Vanessa Riley’s Regency Reflections

I can’t wait for spring!  It is still pretty chilly in the Midwest, but I know the sunny, warm days will be here very soon.

Can you imagine what it would be like if spring never came? That is what happened one year during the Regency period. In fact, 1816 is often referred to as the “Year Without a Summer,” and during this time extreme weather dramatically effected England’s cultural and economic landscape. Let’s take a quick look:

In April 1815, the volcano Mount Tambora erupted on the island of Sumbara in the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia).  The force of the blast launched ash, dust and debris into the atmosphere. The impact was so significant that temperatures lowered globally and the sun’s rays were blocked, making the days appear darker. The altered atmosphereic conditions affected weather and agriculture worldwide, especially in Canada, northeastern United States, and northern Europe.

As a result, 1816 ranks as one of England’s coldest winters on record.  The snow fell as late as May in London, and in the Lake District, snow was still on the highest peaks at the end of July. The excessive precipitation and unseasonably cold temperatures devastated crops. Consequently, food shortages were rampant. To make matters worse, farm laborers were not working, and with thousands of soldiers returning from foreign wars, unemployment was a major problem. Rioting looting broke out all over the country.   Malnutrition and cold, wet conditions led to a rise in disease.

But even during this time of darkness, the artists and poets of the day found beauty in the midst of the shadows. The gloomy, bitter weather inspired Byron’s haunting poem Darkness. Byron said he “wrote it… at Geneva, when there was a celebrated dark day, on which the fowls went to roost at noon, and the candles were lighted as at midnight.”  And in the world of art, J. M. W. Turner is said to have been inspired by the spectacular sunsets that resulted from the high levels of debris and ash in the atmosphere.

Curious about what else was going on in England at this time? To give you a frame of reference, here is a quick snapshot of England’s literary scene during the cold, raw months of 1816:

— Jane Austen’s Emma published. (actually published in December 1815, but the title page says 1816)
–Lord Byron’s poem Darkness, The Siege of Corinth, and Prometheyus are published.
–Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s Kubla Kahn is published.
–Percy Bysshe Shelley’s Alastor: Or, The Spirit of Solitude is published.
–John Keat’s O Solitude and On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer are published .
—Charlotte Bronte is born on April 21^st.

Thanks for stopping by Regency Reflections.  Enjoy the spring and summer months ahead!

Originally posted 2013-03-29 10:00:00.

Today we welcome guest blogger Susanne Dietze. Learn more about Susanne at the end of the article. 

Perhaps the only way a Regency-era tourist might ever see an exotic animal—alive—was by visiting the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London. A visit to the Royal Menagerie was a popular outing, and proved an entertaining day out.

By the Regency era, animals had been on display at the Tower for six hundred years, since the reign of King John. The first animals to arrive at the Tower were gifts from Europe and Africa: lions, an elephant, and a polar bear which was fortunate enough to experience “outings,” attached by a leash so he could fish in the Thames.

In the 18^th century, it cost three half-pence or the supply of a cat or dog to be fed to the lions to visit (according to author Wilfred Blunt). After paying the fee (or providing a small pet), the public was welcome to view animals such as baboons, macaws, mongoose, ocelot, and cheetahs.  After 1816, the Regency visitor would have no doubt wished to view Martin, a Grizzly bear given to George III by the Hudson Bay Company.

The conditions endured by the animals are cringe-worthy by today’s standards. If they survived the voyage to London—cramped in confinement over land and sea—the animals were doomed to an unnatural life. Locked in small cages, they received no exercise, nor did many have the pleasure of eating food that was part of their natural diet (the zebra grew quite fond of ale, ostriches were fed nails by visitors, and the elephant’s rations included a gallon of wine per day). James I and his court enjoyed watching the lions maul other animals in organized matches. Needless to say, many animals did not live long in the Royal Menagerie.

Interaction between the visitors and the animals would also astonish most of us, accustomed as we are to zoo exhibits designed to educate visitors while protecting both animal and human. At the Royal Menagerie, however, visitors could feed, touch, provoke, or abuse the animals—often to their own detriment.

In 1698, Mary Jenkinson stroked a lion’s paw, no doubt with good intent. Nevertheless, the lion caught her arm “with his Claws and mouth, and most miserably tore her Flesh from the Bone”. Her arm was amputated, but sadly, poor Mary passed away.

Likewise, the 1810 guidebook recounts that “formerly several monkies were kept, but one of them having torn a boy’s leg in a dangerous manner they were removed”—presumably from the furnished room where they had been living since the 1780’s, where visitors could engage the monkeys.

Remarkably, people still got too close to the animals. Many parasols and umbrellas were destroyed by a leopard. Then, too, animals escaped (such as the wolf who ate a keeper’s terrier), or were accidentally introduced to one another—the most famous perhaps being an 1830 incident when two tigresses were let into the lion’s cage by an under-keeper. After half an hour, the keepers were able to separate the fighting trio, but the lion succumbed to his wounds.

In 1831, many of the 280 animals housed at the Menagerie began to be transferred to the Zoological Society of London at Regent’s Park, and the Tower Menagerie was closed in 1835.

As for Martin the Grizzly Bear, such a popular attraction during the Regency? He died in 1838, although some say his ghost haunts the Tower.

Susanne Dietze began writing love stories in high school, casting her friends in the starring roles. Today, she writes in the hope that her historical romances will encourage and entertain others to the glory of God. Married to a pastor and the mom of two, Susanne loves fancy-schmancy tea parties, travel, and curling up on the couch with a costume drama and a plate of nachos. She won first place in the Historical category of the 2011-2012 Phoenix Rattler, and her work has finaled in the Genesis, Gotcha!, and Touched By Love Contests. Susanne is represented by Tamela Hancock Murray of The Steve Laube Agency. You can visit her on her website, www.susannedietze.com.

Originally posted 2013-03-27 10:00:00.

{To celebrate Moonlight Masquerade, we’re running a special week-long contest. Through Friday, March 22, we’ll feature Regency quiz questions at the end of each post. To enter the contest, you’ll need to correctly answer the questions in the comment section below. For every correct answer, your name will be added into the drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card . There will be five questions in all, which means your name can be entered up to five times (if you get all five questions right). The deadline to answer ALL CONTEST QUESTIONS will be Saturday, March 23 at midnight.}

 A Wealth of Biblical Themes

Moonlight Masquerade, a new release by Ruth Axtell, bursts with meaningful themes. The story is imbued with scriptural parallels there for the discerning reader’s delectation.

Hero Rees and heroine Celine are drawn to each other from the start of their acquaintance. The secrets each holds, and the role each plays bar the way to true intimacy, calling to mind the eternal verity held in 1 Corinthians 13:12 ~

For now we see in a mirror dimly,

but then face to face.

Now I know in part; then I shall know fully,

even as I have been fully known.

Desires must be banked and yearnings deferred. Their path to love’s fulfillment can’t be seen clearly due to earthly encumbrances.

Without giving a plot spoiler, I can say the dichotomy existing between the two lead characters, both spies with different loyalties and purposes, drives the plot along in compelling fashion. One spy, Rees, is subject to the governing authorities (Romans 13:1) and the biblical understanding is that our authority figures have been instituted by God. He is employed by the British government, and works for advancement, not for his own glory, but to support his family. A strong Christian, Rees still struggles with the deceitful nature of his espionage assignment.

Celine, on the other hand, is idealistic, works with an underground movement and believes only a democratic government in her homeland will bring peace to her beloved country and satisfaction to her soul. Throughout the course of the story, these two complex characters’ motives collide, with hero Rees emerging as a strong leader, a righteous man, and a man not afraid to pursue the woman he loves.

The simmering tensions, and the attractive characters, set in the turbulent latter days of Napoleon’s reign, all combine for a satisfying and thought-provoking Regency read.

Author Ruth Axtell and I (humble blogger Susan Karsten) have each selected our choices for the actors we would suggest to play these evocative lovers on the silver screen. Ruth chose Matt Bomer & Jennifer Garner, and Susan chose Russell Crowe & Emma Watson.

Just for fun, Please comment with your choices: Ruth’s actors, or mine. Thanks!

Quiz Question for prize: Who was made the leader of France after Napoleon abdicated?

a) Louis XVI

b) Louis XVII

c) Louis XVIII

d) Charles X

Originally posted 2013-03-22 10:00:00.

I’m excited to introduce a new Regency novel today. It’s entitled Moonlight Masquerade and written by Regency Reflection’s own Ruth Axtell.

To celebrate Moonlight Masquerade, we’re running a special week-long contest. Starting today through next Friday, March 22, we’ll feature Regency quiz questions at the end of each post. To enter the contest, you’ll need to correctly answer the questions in the comment section below. For every correct answer, your name will be added into the drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card . There will be five questions in all, which means your name can be entered up to five times (if you get all five questions right). The deadline to answer ALL CONTEST QUESTIONS will be Saturday, March 23 at midnight.

Before we get to today’s quiz question, let me tell you about the story.

Lady Celine Wexham seems the model British subject. French by birth but enjoying life in 1813 as a widowed English countess, she is in the unique position of being able to help those in need–or to spy for the notorious Napoleon Bonaparte. When Rees Phillips of the British Foreign Office is sent to pose as the countess’s butler and discover where her true loyalties lie, he is confident he will uncover the truth. But the longer he is in her fashionable townhouse in London’s West End, the more his staunch loyalty to the Crown begins to waver as he falls under Lady Wexham’s spell. Will he find the proof he needs? And if she is a spy after all, will he do the right thing?

Moonlight Masquerade has garnered some excellent reviews from both authors and reviewers alike:

“All the elements of suspenseful romance and clandestine spying encounters twist through Ruth Axtell’s latest page-turner set in Regency London.”  Ruth Leubecker, Machias Valley News Observer.

“Take a French emigre who is the widow of British nobility and add in a British foreign office employee who is posing as her butler and you have a recipe for a book filled with tension. Add in a dash of spying, a pinch of counter-espionage, and a dollop of intrigue stirred with a generous helping of interest in each other and it created a recipe for a book that drew me happily to its pages.”  author Cara Putman

“When danger comes looking for Lady Céline what will Rees do? Will her charms blind him to who she really is so that he betrays the crown or will he unmask her to the world?
Moonlight Masquerade is an interesting look at the war between Britian and Napoleonic France and the various parties with an interest in the outcome. If you like court intrigue, the Regency era, and subterfuge you will love Moonlight Masquerade!” M. Myhren-Bennett, Blooming with Books

I’m personally reading this story now, and I absolutely love the French spy angle. It’s neat to see England through the eyes of a French woman and compare the different cultures. And then there’s the whole spy question. Is Celine a spy, or isn’t she? I’m looking forward to finishing the novel, and I think anyone interested in the Regency Era will find this spy twist entrancing.

Today’s Question: The summer of 1814 was known as the victory summer in Britain because the war with France was over. But in 1815 they were mobilizing troops once again. Why?

a) Napoleon had escaped from Elba.
b) Napoleon had allied himself with Russia.
c) Napoleon had escaped from St. Helena.
d) Napoleon had escaped to America.

Originally posted 2013-03-15 10:00:00.