Grace Elliot. Being a Woman in Georgian England.

 

I am very pleased to have author, Grace Elliot, joining me today as part of her blog tour to announce the release of The Ringmaster's Daughter.

Grace Elliot leads a double life as a veterinarian by day and author of historical romance by night. She lives near London and is housekeeping staff to five cats, two teenage sons, one husband and a bearded dragon. Grace believes that everyone needs romance in their lives as an antidote to the modern world. The Ringmaster’s Daughter is Grace’s fifth novel, and the first in a new series of Georgian romances.

Being a Woman in Georgian England

I’m thrilled to be Judith’s guest as she is an author I very much admire. I love the strong women Judith portrays in her novels (especially, The Kiss of the Concubine) and this is perhaps no coincidence because I too love to write about strong female heroines. My latest release features just such a women, Henrietta Hart, who is the heroine in The Ringmaster’s Daughter. But to fully understand how courageous Henrietta is, let’s place her in the context of 18^th century society when the novel is set.

            “[England is] a paradise for women and hell for horses.” Robert Burton 1651

            The quote above is from the 17^th century, but the underlying sentiment remains true in Georgian times. Just in case the word ‘paradise’ confuses you – consider that women are being put in the same category as horses, that is, both subject to men, their lord and master. In effect Burton is saying that women should consider themselves jolly lucky to be coddled and generously looked after by their menfolk. Puts a different complexion on the term ‘paradise’ doesn’t it?

            If you aren’t convinced, then consider this quote by Judge Buller, in 1782, who ruled on a point of English law concerning women and concluded:

            “[It is] perfectly legal for a man to beat his wife, as long as he used a stick no thicker than his thumb.”

            In the upper classes there the prevailing attitude was of men ‘owning’ women – almost as though the men were intimidated and needed to keep women firmly under the thumb! Men subjugated women by linking learning, knowledge, politics and career to a loss of feminine charm. A ‘honey trap’ was created where a woman looked to marriage for security, and if she tried to be independent she was labelled as having loose morals. This is illustrated in this quote written in 1757 by Jean Jacques Rousseau:

            “There are no good morals for women outside of a withdrawn and domestic life …any woman who shows herself off disgraces herself.”

            But of course, many lower class women had no choice but to earn a living and there were few jobs were considered 'decent' - and surprise, surprise, they paid poorly. Interestingly, the 18^th century saw the birth of consumerism and some women stepped into roles as seamstresses (helping the wealthy keep up with the latest fashion), writing for magazines and pamphlets (more lofty literary ambition was frowned upon), decorating ceramics and indeed, serving in the new shops. But as for actresses and singers, those females who might consider entertaining for a living were labeled as being sexually available…which brings us back to Henrietta Hart.

           

Set in the 1770’s, when her father falls ill, Henrietta takes on his role as ringmaster at the Foxhall Pleasure Gardens. She fights to keep a roof over their heads but the very act of performing makes her a target for unwanted male attention…

The Ringmaster’s Daughter – synopsis

1770’s London. The ringmaster’s daughter, Henrietta Hart, was born and raised around the stables of Foxhall  Gardens. Now her father is gravely ill, and their livelihood in danger. The Harts' only hope is to convince Foxhall’s new manager, Mr Wolfson, to let Hetty wield the ringmaster’s whip. Hetty finds herself drawn to the arrogant Wolfson but, despite their mutual attraction, he gives her an ultimatum: entertain as never before – or leave Foxhall.

When the winsome Hetty defies society and performs in breeches, Wolfson’s stony heart is in danger. Loath as he is to admit it, Hetty has a way with horses…and men. Her audacity and determination awaken emotions long since suppressed.

But Hetty’s success in the ring threatens her future when she attracts the eye of the lascivious Lord Fordyce. The duke is determined, by fair means or foul, to possess Hetty as his mistress – and, as Wolfson’s feelings for Henrietta grow, disaster looms.

  

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

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My Writing Progress Blog

Today is "My Writing Process" blog tour day, when authors answer questions about their writing process. Last week, fellow author Debra Brown posted hers. You can check it out at: http://authordebrabrown.blogspot.com/

Debra writes Regency novels – I loved her first book TheCompanion of Lady Holmeshire:

Many thanks for the invitation, Debbie. Here goes.

 

So, what is my writing process?

I write four days a week, leaving the weekend free for research and leisure, or that is the plan anyway. I am often distracted  by other things. First thing in the morning I answer emails, catch up with my online readers and fellow authors. Social networking plays a huge part in book marketing so it may look like play but in actual fact is me hard at work. Then, after coffee, I settle down to write. I aim to add five thousand words a day, sometimes I manage that, sometimes not but it is a good goal to have. One of the main things an author needs, apart from being able to spell, is self-discipline. Once I have done that I usually retire to the sofa or, if the sun is shining, to the garden to plan an outline for the following day. I am lucky. I have a lovely study that looks out across a garden full of flowers and birds to the welsh countryside beyond. Sometimes the only person I see all day is the postman. I think I have the best job in the world.

What am I working on?

A historical novel called Intractable Heart which is the story of Henry VIII’s last wife, Katheryn Parr. It is my sixth full length historical novel and my third set in Tudor England. Katheryn is not as popular as Anne Boleyn whom I featured in my last release, The Kiss of the Concubine but my research is revealing a fascinating woman. Her story has conflict, war, grief, terror, as well as some 'lurve.'  Her story is so interesting that I am glad to wake up in the morning and get started.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

Some of the most frequent recurring words in Amazon reviews on my work are ‘different’ ‘refreshing,’ and ‘new perspective.’ I write in the first person, which helps me to strip away the magnificent clothes and jewels and reveal the woman beneath. I think long and hard how it must have felt to marry a man like Henry. A man very much older than oneself (to illustrate the generation gap; Katherine was named after Henry’s first wife Katherine of Aragon), and a man who had already disposed of five wives. Henry was increasingly ill, increasingly erratic and Katheryn was in love with another man, Thomas Seymour. She must have been close to despair on her wedding day. This sort of dilemma is a re-occurring one in Tudor women’s history, and I love to write about it.

Why do I write what I do?

When I first began to write I was advised to stick to what I know and keep to a setting where I am comfortable'. I am far more at home in Tudor England than I am in the modern world. I wouldn’t have a clue what goes on in a modern office, and I am not up to date with all the gadgetry that is essential to contemporary life. I have a master’s degree in Medieval Studies so it seemed natural to write historical novels, especially as that is my genre of choice as a reader. When I first began to write seriously I set my novels in the early medieval period. It was constant requests from readers that prompted me try out a Tudor one and it was a good decision. My career has really taken off since I wrote The Winchester Goose.

How does your writing process work?

The ideas for most of my books have germinated during research for the previous one. For instance, when I was writing The Winchester Goose I came across an article about how Anne Boleyn has been seriously misrepresented by novelists – I read a few of the novels cited in the article and decided she had been maligned rather than just misrepresented. When I wrote The Kiss of the Concubine I made sure I presented her as neither a witch nor a scheming whore. She is a woman in a difficult situation, in love with a difficult man. While I was writing The Kiss of the Concubine I read an article about Katheryn Parr and was surprised to discover how interesting she was. Katheryn was a devout, intelligent and educated woman, the first English queen to become a published author. That is how Intractable Heart was conceived.

Next week the following three authors will be telling you about their writing process:

Karen Aminadra : http://karenaminadrablog.wordpress.com/

Caroline Storer: http://carolinestorer.blogspot.co.uk/

Rachael Thomas: http://rachael-thomas.blogspot.co.uk/

All my books are available in paperback and on Kindle. My amazon page is here.

For more information please visit my webpage: www.juditharnopp.com

Reflections from a hermit in West Wales

This is where I live. Miles from the shops, miles from the bus. Of course, it isn't always snowy but since I don't drive and the bus service is non-existent, it might as well be. Sometimes the only person I see all day, other than my old fella when he comes home at night, is the postman. This time of the year, when I order more parcels I sometimes see several different delivery men in a day. Oh what a dizzy life I lead. My lifestyle does have its drawbacks. I can get a bit cranky, a little too introverted, especially if the phone rings and disturbs my peace. You see, I have come to rather like my solitude. I can be totally selfish all day, do exactly as I please, as long as that doesn't involve going out. It also enables me to give 100% attention to my work. I write four days a week, from nine(ish) to five(ish), researching, writing, marketing and networking and I am so grateful to be able to do that. So many of my writer friends have to fit their writing around work commitments, I know I am blessed. 

My life hasn't always been like this. For years I was a full time mum, running a smallholding, trying to keep the house in order. I spent years chasing children, chickens and (most of all) my own tail.

Then one day, I turned around and they were all grown up and I hadn't a clue what to do next. So, after months of indecision, I went to uni, took a degree in English literature and Creative Writing. Fortunately our local uni is just eight miles away in Lampeter. I loved University, the buildings, the lectures, the students, the staff ...the library. It was by the far the scariest step I have ever taken but also the very best decision of my life. I loved it so much that after graduation I signed up for a Masters, this time in Medieval Studies. But, of course, time doesn't stand still and I soon found myself in that 'now what?' situation again. This time though I was better armed.

I have always written stories and poems but never let anyone read them, only  my children who loved to be the protagonists in the adventures I wrote. Even today I slot their names into my novels if I can. Anyway, I digress. I wrote two novels (dreadful things) before I produced Peaceweaver and decided it was good enough to run with. I did the usual battle with agents and publishers before I decided to go it alone. Another challenge, another set of skills to learn but the result was well received but not widely read. A little discouraged initially but undaunted, the reviews it had received were encouraging enough for me to write a follow up,The Forest Dwellers. Again it met a luke-warm readership, those that read it liked it but there was not the buzz I'd hoped for. I sorted out some formatting problems, re-issued it, stuck my head down and wrote another, The Song of Heledd. 

I love this book. It is very Welsh, very romantic and ends in horrible tragedy but once more, it wasn't met with overwhelming acclaim. During this time, on the back of a small very short pamphlet I'd published about Henry VIII's wives, I had lots of people asking if I'd written any full length 'Tudor' novels and since I was between projects I decided to do so.  

The Winchester Goose stands out from anything I'd written previously. For a start, once you've written five books you are more in control, know what  you are doing and so I think it benefited from author confidence. This book breaks rules but I am like that. I like to be different. 

It is written first person, present tense and tells the story of Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard

from the perspective of a prostitute from Southwark. But it doesn't stop there; Joanie Toogood's story contrasts the life of a woman of the night with the life of a queen, and concludes that there is very little difference.

This book, along with my blogging both on this page and the English Historical Authors Blog won me lots of fans, lots of facebook friends and twitter followers and I began to get the exposure I needed.

Of course, I am by no means famous or even well-known but I am too introverted to crave real fame. I am much happier here chatting to my virtual friends and plotting, well-researched stories for my readers. The idea of  public speaking, radio or television interviews fills me with horror. I love the internet because it allows me to make my living without having to confront my deepest phobias. My fifth published novel, The Kiss of the Concubine; a story of Anne Boleyn has been out for three weeks (I think) and much to my surprise has shot into the Amazon Kindle Historical chart. The reviews so far are immensely encouraging, my back catalogue is also selling and for the first time in years, I can afford to have the heating on all day if I need to.

So, really this blog is to say 'thank you' to all those people who kept the faith in me, have bought and read my books; it is to say thank you for all the good reviews, the sharing of links, the recommendations to friends, for supporting me in my battles. Thank you to all those readers who asked me to write 'Tudor'. I am eternally grateful.

Have good Christmas, Holiday, Yule etc. and a fantastic New Year.

Watch this space for Intractable Heart: a story of Katherine Parr, coming to a book shop near you in 2014.

Photographs: wikimedia commons, author's own.
All my books are available in paperback and on Kindle.
For more information about me and my work please visit my webpage: 
Some of my non fiction is included in the superb collection from the English Historical Fiction authors, Customs, Castles, and Kings, click here for a preview.

A thousand times, I thank you.

Judith Arnopp

October and November have been mad bad months for me so far. At the end of October we were devastated by the news that our house buyers were pulling out and all our plans thrown into chaos. The news came on the morning of my other half's 60th birthday and it wasn't easy to shake off our disappointment and enjoy the day but, thanks to our lovely bunch of kids, all of whom joined us for the celebrations, we managed.

As is often the case, hot on the heels of the bad news came better tidings, this time in the shape of my latest novel, The Kiss of the Concubine (available now on a kindle near you). I am not very good at marketing but I organised a few blogs and interviews to alert the reading public that the book was released, then I sat back and waited to see if anyone would notice.

To my surprise it is flying off the shelves - well, it would be if e-books were kept on shelves. I have now ok'd the paperback version and that will also be available via Amazon, myself, or direct from the publisher very soon. but it isn't just the new book that is selling, my back catalogue is moving too and some wonderful reviews are coming in.

So, this blog is really to acknowledge and thank all  you wonderful people who enable me to carry on writing books. I want to thank the bloggers who hosted me, the reviewers who spread the word and most of all the people who buy my novels. Without you I would have been forced to give up long ago. I cannot describe the thrill I experience each time one of you emails or flags on Facebook how much you enjoyed a particular book/character/scene/blog. I don't crave fame or riches. It is your enjoyment makes it all worth while. So, thank you. I love you all :)

In case you've not noticed. The Kiss of the Concubine is the story of Anne Boleyn, from her own perspective tracing her love affair with Henry VIII and charting her downfall. It is a frank and often painful account of a doomed romance.

Here are some examples of what the reader reviews have said so far. "Well formed characters, great Tudor atmosphere. One of those reads where you feel a bit bereft when you get to the end - my measure for five stars"

" Highly recommended to any lovers of historical fiction. Worth buying."

" The reader is swept along with Anne, and the book is impossible to put down. Warmly recommended to those wanting to know more, but also to those who just love a good read"

"Judith Arnopp has found such a unique and fresh approach to this most famous of love/hate relationships that readers will be drawn into her atmospheric prose. She is so skilled at conjuring the sights and sounds of her chosen setting that you can almost hear the courtly music, smell the pomanders, and taste the suckling pig."

You can watch a trailer here.

Below is the introduction.

The Kiss

of

The Concubine

28th January 1547 – Whitehall Palace

It is almost midnight and January has Whitehall Palace clenched in its wintery fist. The gardens are rimed with frost, the casements glazed with ice. Like a shadow, I wait alone by the window in the silver-blue moonlight, my eye fixed on the bed.

The room is crowded, yet nobody speaks.

I tread softly among them. The flickering torchlight illuminates a sheen of anticipation on their faces, the rank odour of their uncertainty rising in a suffocating fug. Few can remember the time that went before, and both friend and foe balance upon the cusp of change, and tremble at the terror of the unknown.

I move through the heavily perfumed air, brush aside jewelled velvet sleeves. At the high-canopied bed I sink to my knees and observe his face for a long moment. He is changed. This is not the man I used to know.

They have propped him on pillows, the vast belly mountainous beneath the counterpane, and the yellow skin of mortality’s mask is drawn tightly across his cheeks. There is not much time and before death can wipe his memory clean, I speak suddenly into his ear, a whisper meant only for him. “Henry!”

The king’s eyes fly open and his eyeballs swivel from side to side, his disintegrating ego peering as if through the slits in a mummer’s mask.

He knows me, and understands why I have come.

He whimpers like a frightened child and Anthony Denny steps forward and leans over the bed. “Your Majesty, Archbishop Cranmer has been summoned; he cannot be long now.”

Henry’s fat fingers tremble as he grips the coverlet, his pale lips coated with thick spittle as he tries to speak. I move closer, my face almost touching his, and the last rancid dregs of his breath engulf me. “They think you fear death, Henry. But you fear me more, don’t you, my Lord?”

“Anne?”

The sound is unintelligible, both a denial and a greeting, but it tells me what I need to know. He recognises and fears my presence. Those assembled begin to mutter that the king is raving, talking with shadows.

I sink into the mattress beside him and curl my body around his bulk. “How many times did we share this bed, Henry?” His breathing is laboured now and sweat drips from his brow, the stench of his fear exceeded only by that of his festering thigh. I tighten my grip upon him. “Did you ever love me, Henry? Oh, I know that you lusted but that isn’t the same. Do you remember how you burned for me, right to the end?”

I reach out to run my fingertip along his cheek and he leaps in fright, like a great fish floundering on a line, caught in a net of his own devising. One brave attendant steps forward to mop the king’s brow as I continue to tease.

“Poor Henry. Are you afraid even now of your own sins? To win me you broke from Rome, although in your heart you never wanted to. Even the destruction of a thousand years of worship was a small price to pay to have me in your bed, wasn’t it?”

Henry sucks in air and forgets to breathe again. A physician hurries forward, pushes the attendant aside and with great daring, lifts the king’s right eyelid. Henry jerks his head away and the doctor snatches back his hand as if it has been scalded.

Even now they are fearful of him. Although the king can no longer so much as raise his head from his pillow, they still cower. How long will it take for them to forget their fear?

Mumbling apologies, the physician bows and backs away to take his place with the others. As they watch and wait a little longer, the sound of mumbled prayer increases. “Not long now, Henry,” I whisper like a lover. “It is almost over.”

A door opens. Cold air rushes into the stifling chamber and Archbishop Cranmer enters, stamping his feet to dislodge the snow from his boots. He hands his outer clothes to a servant before pushing through the crowd to approach the bed, his Bible tucked beneath his arm.

I playfully poke the end of Henry’s nose. “Time to confess your sins, my husband.” Cranmer takes the king’s hand, his long slim fingers contrasting with the short swollen digits of his monarch. As he begins to mutter the last rites, I put my mouth close to Henry’s ear to taunt him.  “Tell the truth, Hal. Own up to all the lies you told; how you murdered and how you cheated. Go on ….”

But King Henry has lost the power of speech, and cannot make a full confession. Gasping for one more breath he clings tightly to Cranmer’s hand, and I know there is not long to wait before he is mine again. A single tear trickles from the corner of his eye to be lost upon his pillow.

“It’s time, Henry,” I whisper. “And I am here, waiting. For a few short years I showed you Paradise and now, perhaps, I can do so again. Unless, of course, I choose to show you Hell.”

***

If you would like to read more The Kiss of the Concubine is available in kindle format on Amazon UK and Amazon US and other Amazon outlets. The paperback will be available shortly.