Vanessa Riley's Blog, page 287

Austen’s World Wrap Up. November 9, 2017

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

That Bewitching Illustrated London News, or, Oooops, I Did It Again
Dear Reader, I did it again. I went on Abebooks and bought another volume of the Illustrated London News I discovered another poor, abandoned volume of a nineteenth-century newspaper, sitting in a corner, crying piteously, so of course, I had … Continue reading →

Papillote Curls
One of the great things about writing historical romance is that I always come across something new in my research. Often such finds are serendipitous and always they give me the chance to add some historical detail that I otherwise … Continue reading →

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Austen’s World Wrap Up. October 26, 2017

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

A Wee Budding Janeite Learns to Read
Jennifer Adams My Little Cities Books by Chronicle Books

Dieting in the Georgian Era
Today I’m going to defend a fellow author’s honor. I don’t actually know who the author is, but she could be any one of us because we’ve all been on the receiving end of an incorrect historical “fact check”. A … Continue reading →

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Austen’s World Wrap Up. October 19, 2017

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

Two Regency Recipes
Last time, I blogged about an event I’m organizing for my UU church’s “Dining for Dollars” fundraiser–a Jane Austen movie night with period refreshments. Since then, I’ve made progress on a menu.  It’s a fair-sized crowd (about 20 people) with … Continue reading →

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Austen’s World Wrap Up. October 12, 2017

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

Advertisements in Newspapers & Magazines
When you look at surviving copies of 19th-century periodicals (typically bound in volumes) today, you will perhaps notice a distinct lack of advertisements. Ads were printed on the wrapper (the cover) of single issues as well as on additional pages, … Continue reading →

Heat and Light in Austen’s Novels (Part 2): Candles, by Rachel Dodge
Just as fire was the centerpiece of most evening gatherings in Jane Austen’s time, candles also played a vital role in Regency life and culture. Today, family members work or read in separate rooms in the evening and go to bed at different times (due to the advent of electricity), but people in Austen’s day […]

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Austen’s World Wrap Up. October 5, 2017

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

A Peek Below Stairs – Kitchen and Cellars
The last great house we visited on my friend Kristine Hughes Patrone‘s Number One London Tours Lake District tour was Tatton Hall. Tatton Park is a historic estate in Cheshire, England, that had been in the Egerton family from 1598 … Continue reading →

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Austen’s World Wrap Up. September 21, 2017

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

Jane Austen Movie Night
I’m planning what must be one of the most fun “Dining for Dollars” church-fundraisers ever—a Jane Austen movie night, with period foods. I love working out all the details for events like this. I’m working on a date and figuring … Continue reading →

Beyond Gunter’s
If you’re an avid reader of Regency romances, you’re likely very familiar with Gunter’s [N0. 7-8 Berkeley Square], the famous pastry shop which was one of the few places a lady might dine when out and about. While the cafes … Continue reading →

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Austen’s World Wrap Up. September 14, 2017

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

Do you love fairy tales?
My new book Yuletide Truce, which comes out next week, starts with dueling reviews of a collection of fairy tales: The Fairy Ring, published on 9 December 1845 (though the title page gives the year of publication as 1846), in … Continue reading →

Heat and Light in Austen’s Novels (Part 1): Fires – Rachel Dodge
At the heart of every household in Jane Austen’s time, a fire burned. Fires provided a fixed source of heat and light, around which people gathered and moved, cooked and cleaned, lived and socialized. And while it’s lovely to imagine that families in Austen’s day gathered together in the evening simply because they enjoyed one […]

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Austen’s World Wrap Up. September 7, 2017

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

Regency Picnic or a Labor Day?
Happy Labor Day! This US federal holiday celebrates the economic and social contributions of the American worker. It was first observed in New York in 1882 and became a federal holiday in 1894. Today it has also become the traditional … Continue reading →

Ch-ch-ch-changes
This past weekend I dropped off both daughters to college (the younger for the first time). It’s a very strange experience to become an empty-nester. I miss them so much! But I’m also an introvert recovering from a challenging phase … Continue reading →

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Austen’s World Wrap Up. August 31, 2017

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

Cool things from the 1780s
I love strange little bits of real history to decorate my books with. Sometimes you stumble across them randomly and jot them down for later use, and sometimes you’re in the middle of the book and you can’t stand to … Continue reading →

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Austen’s World Wrap Up. August 10, 2017

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

English Cottages Rock!
So much of the time, our Regency stories evolve in the settings of the elegant mansions, grand townhouses and large country estates of the rich aristocrats who people the stories. There’s good reason for that, for certainly the elegance helps … Continue reading →

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