Amanda McCabe's Blog, page 3
January 26, 2025
Weekend Links
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Welllllll, it has been a week! A week that feels like 10 years. I think we deserve to snuggle down in the Ritz Bar, have a Hemingway Daiquiri (or whatever you like), and read some distracting articles. What have you been doing this week? read anything good? (I'm just finishing Dan Jones new bio of Henry V...)
What French women are shopping for
Newly discovered Lavinia Fontana portrait discovered
Virginia Woolfe's birthday was last week! (along with mine, different years, natch) Look for a Heroine of the Weekend post on her next week
It was also Burns Night! I celebrated with a few Scots friends with some bagpipe music and copious bottles of Laphroaig, which might by why I am a wee bit slow today...
A new TV drama is coming about the tragic Queen Ena, if you need a "Crown" fix
A ranking about the best Girl Scout Cookies (I am a Thin Mint girly myself, but would never say no to a Tagalong or Samoa...)
Dame Joan Plowright died (Enchanted April is one of my very favorite movies, and if you haven't seen "Tea With the Dames" go and watch it right this moment!)
LA Animal organizations that could use your help right now
And more ways to help
An exhibit of Sargent portraits of the "Dolla Princesses" (I'm very interetested in this as I dive into a Gilded Age book...)
December 22, 2024
Favorite Reads 2024
I can't believe this year is almost over! It did flash past, but now I'm enjoying remembering all the great books I found in 2024. I am terrible at remembering what I read, and especially remembering writing down what I read, so this is just a "what books stick in my head right now as ones I enjoyed" list. I'd love to hear some of yours!
The Tower by Flora Carr--probably my favorite read this year! A slice of life with Mary Queen of Scots when she's imprisoned at Loch Leven, so descriptive and evocative, a deep character study. Not your usual MQOS story!Backyard Bird Chronicles by Amy Tan
All Our Yesterdays A Novel of Lady Macbeth by Joel Morris
The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore by Evan Friss
The Last Devil to Die by Richard Osman (I adore this series, like so many others, but I felt like the last book was spinning its wheels a tad. It came back roaring in this one. Warning, get your tissues out!)
Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench (hilarious and engrossing! I wish it had been 3 times as long)
The Rarest Blue by Baruch Sterman
Finding Margaret Fuller by Allison Pataki
I didn't have as much time as I would like to read fiction for fun, but I did find some that were fun indeed!
Night Market Magic by Deb Marlowe
Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma R Alban
How the Wallflower Wins a Duke by Lucy Morris
The Plot Twist by Victoria Walters
The Scandalous Widow by Elizabeth Rolls
Here's hoping for great reads in 2025! Love to you all, see you next year
December 8, 2024
Weekend Links
Happy Sunday, everyone! Are you as dizzy with holiday madness as I am?? Add in book deadlines, and it's wild! But here are a few distractions for today (and next week, I'll have my favorite books of the year list)
December 5 was Krampusnacht. Looks like a holiday for our times!
Holiday festivities in Shakespeare's England (from the Folger Library)
Tons of great tiaras and royal appearances this week!! (lovely to see the Princess of Wales at her carols event!)
Speaking of royals, the Spanish king and queen have dramatic new portraits
I saw "Wicked" a few weeks ago, and loooved it! Here's some info on the costumes
November 17, 2024
Los Luceros and Murder at the Hacienda
Two posts in one day!!! I really am catching up! Murder at the Hacienda, the 4th in my 1920s Santa Fe mysteries (w/a Amanda Allen) just came out, and I am so excited to get caught up with Maddie and her gang again. I was also excited because it's one of my favorite mystery tropes--a locked-in, snowed-in whodunit.
It's also based on a real place, and estate about a hour's drive from my home in Santa Fe. Unlike the house in my book, it's a beautiful, peaceful place, with a wonderfully restores hacienda and acres of pasture (sheep herds! Apple orchards(, near the Rio Grande with lots of walking trails.
Los Luceros (run by the Museum of New Mexico Foundation) is a 148 acre estate north of the little town of Alcalde and east of the Rio Grande, and it has a very long history, long used by Native pueblos. By the early 1700s, it was part of the Serrano Land Grant, one of the earliest sites of apple orchards in the area (which are still there! At their harvest festival open house, you can taste their cider). It consisted of the main hacienda, the fark, cottages, and a chapel. By the early 20th century, it had fallen into disrepair until purchased by Boston heiress Mary Cabot Wheelwright (also of the Wheelwright Museum in Santa Fe), who restored it and made it a haven for artists of all sorts, especially for women. When she died, it fell into neglect again, but is not wonderfully restored and a joy to tour. (Look for the Olive Rush murals on the fireplaces! Rush is often a character in my novels). It was the scene of many parties, and there are even a few ghost stories...
If you're ever in the area, be sure and stop by, look at the house and walk by the river! And there's a wonderful bio of Wheelwright, Mary Wheelwright: Her Book by Leatrice Armstrong, and Wheelwright was also an author and historian in her own right
Heroine of the Weekend: Millicent Rogers
But I was so excited to see that a Sotheby's auction is coming up with some jewels once belonging to Millicent Rogers! I first heard of this fascinating woman when I was a child, and my parents took me to the Millicent Rogers Museum in Taos, which is a gorgeous old home filled with her collections of Native weavings, jewelry, paintings, and so much more. I even wrote a novel about her life (alas, not yet published), because she was so, so much more than a fashion icon and heiress. She packed a lot of life into her brief 53 years.
Millicent Rogers (1902-1953) was a Standard Oil heiress, anartist, a socialite and fashion icon, a renowned art collector, anactivist for Native American civil rights, and still considered oneof the most stylish and fascinating women of the 20thcentury. Though she had a short life, plagued by ill health after achildhood bout of rheumatic fever, it was a full and exciting oneexistence, lived in New York, Paris, Austria, Washington DC, Jamaica,and her final, true home in Taos, New Mexico. She was married threetimes, had three sons, and had love affairs with men like Ian Flemingand Clark Gable. She was an advocate for Native American rights and a patron of the arts as well as a designer and creator of jewelry in her own right. I hope one day you will see my story of her in print! And I hope if you're in Taos, you'll visit her museum, and maybe say hello to her at the Sierra Vista Cemetery, where you can also find many members of the Taos Society of Artists and local characters. It's a wonderful town, and I can see why she considered it her true home.
Info about the Sotheby's auctionThe Millicent Rogers Museum
For more reading on her life:Cheris Burns, Searching For Beauty and Diving for StarfishAnnette Tapert and Diane Edkins, The Power of Style (just a chapter on Rogers, but it's a wonderful book)Arthur J. Bachrach, A Life in Full
October 8, 2024
Ghosts of New Mexico
It's my favorite month of the year, October!!! I love the cool mornings, the golden light, the golden aspens and chamisa here in New Mexico, apple cider, and especially Halloween. I've always been fascinated by ghosties and fairies, and there are plenty here.
It also means next month I have TWO books coming out! One is the fourth Amanda Allen 1920s mystery, Murder at the Hacienda. Maddie, David, and their friends (and police inspector frenemy) are snowed in at a remote hacienda for Christmas, when, of course, there is a murder. One of the people trapped there must be the killer, but which one?? And who will be next?
I based the setting on the real-life rancho, Los Luceros, which is located just outside Espanola and is now a museum/nature center (and a gorgeous place to visit, any time of year). A bit of its history, according to Atlas Obscura:
Nearly 1,000 years ago, the unassuming spot next to the Rio Grande River was home to the ancestors of today’s Tewa residents of Ohkey Owingeh Pueblo (meaning “Place of the Strong Ones”). The ancient pueblo, Po’yege, is an archaeological site now, but the legacy of the Strong Ones lives on. The people of Ohkey Owingeh, located just downriver from Los Luceros, was one of the first sites to resist Spanish colonization and cruelty in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. (The Pueblo is the only one with a stone Catholic Church (others are adobe or wood) because the Strong Ones burned it three times.)
At the time of the Revolt, Los Luceros was part of the Sebastian Martin Serrano land grant. The original hacienda, encased inside the 19th-century renovations, dates to the 1700s. It is one of the earliest sites in the Spanish colony where apple trees were planted. There are over 1,000 trees still on the property.
The Ortiz family, who owned the property in the 1800s expanded the Hacienda and constructed the present capilla, or chapel, onsite. It is still owned by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.
In the early decades of the 20th century, the site had fallen into ruin and was part of a larger dude ranch. But a wealthy Bostonian, Mary Cabot Wheelwright, came west after the deaths of her parents. She fell in love with the site, purchased it, and had it restored. Hiring noted artist Olive Rush to paint murals on the kiva fireplaces. While spending time at Los Luceros, Wheelwright met two-spirit Dine weaver Hasteen (or Hastiin) Klah. She and Klah collected Native arts from throughout New Mexico, creating the original collection for what would become the Wheelwright Museum.
Marie Chabot, a young woman seeking her place in the world, came to New Mexico from San Antonio, Texas. She was working as a magazine writer. Chabot found her way to Los Luceros where Wheelwright was hosting gatherings of “New Women” like Georgia O’Keeffe, Mabel Dodge Lujan, Carol Stanley, and others. Chabot stayed on, living for a while in the Hacienda and, later, in a nearby casita. Chabot inherited Los Luceros upon Wheelwright’s death. She would go on to have a relationship with O’Keeffe. In those days, they would have been referred to as having “Boston marriages.”
The site is a hidden gem with a deep and complex history. More than one ghost story has been told about the hacienda. If you don’t come for the history or the ghosts, then definitely come for the flock of Churro sheep that graze out back.
And, of course, it has ghosts! Apparently, there was a 1998 TV show called "Hauntings in America" that featured the property (before restoration, and in bad condition), but which was mostly untrue legends about hanging trees and women pushed down stairs. There ARE many reports of windows and trap doors opening and closing by themselves, women crying, sounds of a party, etc, all to be expected in such an old property. I was able to incorporate some ghostly tales in Maddie's Christmas visit! Stay tuned all this month for more Santa Fe ghost stories here on this blog...
A few links to info about Los Luceros:
New Mexico Historic Sites (with visiting info)
"Love and Hate at Los Luceros"
Paranormal Claims at Los Luceros
September 3, 2024
Fiestas!
This past weekend started off the annual Fiestas here in Santa Fe, with the burning of Zozobra! It's a unique local tradition, with a fascinating history I loved using in Death Comes to Santa Fe, and I love how it signals the beginning of autumn. Here's some info from the book:
Fiesta has its origins in 1692, when the Spanish who were drivenout by the Pueblo Revolt twelve years before, returned, led by DonDiego de Vargas. In 1712, the Spanish governor of the provinceproclaimed a religious commemoration of those events, where therewere Masses, processions, and family dinners. This didn’t changefor many years, and in fact had much lapsed by the 1760s.
In 1912, the Chamber of Commerce thought Fiesta ready for arevival—as a commercial scheme. They organized events that oftendidn’t have much to do with New Mexico, and charged entry feeswhich shut out many locals and was meant to draw more tourists to thenew state. In the 1920s, a group of artists, led by Will Shuster,protested this and organized their own “El Pasatiempo,” completewith many of the events we have now—parades, dances, and especiallyZozobra! (There are still traditional events, as well, such aNovenas and Masses, and the procession of La Conquistadora, a woodenfigure of The Virgin Mary brought to Santa Fe in 1692 and now housedin the Cathedral).
Will Shuster was one of the great characters of Santa Fe in thetwentieth century! Born in Pennsylvania in 1893, he came to NewMexico with his wife in 1920 for his health (he was gassed in WorldWar I) and to pursue his dreams of being an artist. His naturalgregariousness and creativity made him a leader, especially among agroup who lived near him called Los Cinco Pintores (or “five littlenuts in five mud huts,” as some wags called them!). He wasconstantly throwing parties, organizing events, getting into scrapes. One of his most enduring parties is Zozobra, or “Old Man Gloom.” Made of wool, wire, and cotton cloth, he now reaches 50 feet highand his burning is attended by around 70,000 people, who crowd into apark to contribute their “glooms” (anxieties or bad events,written on slips of paper to be packed in and around the giantmarionette). In 1924, Zozobra was only about 6 feet high, a puppetin Shuster’s garden to amuse his artist friends. As far as I know,there were no body parts found in the ashes that year! By 1926, herealized it was a popular thing and moved to a park for others tosee. On Shuster’s death in 1969, he left the rights to Zozobra’sparty to the Kiwanis Club, and it’s run every year as a charitablefundraiser (and gloom-burner).
The White sisters, Elizabeth and Martha, were also real figuresin 1920s Santa Fe! The college-educated daughters of a wealthyPennsylvania newspaper magnate, they were on a cross-country trip toCalifornia after the War (where Elizabeth served as a nurse), anddecided to stay in Santa Fe, where they built their large compound“El Delirio” (named after their favorite bar in Seville, Spain!). Elizabeth lived a long, energetic life as a patron of the arts,breeder of Irish wolfhounds (she liked to march them in the Fiestaparades!), and Native American rights activist. Their home is nowthe School of Advanced Research, and has a wonderful library whereI’ve done much research! They were the first home in town to havea tennis court and swimming pool, and the party to inagurate the poolwas a real event! (Complete with poem by Witter Bynner, another ofthe great characters of Santa Fe!)
A few sources I’ve found very helpful are:
--Joseph Dispenza and Louise Turner, Will Shuster: A Santa FeLegend (1989)
--Edna Robertson, LosCinco Pintores (1975)
--Jennifer Owings Dewey, Zozobra:The Story of Old Man Gloom
--Gregor Stark and E.Catherine Rayne, El Delirio: The Santa Fe World ofElizabeth White (1998)
--Stacia Lewandowski, Light,Landscape, and the Creative Quest: Early Artists of Santa Fe(2011)
--Van Deren Coke, Taos andSanta Fe: The Artists’ Environment1882-1942 (1963)
--Edna Robertson, Artistsof the Canyons and Caminos(2006, reprint)
June 22, 2024
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
Battle of Waterloo, June 18, 1815
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!!!
June 15, 2024
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—whatwas life like for a vicar’s daughter in the Regency? Since I am aresearch junkie, I love this question! Eleanor (Ella) and hersister Mary (who will be the heroine of the next book in the series!)are in a slightly different situation, since their mother died whenthey were young and Ella took over many of the responsibilities ofthe vicarage. When I first started this book, my knowledge of clergylife in the 18th/early 19thcentury was mostly from Charlotte Lucas (ewww, Mr. Collins! But shedid seem to enjoy the job itself, having her own house and helpingparishioners), and Mrs. Elton from Emma,who didn’t seem to do much besides be snobby and form musicalsocieties. (Plus the Brontes, of course, though Patrick Bronte’sparish was very different from that of the St. Aubins’ father in mybook, since Haworth was poor and industrial). So I enjoyed divinginto it all a bit more.
A vicar’s wife would, likemost women of the time, keep her household. If her husband had agood living (like Mr. Collins, thanks to Lady Catherine de Bourgh!),it could be quite substantial, with a rather large staff, a nicegarden, chances to entertain. If it was poorer, like the Brontes,she might take on some of the more menial chores herself, but thiswas a position of respect and authority in the neighborhood. Thewife (or, in my story, daughter) of the vicar would visit the poorand sick, counsel with them, bring them hampers, coo over new babies,witness weddings, keep her husband apprised of what’s going on withparishoners. 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 lovewith Frederick Fleetwood, the younger son of their neighbor the Earl,since they were children, but never expected that she, the daughterof a vicar (who probably owes his living to Fred’s father!) couldmarry him. And she has to take over her mother’s role inhousekeeping and parish duties, as well as looking after her youngersister, so is kept busy while Fred goes into the Army. Things changewhen they grow up, though!
Amanda Vickery’s TheGentleman’s Daughter: Women’s Lives in Georgian Englandis a great source for more about women’s roles in the period! It’sa fascinating time….
