Regency Turns 80 — The Convenient Marriage

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

Romance author Lillian Marek discusses Georgette Heyer’s The Convenient Marriage in today’s article. This Georgian romance was published in 1934, just one year before Regency Buck, the very first Regency novel. The Convenient Marriage is Heyer’s first romance which involves a marriage of convenience, though it would not be her last. Like Lillian, do you enjoy romances which revolve around a marriage of convenience?

Please feel free to share your opinions in comments to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — Cotillion

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

The Heyer Regency in the spotlight today is Cotillion. Though Regency romance author, Elizabeth Johns, cut her teeth on the works of Jane Austen, when she had run though those, she moved on to the novels of Georgette Heyer, thus allowing her to continue to enjoy our favorite era, the Regency. Today, Elizabeth shares with us her views on Cotillion, one of the most light-hearted and amusing of all of Heyer’s Regencies.

As always, everyone is welcome to share their memories or favorite scenes from this, or any other Regency romance in comments to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — Devil’s Cub

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

The bad boy hero is a most popular romance trope today. Yet, it may surprise many people to know that it has been in use for at least 250 years. But perhaps no one did bad boys better than Georgette Heyer. Today, romance author, Bliss Bennet, shares her views on one of the badest of them all, the Marquis of Vidal, son of Satanas himself, the Duke of Avon, from These Old Shades. Vidal is the hero of the sequel, Heyer’s Georgian romance, Devil’s Cub.

Visitors are invited to share their views on bad boys or any other topic related to romance in comments to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — The Quiet Gentleman

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

Georgette Heyer has often been compared to Jane Austen in general terms. Today, Regina Jeffers, author of a number of award-winning Regency romances, Austen tales and cozy mysteries, finds some one-to-one comparisons with several Austen characters in Heyer’s novel, The Quiet Gentleman. Based on your readings of Austen and Heyer, do you see those same comparisons?

Anyone with an opinion on this novel, or Regencies in general, is welcome to post them in comments to this article.

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Assembly Rooms, May 2015

So many articles this month! I hope you find some of them to be of interest.

Gillray-very slippy weatherThe prodigiously talented Gillray: http://18thcand19thc.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/james-gillray-prince-of-caricaturists.html

The care and upbringing of foundlings: http://www.thehistoryoflondon.co.uk/thomas-coram-and-the-foundling-hospital/

A London walk: https://londonhistorians.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/footsteps-of-soane-ii/

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The Rise of the Paper Hats

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Today, paper hats are most often worn for a bit of fun at parties, or are made for a child by parent or grandparent for some make-believe playtime. But during the Regency, paper hats were regularly worn by working men in a number of trades. In fact, the wearing of such hats had only begun a few years before the Prince of Wales became Regent. It was during that second decade of the nineteenth century that the use of these hats became much more widespread among an expanding number of craftsmen and tradesmen. But these hats were not worn for fun, they had a much more serious purpose. It should be noted that the wearing of these hats seem to have been confined to English working men.

When paper hats were for work, not play …

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Regency Turns 80 — The Grand Sophy

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

The Grand Sophy is one of Georgette Heyer’s best-loved Regency novels. Today, romance author, April Kihlstrom, explains that even though this novel is set in the English Regency, it was also a product of the time in which it was written and had a powerful impact on its readers. Those of you who read this novel within the first decade of its publication in the last century will almost certainly identify with why April so enjoyed this novel as a young woman. And those of you who did not live through those times and have only read it recently will get a dual history lesson, and, perhaps a greater appreciation of the power of Heyer’s fiction.

As always, everyone is invited to share their views and opinions about this novel in comments to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — The Masqueraders

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

An aging master con man, his cross-dressing offspring and their respective loves make for a wild romp through Georgian London in The Masqueraders. Today, Emma Kaye, romance author, shares why this romance by Georgette Heyer is so special to her and why she finds it such a timeless story. As Emma notes, perhaps a cross-dressing heroine is more believable in a historical romance. Or, is it simply that we take such things so for granted today that no one would think twice about it in a contemporary romance?

Feel free to share your views on this Georgian romance in comments to this post.

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Regency Turns 80 — Arabella

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

Arabella is one of Georgette Heyer’s Regency romances which is set primarily in London. As romance author, Wareeze Woodson, explains, the romance of the heroine and her hero are set against the glittering London social season. Even so, we soon see that both of these characters are neither shallow nor brittle social creatures. Instead, each is naturally compassionate and has a strong sense of social responsibility. But will those admirable sensibilities be enough to bring them together for their happily ever after, regardless of their various contretemps?

Comments about this Regency romance are most welcome.

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Assembly Rooms – April 2015

Here’s the monthly assemblage of links of interest to lovers of the Regency era — everything from prisoners’ mementos to dishonest valets. Continue reading “Assembly Rooms – April 2015”

Kitchen Fireplace Furniture:   Contraptions for Cooking

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Last month I catalogued the different types of fireplace equipment which might have been found alongside Regency fireplaces in all the rooms of a house, except the kitchen. This week, I shall focus on kitchen fireplaces and the many unique devices and gadgets which had been invented to customize those fireplaces for the preparation of food in times past. Though you may not think so, most of these devices were considered the latest thing in labor-saving cooking when they were first introduced, regardless of the fact that a number of them look like instruments of torture, better suited to a dungeon than a kitchen.

And now, the sometimes confounding cooking contraptions with which Regency cooks could contend …

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Regency Turns 80 — The Foundling

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

This year, the Beau Monde is celebrating the 80th anniversary of the origins of the Regency romance genre by posting a series of articles on the novels of Georgette Heyer. Yet, today, romance author, Charlotte Russell, tells us about a Heyer novel, The Foundling, which may, or may not, be a "romance" novel. Have you read this novel? Do you agree with Charlotte? Could it be that Georgette Heyer is responsible for originating yet another genre of fiction?

Everyone is welcome to share their views on this novel in comments to this post.

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Fireplace Furniture:   Furnishing the Focus of the Regency Room

A cross-post from The Regency Redingote:

Today, when most of us have some kind of furnace or other form of central heating in our homes, a fireplace is a luxury. Often, a luxury we typically enjoy only on special occasions. For our Regency ancestors, during the winter months their fireplace might literally be the difference between life and death. Though the Romans had had a type of central heating which was used to heat their public baths and the homes of the wealthy, the principles were lost for centuries with the fall of the Empire. From the Middle Ages right through the Regency, the only way by which people were able to heat their homes was by a fire in the fireplace, until the second half of the nineteenth century.

As the source of the comfort of both heat and light, the fireplace was the focal point of a room. Over the centuries, a number of objects had been invented to maximize the heat it produced, while consuming the least amount of fuel. Other objects were developed to manage the fire itself, or to take advantage of its power. Some of these items are nearly unknown today and would most likely be overlooked by someone from the twenty-first century. Many of these fireplace furnishings would have been in use with the various fireplaces in a Regency building. In modern times, a grouping of some of these objects has often provided a valuable marker for cultural historians who study household furnishings. And so, some fascinating facts of fireplace furnishings …

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Regency Turns 80 — The Reluctant Widow

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

Romance author, Jane Ashford, shares her first experience with Georgette Heyer as a young woman, an experience with which many of us can relate. She goes on to discuss The Reluctant Widow, one of Heyer’s Regencies which include a bit of mystery and Heyer’s influence on her own work as a romance author.

Please feel free to share your views about this book in comments to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — Friday’s Child

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

Sometime after Friday’s Child was first published, Georgette Heyer received a letter from a woman in Romania who had been held as a political prisoner for more than twelve years. The woman wrote how she had been able to save her own sanity, and that of her fellow inmates, by telling and re-telling the story of Friday’s Child though the course of those twelve long years of imprisonment. From the day she read that letter, Friday’s Child became Heyer’s favorite among all of her novels. Though she was able to support herself and her family with her writing, Heyer never thought her romance novels were particularly important in the scheme of things, until she learned how much her story had meant to those women imprisoned in Romania.

Today, romance author, Vonnie Hughes, shares her views on the delightful tale of a young couple who marry for all the wrong reasons, but grow up and learn to love and respect one another over the course of the story. This is not a typical Regency romance, which may explain why it was so popular with those women in that Romanian prison.

Of course, visitors are encouraged to share their thoughts on this Heyer Regency romance in comments to the article.

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Regency Turns 80 — These Old Shades

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

In today’s article, romance reader and author, Mimi Matthews, shares her views on one of the most popular of Georgette Heyer’s novels, These Old Shades. It is not a Regency, yet, had it not been her first best-seller, Heyer might never have gone on to write all those Regency novels which remain so popular even today. It is an important milestone in Heyer’s body of work. As Mimi explains, These Old Shades, for all its delightful and witty dialog, is the antithesis of a Regency romance. Do you agree?

Visitors are welcome to share their thoughts on this novel in comments to this article.

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Amy Quinton – Featured Beau Monde Author

Amy Quinton is today’s featured Beau Monde author.

Photo of Regency Romance author, Amy QuintonAmy Quinton is an author and full time mom living in Summerville, SC. She enjoys writing (and reading!) sexy, historical romances. She lives with her British husband, two boys, and two cats. In her spare time, she likes to go camping, hiking, and canoeing/kayaking… And did she mention reading? When she’s not reading, cleaning, or traveling, she likes to make jewelry, sew, knit, and crochet (Yay for Ravelry!). Her favorite place to visit is England and the Isle of Skye, Scotland.

Cover image for What The Duke Wants by Amy Quinton
WHAT THE DUKE WANTS
by Amy Quinton
Released: 01/26/15 ISBN: 978-1-62210-184-9 (ebook) 978-1-50330-469-7 (Print)

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Regency Turns 80 — Faro’s Daughter

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

Today, Emma Kaye, who has written time travel romances set in the Regency, shares with us how she, herself, is able to travel in time by reading Georgette Heyer’s Faro’s Daughter. She also explains what she most loves about Regency romances, those special qualities which are not found in romances from any other genre and make reading Regencies such a treat.

Please feel free to share your views about this story, or Regencies in general in comments to this article.

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Regency Turns 80 — The Transformation of Philip Jettan

Silhouettes of a man and woman in Regency dress against a background of the number 80

Many of you may not recognize the title of this novel as that of one written by Georgette Heyer. The Transformation of Philip Jettan was indeed written by Heyer, though initially published under a pseudonym. When the novel was re-released a few years later, under Heyer’s own name, her new publisher changed the title to Powder and Patch. But that was not all that was changed when the book was republished. Something else went missing. It is very fitting that Susan McDuffie, a writer of historical mysteries, and a talented sleuth, has tracked down the missing bit and provided visitors here with the means by which to view it.

As always, visitors are welcome to share their views about this book in comments to this article.

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Being Scotch by Ann Lethbridge

Award-winning author Ann Lethbridge first published this blog when she started writing the Gilvrys of Dunross series. She graciously gave the Beau Monde permission to recycle it here.

Being Scotch

Did you think I had made a dreadful mistake? Or did you know I was talking about a drink, not a
person. I do of course mean Scotch whisky (and that too is the correct spelling).

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