We Wish You a Merry (Victorian) Christmas!

What is it that makes me get sort of goofy and sentimental about the Victorians and how they elevated the celebration of Christmas to a fine (if florid) art? The candles, the decorations, the food—the sheer coziness—and the emphasis on home and family…it paints a very beguiling mental picture, doesn’t it?

But it certainly isn’t just me (and feel free to comment and make me feel less sheepish. 😉) I’ve found some splendid bits around the interwebs by other just as beguiled and fascinated by Victorian Christmases as I am, such as this video about Victoria’s Christmas dinners by history blogger/filmmaker Lindsay Holiday:

Now, you probably know by now that I’m all about the 19th century clothes... While I’m usually more excited by clothes from the earlier part of the century, I couldn’t help being delighted by a video by CrowsEye Productions about Queen Victoria being dressed for an evening Christmas party, as depicted in this popular engraving from 1848 as seen above right at the beginning of the post. The dress isn’t exact, but close enough:

And just because it’s really neat, here’s Prince Albert getting ready for the same party:

While I expect that I’ll be dressed in a considerably more casual fashion on the 25th (because of course I’ve given my lady’s maid the day off), I’ll be enjoying the holiday...and Regina and I hope that you will be doing the same. A very happy Christmas to you, dear NineteenTeen readers, and we’ll see you in the new year. 😘

Always Kiss at Christmas (and Enter Giveaways Too)

Are presents starting to appear under your tree? They are here. I’ve finished wrapping the ones I bought for family, and packages from friends have been arriving.

So has a book! Two years ago, I published a novella about the origin of the love story between Meredith Thorn (born Mary Rose) and Julian Mayes in a Yuletide Regency collection with five other authors. I’m pleased to say I could bring it out this Christmas all on its own, in both print and ebook, as an addition to the Fortune’s Brides series: Always Kiss at Christmas. It’s available now at 99cents.

Mary Rose has one goal for her mother’s annual Christmas Eve party: convince her childhood friend Julian Mayes to marry her. She has always admired Julian. Surely one moment under the kissing bough will convince him they were meant to be together. Newly hired by a prestigious London law firm, Julian is ready to shake the dust of the countryside off his polished boots. But he’s always had a soft spot for Mary. As the danger to her future becomes clear, will one kiss be enough to prove to him how far he will go to protect her?

If you’d rather listen to your love stories, Never Marry a Marquess is now out in audiobook. The amazing Jannie Meisberger once again lends her talents to finishing the Fortune’s Brides series in style.

And, if you act quickly, you have two opportunities to introduce yourself to some fine reads.

TODAY ONLY—December 15, 2020, you can still enter this giveaway to travel the world, from the comfort of your cozy chair. Multiple winners will take home a print bundle of 13 sweet historical novels by some of the most beloved authors in the field, including Karen Witemeyer, Rachel Fordham, Jen Turano, Laura Franz, and Heather B. Moore. US readers only. Enter here.

Through December 27, 2020, fourteen different authors are sharing about their sweet reads for Christmas. To learn more about the stories and enter for a chance to win a $70 Amazon gift card, go here.  

Lots of ways for your Christmas reading to be merry and bright!

Marissa's Bookish Doings: Past, Present, and Future

First, some award news: I’m delighted to report that Evergreen won first place in the Young Adult category of the 2020 International Digital Awards, sponsored by Oklahoma Romance Writers of America. Between Silk and Sand won the same category back in 2018, incidentally.

In other award news, Evergreen is a finalist in the Paranormal category of the 2020 Golden Leaf Award, sponsored by New Jersey Romance Writers…and yes, other books of mine have been honored in this contest, including Skin Deep winning the Paranormal category in 2017 and both Betraying Season and Courtship and Curses being finalists in the Young Adult category.

I’ve discovered that I really enjoy making “book trailers”—teaser videos for books, much like movie trailers. Whether they’re much good is another issue. 😜 Still, it’s exciting, as an author, to find images that resonate with my vision of my stories…and after all, it’s just another form of storytelling. All of which is a roundabout way to get to showing you the video I created for an older book of mine, By Jove:

What do you think?

And finally, some future bookish news. Between a family bereavement at the beginning of the year and the weight of the present pandemic, my writing has slowed to a snail’s pace. But even snails eventually reach their destinations: in 2021, look for a new young adult book from me as well as a new story in the Leland Sisters world featuring Persy and Pen (and Charles!)…and a new venture: I’ll be co-editing an anthology of ghost stories for Book View Café, due out in September. Stay tuned!

19th Century Christmas Wish List, 2020

Have you been shopping earlier than usual this year? I have, partly because whatever I buy will have to be shipped to me before I ship to those I love. Yes, I could ship direct, but I want to see the items, and I like wrapping things. But if you’re still looking for the reader, or writer, in your life, or you’re interested in things that make a nineteenth century aficionado’s heart go pitter-pat, then allow me to direct your attention to some of the lovelies for this year. 

To start, there’s a nice overview of the Regency period, well-told, that I somehow missed last year: Robert Morrison’s The Regency Years: During Which Jane Austen Writers, Napoleon Fights, Byron Makes Love, and Britain Becomes Modern.  

For some calming thoughts and a pretty craft, try Regency Dress Fashion Coloring Book: A Fashion Adult Coloring Book in Grayscale for Fans of Jane Austen, by Caroline James. 

More interested in making a statement, Jane Austen style? Try a t-shirt proclaiming your membership in the Society of Obstinate, Headstrong Girls. (Wish I could have been a charter member!) 

And if you’d like some wonderful vintage posters and maps, look into Cartolina of Canada.  

Then there’s the “just cuz” category: 

• Steampunk gaming dice 
• An aviator cap with goggles  
• A Jane Austen mug encouraging writers to write  
• And, especially for 2020, a book-themed mask  

What nineteenth-century-like goodies are on your list this year?

A Parsnip in a Pear Tree?

I was recently introduced to the idea of parsnips as holiday food. I thought it a fine idea, even though I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a parsnip. But I discovered that Mrs. Beeton had a great deal to say of them in her Book of Household Management, which we’ve discussed before. 

According to Mrs. Beeton, parsnips are native in Britain and in season from November through June. They could be found growing wild in meadows and along the roadsides but were also cultivated. She warns that the young root is sweet and smells good, but an older root can cause vertigo and delirium. Parsnips can be used to make bread and wine as well as eaten as a vegetable. As a vegetable, they were served with salted cod and egg sauce, as an accompaniment for boiled beef, as dressing for a sheep’s head, and as garnish for boiled leg of pork.

So, courtesy of Mrs. Beeton, I give you two recipes for parsnips.

Parsnip Soup

1 lb sliced parsnips
2 oz. butter, melted
1 quart beef, vegetable, or chicken stock
Salt and cayenne to taste

Put the parsnips into the stewpan with the butter, and simmer them till quite tender. Then add nearly a pint of stock, and boil together for half an hour. Pass all through a fine strainer, and add the remainder of the stock. Season, boil, and serve immediately. Serves 4.

Boiled Parsnips

Parsnips, washed, scraped thoroughly, and black specks removed; cut into quarters if large
Water, salted at the rate of 1 heaped tablespoon of per gallon

Put parsnips into boiling water, and boil them rapidly until tender, ½ to 1 hour, depending on the size of the parsnips. Drain and serve. Serves 1 parsnip per person.

Need a little company while you’re cooking for the December holidays? Consider preordering the audiobook for Never Marry a Marquess. It’s available for preorder now and can be downloaded beginning December 8. 

Amazon 

Audible 

Happy Thanksgiving! Marissa and I will be out next week. We'll see you on Tuesday, December 1.

Walking Out in Style

1809 through about 1812 were especially good years for La Belle Assemblée fashion plates: the illustration quality, production values, and sheer delightfulness of the clothes make them standouts in the magazine’s long history. And this Walking or Carriage Dress from the May 1809 edition is no exception.

The text reads:

English Costume

No. 1.— Walking, or Carriage Costume

A fine cambric round gown, with high collar, finished with needle-work and scalloped lace; a correspondent trimming round the bottom of the dress. A Spanish spenser of black or puce-coloured velvet, edged with gold lace. A waistcoat or wrap front of marble, or leopard satin, with collar the same as the spenser, edged also with gold lace. The Vigonian helmet, or Patriotic bonnet, composed of the same materials; the helmet edged with gold lace, and the crown crossed with gold cord, terminating on one side with a cone tassel. Hoop earrings of wrought gold; necklace of variegated amber; gloves, York-tan, and half boots of tan-coloured kid, laced with black cord.

I just love this plate—so tailored and elegant! The long points on the spenser are unusual (and unexpectedly modern), and the masculine styling on the waistcoat a charming contrast with the smooth flow and flirty lace hem of the cambric dress. The masculine theme continues in the watch and chain (complete with a fob!) at the waist, suspended from the bottom of the waistcoat. I’m intrigued by the description of the waistcoat fabric as potentially being of leopard-patterned satin—unexpected for a Regency-era dress!

The description of the quietly stylish hat also intrigued me. A “Vigonian helmet”—sounds like something from Star Trek, doesn’t it? But it turns out that “Vigonian” pertains to items of felt made from vicuña hair…though as it states that the hat is made from the same materials as the waistcoat and spenser, color me confused.

What do you think of this outfit?

Date That Word!

Many authors of historical fiction work hard to use period-correct terms. For many years, I coveted a copy of The Oxford English Dictionary, which dates the origin of words. I was overjoyed to come upon an abbreviated version (The Oxford Universal Dictionary, only 2,515 pages) at a rummage sale a few years ago. I also knew about Google ngrams, which track the use of words in digitized books held by Google. For example, from 1804 to 1810, the use of the word redingote increased, only to plummet from 1810 to 1812 before increasing again. But this week I stumbled upon the Merriam-Webster Time Traveler site, which I must admit is rather addicting!

The Time Traveler shows which words first appeared in print for a particular year. For my Nothing Short of Wondrous, set in 1886, I might have used apochromatic (describing a lens that corrects aberrations), attackman, and Broncobuster. My hero and heroine might have eaten French fries and drank milkshakes. I thought snow-in-summer particularly appropriate for Yellowstone.

On the other hand, 1804, the year my Grace-by-the-Sea series is set, debuted such gems as apiculate (ending abruptly in a sharp point), chicken-livered, shunpike, and underclothing. Dr. Bennett of The Artist’s Healer might not have been pleased to see medicinal leech come into vogue, and Rosemary Denby, who will be the heroine in the upcoming The Governess’s Earl, would not like to be called a vulgarian. But what surprised me most was that 1804 was the first year Sir Roger de Coverley appeared in print. I had thought both the dance and the fictional character to predate that time.

Then again, words that first appeared in my birthyear included biodegradable, DEFCON, hovercraft, microcircuit, radio-galaxy, and upmanship. I think I’ll take apiculate instead!

And speaking of dating words, Marissa and I are going to time it so that we take turns posting on Tuesdays, so look for a post from her next week and me the week following.