Amanda McCabe's Blog, page 2

Heroine of the Weekend

 

It's been quite a while since we had a Heroine of the Weekend post here!  I love it, since I can take a deeper look at historical women I admire, and I can't believe we haven't featured Aphra Behn before.  Her birthday was July 10, 1640, in Canterbury, and she was s fascinating (if somewhat enigmatic character!), a playwright, poet, translator, spy.  She was one the first English women to earn her living with her writing, and was one of the most popular playwrights of the golden age of Restoration theater.

"All  women together ought to let flowers fall upon the tomb of Aphra Behn..."  Virginia Woolf

Behn's early life was quite obscure.  Her father was (maybe) a barber, she was maybe engaged to a man named John Halse in 1657, she maybe traveled to Surinam.  It's clear she was very intelligent, but unclear how she was educated.  She married a man named Johan Behn (possibly Dutch or German) in 1664, but he soon died or they were separated soon after.

She was a staunch supporter of the Stuarts, attached to their court by 1666 (refusing to write a welcome poem to William III after the Glorious Revolution), and was sent as a spy to Antwerp by Charles II  during the Second Anglo-Dutch War. Her code name was Astrea It was not financially rewarding, though, and she may have been sent to debtors' prison after her return (a warrant was issued for her arrest, but it's unclear if it was served).  She started writing plays, hoping to capitalize on the craze for newly reopened theaters.

Her first play, a tragi-romance called The Forc'd Marriage, was performed by the Duke's Men in September 1670, and was a moderate success, but after her third play failed she falls off the record for a few years before returning to write comedies and poetry, as well as translating.  Her most popular play, The Rover (still her most performed work today) debuted in 1676-77, and thereafter she became one of the best-known playwrights in England until her death in 1689.  Her success led to frequent attacks. She was attacked for her private life (she had a long liaison with John Hoyle, a bisexual lawyer) and the morality of her plays, and she was accused of plagiarising The Rover. In the preface to Sir Patient Fancy she argued that she was being singled out because she was a woman, while male playwrights were free to live the most scandalous lives and write whatever plays they wanted.

(You can visit her tomb in Westminster Abbey, as I once did!)

Some good sources on her life:

Janet Todd, The Secret Life of Aphra Behn (1997)

Vita Sackville-West, Aphra Behn: The Incomparable Astrea (1927)

Germaine Greer, Slip-Shod Sibyls (1995)

Weekend Book Links

 I hope you've had a good long weekend!!!!  I've been finishing my WIP that will nor end (a Gilded Age romance) and getting set for the release of my next book....

In the meantime, here's a little reading:

The Worth exhibit at the Petite Palais

Alice in Wonderland Day

The oldest document at the UK National Archives

Jane Austen's Least Understood Novel

Jane Austen's True Thoughts on Bath

New adaptation on Sense and Sensibility

How the Millicent Rogers  Museum is Preserving Southwestern Jewelry

Surprise book sale!

 I found out today that The Queen's Christmas Summons is .50 for a short time!  Yep, you heard me, FIFTY CENTS.  I'm not sure how long it will last, so if you feel like Christmas in July grab it now...

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"Royal courts are glittering places. But there can be many dangers there." 

The words of Juan, the shipwrecked Spanish sailor Lady Alys Drury nursed back to health, echo in her mind as she puts on another courtly smile. 

Then Alys locks eyes with a handsome man amid the splendor of Queen Elizabeth's Christmas court—Juan is posing as courtier John Huntley! Alys is hurt at Juan's deception until she learns he's an undercover spy for the crown… Amid the murky machinations of the court, can true love still conquer all?

Weekend Links and a Book On Sale

 

Happy last weekend of June, everyone!  I'm not sure how we're here already, it feels like summer just started.  But since I went to opening night at the Santa Fe Opera last night (La Boheme, a favorite!) and festival season is in full swing here, it must be.  (It's also deadline time, eek!  The new wip, a Gilded Age New York romance, is due in 2 weeks).  In the meantime, an older title of mine, Taming of the Rogue, is .99 for a very short time.  (If you love Shakespeare and 16th century theater like I do, I hope you'll enjoy it)

In the meantime, here's a few distractions:

England's first romance-only bookstore

Some real-life inspiration behind the portraits of the "The Gilded Age"

Pompeii's 2000 year old perfume garden

Roses under $20 for your summer wine needs

The history of the Santa Fe Opera

Weekend Links and a Promo Code

 

Happy summer solstice, everyone!  I hope you didn't miss the longest day of the year.  Here are a few things to read this weekend (plus some book sales)....

Marie Antoinette fashion exhibit coming to the V&A  (oh, how I would love to see this!)

Sargent and the "Dollar Princesses"

A man who lives as William Morris 3 months a year

A 600 year old rectory for sale  (I wants it!)

"Outrageous" the new Mitford Sisters biopic on BritBox (the first two episodes were so fun)

Spotlight on Bath for Jane Austen's 250th

Annnnd, book sales!

Here is a link for 25% off the paper copy of "Flora Flowerdew and the Secret of the Sarcophagus"

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And if you haven't read the first Flora book yet, it's .99 for just a short time...

Books on sale!

 Two books on sale for a very limited time!!!

(Post) Weekend Links and a Giveaway!

 Happy almost-June, everyone!  I hope you had a lovely Memorial Day weekend and are ready for the warmer weather.  We had a bit of surprise hail yesterday, but most of my veggie plants survived, and I've been buried in writing-land so there will be time for outdoor concerts and restaurant patios asap.

To start off the summer, I have a giveaway for newsletter subscribers!  A box of books and movies (Regency-themed).  If you're already subscribed, you're automatically entered!  If not, you can subscribe here...  (I'm very lazy, so the newsletter is very infrequent!  It's mostly book news and more giveaways)

I also have a July 22 release I am VERY excited about!  My first historical fiction, centered around a fascinating woman in mid-century history (Millicent Rogers) and my favorite place on earth, Taos, New Mexico, where she made her last home and where you can find her eponymous museum.  More about this book soon!!!  (You can pre-order here)

In the glittering world of mid-century America, Millicent Rogers is a woman ahead of her time—Standard Oil heiress, fashion icon, patron of the arts, wife, mother, lover to men like Ian Fleming and Clark Gable. Her beauty and intelligence captivate the world. But behind the scenes, she harbors secrets of ill health and loneliness that only one person knows—her secretary Violet Redfield. A quiet but artistic woman who left her Iowa farm family to pursue dreams of being a writer, Violet navigates a delicate balance between devotion to Millicent and her own dreams of independence.

As their lives become intertwined in a tangle of love, betrayal, and ambition, both women must confront the hidden costs of their powerful alliance. From lavish Hollywood parties to the mountains of bohemian Taos, Secretary to the Socialite explores this intricate bond between a woman of privilege and the one who keeps her world from falling apart.

In this captivating, immersive historical novel, two women from very different worlds find themselves at a crossroads where loyalty and personal desires collide, and where their choices could alter the course of their lives forever...

And a few things for your reading pleasure this week!

Marie Antoinette's pink diamond is up for auction

Jane Austen inspired decor

Audrey Hepburn's Givenchy gown to be sold at Sotheby's

The real Queen Charlotte

Young adults embrace Jane Austen "to escape modern dating"

"I cooked like Jane Austen..."

Weekend Links

 Happy April, everyone!  It was snowy here yesterday, and sunny today.  Welcome to springtime!!!  I'm starting a new WIP, and in the meantime here's a little reading to distract you...

Author Kerry Greenwood passes away (I adore her Phryne Fisher books!  So sad)

The 100th anniversary of the publication of "The Great Gatsby"

Hair trends!  It's all about the "Jane Austen" bangs

RIP Val Kilmer

Vanessa Bell in Bloomsbury

The 17th century shipwreck gown

The Bronte Parsonage Museum buys an Emily Bronte watercolor

Weekend Links

 And a few fun reads to keep you distracted!  (don't we all need that right now??)

The 12 Most Popular Bookstores and Libraries On Earth

The Scintilating Histories of the Mitford Sisters

Flannery O'Connor at 100

Happy Birthday, William Morris!  Born March 24, 1834

And Elizabeth I died on March 24, 1603...

The dazzling tiara collection of Queen Mary

How Mr Darcy became one of Austen's most memorable creations

Women played a pivotal role as scribes of medieval manuscripts

The great American classic we've been misreading for 100 years

Advice from vintage cocktail party etiquette books...

Eleanor de Montfort's lavish medieval wardrobe

Springtime! Hey ding a ding time! And new releases

 I can't believe it's so long since I've visited here!  Winter has seemed long and dreary, full of deadlines and trying to get our new house into rights (my office is still basically a junk room, but it's getting there!)  I have lots of books news!

Flora Flowerdew and the Secret of the Sarcophagus, Book 3 in my Victorian Mysteries series is out NOW!  It was quiet an adventure getting Flora and her posse corralled and sent off to the Nile to find out who did in Aunt Imogen's old lover, archaeologist Lord Crosbie.  I am a sucker for tales of desert adventure and ancient Egypt, to this was a fun tale to write.  I hope you enjoy their adventures as much as I have!  (and more info to come this week, I'm putting together a "history behind the scenes post)

1889. With the winter season, Flora's séance society is quiet and life looking dull. A late-night visit from the too-handsome Benedict, Duke of Everton, and his aunt Lady Imogen changes all that. Imogen's long-ago lover, the renowned archaeologist Lord Crosbie, is missing, and she fears the worst.

Flora agrees to accompany them to a mummy unwrapping at the British Museum to see if anyone knows about the disappearance. It's the shock of the town when Crosbie himself is found in the ancient sarcophagus—murdered! Adventure awaits when Flora, Benedict, Imogen, the faithful Pomeranian Chou-Chou, and Mary the Cockney maidservant, set off for Egypt—and find a large cast of suspects who all had good reason to send the archaeologist off to his own underworld...

Buy link 

The second book in my Regency "Matchmakers in Bath" series also came out this winter!  Their Convenient Christmas Betrothal  is a fun "will they or won't they?" make their pretend engagement real!  Mary and Charles get their HEA at last.  (and look for the third in the series How to Court Your Wife in October)

A festive romance to fool society… 

But are they fooling themselves too? 

Mary St. Aubin is a stellar matchmaker, but society has decided that, as a spinster, Mary can no longer be trusted with their matches! After watching her parents’ cold marriage, she refuses to wed for anything but love. 

 Then at a Christmas house party she encounters dangerously attractive Scottish laird Charles. He needs Mary’s help saving his ward from a reputation-ruining liaison with a rake. But when Charles’s own rakish past starts to get in the way, is there another match that must happen first…between Mary and Charles?

Buy Link

If you want to venture to the drama of Renaissance Florence, Betrayed by his Kiss is .99 right now.  If Elizabethan England is your things, Murder at the Princess's Palace is 2.99

And, last but not least, the book of my heart, Secretary to the Socialite , a historical novel about icon Millicent Rogers and bohemian mid-century Taos, will be on sale in August!!!  I am soooo excited for this one, it's been a long journey...

In the glittering world of mid-century America, Millicent Rogers is a woman ahead of her time—Standard Oil heiress, fashion icon, patron of the arts, wife, mother, lover to men like Ian Fleming and Clark Gable. Her beauty and intelligence captivate the world. But behind the scenes, she harbors secrets of ill health and loneliness that only one person knows—her secretary Violet Redfield. A quiet but artistic woman who left her Iowa farm family to pursue dreams of being a writer, Violet navigates a delicate balance between devotion to Millicent and her own dreams of independence.

As their lives become intertwined in a tangle of love, betrayal, and ambition, both women must confront the hidden costs of their powerful alliance. From lavish Hollywood parties to the mountains of bohemian Taos, Secretary to the Socialite explores this intricate bond between a woman of privilege and the one who keeps her world from falling apart.

In this captivating, immersive historical novel, two women from very different worlds find themselves at a crossroads where loyalty and personal desires collide, and where their choices could alter the course of their lives forever...

Look for info about my newsletter giveaway in a few days!  You can sign up for it here