I peeps I don't know whether anyone here has watched the History of British Romance that was on BBC. It is very well done and I am thoroughly enjoying it. I have watched 2 episodes so far. But there are 3 in total taking the history through the ages to the present.
A Very British Romance with Lucy Worsley
Episode 1
Lucy Worsley presents a series about the 'invention' of British romance - our very own, surprisingly passionate, tradition of love.
Lucy's romp through three centuries of love's rituals begins with the Georgian age, when the rules of courtship were being rewritten. Traditionally, marriage had been as much about business as love. Now, a glamorisation of romantic love inspired women and men to make their own romantic choices - they could flirt in newly-built assembly rooms, or elope to Gretna Green as an act of romantic rebellion.
But the main force of change was the arrival of the novel - Samuel Richardson, Fanny Burney and Jane Austen didn't just map out women's changing desires, they made people seek out the feelings and emotions described in their own lives, permanently changing how the British feel.
I am up to the last book in the Survivor's Club series by Mary Balogh. It has to be one of my favourite of her collections along with the Bedwyn & Westcott series. I won't give any spoilers here, just to say that her characters are scarred (physically, mentally &/or emotionally) by the hurts/wounds of the past & how they reconcile that within themselves through their love for each other, is simply beautiful. This quote from Cayce captures the sentiment well:
Edgar Cayce said:
A soulmate is an ongoing connection with another individual that the soul picks up again in various times and places over lifetimes. We are attracted to another person at a soul level not because that person is our unique complement, but because by being with that individual, we are somehow provided with an impetus to become whole ourselves.
Perhaps it isn't so much a case of Jerry Maguire's "you complete me" as much as it is "you help me complete myself, and I, you". Just some of my musings!
I also like how one of the characters in the Survivor's Club knows the people/characters in the Bedwyn series- it gives a sense sense of continuity, community and connection.
I meant to add further to the comment on connection, a couple of Balogh's characters quote John Donne's 'no man is an island'. Looked it up and it is indeed a beautiful poem from Devotions Upon Emergent Occasions by John Donne, explaining how we are all inextricably linked.
~ No Man Is An Island by John Donne (written 1623) ~
No man is an island,
Entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend's
Or of thine own were:
Any man's death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.
It reminds me of 1 Corinthians 12:12-31
12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit...26 If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together with it.
And that really is at the crux of the large extended families in Balogh's series mentioned above- irrespective of class, when one became a part of their family, they celebrated and suffered alongside with them. No man or woman is an island in these stories, even though they might have felt so to begin with. Her novels are imbued with that sense of familial love, belonging and community, and is an antidote to contemporary culture (which seems to promote the opposite).
As life goes itself, making judgement of someone is something to watch out for, and many of the authors may work characters for one to make a judgment, an emotional device, and then low and behold their character suddenly surprise.
Without giving anything up, one of the main focused characters in the above book 6, suddenly walks into this story (a bit of an odd storyline to begin with, and then was really surprised Stella reintroduced one character, and yet can now appreciate it) from the story before, book 5. In the prior book, negative judgements leap to the foreground as the story is weaved, there is not one character who does not judge this character harshly, and why would they not, however in the next book something unusual happens - changing contrasts of the character are revealed, and ones lens begins to adjusted.
Balogh, Stella and many others may have characters beyond hope, some are simply horrible people, male or female, and yet it is not always so clear cut, especially as judgments can so easily be cloudy.
Although I said I'm starting Stella Riley, I didn't.
Could not put down Mary Balogh after Wescott series so I read
Courting Julia/ Dancing with Clara/ Tempting Harriet and after that Heartless and Silent melody.
And now I definitely need few days break since this was roller coaster for me.
It brought out so many memories and sadness.... so much of everything !
It's like old stiches you don't remember any more suddenly all broke and bleeding in same time.
I just can not put it in words at the moment.
And I must admit that's the reason I delayed this project for so long.
I was affraid it would tear me down to pieces. Disassamble me.
And I don't have time right now to be in such a state of mind - I thought.
But it's getting better - after tears and heartache it gives me clarity, understanding, acceptance and peace.
So, it all good ! .... to be continued
Being the last of the series, one is brought back to the first book, and if that was read one might immediatly wonder if this matter will be resolved.
It was a short story, full of new beginnings, hope and a young child's magic wishes.
Author Grace Burrowes, again.
Grace has this series called Rogues to Riches (which I had though to have read - nope). The first 20 percent of My One and Only Duke takes place in Newgate Prison, and at the end of the book, Grace writes an outline for that dark historical place.
Newgate prison figures in many books read on this thread, by many authors. On Grace's page (don't peek as it may reveal too much of the story) she writes on Elisabeth Fry:
Elizabeth Gurney Fry is an example of how one person can make a tremendous difference. We know a lot about her not only because her work gained the notice of Parliament and Queen Victoria, but also because she kept voluminous, meticulous diaries. She was a Quaker (and a minister in that tradition), who visited Newgate in 1813 and was appalled at the conditions she found.
She inspired the prisoners to organize their own set of rules for governing their wards, challenged members of Parliament to spend a night in prison (which she did herself), wrote extensively about prison conditions and was the first person to successfully promulgate the idea that incarceration should be rehabilitative rather than purely punitive. To that end, she organized a school for children jailed with their mothers, taught female prisoners sewing skills and equipped women bound for transportation with sewing supplies and fabric so they might occupy themselves on the long voyage and have something to sell when they arrived in New South Wales.
She was, in short, a force of nature who put her money, her time and her energy behind the cause of prison reform. She was the first woman to testify as an expert before the House of Commons, and she was eventually successful at ending the transportation of prisoners. She also founded London’s first homeless shelter when she saw the body of a boy who’d died of exposure in the London streets. She was brave, kind and tireless, all while raising eleven kids. She’s a fine example of a Regency-era lady who had a significant, positive and lasting impact on her whole society.
We are delighted to publish this guest post by Esther Brot, who is currently pursuing her PhD in History at King’s College London. She is writing her dissertation on the topic of the Corporat…
Thanks so much for this recommendation Gaby. After reading over 60 Mary Balogh, it was time for a change. I started the Rockliffe series. (on book 3) and they are great! She does a wonderful job of setting the atmosphere of the times, excellent characters, and the books flow very nicely from one to the next, Very glad I have so many more left to read!
The Rockliffe and Brandon brothers series are about descendants of the characters in the Roundheads series. Doesn't matter if you read them in the wrong order, but just thought I'd mention it. It does help a bit with understanding some of the references to the grandparents or great grandparents.
I am up to the last book in the Survivor's Club series by Mary Balogh. It has to be one of my favourite of her collections along with the Bedwyn & Westcott series. I won't give any spoilers here, just to say that her characters are scarred (physically, mentally &/or emotionally) by the hurts/wounds of the past & how they reconcile that within themselves through their love for each other, is simply beautiful.
...
I also like how one of the characters in the Survivor's Club knows the people/characters in the Bedwyn series- it gives a sense sense of continuity, community and connection.
The SC series has been the only romance novels collection read so far, so a big FWIW.
As Alejo said in his first Regency Jewels video of the series, the underlying motive of the collection is also guilt and dealing with it in a healthy way, i.e. stop letting it making the life difficult if not outright miserable. This got especially accentuated in the last (3) parts of the series, where the addition of somewhat crimi elements to the plot made the whole story more interesting and emotionally maybe a bit easier to digest.
A nice complement to the SC series in the respect of dealing with guilt was A Promise of Spring, second half of the book containing also the novel Temporary Wife. Having read it after the SC series, it in addition put into the perspective the progression in Mary Balogh's writing and style, and consequent ability to pull more and more heavier and deeper emotions and emotional states to the fore/surface.
I was having an eye under the table on some of the Georgia Le Carre's books next, but seeing the praise here recently of the Stella Riley, it looks like both my eyes will spend some time next in the company of the Roundheads instead.
The Rockliffe and Brandon brothers series are about descendants of the characters in the Roundheads series. Doesn't matter if you read them in the wrong order, but just thought I'd mention it. It does help a bit with understanding some of the references to the grandparents or great grandparents.
Thanks for mentioning this Laura. Very interesting that all the books are connected. Looking forward to reading everything she has written, just a great author!
Thanks so much for this recommendation Gaby. After reading over 60 Mary Balogh, it was time for a change. I started the Rockliffe series. (on book 3) and they are great! She does a wonderful job of setting the atmosphere of the times, excellent characters, and the books flow very nicely from one to the next, Very glad I have so many more left to read!
I finished The Black Madonna, and the second one started really well! The BM was super good. Besides what you and Gaby already pointed out, I appreciated how she makes history interesting, and also how she depicts bad interpersonal situations, like the wrong decision one character made to marry the absolute wrong person, and the stories within the stories (historical, but also how everyone is connected and plays an important even if side role). There is a very sad and unexpected part that I won't spoil. But a happy ending, fortunately, as usual! It's realistic about people and history, while preserving the romance novel aspect of what seems impossible becoming possible thanks to the strength, perseverance and love of the characters. Gets my vote!
Besides what you and Gaby already pointed out, I appreciated how she makes history interesting, and also how she depicts bad interpersonal situations, like the wrong decision one character made to marry the absolute wrong person, and the stories within the stories (historical, but also how everyone is connected and plays an important even if side role). There is a very sad and unexpected part that I won't spoil.
I finished the Rockliff series and just started the Brandon Brothers one. Balogh can be pretty intense reading at times, but Riley takes the cake - super-intense, at least for me.
OMG, Anne Gracie. So funny and wonderful ! I started Meridew sisters series.
I can not remember last time I had so much fun. Gideon and Aunt Goosie's sence of humor are priceless !
The way Anne Gracie tells the story and describes details are so resembling the way I see the world and people.
But I don't know how to put it in words.
It somehow brings me home to myself.
Softens, nurture and brings back parts of me that was long forgotten and forbiden by rough and hard life circumstances.
Sisters Grandfather character bring back painful memories about my Dad although I was not beaten so much.
But I had to let go only man that I ever loved to protect mother and me.
The one I still love, 20 years after and the only one who ever really saw, hear and understand me.
To feel accepted and protected - and like Ashley and Anna in Silent melody, two souls that had unbreakable bond through space and time.
Man, I really hope my emotional center will survive all those tiding up this project provides
Bye !
The last volume of Mary Balogh's Westcott series, "Someone Perfect", once again confirms my preference for this series.
With the added bonus of emotions sparked by personal memories from my distant and recent past.
Although it seemed to me that this had already been cited somewhere on the forum, I could not find it, and therefore I find it wise to quote this particular passage from the book on the notion of forgiveness :
"Forgiveness does not consist of making excuses for the transgressor[...]. It consists in acknowledging the facts, understanding the reasons for them-not the excuses--recognizing the pain it all caused both the one who did those wrongs, and admitting that forgiveness is not something given by the innocent to the guilty. No one is innocent. We all do stupid things, even when we know they are stupid, and even when we know we are causing unhappiness for someone else and for ourselves. Forgiveness is given despite all those things"
― Mary Balogh, Someone Perfect
As well as this one to complet (translated from French version) :
"...it wasn't about forgiving him to make him feel better. [...] it was about allowing our hearts to heal."
Grace has this series called Rogues to Riches (which I had though to have read - nope). The first 20 percent of My One and Only Duke takes place in Newgate Prison, and at the end of the book, Grace writes an outline for that dark historical place.
That was the first book with a bit more added here if one wishes to look:
This series has its focus on one particular family, and as said, it begins at Newgate, cumulating with the eldest with a rope around his neck dropping through the floor. This was on the heel of his jail cell marriage to the daughter of a preacher (a religious basket case who administered to the flocks at Newgate), where she was also pregnant at the time with another mans baby. So, His Grace before he was His Grace, gave her his name and the funds to survive - she did it because she knew she would not survive. Thus, It was an act of great kindness from the condemned.
However, the story goes back to the condemned as the eldest in an extremely poor family, and the actions of a horrible father. A father who broke the leg of his youngest son, who send his daughters out on the streets to earn coin, and each sibling factors in subsequent stories as they reveal how they had lived, and how they readapted later once the eldest survived his ordeal. Each had to overcame the pain that was always there.
The second story (When a Duchess says I Do) involves the cousin of The Grace of Waldren, who was an ordained minister who had encountered the pathological among the leaders of the flock. The cousin, Duncan, answers the call to come and assist The Grace of Waldren before he ever had that title, to help his younger brother survive his suicidal pain.
The story moves to an encounter with a woman, Matilda, who is fleeing her own world. A world of espionage. There are some interesting growth aspects to this story.
The third book in the series (Forever And A Duke) is a bit of an aside, although linked via Banks and The Grace of Waldren. It is also a short book.
The central characters involve a man who owns a bank by the name of Wrexham, the Duke of Elsmore. Wrexham realizes something is wrong with his bank, with possibly his whole extended family. The bank is somehow being stripped from somewhere inside - but where. Wrexam turns to Waldren, who offers up the use of his chief auditor, Eleanora.
The auditing component is interesting in itself, how Elenora looks at numbers, at people and their motivations, at criminal elements that set up all kinds of scams, she knows them because she came from that world and can easily spot them.
Book four moves to the sister of The Duke of Waldren, Althea.
Althea is the eldest sister and took the brunt from her father, and now later in life she cannot well deal with society - for instance, knowing what to say in situations as a Lady from recent past where she is always snubbed.
Althea lives at one of her brothers estates well in the north, and from there she meets a neighbor, A Duke By Any Other Name says the book title.
Without saying too much, after the story is over the author, Grace Burrows, spends time describing what is exactly behind the name Bedlam.
Absolute Bedlam
I’d heard the word bedlam in earliest youth as a reference to pandemonium, chaos, or things being “a madhouse,” but didn’t realize then the word refers to a literal asylum. The Hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem became “Bedlam” in common English parlance at some point long ago. The facility was first located in Bishopsgate, then in 1676 was moved near the London wall, and in 1815 was again moved, this time to Lambeth.
Even when I made the connection between bedlam and Bethlehem, I hadn’t realized how old the term is. OED finds cites for it in the sixteenth century, while the hospital itself dates back at least to the 1300s.
That is all I can find online by her, however she gets into depth about it after the story is over, of the Madhouse Act of 1774 that would see change - but, along comes Dr. Benjamin Rush ("known to some readers as a signer of the Declaration of Independence") who corresponded far and wide and published "Medical Inquires and Observations Upon Diseases of the Mind" finding treatments:
Bloodletting
Laxatives (says often mercury based).
Emetics
Starvation Diets
Warm Baths
Cold Baths
Friction of the trunk of the body
Excitement of pain
Salivation
Blisters
Exercise and "terror"
Confinement Chairs
Spinning Chairs (vertigo and nausea)
"And this guy was considered a human, enlightened, educated, well-in tended, highly knowledgeable authority on treatment of the insane."
Here is the thing that can be seen, though, that before and after the ACT, a large percentage of those in these institutions were put there by a husband, a relative - some authority, and they were not insane. This was the reason for the Madhouse Act of 1774, but it drove it further to ground and became a machine for money to help those who wanted to incarcerate another. Annual inspections a rubber stamp.
Things would change again after the "Quaker widow, Hannah Mills" was incarcerated in 1790 for no reason, to be revealed by another Quaker, philanthropist William Tuke following the death of Hannah.
I finished the Roundheads and Cavaliers series, and have to agree with others, that the books are very readable and well written: ca 600 pages long books just flew by!
It was pretty interesting how the stories were woven into real history and happenings (I didn't have much prior knowledge about the English civil war). It was also quite cool, how the overall story arc in the books had the same characters appearing throughout (perhaps more than in an usual romance series), so in a way, it was an approx. 2400 page book, split in four parts. A good example of this was Eden Maxwell: he was introduced in the first book, popped up in the following ones, and had his "closure" in the final volume.
A side note about Oliver Cromwell (he was the leader of the "roundheads" and fought againts the royalists [cavaliers]). As the story progresses, he is depicted as being increasingly power-hungry, and becoming more and more unpopular. He was still alive during "Lords of Misrule" (the last of the books), so I checked the subsequent events of his life from wikipedia.
When he eventually died, the exiled king Charles II was invited back to England the following year, and monarchy was restored. A little later, Cromwell's body was exhumed, posthumously executed, and his head was put on a pole outside Westminster Hall for a couple of years!
Cromwell's body was exhumed from Westminster Abbey on 30 January 1661, the 12th anniversary of the execution of Charles I, and was subjected to a posthumous execution, as were the remains of John Bradshaw and Henry Ireton. (The body of Cromwell's daughter was allowed to remain buried in the abbey.) His body was hanged in chains at Tyburn, London, and then thrown into a pit. His head was cut off and displayed on a pole outside Westminster Hall until 1685.
Also interesting, is that the first two books in the series (haven't read the third one) are also mysteries, so there's a bit of a 'whodunnit' in the story as well as romance.
Reading about those long years of awful civil war, the psychopaths involved and the atrocities that took place gave me also the sense that 'l'histoire se repète,' over and over again.
I think it's worth spotlighting, how Stella seems to be aware of the effect of psychopathy; the "baddies" in the books display the characteristics of a full blown psychopath, and are bone chilling examples of them. (It's quite rewarding when they finally have their comeuppance!)
Btw, there was a horrific scene in "Lords of Misrule", where children were kept in the attic of a brothel, to be abused by pedophiles. The owner of the said brothel kept a log of the ongoings, and used it to blackmail high ranking officials. (Blackmailing politicians and persons of influence happens of course in real life too [most likely more so nowadays], including "unwilling" individuals; from what I have understood, they can be drugged, so that all kinds of sick scenarios can be staged and then filmed.) If I remember correctly, some of them were MP's, so it looks like Stella is in the know how the "game is played" by the PTB.
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