Rachel Knowles's Blog, page 4
November 10, 2021
Book review: Behind the Light of Golowduyn by Deborah M Hathaway
A thrilling tale of rescue and romance
The scenario
A restless captain looking for purpose. A lonely woman fighting to keep the only home she’s ever known – the lighthouse of Golowduyn. When Abigail Moore rescues Captain Gavin Kendricks from his sinking ship, she little realises that he’s about to rescue her back.
What I liked
I was captivated by this gripping story from the first chapter. Living on the south coast of England, I am well aware of how treacherous parts of the coast can be, and I t...
October 27, 2021
Drawing room presentations - a Regency History guide
A drawing room at St James's Palace fromThe Microcosm of London by R Ackermann and W Combe (1808-10)In A Reason for Romance, Georgiana Merry and her sister Eliza are presented to the Queen by their grandmother, the Duchess of Wessex, on entering London society:
Just after two o’clock, the centre door was thrown open and Her Majesty Queen Charlotte entered, followed by the princesses and a whole bevy of servants. Although the Queen looked magnificent in dark green velvet and gold embroidery, Cast...
October 21, 2021
Top 30 posts from 10 years of blogging on the Regency History blog
Me (Rachel Knowles) with my husband Andrew at White Nothe, Dorset (2021)This month I’m celebrating 10 years of the Regency History blog. I started this blog to record and share the research I was doing into the Regency period (1811-20) as background for The Merry Romances. I became distracted by the history and expanded my research to cover what I call the long Regency – from about 1780-1830. You can read what I mean by this in my all-time top post: When is the Regency era? As a result of my ...
October 1, 2021
The Regency History blog is 10 years old
My Regency History blog is 10 years old today.
To celebrate, I'm doing some offers and giveaways this month, starting with A Perfect Match which is on an Amazon countdown deal for 99c in US/ 99p in UK from now until 5 October.
Alicia Westlake longs for a man of faith to love. Her mother plots to secure her a titled husband. Mr Merry is neither. Has he a hope of becoming the man she needs before she gives into her mother's matchmaking schemes?
A Perfect Match is a clean/Christian Regency style ...
September 30, 2021
Drink at the Regency dinner table - a Regency History guide
The Dashwoods at dinner with the MiddletonsSense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (1811)
Illustration by Hugh Thomson (1896)Today’s post continues my series on Regency meals. I have already looked at some areas of Regency dinner etiquette here, such as where people gathered for dinner, how they proceeded into the dining room, where they sat and whether they used napkins.
This post looks at the question of drink at the dinner table and afterward – what they drank, the customs of taking wine and d...
September 22, 2021
Book review: A Faithful Proposal by Jennie Goutet
A sweet Regency romance where purpose triumphs over pleasure
The scenario
Anna Tunstall goes to visit her friend Emily Leatham who is expecting a baby and needs companionship while her husband is away at sea. A short distance from her destination, Anna’s carriage is held up by highwaymen and she is knocked unconscious. Harry Aston, the rector, finds her, and is soon hoping to persuade her to stay in Avebury permanently. But Anna thrives on the fashionable life of Regency London, and she is not ...
September 6, 2021
Regency dining etiquette - a Regency History guide
A banquet at the Royal Pavilion, Brighton from the coloured lithograph by J Nash in Life in Regency and
Early Victorian Times by EB Chancellor (1926)
When I’m writing a scene set at a Regency dinner party, I often find myself asking questions about how they would have done things. As I strive for historical accuracy in what I write, I’ve tried to develop an understanding of the etiquette observed at the time. I have looked at books on etiquette, contemporary novels, letters and journals to try a...
August 26, 2021
Book review: A Noble Masquerade by Kristi Ann Hunter
An easy-to-read Regency romance with intriguing servants, undercover spies, and secret letters
The scenario
Lady Miranda Hawthorne wants to be courted for who she is and not because her brother is a Duke. She pours out her frustration in letters to her brother’s old friend, the Duke of Marshington, who disappeared some years before. Of course, she never intends to send them. But her brother’s new valet, the intriguing Marlow, does not know never to send her blue letters and mistakenly sends one...
August 9, 2021
Book review: Promised by Leah Garriott
A captivating Regency tale of how a heartbroken woman dares to love again
The scenario
After discovering the faithlessness of the man she was engaged to marry, Margaret Brinton promises herself that she will never risk her heart again. She attends a matchmaking party, determined to find someone she could never love to marry, and finds the perfect candidate in the rakish Mr Northam. But his cousin Gregory, Lord Williams, a sought-after baron, is determined to prevent the match. And it seems he wi...
July 31, 2021
Supper in the Regency
Like her father, Mr Woodhouse, Mrs John Knightley liked a basin of gruel for supper, but her cook
was unable to make anything tolerable
from Emma by Jane Austen
1896 edition illustrated by Hugh Thomson
What was supper in the Regency period?
I use the word supper interchangeably with dinner to mean my main evening meal. But if we have an early dinner, my hungry husband is sometimes looking for a bite of supper before he goes to bed! It is this latter use of the word that is more akin to what a R...
