Recent Search Terms

Yes, I'm posting one of these a bit sooner than I usually would, but there were a few I came across that I just couldn't resist passing along! Some are funny, some just had me scratching my head wondering how in the world they ended up at my blog....


henry viii what did he believe the revolution would accomplish?
no new taxes


titanic sinking people
I don't think that was quite what it was going for...


historical information during 1603
Can we narrow it down just a bit?


cat as a king
Yes, they think so.


Mr. Darcy book
Well that narrows it down...


nols backcountry cooking cartoons
umm...?


Mrs+Higginbotham+warrington+egypt
Susan, maybe you can help me with this one?


what did the plantagenets look like?
Like archers from France.


not funny cartoon
Defeats the purpose doesn't it?

Life Onboard Ship: Titanic's First Class

As the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic looms closer and closer, I am continuing in my posts about the ship. My first can be found here and is a "short" history on the Titanic. For this post I thought it would be fun to look at what life would have been like during the voyage for the lucky first class passengers. There are not many surviving pictures of the interior of the ship (the ones that are around were mostly taken by passenger Frank Browne) so I will use the ones I can find.

She had 1,343 passengers on board for her maiden voyage. 325 of them were in first class and resided in the most luxurious accommodations of the day, mostly in the upper decks, while the 706 in steerage (third class) were crammed into small rooms towards the very bottom and back of the ship. While Titanic wanted to cater to the fabulously rich, she actually carried more passengers in her second and third class areas (though you must remember that second class on Titanic was better than first on other ships, and third was equal to what second class was on other liners). I wish I had a good image of the Titanic's deck plans so you could see how the ship was sectioned off but I haven't been able to find anything online where the images are big enough for you to actually make out what's in them. First class passengers could pretty much go wherever they wanted to on the ship. Second class had basically the same freedom. Steerage passengers, however, were confined to their areas of the ship only and there actual locked gates to keep them in their place (these gates eventually caused significant problems the night of the sinking).

Titanic's interior was extremely lavish and White Star spared no expense in fitting her out with every luxury imaginable and every modern convenience (there were even flushing toilets on the ship, which was something most homes at the time still did not have). The most expensive staterooms a first class passenger could purchase for the voyage were the parlor suite rooms which ran about £870 ($69,600 today!). These suites (one on each side of the ship) had several rooms and their own private promenade deck (remember the scene in the movie the morning after Rose's character dances in third class with Jack?). They were called the "Millionaire Suites."In comparison, a third class ticket was £3 to £8 ($172 to $460 today) so you can see how very different the lives of these people were at the time. There were 67 other first class suites and staterooms available and they were all extremely luxurious and comfortable.

Picture of one of the Parlor Suite rooms

Besides their sumptuous rooms, first class passengers had many other marvelous and luxurious places to spend their time. Titanic was the first ship to have a swimming pool on board. There was also a Turkish Bath (like a sauna) next to the pool, which was considered one of the ship's most opulent areas. It was comprised of a steam room, hot room, and temperate room, shampooing rooms and toilets, and a cooling room. There was an extra charge to use the Bath and it was only available to first class passengers. Both of these were on F deck. Titanic also had a "state of the art" gymnasium on board, which was right off the Boat Deck. It had an electric camel, an electric horse, rowing machine, and cycles (I'm not entirely sure what those first two are!). There was an extra charge to use this as well. Besides the gym and pool there was also a Squash Court available for exercise, though I doubt many of the first class passengers actually used any of them.

Swimming Pool

Turkish Bath

Gymnasium

There were many rooms for just sitting back, relaxing, and chatting as well. The First Class Smoking room on A Deck was for men only while the Reading and Writing Room, also on A Deck, was for the ladies. There was also the First Class lounge (or library) on A Deck and the Reception Room just adjacent to the First Class Dining Saloon on D Deck. Passengers could retire to these rooms in the evening for a drink or a smoke or just to relax and gossip. Relaxing was what the first class passengers wanted to do while showing off all their finery. Women went through several clothing changes during a day, leading up to their fanciest attire being pulled out for dinner. Men probably spent a lot of their time drinking and smoking and discussing all the money they were making. It really was a charmed life on board for these elite passengers.

First Class Smoking Room

First Class Reading and Writing Room

Picture of the First Class Lounge/Library

When first class passengers were hungry they had several options. They could go down to D deck and dine in the First Class dining saloon (which spanned the width of the ship). If they wanted to stay closer to their cabins they could have a meal in the Verandah Cafe, on A Deck, or the Cafe Parisian (with authentic French waiters) which was adjacent to the A la Carte Restaurant on B Deck. Passengers most likely had to pay for their meals at the cafes and restaurant. You may remember scenes from the movie which feature some of these rooms (they are in the Verandah Cafe when Cal orders Rose the lamb and there are several scenes in the dining saloon).

First Class Dining Saloon

Cafe Parisian

Verandah Cafe

The variety of food served to the first class passengers blows my mind! And not just WHAT they ate but HOW MUCH they ate! I really don't know how the women ate anything in the clothing they wore! But what delicious looking meals they had! A few menus from the Titanic did survive the sinking and they show us what many passengers had for their last meal. Can you imagine a ten or eleven course dinner? While some of the menu items sound so very tasty there are a few that make me cringe a little bit! Baked apples, fresh fruit, Quaker Oats, Grilled ham, and omelets for breakfast sound great but I'm not too sure about mutton kidneys! I could dig in to a lunch of vegetable dumplings, potatoes, custard pudding, and Virginia ham but I just don't think I could stomach corned ox tongue. As for dinner, chicken, filet mignons, potatoes, peas, rice, eclairs, and ice cream would make me happy! Before any meal a bugler would go from deck to deck sounding the traditional meal call and passengers would make their way to their dining saloons.

First Class Breakfast Menu from April 11, 1912

First Class Luncheon Menu from April 14, 1912

First Class Dinner Menu from April 14, 1912 (the last meal for so many)

For the first class passengers, Titanic was as luxurious as a hotel in Paris or New York, a true floating palace. It is quite sad that all that fantastic work ended up at the bottom of the North Atlantic.

My next post will be about life on board Titanic for the second and third class passengers.

Book Review: The Adventures of Alianore Audley

The Adventures of Alianore Audley
4 roses

If you are familiar with the Wars of the Roses and love a good laugh now and then, Brian Wainwright's humorous tale of the fictional Alianore Audley will be right up your alley! I received this tale from Paperbackswap.com after waiting (not so patiently I might add!) to get to the head of the waiting list! I think I read it in a night or two, it was that easy and fun to read.

I am not going to rehash everything that happens in the turbulent period as many of my readers are familiar with it anyway and I don't have the motivation to type it all out right now. However, to get most of the jokes and tongue in cheek writing you probably need to have at least a passing knowledge of the events of the period. The author manages to weave facts about the period with humor and more modern (and to some, understandable) words and expressions, creating a really fun romp through the 15th century. Mr. Wainwright places Alianore right in the middle of the action where she unknowingly (or knowingly in a lot of cases!) does something that causes many of the "big" events we know from history to actually happen (such as accidentally revealing where the Princes are to Bishop Morton). Alianore is a staunch Yorkist supporter (and distant cousin) and becomes a spy for Edward IV and then for his brother Richard III and eventually finds herself at the helm of a Medieval version of the CIA! Alianore's character is hysterical with her dry humor and (very) quick wit. She can be quite bawdy at times as well. Her thoughts and opinions on the people around her are hilarious.

I highly recommend this novel to those that are familiar with the period; you will get a laugh out of most of it. I'm not saying you're going to be falling out of your chair because you're laughing so hard throughout all 200 or so pages, but you certainly are going to be amused! Mr. Wainwright really shows off his knowledge of the period in this fun parody.

RMS Titanic: A Short History

April 14-15, 2012 will mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic striking an iceberg and sinking in the North Atlantic. Has it really been that long? My interest (obsession) with the Titanic began when I was really, really young and I happened to watch the National Geographic special on the discovery of the ship by Robert Ballard which my grandparents had on VHS tape. I was hooked. Why I could not tell you! Even now I have no idea how such a show on such a subject appealed to my child's mind. I got my first book on the Titanic in the fourth grade (its actually still at my parents'!). I was thrilled when the James Cameron film came out in 1997; not for the "love story" but for the sets that were created. I was so excited to "see" the interior of the ship which I had only seen in a few black and white photos. I've been wanting to write something about the Titanic and I thought the weeks leading up to the actual anniversary would be a good time to post about my first historical interest. I'll start with the basic story (history) of the ship and we'll see what later posts are about!

Titanic's story begins several years before that fateful April night.

Towards the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century transatlantic travel was becoming a big business. Companies were competing for the fastest passenger ships and the most luxurious passenger ships. This came at a time when the fabulously wealthy loved to show off their wealth and there was no better way to do this than on a transatlantic cruise which could take a week (from England to New York). According to legend, in 1907 Lord Pirrie, owner of Harland and Wolff, and Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line, gave birth to the idea of creating several massive, super luxurious steam liners, the "Olympic class,"of which Titanic would be the second and biggest (behind the Olympic and the Gigantic [later renamed Brittanic]). They decided that instead of going for the fastest liners in the world, they were going to go for the most comfortable and the safest; they were really going to cater to the most elite passengers and no expense would be spared. They put Thomas Andrews in charge of designing the massive ships.

Construction on the Titanic did not begin until March 31,1909 when her keel was laid. All three ships were built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland. This new class of ships was so big that a special gantry and slipway had to be built in the shipyard to house them...before construction on the actual ships could even begin! (New docks also had to be built in Southampton because none of the existing ones were near big enough to house these behemoths!) Her construction lasted 3 years and thousands were employed to put her together. The company also wanted to have the safest ships afloat along with the most luxurious and Titanic's design included numerous state-of-the-art safety features. Leading up to her maiden voyage in 1912, White Star published many claims that the ship was "virtually unsinkable." While Titanic would carry passengers from all walks of life, it was in the first class cabins and public rooms where Titanic's true purpose was crystal clear. Besides sumptuous state rooms, first class passengers would have a swimming pool (the first on any ship), Turkish bath, gymnasium, and squash court in which to get exercise while at sea. There was also a writing room (for the ladies), smoking room (men only!), lounge, reception room, palm courts and cafes, and a restaurant. Titanic really was like a floating 4 star hotel. The opulance of Titanic's first class state rooms and public rooms really outclassed all other ships of the time. Second, and even third, class on the Titanic was better than some first class on other ships. She was launched on May 31, 1911 to begin her "fitting out" (interior painting, decorating, moving in furniture, etc) and to prepare for her maiden voyage.

Titanic was supposed to begin her maiden voyage on March 20, 1912 but her sister ship Olympic collided with another vessel towards the end of 1911 and White Star wanted her repaired and operational before Titanic sailed, thus (fatefully) pushing her maiden voyage back to April 10. Captain Edward J. Smith was in charge and this was to be his last command before retiring from an impressive career as a sea captain. She left the dock at Southampton at noon on April 10, narrowly escaping being hit in the side by a smaller vessel, and sailed across the Channel, docking at Cherbourg, France, after 6 pm. The next day she arrived in Queenstown, Ireland, took on more steerage passengers, and then headed out into the North Atlantic. The voyage was uneventful, with clear skies and calm waters, and Cpt. Smith increased her speed each day despite the fact that she began receiving ice warnings after only two days at sea. There have been reports that he was ordered by Bruce Ismay (who was on board for the maiden voyage) to speed up in order to break the Atlantic crossing record.

The night of April 14 was extremely cold, below freezing by dark, and the sea was unusually calm. The lookouts are advised to watch for icebergs and at 11:40 Titanic collides with her destiny. The berg is spotted directly in front of the ship, the lookouts sound the alarm bell three times, and phone the bridge with the alarming message: "Iceberg right ahead!" First Officer Murdoch is in charge at the time and ordered a "hard-a-starboard" to the man at the wheel, ordered the engines to stop and then full astern, and activated the watertight doors (all that basically means is he told the helmsman to turn the wheel hard to starboard, the engines to stop, and then to put them in reverse, trying to get the ship to turn and slow down). She did begin to turn but it was too late and the iceberg scrapped along her starboard side under the waterline. By 11:50, only 10 minutes after the collision, there is already water 14 feet above the keel in the very forepeak (very front) of the ship and the supposedly "watertight" compartments were beginning to flood. Cpt. Smith returned to the bridge and ordered designer Thomas Andrews (also on board for the maiden voyage) to survey the ship and the damage. He had bad news for the Captain when he returned: the ship was designed to stay afloat with any three of the watertight compartments flooded...five already were. He calculates the ship has about an hour and a half to live. Cpt. Smith orders the lifeboats uncovered, woman and children to be loaded first, and gave orders to the Marconi radio operators to begin sending out distress signals.

The first lifeboat was lowered at 12:45...with only 28 people (it could hold 68). Most of the passengers weren't aware of the trouble they were in for quite a while after the initial collision (they ship was supposed to be unsinkable, right?) and weren't keen on the idea of leaving the brightly lit, warm ship. Even if all the lifeboats had been lowered filled to capacity, they still only had room for about 1,100 of the 2,200 people on board. By about 1:15 Titanic's deck is starting to tilt much more noticeably and the lifeboats begin to leave more fully loaded. The only ship to respond to the distress calls, Carpathia, is on her way but she is over 50 miles away and will not make it to the Titanic in time. At 1:40 most of the lifeboats are away, Ismay makes his famous escape from the sinking ship, and the remaining passengers begin making their way to the stern of the ship which is slowly rising out of the water. The ship's lights finally went out at 2:20, sending the people left on board into a further panic. Cpt. Smith is last seen headed towards the bridge of the ship; Thomas Andrews was last seen staring into space in the smoking room. Titanic slipped beneath the waters of the North Atlantic just after 2:20 am, taking over half the passengers and crew down with her. The 705 survivors in the lifeboats waited in the freezing cold until the Carpathia arrived after 4 am in the morning. The Titanic survivors finally arrived in New York on April 18.

After the sinking there were inquiries on both sides of the Atlantic, trying to determine what happened and who was to blame. As a result of the sinking, new maritime laws were put in place to keep such a disaster from happening again.


Sorry for the lengthy post but there was a lot of information and I can be rather long winded when it comes to something I find interesting. Please be on the look out for further posts about the Titanic covering various topics.

Mailbox Monday - January 16, 2012

Mailbox Monday is now on tour! It is being hosted this month by At Home With Books. To find out more about the history of Mailbox Monday and a list of future hosts visit the Mailbox Monday site.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles, and humongous wish lists!

A few new books showed up over the past two weeks! Looking forward to getting into these!

Dracula in Love, Karen Essex

I've been working on Stoker's original novel and I won this one from Arleigh's blog a couple of weeks ago. I always enjoy seeing a classic through another character's eyes.





Dark Sovereign, Robert Fripp

I won this one from Arleigh as well! The author has written the play the Bard SHOULD have written about the REAL Richard III.





The Simple Abundance Journal of Gratitude, S.B. Breathnach

Okay, so its not historical fiction or Regency related but this is something my best friend suggested (she's been doing it for a couple of years). I'm looking forward to the inspiration.

Recent Search Terms

I haven't posted any search terms recently (of course, I haven't posted much of anything at all lately!) and I decided to take a peek today and see what words or phrases folks out there used that landed them in my kingdom! There's a few that gave me a good chuckle this morning!

Enjoy!

merry christmas sad cartoon - doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of wishing someone a Merry Christmas?

christmas office humor fact cartoons - not quite sure about this one but apparently, from the looks of the search terms, my blog is now the place to find all kinds of Christmas cartoons...

great medieval battle - could we narrow it down just a bit, please?

lady medieval - as opposed to Lady Regency?

read - yes, please.

royalty free middle battle - so they're looking for a battle that's free of taxes perhaps? Somewhere in the middle?

Mailbox Monday - January 2, 2012

Mailbox Monday is on tour now! It is being hosted this month by At Home With Books! To find out more about the history of Mailbox Monday and a list of future hosts visit the Mailbox Monday site.

Mailbox Monday is a gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week and explore great book blogs. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

I didn't get any books for Christmas but I got a couple of Barnes and Noble gift cards and that works even better in my opinion! I loaded my boys in the car and ventured out to get some new books...its so hard for me to find any these days! I think I'm going to have to stick to ordering online and from the UK! Lol! Anyway, here's what I picked up...and I still have $10 left!

Cleopatra's Daughter, Michelle Moran

I've been a big fan of Ms. Moran since reading her wonderful novel The Heretic Queen a couple of years ago. I have heard really good things about this novel and can't wait to dive in!

Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen

I love Austen and my copy of this novel has vanished somewhere in this house. So, I picked up a replacement...which means I'll find my original any time.

Venetia, Georgette Heyer

After reading my first Regency novel by this author last year I was hooked! They didn't have much of a select (at all) but this one looked pretty good! Can't wait to see what Ms. Heyer has in store for me between the pages of this one!

My Best of 2011

Having a baby threw my reading time way off this year but I still managed to get plenty of books read (just not as many as I'd like and I wasn't able to get reviews posted for most of them). Here are some of my top picks from the year!

1. Lady of the English, Elizabeth Chadwick

Ms. Chadwick's latest novel is about Henry II's very strong mother, the Empress Matilda, and her struggle with King Stephen over the English Crown. This was a really good book (but of course, everything Ms. Chadwick writes is awesome!) and you can read my review here. If you like to read books "in order," this one will come before her phenomenal The Greatest Knight which is about William Marshall and his dealings with Henry II and his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine.


2. George Knightley, Esquire: Lend me Leave, Barbara Cornthwaite

I LOVED this novel!! It was book two in the author's retelling of Jane Austen's Emma through the hero George Knightley's eyes. You can see my review of book one here and of this book here. Ms. Cornthwaite really captured the spirit and language of Austen's world and added in some wonderful humor and character description and development. These were fantastically written versions of Austen's original and I highly recommend them to Austen fans!



3. Queen by Right, Anne Easter Smith

This was the author's fourth novel in her York family series though this one comes before the previously published novels. It deals with the life of Cecily Neville, Duchess of York, mother of Edward IV and Richard III. It was a really good book and I enjoyed reading more about Cecily, who usually only appears sporadically in novels about this turbulent time period. Check out my review here.


These are just my top 3 but I read many more great books this year! Here are a few others that deserve mention:

Queen of Last Hopes, Susan Higgianbotham
To Be Queen, Christy English
The King's Grey Mare, Rosemary H. Jarman
The Adventures of Alianore Audley, Brian Wainwright
Bath Tangle, Georgette Heyer
Vlad: The Last Confession, C. C. Humphries
Three Maids for the Crown, Ella March Chase

Historical Fiction Reading Challenge 2012

I have participated in this challenge for two years and I love it. The first year I blew way, way past the level I was aiming for (the highest, 20 books and reviews in a year) and this year...well, having a baby can eat up A LOT of time! I certainly read enough books to reach my 20 but I couldn't get reviews written and posted.

So, I'm looking forward to a new year and a new set of books to work on and review! You can click the link below to take you to Historical Tapestry for all the details and to sign up!

2012 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas!

Nadolig Llawen!

Frohe Weihnachten!!

I just wanted to pop in (take a quick break from finding homes for all the new toys!) and wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!! I hope everyone had a wonderful day; I know we did!

And for those wondering...that is Merry Christmas in the three languages that make up my heritage (English, Welsh, and German).

The Richard III Project

Readers of this blog will know my love and admiration for Richard III. I have longed for a new movie or TV show to be made about this King to "clear the air" and show him more like he might have been - instead of the monster Shakespeare and his Tudor contemporaries have made him.

British actor Richard Armitage has dreamed of making a film about Richard III and needs our help! He has a site set up and a petition to possible financiers to try to turn his dream into a reality. Please click the link below to go to the website and the link to the petition is near the top!

King Richard Armitage

You will find information about Richard Armitage and Richard III (who he is named for) at the site. You can also find information about Richard III here on my blog in several places.

Tudor Giveaway

The ladies over at Royal Reviews are hosting a Tudor giveaway this Christmas season. Click the badge below to take you to the site for all the info!

Next Philippa Gregory Release Announced!

Continuing in her "Cousins War" series, Philippa Gregory's next novel The Kingmaker's Daughter will be released August 7, 2012.

For those of you unfamiliar with this time period, the "Kingmaker" was Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. He helped place Edward IV on the throne and then later rebelled against him. The novel will be about his daughters Isabella and Anne. Both sisters married younger brothers of Edward IV: Isabella to George, Duke of Clarance, and Anne to Richard, Duke of Gloucester (future Richard III).

Followers of this blog know my partiality for Richard III and so I will be looking forward to this book, though with a bit of caution. I am always nervous when I don't know how an author is going to portray my favorite King! Richard appeared in the first novel in this series The Winter Queen, which covered the life of Elizabeth Woodville, and she did not make him out to be a horrible monster so I have some hope for this novel!

If you are interested the other novels in this series (in order of release date) are:

The Winter Queen (Elizabeth Woodville, wife to Edward IV)
The Red Queen (Margaret Beaufort, mother of Henry VII)
Lady of the Rivers (Jaquetta Woodville, Elizabeth's mother)

New Novel by Brandy Purdy!

Brandy Purdy (author of The Boleyn Wife and The Tudor Throne) will be releasing her new novel The Queen's Pleasure in July 2012.



From Brandy Purdy's blog:

When young Robert Dudley, an earl’s son, meets squire’s daughter Amy Robsart, it is love at first sight. They marry despite parental misgivings, but their passion quickly fades, and the ambitious Dudley returns to court.

Swept up in the turmoil of Tudor politics, Dudley is imprisoned in the Tower. Also a prisoner is Dudley’s childhood playmate, the princess Elizabeth. In the shadow of the axe, their passion ignites. When Elizabeth becomes queen, rumors rage that Dudley means to free himself of Amy in order to wed her. And when Amy is found dead in unlikely circumstances, suspicion falls on Dudley—and the Queen…

Still hotly debated amongst scholars—was Amy’s death an accident, suicide, or murder?—the fascinating subject matter makes for an enthralling read for fans of historical fiction.


Please note this book is published in the UK as A Court Affair by Emily Purdy.

Review Update!

I am behind on the books that I am intending on posting reviews for (having a 4 year old and a 5 month old will do that!). I promise they are coming! Here is what I have read and plan on posting about:


Three Maids for a Crown, Ella March Chase
Chase's latest novel looks into the lives of Lady Jane Grey's younger sisters Katherine and Mary, and how they struggled through the twists and turns of the turbulent times.

Vlad: The Last Confession, C.C. Humphreys
Humphreys' novel about Vlad (the inspiration for Stoker's Dracula) is a very interesting look into the life of the historical and very real Prince.

The Tudor Throne, Brandy Purdy
Purdy's lastest novel focuses on the lives of half sisters Mary and Elizabeth and how they both reacted to the trying events in their lives.

Bath Tangle, Georgette Heyer
Another wonderful Regency novel by one of the masters, this novel tells a fun story of tangled relationships.


Be on the lookout for these reviews!

What Would Shakespeare Do?

or rather...did Shakespeare do it?

That is the story driving the upcoming movie by Columbia Pictures Anonymous. The movie looks at the old rumor that William Shakespeare did not write all his famous plays; that he was just the front man for another writer who, for reasons to be revealed in the movie (politically based), wanted to remain anonymous.

You can watch a trailer here.

So what is this old rumor? Basically that the Earl of Oxford, not William Shakespeare, wrote all the plays. Who was the Earl of Oxford? A courtier in Queen Elizabeth I's court. What do I think of this old rumor and the movie based on it? I believe Shakespeare probably did write most of the plays and poems but could certainly have had some help along the way. As for the movie, I'll go watch it because it concerns one of my favorite time periods and historical figures (Queen E) and the idea behind it is certainly intriguing. Besides, the sets and costumes look gorgeous and that's reason enough for me to go see it (I'm always dying for a chance to see this time period on the big screen!).

Does it really matter if Shakespeare worked alone on his plays or not? They are still the wonderful masterpieces whether he wrote them or if someone else wrote them.

Coming to theaters 10/28.

Book Review: George Knightley, Esquire: Lend Me Leave

George Knightley, Esquire: Lend Me Leave, Barbara Cornthwaite
5 roses

This is book 2 in Ms. Cornthwaite's series in which she retells Austen's Emma from the hero, George Knightley's eyes. I read book 1 several months ago (you can read my review here) and I have been anxiously waiting for book 2 to be published! I ordered as soon as it came out, it arrived on a Saturday, I picked it up to start it on Sunday evening (I was trying to finish another book but finally couldn't wait any longer!), and finished it around 1am Monday morning. It was fantastic!

Book 2 picks up right after Frank Churchill leaves Highbury at his aunt's command and the ball is postponed and continues until the end of the novel and we see Mr. Knightley and Emma leave for their wedding trip. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how the author continued the story and filled in the gaps that Austen left. We continue to see Mr. Knightley performing his duties as local magistrate (and it is still amazing to me that these gentlemen were expected to do so much with so little training!) and his increasing agony as he feels he has lost Emma to Frank. I could almost feel his panic and despair as he watched the two of them together at the Box Hill party. The side stories that Ms. Cornthwaite weaves in to fill the gaps left in the original (in regards to how Mr. Knightley spends his time away from Hartfield) are quite believable and quite interesting and really throws some light on another side of life in Regency England. The humor is still there as well and I again got some laughs out of Knightley's letters to and from his brother and his talks with Madam Duval. One of my favorite laugh out loud moments was at the very end when John was writing to George and describing what was going on in Highbury in his absence. I won't spoil it for anyone but the last sentence was fantastic (and gives me hope for the author continuing telling Knightley and Emma's story)! In the first book I was thrilled with the humor the author brought to the story; in book two I was thrilled to finally get some of the passion I wanted to see between Mr. Knightley and Emma. Towards the end, once Knightley has declared himself and been accepted we finally see something between the two of them besides a deep and true friendship and I absolutely loved this! I didn't feel any of it was out of place or wrong for something based on Austen. As in the first book the writing style, descriptions, and character dialog are spot on; Ms. Cornthwaite does a fantastic job of recreating Austen's style but yet keeping it from being too wordy and confusing for the reader (which I feel is what some people have a problem with in Austen's works). Her characters are wonderful and seem more developed than Austen's originals. It is obvious that the author took her time and did her research in order to give the reader not only a wonderful story but a very accurate look at the time period. This is where I think she excelled even beyond Austen - she is able to describe the customs, manners, life styles, etc, in such a way to make it very easy for readers to visualize this world of strict etiquette. Austen, of course, did not have to include all the little details because she was writing for people who were living in this almost foreign world - there was no need to describe everything - and I feel that can sometimes make it difficult for readers to understand all the aspects of her stories. Ms. Cornthwaite fills in all those gaps beautifully.

I can, again, highly recommend this novel to any Austen fan. Make sure to read the first in the series so that you can enjoy the author's wonderful story even longer! I sincerely hope that Ms. Cornthwaite will take up her pen again and continue the story; I have yet to be satisfied with any Emma sequel I've come across and I think she is the one to pick up where Jane left off. I truly think Jane would approve!

Mailbox Monday - September 5, 2011

Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme originally created by Marcia at A Girl and Her Books (formerly known as The Printed Page) and is now located here. It is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came into their house last week. Warning: Mailbox Monday can lead to envy, toppling TBR piles and humongous wish lists.

Mailbox Monday is being hosted this month by Amused by Books.

Treated myself to a couple from Amazon this week! So excited to read these!


George Knightley, Esquire: Lead Me Leave, Barbara Cornthwaite

This is book 2 in Ms. Cornthwaite's retelling of Austen's Emma from the hero, George Knightley's eyes. I absolutely LOVED book 1 and I have been waiting anxiously for book 2 (while reading some of the author's excerpts on her blog!).




Three Maids for a Crown, Ella March Chase

This will be the second book by this author that I have read (the first was The Virgin Queen's Daughter). Ms. Chase again delves into Tudor intrigue as she tells the story of the three Grey sisters. Very much looking forward to getting into this one.

Friday Funny

I know its not Christmas but this made me chuckle (and forget that the clock at a local church said 102 this afternoon....).

Shameless Self-Promotion!

Who likes to curl up with a good book?

You? Yes, I thought so! Me too!

And what goes great with a good book?

Correct! A yummy snack and a good drink! Y'all are just so smart!

So where can you find some really yummy food and drinks that are quick and easy to make?

Well I'm glad you asked! I have the perfect solution for you!! Check out my website HERE and see what Tastefully Simple has to offer!

What is Tastefully Simple?

Awesome question! Tastefully Simple is the original home taste-testing company. We offer a wide variety of quick and easy to prepare, gourmet quality foods, helping people spend less time in the kitchen and more time with their friends and family.

What kind of products do you have?

Another great question! I knew I had smart readers! The company's best known products are the Bountiful Beer Bread and the Absolutely Almond Pound Cake. There are also a variety of spices, dips (cold and warm), desserts, meal starters, and drinks. Reading a Jane Austen novel on a cool evening? Stir up a mug of our Malted Cocoa and grab an Orange Cranberry Scone (both products available starting September 1). Need a quick meal? Cook up a batch of the Perfect Parmesan Biscuits and Perfectly Potato Cheddar Soup. How does a glass of Samba Sangria Slush sound?

If any of these sound tempting to you, please check out my website and consider ordering something; everything is shipped directly to you (I'm sorry but the company can not ship internationally at this time). There are over 60 products and gift ideas in the catalog so I'm sure you can find something you'd love to have on your table!

Click here to be taken to my site!

Thank you for your support!

Sorry for the moment of shameless self promotion! ;)