Vanessa Riley’s Regency Reflections

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• What To Give An Earl
  At this time of year many of us are engaged in a holiday ritual–what gifts to buy that special man in our lives. I’m here to help. Of course, you must first transport yourself to Regency England to discover what you … Continue reading →
• West Galleries –Singing in the Choir (Quire)
  One of my weekly joys is singing with my church choir. Our church is small, and so is our choir, often only six or eight people, just as I imagine a small rural parish church choir in Regency times might … Continue reading →

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Originally posted 2017-12-07 06:20:30.

Looks What’s Brewing in the Regency

• This Butler’s Pantry Will Make You Gasp
  Inquiring readers, I had the immense pleasure recently of visiting The Breakers, the summer “cottage” of the Cornelius Vanderbilt family in Newport, R.I. Before walking through its marbled halls, I could only imagine the conspicuous consumption this enormous house represented in the gilded age. I was not disappointed. The social life in Newport during the […]
• Jane Austen Movie Night
  This weekend I hosted the “Dining for Dollars” Jane Austen Movie Night I’ve been talking about. About twenty people attended and I think all had a lovely time. My goal with the menu was to serve foods based on period … Continue reading →

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Originally posted 2017-11-23 06:20:15.

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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Originally posted 2017-11-09 06:20:04.

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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Originally posted 2017-10-26 06:20:28.

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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Originally posted 2017-10-19 06:21:23.

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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Originally posted 2017-10-12 06:20:11.

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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Originally posted 2017-10-05 06:22:28.

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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Originally posted 2017-09-21 06:20:48.

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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Originally posted 2017-09-14 06:21:27.

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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Originally posted 2017-09-07 06:20:19.