youngest child of Patrick Bronte (a poor, Irish-born clergyman) and his wife Maria Branwell (daughter of a prosperous Penzance merchant family) on January 17, 1820 in the Yorkshire village of Thornton. Soon after her father took a post at Haworth Parsonage and moved the family to the house that would be their home for the rest of their lives. Her mother died in September 1821, leaving the children to the care of their father and her sister Elizabeth, who moved in to keep house for the family and never left (it was said she didn't get along with the other childern, but Anne was her "pet" of sorts).

The 4 elder daughters, Maria, Elizabeth, Charlotte, and Emily, were sent to the Cowan Bridge School for Clergymen's Daughters in 1824, which proved to be a terrible decision. It was an abusive, unhealthy place, and Maria and Elizabeth died there of TB while Charlotte and Emily were brought home. Anne spent her childhood being taught at home. The siblings were all voracious readers and blessed with vivid imaginations, and they filled their time writing tales of the imaginary kingdoms of Angria and Gondal. Gondal was Emily and Anne's special preserve--they were so close that Charlotte's friend Ellen Nussey said they were "like twins."

Anne was sent to Roe Head school where Charlotte was a teacher when she was 15, her first time away from home (she went to replace Emily, who always broke down when she was sent away from Haworth). She stayed there for two years, a very diligent student who was commended for her good conduct. But Charlotte grew concerned about Anne's health and had her sent home. In 1839, her health recovered, she took a job as governess at Blake Hall, which was not a great success. The children were unruly and spoiled, and Anne came home after less than a year (she later used this as inspiration for her book Agnes Grey). Afetr her return home she may or may not have fallen in love with her father's new curate William Weightman (who may or may not have noticed her in return). He died in 1842 ending any hint of romance in her life.

Anne then took a position as governess at Thorp Green to the 4 children of the wealthy Robinson family (3 daughters and a son). She had the same problem with unruly charges, but gradually became close to the children (two of the daughters still wrote to her after she left the house, and even visited her in 1848). One of the perks of the job was going on holiday with the family to Scarborough, which Anne loved. She also managed to procure a job for her brother Branwell there, as tutor to the son, but he embarked on a scandalous affair with Mrs. Robinson and was sent home in disgrace, where he sank into alcoholism and illness. Anne herself left Thorp Green in June 1845.

That summer all the Bronte siblings were together again, and the sisters came up with a plan to publish a collection of their poetry, which they paid for themselves. It was not a success, but "Fraser's Magazine" published two of Anne's poems, and a new plan was hatched to write novels (under the more masculine names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell). Charlotte wrote The Professor, Emily Wuthering Heights, and Anne Agnes Grey. Charlotte's book was rejected, but Emily's and Anne's were accepted. It proved to be Charlotte who was published first though--her second novel, Jane Eyre, came out to great success and Emily and Anne's publisher (who had been dragging their feet) finally released their books as well, which sold well. (Agnes Grey was rather overshadowed by the scandal of Wuthering Heights!)

Anne's second book, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, came out in June 1848 to a scandal of its own, in its honest depiction of alcoholism and sexual depravity, and a heroine who left her husband. It was very shocking (though successeful!) and Anne wrote this in defense of her book:

"When we have to do with vice and vicious characters, I maintain it is better to depict them as they really are than as they would wish to appear. To represent a bad thing in its least offensive light, is doubtless the most agreeable course for a writer of fiction to pursue; but is it the most honest, or the safest? Is it better to reveal the snares and pitfalls of life to the young and thoughtless traveller, or to cover them with branches and flowers? O Reader! if there were less of this delicate concealment of facts–this whispering 'Peace, peace', when there is no peace, there would be less of sin and misery to the young of both sexes who are left to wring their bitter knowledge from experience."

The Bronte family seemed on the verge of a breakthrough, but 1848 was a year of tragedy. Branwell died on September 24, and Emily followed on December 19. By February 1849 Anne herself was very ill. She traveled with Charlotte to Scarborough, in hopes that the sea air and the nearness of doctors would help her, but she died on May 28, a "calm and quiet" death. She was buried at St. Mary's church there at Scarborough.

Some sources on her life:
Juliet Barker, The Brontes
Edward Chitham, A Life of Anne Bronte
Rebecca Fraser, The Brontes

Heroine of the Weekend

So the weekend is almost over (I am not sure where it went! Probably frittered away dealing with an AC that decided to die right when the temps reached the 90s here...), but we can't let it pass without a Heroine. And I can't believe I've never featured Lady Jane Grey before! She was married on May 21, 1553, so she is our (tragic) Heroine this weekend.

Jane was born sometime in 1536 or '37 (there is some doubt to the exact date) at her family's home at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire. Her parents were Henry Grey, the 1st Duke of Suffolk, and Lady Frances Brandon, the niece of Henry VIII through her mother Mary Brandon. The couple had three daughters, studious Jane, beautiful Catherine, and deformed Mary, all of whom would run afoul of their Tudor cousins.

Jane was very well-educated according to the classical model of the day (it was speculated that her parents were preparing her to one day marry her cousin Prince Edward0. She knew modern languages, as well as Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and was instructed in the new reformed Protestant religion, which she was quite devoted to. She prefered studying to hunting or dancing, and was from all reports a serious young lady. In 1546 she went to join the household of Catherine Parr, the dowager queen and widow of Henry VIII, where she would be educated in humanist, Protestant thought along with her royal cousins. (Jane was the chief mourner at Catherine's funeral in 1548).

After she left Catherine Parr's care, Jane was married to Guildford Dudley, the son of the Duke of Northumberland (one of the most powerful men in England). It was a lavish triple ceremony--her sister Catherine also married, to the heir of the Earl of Pembroke, and Guildford's sister Catherine married the heri to the Earl of Huntingdon. It was a huge power play for the two fathers Suffolk and Northumberland. The reasons for it all soon became clear.

When Henry VIII died his Act of Succession laid out his plans for the future of the throne. If Edward was to die without an heir, the throne would then pass to Henry's two perviously disowned daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. If they died without issue, it would then go to his sister Mary's descendants (the Greys), bypassing his sister Margaret's Scottish line (inlcuding Margaret's granddaughter Mary Queen of Scots). But Edward, who was very ill by the beginning of 1553, laid out his own "Device"--he excluded his sisters altogether (Mary was a devout Catholic, at odds with her strictly Protestant brother throughout his reign; leaving out Elizabeth is more puzzling). He instead directed the succession through Frances Brandon's line, hopefully to Jane's soon-to-be-produced male children. Edward died on July 6, 1553, and everyone sprang into action.

Four days later the king's will was revealed and Jane was proclaimed Queen to shocked Londoners. Jane went in procession to the security of the Tower to await her coronation. A Genoese in London, Baptista Spinola, watched her walk past and described her as "very short and thin, but prettily-shaped and graceful. She has small features and a well-made nose, the mouth flexible and the lips red."

Northumberland's first task to secure his daughter-in-law's reign (even though she had refused to name Guildford king) was to isolate and secure Mary, who naturally expected to be queen. But she had escaped and was rallying her supporters. He rode out of London with his troops on July 14, and while he was gone the Privy Council changed their tune. They saw the wind was blowing toward support of Mary, and the proclaimed her queen to much rejoicing July 19. Jane's palace turned into a prison at the Tower, and Mary entered London in a triumphant procession on August 3. Northumberland was executed August 22.

Even though Jane and her husband were tried, found guilty of treason, and sentenced to death, they were not executed until February 12, 1554. Guildford was beheaded on Tower Hill, but Jane was given the rare privilege of a private execution at Tower Green. She was only 16 or 17 years old, but she faced her death with rare bravery and calm, with only flahs of panic when she was blindfolded and couldn't find the block. She made a short speech:

Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same. The fact, indeed, against the Queen's highness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me: but touching the procurement and desire thereof by me or on my behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency, before God, and the face of you, good Christian people, this day.

With only a few last words, ""Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit," she held out her arms and was killed. Over the centuries, her youth and innocence have given rise to many romantic images and legends.

A few sources on her life:

Leandra de Lisle, The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey (2008)
Eric Ives, Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery (2009)
Faith Cook, The Nine Days Queen (2005)
Alison Plowden, Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen (1985)

(And for a more detailed explanation of Edward VI's very complicated Device, you can look here)

Friday

Happy Friday everyone! I am still making my way to The End of the 2 projects due June 1, but in the meantime you can read about my June release at Heroes & Heartbreakers....

Heroine of the Weekend

Happy weekend everyone! (It is still the weekend, right??) Our Heroine this week is composer/musician Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel, who died on May 14, 1847.

Fanny was born November 14, 1805 in Hamburg, the oldest of 4 children, part of a distinguished Jewish family (her grandfather was philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, and her father Abraham ran a prosperous business). Unlike her equally precocious brother Felix, she was not encouraged to pursue her talent for music and composing (he was given the finest teachers, while Fanny had to learn the best she could herself), but she was passionate about music and as talented as her brother from a very young age. (Her father later wrote to her, "Music will perhaps become his profession, while for you it can and must be only an ornament"--pretty much sums up the attitude of the day). But Felix did help her publish some of her works under her own name.

In 1829, after a long courtship, she married artist Wilhelm Hensel, who was luckily very supportive of his wife' s music. (The couple had one child, Sebastian, the year after their marriage). She took part in her family's famous Sunday afternoon concerts (which she took over hosting after her father's death), where many of her pieces were played and discussed. In 1838 she had her one (known) public performance, of her brother's Piano Concerto No. 1. In all she composed some 466 pieces, mostly for the piano, including a song cycle titled Das Jahr (The Year), an amazing output considering her lack of support and encouragement and the expectation that she would always put her home and family first.

Fanny died of a stroke at the young age of 42, in Berlin in 1847. (Her brother died the following year). Her works have become more widely known and played in just the last few years, thanks to new interest in female composers.

A couple sources on her life:
Francoise Tillard, Fanny Mendelssohn (1996)
Sandra Shictman, Dorothy Indenbaum, Gifted Sister: The Story of Fanny Mendelssohn (2007)

Hottie Monday

So I haven't yet seen the movie Thor (this was a crazy busy weekend, and I usually tend to avoid the really loud summer movies), but obviously I am super-tempted.....





I also read that Tom Hiddleston (who I loved in Cranford and Wallander) plays a villain, another reason to maybe see it.




Anyone seen this movie yet? Any opinions?

Heroine of the Weekend

And now back to our Heroines! This weekend we're still on the royal trend, with a look at Queen Mary of Modena, who died on May 7 in 1718.

She was born Maria Beatrice Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este on October 5, 1658, the eldest child of Alfonso IV, Duke of Modena in Italy. Her father died when she was 4 and her mother Duchess Laura became regent for her only brother Francesco. Mary was said to be well-educated, speaking French, Italian, English, and Latin, as well as being tall and very pretty. It was thought for a time she would marry Charles II of Spain, but in the end was wed to James, Duke of York, by proxy on September 30, 1673.

James wasn't the ideal husband for a pretty young woman. He was 25 years older than Mary, a widower with two near-grown, tempermental daughters, Mary and Anne, and a known womanizer. Her marriage was also extremely unpopular in Protestant England. She was called "the Pope's Daughter" in the tabloids of the day, and the Protestant Parliament threatened to annull the marriage until Charles II stepped in on his brother's behalf and suspended Parliament until January 1674. The marriage stood, and eventually Mary found a way to get along with her husband. Their first child, Catherine Laura, was born in January 1675, but sadly proved to be the first in a long line of children to die in infancy.

After the duchess's Catholif secretary was embroiled in the trumped-up "Popish Plot" to kill the king in 1678, the Yorks were exiled to Brussels and later to Edinburgh. Separated from her only living child Princess Isabella (who died in 1681), faced with her husband's affair with Catherine Sedley, she grew depressed. But by May 1682 they were back at Court. She became queen on the death of Charles II in February 1685. Their lavish joint coronation (the first since Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon) cost 119,000 pounds, and Mary's crown can still be seen at the Tower.

She was still in bad health, at times so much so that there was much speculation in Europe as to who her husband might wed next. But she rallied, and after a visit to Bath in 1687 she was pregnant again. This time the baby was a healthy boy, Prince James. A rumor spread that the real royal baby died and a replacement was smuggled in via warming pan, a ridiculous tale that was still much believed (and spread by Princess Anne). The furor over the royal couple's Catholicism and the prospect of a Catholic heir led to the Glorious Revolution, and Princess Mary and her husband William of Orange taking over the English throne while James and Mary fled to France.

Mary was called the "Queen Over the Water" by their Jacobite supporters, and settled into life in Louis XIV's France. She was very popular at Versailles. Madame de Sevigne proclaimed her "distinguished bearing and quick wit." (James meanwhile was excluded from most of the fun, as he was considered quite dull!). James suffered his final defeat at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 (Mary had helped finance the campaign by selling her jewels). Their last child, Princess Louise Mary, was born in 1692. The couple went on living in France with their children, though despite a generous income from Louis they were often broke (Mary had a habit of supporting Jacobite exiles).


James suffered a stroke in March 1701 and died on September 16. Louis XIV then proclaimed young James the King of England (much to King William's ire) and Mary as his regent, a post which ended when her son turned 16. She disliked politics and was stressed and depressed by the turmoil around her. After her son was exiled from France under the terms of the Treaty of Utrecht and her daughte died in 1712, she lived quietly in poverty at the convent at Chaillot until her death in 1718. She was buried among the nuns.

Some sources on her life:
--Martin Haile, Queen Mary of Modena: Her Life and Letters (1905)
--Tim Harris, Revolution: The Great Crisis of the British Monarchy, 1685-1720 (2007)
--Carola Oman, Mary of Modena (1962)
--Maureen Waller, Ungrateful Daughters: The Stuart Princesses Who Stole Their Fathers Crown (2002)