{"id":4287,"date":"2026-04-10T10:25:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:25:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/christianregency.com\/blog\/?p=4287"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:25:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T10:25:06","slug":"the-speckled-monster-in-regency-society-guest-post-by-shirley-raye-redmond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/2026\/04\/10\/the-speckled-monster-in-regency-society-guest-post-by-shirley-raye-redmond\/","title":{"rendered":"The Speckled Monster in Regency Society ~ Guest Post by Shirley Raye Redmond"},"content":{"rendered":"

While enjoying Regency romances with their witty dialogue and ton parties,
\none seldom considers the dark and often fatal shadow which loomed over
\nthose that lived during that time period\u2014small pox, often referred to as
\n\u201cthe speckled monster.\u201d The disease killed hundreds of millions of
\npeople\u2014more than the Black Death and the wars of the 20th century put
\ntogether!
\nA woman who was considered a great beauty during this time period was
\nusually one who had not been seriously disfigured by smallpox. It was
\nunderstood by portrait artists of the day that they were not to paint in
\nthe disfigurements and pockmarks of their subjects. Edward Jenner was the
\nBritish physician responsible for the first smallpox vaccine. His wife was
\na Sunday School teacher who held classes in their home.
\n\"APJane Austen\u2019s dearest friend Martha Lloyd was scarred by smallpox for the
\nremainder of her life. Several members of the Lloyd household died from
\nthe disease. A character in Austen\u2019s novel Northanger Abbey is disfigured
\nand crippled by the dreaded disease.
\nBut most writers of Regency novels do not mention small pox even though
\none in four people died from the disease during this time period. I
\ndecided to make the subject a key factor in the plot of my new
\ninspirational, PRUDENCE PURSUED and addressed the issue right away on the
\nfirst page.<\/p>

\"Fire<\/a><\/div>\n

Excerpt from Prudence Pursued:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou should not wear that to the pox party,\u201d Prudence Pentyre said,\u00a0indicating her younger cousin\u2019s dress of light green Italian silk. \u201cI\u00a0recommend something with short sleeves which allows you to expose your\u00a0forearm to the lancet.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Margaret shuddered. Her plain face, pale and lightly freckled, appeared\u00a0downcast. \u201cOh, Pru, I wish I didn\u2019t have to go.\u201d She stood, slender\u00a0shoulders drooping, in front of her open wardrobe.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cTruly, Meg, there\u2019s nothing to worry about,\u201d Prudence assured her,\u00a0slipping a comforting arm around her cousin\u2019s slim waist. \u201cPapa had all of\u00a0us vaccinated with the cow pox when we were still in the school room\u2014and\u00a0the servants too. I\u2019m quite surprised my Uncle Giles didn\u2019t do the same,\u201d
\nPrudence replied.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To find out what pretty milkmaids had to do with Edward Jenner
\nsuccessfully finding a way to prevent small pox, you\u2019ll have to read the
\nrest of my novel. For more information about the horrors of the disease, I
\nrecommend The Speckled Monster by Jennifer Lee Carrell (Penguin)<\/p>\n

Prudence Pursued<\/em>
\nBy Shirley Raye Redmond<\/p>\n

At the advanced age of twenty-seven, Prudence Pentyre is on the shelf.
\nContent to occupy her time by attending meetings of Mr. Wilberforce\u2019s
\nAbolition Society, Prudence is resolved to see that her younger cousin
\nMargaret, shy and plain, does not share her own unmarried fate.
\nDespite her best efforts, all of Prudence\u2019s matchmaking attempts fail.
\nMargaret proves reluctant to accept Sir James Brownell\u2019s marriage
\nproposal, and fears being \u201cbovinised\u201d if she undergoes the controversial
\ncowpox vaccination he recommends. And the dashing baronet\u2014with his
\nsunburned skin, eye patch, and unfashionable attire\u2014seems more concerned
\nabout the plight of headhunters in Borneo than Margaret\u2019s stubborn refusal
\nof his offer.
\nPrudence, on the other hand, finds herself unexpectedly smitten with the
\nman. Can she trust that God\u2019s plan for her life is richer and more
\nrewarding than the one she had planned for herself?
\nAvailable through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, and iTunes.<\/p>\n

Originally posted 2014-11-24 01:00:00. <\/small><\/p>

\"Listen<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While enjoying Regency romances with their witty dialogue and ton parties, one seldom considers the dark and often fatal shadow which loomed over those that lived during that time period\u2014small pox, often referred to as \u201cthe speckled monster.\u201d The disease killed hundreds of millions of people\u2014more than the Black Death and the wars of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,196,3,192,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-health","category-history","category-regency-remedies","category-regency-romance"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4287"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4393,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4287\/revisions\/4393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vanessariley.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}