Maggi Andersen's Blog, page 81
September 5, 2011
September 3, 2011
*****REVIEW OF FORTUNE'S SON BY EMERY LEE
Phillip Drake, an impoverished but titled gentleman, is forced to liquidate his assets and go back to his past gaming habits in an effort to right himself. Lady Susannah Messingham is a woman with a past and nearly ten years Philip's senior. After watching him at the tables, she propositions him to teach her to win at gaming. This fascinating and original look at an uncharted aspect of English life explores a gentleman snared by gambling, the threat of debtor's prison, and the wayward lady who redeems him.Fortune's Son is superbly researched and extremely well written. Emery Lee has researched the Georgian period so thoroughly I was completely immersed in it from the first page. I learned a lot I didn't know about the gaming world of that era, with all it's glamor, danger, greed and despair and it was fascinating. What did it for me though, were the two main characters. Risk takers with a love of excitement and a passion for each other, they are a great match. A wonderful love story. We are taken through many years of their relationship and the troughs and heights of the very charismatic hero, Philip Drake. So low did Lee take him I despaired he'd ever rise again. One of my favorite historicals this year!
Heads Up - Historical Hearts Launch PartyStay tuned for H...
Heads Up - Historical Hearts Launch Party
Stay tuned for Historical Hearts Launch Partymid September 2011!!There will be discussions, prizes and fun times for readers and writers alike.An event you'll not want to miss!Full details coming soon...
Stay tuned for Historical Hearts Launch Partymid September 2011!!There will be discussions, prizes and fun times for readers and writers alike.An event you'll not want to miss!Full details coming soon...
September 2, 2011
NEW TITLE
Casey's Luck, my crime/romantic suspense novel has a new title: Murder in Devon.
August 24, 2011
The Dandies of the Regency Era and the shop keepers who dressed and fed them
As my work in progress is another Regency romance, I decided to blog about this fascinating era
.
The Dandies
During the Regency, ape leader, Beau Brummel created a new simple and expensive style of dress. Absorbed with appearance, Brummel took five hours every morning at his toilet, bathing in eau-de-Cologne and water, then an hour at his hairdresser and two hours 'creasing down' his starched cravat until satisfied with the folds. He might discard a dozen or more cravats which he described as 'our failures' in the process. His obsession with fashion made the reputations of tailors, hatters, glovers and shirtmakers who gave him extensive credit in return form his custom.
The Storekeepers in and around St James's Street
Weston, Brummel's tailor in Old Bond Street and the shopkeepers in the area of St James's Street benefited from him and the dandies that aped him. As did Hoby, the most famous of all the bootmakers, on the corner of Piccadilly and St James's Street who died worth 120,000 pounds. He made military long boots, fashionable Hessian boots with a tassel dangling from the V-shaped front, Hussar boots to be worn with pantaloons, top boots worn with buckskins or breeches. Wellington boots and 'highlows' or ankle boots, worn with trousers.
Lock's the hatters at No. 6 made hats to measure of the finest quality from beaver hats worn by the nobility and the gentry in the country to the glossy black top hats worn by the dandies in town and the chapeau bras which a gentleman carried folded up under his arm in the evening. Hussars and the Dragoons had to pay more for their beplumed and gold-laced shakos; but the dandies often got away without paying their bills from one year to the next.
The Berry Brothers at No. 3 St James's Street, the world-famous wine merchants were founded by the Widow Bourne in 1699. During the Regency they were grocers renown for the varieties of tea, they stocked, Congue, Pekoe, Souchong, Bohea and many others, coffee and tobacco from the New World and spices from the Far East. Their weighing machine used for huge bags of coffee began to be used to weigh customers. Brummell weighed himself regularly with and without boots, and before he got too obese, the Prince Regent used it to.
Friboug & Treyer's were famous snuff merchants with a thriving business at No. 34 the Haymarket, just off Piccadilly. Lord Petersham, famous for his Cossack trousers and double-breasted coat named after him, was an expert in the art of moistening, mixing and blending snuff. When he died, his 'snuff-cellar' was valued at 3,000 pounds. He left 365 snuff boxes, one for every day in the year.
Gunther's, the pastry-cook in Berkeley Square was the most celebrated confectioner in London could charge what he liked. He made all sorts of Biskets and Cakes, Fine and Common Sugar Plums and all sorts of Ices. Ice from the Greenland Sea was buried in the ground under the cellars of Berkeley Square to supply their cream and fruit Ices. Lord Alvanley once ordered a hamper from Gunther's which cost him 200 pounds.
John Hatchard began Hatchard's Bookshop in Piccadilly with 5 pounds and a few second-hand books in 1797, along with Fortnum & Mason, founded by George III's ex-footman Charles Fortnum and the grocer, John Mason in 1817, they have been rebuilt on their original sites.
Society was dominated by the Dandies selfish pursuit of leisure and pleasure (The Pleasure Principal ) Gambling at the Clubs in St James's Street - White's, Boodles and Brooks's, made many seek King in Clarges Street to mortgage their estates or pledge their inherited gold and silver plate or their wives' diamonds at Hamlet, the jeweler in Cranbourn Alley or Rundell and Bridge at Ludgate Hillge who not only sold jewelry but trinkets of all kinds from seals to snuff boxes.
While gambling at their clubs, a curious kind of self-discipline was adopted, for it was considered ill-bred for anyone to show his feelings when losing heavily, or to rejoice if fortune turned in his favor.
It was a man's world: the clubs, the shops and the smart hotels all dedicated to serving the fashion-conscious dandies and the wealthy aristocracy. No lady valuing her reputation would walk down Bond Street or St James's in the afternoon. In the morning, she would be accompanied by her maid, a footman or a page to protect her from being ogled by any dandies although most would still be abed.
In Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy, Sophy Stanton Lacy outraged Miss Wraxton by driving her down the exclusive male precinct of St. James's Street.
Next blog: The Women and their Stores
Regency London Stella Margetson Cassell & Company Ltd 1971.
Georgette Heyer's Regency World Jennifer Kloester
.
The Dandies During the Regency, ape leader, Beau Brummel created a new simple and expensive style of dress. Absorbed with appearance, Brummel took five hours every morning at his toilet, bathing in eau-de-Cologne and water, then an hour at his hairdresser and two hours 'creasing down' his starched cravat until satisfied with the folds. He might discard a dozen or more cravats which he described as 'our failures' in the process. His obsession with fashion made the reputations of tailors, hatters, glovers and shirtmakers who gave him extensive credit in return form his custom.
The Storekeepers in and around St James's Street
Weston, Brummel's tailor in Old Bond Street and the shopkeepers in the area of St James's Street benefited from him and the dandies that aped him. As did Hoby, the most famous of all the bootmakers, on the corner of Piccadilly and St James's Street who died worth 120,000 pounds. He made military long boots, fashionable Hessian boots with a tassel dangling from the V-shaped front, Hussar boots to be worn with pantaloons, top boots worn with buckskins or breeches. Wellington boots and 'highlows' or ankle boots, worn with trousers.
Lock's the hatters at No. 6 made hats to measure of the finest quality from beaver hats worn by the nobility and the gentry in the country to the glossy black top hats worn by the dandies in town and the chapeau bras which a gentleman carried folded up under his arm in the evening. Hussars and the Dragoons had to pay more for their beplumed and gold-laced shakos; but the dandies often got away without paying their bills from one year to the next.
The Berry Brothers at No. 3 St James's Street, the world-famous wine merchants were founded by the Widow Bourne in 1699. During the Regency they were grocers renown for the varieties of tea, they stocked, Congue, Pekoe, Souchong, Bohea and many others, coffee and tobacco from the New World and spices from the Far East. Their weighing machine used for huge bags of coffee began to be used to weigh customers. Brummell weighed himself regularly with and without boots, and before he got too obese, the Prince Regent used it to.
Friboug & Treyer's were famous snuff merchants with a thriving business at No. 34 the Haymarket, just off Piccadilly. Lord Petersham, famous for his Cossack trousers and double-breasted coat named after him, was an expert in the art of moistening, mixing and blending snuff. When he died, his 'snuff-cellar' was valued at 3,000 pounds. He left 365 snuff boxes, one for every day in the year.
Gunther's, the pastry-cook in Berkeley Square was the most celebrated confectioner in London could charge what he liked. He made all sorts of Biskets and Cakes, Fine and Common Sugar Plums and all sorts of Ices. Ice from the Greenland Sea was buried in the ground under the cellars of Berkeley Square to supply their cream and fruit Ices. Lord Alvanley once ordered a hamper from Gunther's which cost him 200 pounds.
John Hatchard began Hatchard's Bookshop in Piccadilly with 5 pounds and a few second-hand books in 1797, along with Fortnum & Mason, founded by George III's ex-footman Charles Fortnum and the grocer, John Mason in 1817, they have been rebuilt on their original sites.
Society was dominated by the Dandies selfish pursuit of leisure and pleasure (The Pleasure Principal ) Gambling at the Clubs in St James's Street - White's, Boodles and Brooks's, made many seek King in Clarges Street to mortgage their estates or pledge their inherited gold and silver plate or their wives' diamonds at Hamlet, the jeweler in Cranbourn Alley or Rundell and Bridge at Ludgate Hillge who not only sold jewelry but trinkets of all kinds from seals to snuff boxes.
While gambling at their clubs, a curious kind of self-discipline was adopted, for it was considered ill-bred for anyone to show his feelings when losing heavily, or to rejoice if fortune turned in his favor.
It was a man's world: the clubs, the shops and the smart hotels all dedicated to serving the fashion-conscious dandies and the wealthy aristocracy. No lady valuing her reputation would walk down Bond Street or St James's in the afternoon. In the morning, she would be accompanied by her maid, a footman or a page to protect her from being ogled by any dandies although most would still be abed. In Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy, Sophy Stanton Lacy outraged Miss Wraxton by driving her down the exclusive male precinct of St. James's Street.
Next blog: The Women and their Stores
Regency London Stella Margetson Cassell & Company Ltd 1971.
Georgette Heyer's Regency World Jennifer Kloester
August 19, 2011
***** Review of A Body in Berkley Square (Captain Lacey Regency Mysteries)
Ashley Gardner paints the scene perfectly in this Regency mystery which is one of a series. Her protagonist, Captain Lacey is appealing in his far from perfect life. Wounded in the Napoleonic wars, and born a gentleman, he has been brought down by circumstances, but still has his pride and despite everything that has unjustly happened to him, hasn't lost his humanity. He can be uncompromising to the point of recklessness when he's on the trail of a killer. But he's no fool. I like it that he likes women. And they like him. The mystery itself was convincing and held my interest to the end. I like Gardner's voice, she never puts a foot wrong.
August 17, 2011
Back from the Romance Writers of Australia Conference
Wandering chilly Melbourne, I enjoyed hopping on and off trams. An excellent way to get around - wish Sydney still had them. The conference was great and I learned some interesting things helpful to writing fiction. Like how to choke someone, and handle a knife, demonstrated on a leg of lamb. Also writing in the male pov. and the differences between men and women presented amusingly with excerpts from an English sitcom. A US Federal agent's talk is another to add to my unusual reference library. 
July 28, 2011
Embrace Books has closed.
The Reluctant Marquess is now unavailable for sale as the publisher, Embrace Books has closed. I'm considering what avenue to take.
July 22, 2011
SURRENDER TO DESTINY Available in Kindle and in print!
Surrender To Destiny By Maggi Andersen
Surrender To Destiny
While making a movie about Giovanna Russo's life in Victorian London, Astrid Leclair and Dylan Shaw steam up the screen with their passionate scenes. Two men desire the beautiful artist's model, Giovanna Russo. One intends to make her his mistress and the other wants her dead. This is a re-issue of Painted Lady.
Surrender To DestinyWhile making a movie about Giovanna Russo's life in Victorian London, Astrid Leclair and Dylan Shaw steam up the screen with their passionate scenes. Two men desire the beautiful artist's model, Giovanna Russo. One intends to make her his mistress and the other wants her dead. This is a re-issue of Painted Lady.
