"More Power by Tears" - women's rites within marriage.

I am an independent woman of the 21^st century; a veterinarian by day and author of historical romance by night. I married for love and carried on working, except for a short break when my two sons were born. But in Georgian England, until well into the Victorian era, things were very different and when a woman married she became her husband’s property. Any money or property she owned became her husband’s.

“…on marriage the husband and wife are one person in law….the very legal existence of the woman is suspended.”  Sir William Blackstone.

If they had children and the husband abused her such as the marriage broke up, it was the husband who had custody of the children. In law, a married woman was in the same legal category as wards, lunatics, idiots and outlaws!

Celeste Armitage, the heroine of my debut novel ‘A Dead Man’s Debt’ is determined not to marry for these very reasons. She longs to travel and determine her own future, which is impossible within the bonds of marriage; especially when it was the attitude of the day that parents decide on an advantageous husband for their daughter. Love had little, if anything to do with it as illustrated in Lord Halifax’s advice to his daughter:

“Marriage is too sacred to admit a liberty of objecting to it. You are therefore to make the best of what is settled by law and custom and not vainly imagine that it will be changed for your sake.”

Lord Halifax’s book ‘Advice to a Daughter’ first published in 1688, was so popular it ran to 25 editions, featuring other such gems as:

“Men…who are the law-givers…because they have the larger share of reason bestowed upon them.”

And

“Women…have more strength in your looks than we have in our laws, and more power by tears, than we have in our arguments.”

Is your blood boiling yet?

Best HISTORICAL ROMANCE 2010 - nomination!

VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!

As a new author it’s difficult to spread the word about your debut novel which is why I’m especially thrilled that “A Dead Man’s Debt” has just been nominated at The Romance Reviews in the category

Best HISTORICAL ROMANCE - of 2010.

I would really appreciate your votes –

Simply follow the link and scroll down to the ‘Historical Romance’ category.

‘A Dead Man’s Debt’ is at the head of the list – simply click ‘Vote.’

http://www.theromancereviews.com/bookvote.php

Thank you so much,

Grace x

The Matter of the Dead.

The English parish church and graveyard is a scene that sums up rural English life. Entered by a lych gate you walk along a narrow path with graves on either side, to enter the church by a porch. Around the church the ground rises gently around it, a bit like a weight placed on a cushion. But have you ever wondered why old English churches nestle into the landscape this way? Is it a matter of centuries of subsidence, or is there some other explanation?

In truth it is not the churches that are sinking but the ground that is rising up.

The reason?

The dead are rising!

In previous centuries the typical English parish had around 250 to 500 people listed in its records. So for each century that passed, this meant around 1,000 to 2,000 deaths, the vast majority of whom would be buried in the parish church yard (plus stillborn babies and children who died in infancy who wouldn’t have been counted amongst members of the parish) So for an average Norman church dating back to the 1100’s, that meant that a conservative estimate of the number of burials in the church yard would have been 10,000 to 20,000.

In fact what is happening is that the church is on the original ground level and all those buried bodies add matter to the graveyard and which over the centuries raises the earth.

"FOR LOVE is NEW" - by Jean Hart Stewart. Guest Blogger.

A big welcome today to fellow Regency author, Jean Hart Stewart! I'm so excited to have another historical romance author visiting...and an animal lover to boot! I hope you enjoy Jean's post and please leave a comment at the end.

Grace x

Author -Jean Hart Stewart.

Asking me to write about the Regency period is like opening the flood gates, so beware! I purely love the Regency period and everything about it. Clothes, language, the prissy morals demanded of the women (as least the so-called good women) and the passions boiling under the surface. Men definitely didn’t have to follow the same rules, while a woman was ostracized for the slightest misstep.

I got hooked on Pride and Prejudice when I was fourteen and it’s still my favorite book of all time. I’ve collected copies through the years, whenever I could find one I craved in a used or new book store and have a few whose illustrations are gorgeous. They’re my treasures, and I can hardly wait ‘til my granddaughter, now 11, is old enough to appreciate them.

So I love to write about that period. Not only the people, but their love of animals fascinate me. Dogs, cats, and horses romp through the books.  In For Love is New, an influential character is the dog, Boney. He’s shown on the book cover, since he’s so important to the plot. He’s named Boney because he latched onto the hero and followed him home from Marleybone Park. His name causes complications, since the very dastardly villain thinks it’s a derogatory nickname for his man he adores, Napoleon, and is one of the reasons he lets his cruelty lose on the hero and heroine.

Wellington is probably the best known hero of that era. Studying his life was a revelation to me. When he was younger his mother thought him hopeless, and publicly stated she expected nothing of poor Arthur. His family sent him to India to get him out of the way. While there he started on the road to eclipsing his other successful brothers and becoming a Duke. He married too young and out of a mistaken feeling of obligation to a girl he never truly loved. As a result, although he had two sons, he quite publicly displayed a long list of gorgeous mistresses. Since he was Wellington, and living in that time of men getting away with almost anything, it didn’t matter.

His wife played on his sense of duty to get him to marry her. I wonder if she ever regretted it.

A fascinating time period. Do ask me any questions you have. I’d love to answer them…

"For Love is New" - blurb. 

 

Lord Christian Cherne, recently invalided out of the Penninsular Army, is looking forward to the pleasures of London. He has one duty to discharge before he searches for a mistress. He must offer his protection to Lady Juliet Sloan. Paul Sloan was killed in battle, leaving Christian a horrifying letter of his sadistic treatment at the hands of Roger Gullis. To his dismay, Christian finds Gullis sitting in Lady Juliet’s parlor when he comes to call. All his plans must now concentrate on keeping Juliet safe. Christian further suspects Gullis of being a traitor and his fears for Juliet increase.

Juliet is attracted, but suspicious of which man is the traitor. As attraction between Juliet and Christian grows, Gullis turns cruelly vengeful.

Will Juliet and Christian be able to thwart Gullis’ plans to help bring Napoleon back to power, even as he finds wicked retribution for his rejection by the two lovers he has come to hate?

"For Love is New" - excerpt.

London, January 2, 1815

 “You’re as antsy as a debutante at her first ball, Christian. What in bloody hell is wrong with you?”

Christian threw his best friend an apologetic smile.

“I’ve spent three dammed days at the War Ministry and finally agreed to take an occasional job for them. I didn’t want to do even that. I don’t want to be tied down in any way. Any way at all. And now I must fulfill one last unwanted obligation and call on a certain Miss Juliet Sloan.”

Delaney whistled long and low. “Not really a hardship, my friend. I’ve never met her, but she’s reputed to be a beauty.”

Christian snorted. “I don’t care about getting tied up with a virtuous woman, Delaney, no matter how beautiful. All during this damnable war I dreamed about getting home. I want to start living the life of a carefree bachelor, and all I get is more obligations thrown at me. I want to sample every wicked pleasure London has to offer. Virtuous women are not on the list.”

Delaney laughed out loud at this uncharacteristic outburst.

“Satan’s bones, but you’re really stirred, aren’t you? Make your damned duty call and get it over with.

Thank you so much Jean, for joining us here today. 'For Love is New' sounds just my sort of read and I wish you every success. Reading about 'Boney' I just could help posting this cute shaggy dog photo above - forgive the indulgence but he's just so cute!

As Jean said she'd love to share her love of the era so if you have any comments please leave them below.

Kind regards,

Grace x

Whistler's Poodle and the Eminent Surgeon.

'Whistler's Mother.'

American born, British based artist, James Abbott Whistler (1834 - 1903) famed for paintings such as ‘Arrangement in Grey and Black, the Artist’s Mother’ (yes, the picture in the first Mr. Bean movie!) and Old Battersea Bridge, was an animal lover. Whistler owned a tortoiseshell cat, but his favorite pet was actually his French poodle.

            One day the poodle was taken ill and in a panic Whistler called out an eminent ENT surgeon of the day. Arriving at Whistler’s address, the distinguished doctor was horrified to find the patient wasn’t human but canine! Begrudgingly he examined the animal and prescribed a course of treatment.

            But the next day the doctor got his revenge when he sent Whistler an urgent summons. Thinking it was news of his favorite dog’s condition the great artist dropped everything and hurried over. He was greeted warmly by the doctor with the words;

            ‘Ah good morning Mr. Whistler, so good of you to call so promptly. I needed to see you urgently about the repainting my front door.’

'Study in White' by Whistler

           

Why Cats Have Nine Lives.

As a veterinarian I’m constantly surprised by the resilience of the feline species. This week alone a 17 year old cat with kidney failure successfully underwent major dental attention, a stray cat lost a leg but was eating the same night and a kitten fell 40 feet with barely a scratch to show for it! Its no wonder cats have a reputation for having nine lives - which set me wondering about where the saying originated.

Research into this fable led me to ancient Egypt. The ancient Egyptians believed in 9 ‘great gods’ or ENNEAD, which sounds as if we are getting close to the spot! So who or what is the Ennead and where did they come from?

In the beginning there was ATUM-RA – or ‘Cat god of the setting sun.’

Now Atum-Ra begat:

Shu (Air) and Tefrut (Moisture)

Who in turn begat:

Earth and Nut (Sky)

Who in turn begat:

Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys.

In total with Atum-Ra this makes 9 gods.

A religious text dated between 945 – 715 BC records;

“I am one becomes two,

I am two who becomes four

I am four who becomes eight,

And I am one more besides.”

The text is alluding to Atum-Ra being the embodiment of nine gods, or one creator who has nine lives. Indeed, it is now thought some of the multitude of cat statues found in excavations from ancient Egypt, are not representations of pet cats or the cat goddess Bastet, but of Atum-Ra. Several of these statues show a cat bearing a sun disk on their head, or bearing a scarab beetle (the symbol for the sun), consistent with Atum-Ra.

Fascinating isn’t it that the culture of an ancient civilization can be so firmly embedded in our own world today?

Do you have a story of a cat surviving against the odds? Why not share it here?

FOR SALE ..... (be sure to go to the end of the photos!)

FOR SALE.

ONE USELESS CAT!