Risky Regencies

I have no English relatives, but I love the countr...

2012-12-08T00:48:17.646-08:00

I have no English relatives, but I love the country. When I was a child I traveled there with my parents. We visited York, Wales and Scotland and I loved it!!!
I adored the castles, loved the nature and those Scottish cows are so cute. I'm lucky my husband would like to visit Britain with me, so next year we'll be going to London.

I also like to read about English aristocracy: the costumes, the balls, the strict rules. It's great!!

So lovely to see so many familiar friends here! (W...

2012-12-07T21:56:10.885-08:00

So lovely to see so many familiar friends here! (Waving madly)And new friends, too.
Bess and Louisa, I envy you your time spent living in English villages. I know I would love that! Vicky, you always manage to make me laugh! So true about Kristine... Marissa, yes, doomed! LOL. I put THE SECRET GARDEN in the books photo, even though I didn't mention Burnett in my post. I could have listed so many more authors and beloved books, but have left that up to all of you!

Judy, Diane, Mali, thanks for dropping by and commenting! And Cara, thank you so much for correcting me on Aiken's book title --lord, I read it such a very long time ago, and could not lay hands on my copy!

I also think it's the books. bn100candg(at)ho...

2012-12-07T17:56:41.023-08:00

I also think it's the books.

bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com

Looking back, I realize I gravitated towards Engli...

2012-12-07T17:25:00.329-08:00

Looking back, I realize I gravitated towards English authors when I was a child, and it wasn't done consciously. Even my favorite American writer -Lloyd Alexander- was steeped in British (albeit, Welsh) mythology. I loved Susan Cooper, C.S. Lewis, Diana Wynne Jones, Vivien Alcock, Joan Aiken, oh- and Enid Blyton! I desperately wanted to go to an English boarding school, thanks to Enid Blyton. My husband is also an Anglophile (much to the bemusement of his old Swamp Yankee family), so we tend to spur each other on in our Anglomania...

-Mali (hi Gail!)

My closest thing to a hereditary right to Anglophi...

2012-12-07T15:09:56.807-08:00

My closest thing to a hereditary right to Anglophilia is an ancestor with the last name Stephenson -- and as he's untraceable, no one can prove that he wasn't of English descent!

I definitely fell in love with England through children's books. Sure, I loved Oz and Edward Eager and Nancy Drew, but most of my favorite authors were British -- Aiken, Nesbit, Burnett, Streatfeild, Tolkien, Lewis, and eventually Diane Wynne Jones and Susan Cooper. (And I'm delighted to see I'm not the only one hear who loves many of those authors!)

BTW, Gail, it was "Wolves of Willoughby Chase," not "Hall," in case anyone wants to look for the book! That whole series (by Joan Aiken) was amazing -- we'd call it alternate history nowadays, I guess! Bonnie Prince Georgie as the Young Pretender -- "My Bonnie lies over in Hanover" -- such fabulosity. (And Aiken also wrote a few traditional Regencies, FWIW.)

Cara

You're right. It was the books. It was always ...

2012-12-07T12:17:34.308-08:00

You're right. It was the books. It was always the books.

I didn't even know about the green hills and mist and all that. It was the language that enchanted me. Phrases like, "My hat! What a picnic," and "jolly" as a modifier crept into my vocabulary without my noticing ... much to the puzzlement of those around me. (Thank you, C.S. Lewis and E. Nesbit.)

Like you, I can recite A. A. Milne at the drop of a bowler and have a lingering, otherwise inexplicable, fondness for animals I have never met (hedgehogs, badgers, etc.) thanks to my childhood reading.

2012-12-07T12:11:00.980-08:00

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Devout Anglophile here, Gail! We were stationed in...

2012-12-07T11:57:19.412-08:00

Devout Anglophile here, Gail! We were stationed in England for three years when I was a child and my love for the little village where we lived and for all things English has never wavered a moment since. I was introduced to the books of Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and Georgette Heyer by a pair of retired librarians, sisters who lived next door to us in the village. They were the first people I ever knew who had an actual library in their home. I spent many a rainy afternoon curled up in an elegant chair in front of the fireplace in their library, only to be interrupted for afternoon tea. It was heaven!

My mother's family is Native American, but my father's was three-quarters Welsh and a quarter English and didn't immigrate to this country until 1892. My father grew up in a house where Welsh was spoken on a daily basis by his grandmother.

So as you see, I never stood a chance!!

louisa@louisacornell.com

Hello, Gail! I think my Anglophilia began with rea...

2012-12-07T11:51:15.000-08:00

Hello, Gail! I think my Anglophilia began with reading Frances Hodgson Burnett and watching The Six Wives of Henry VIII on Masterpiece Theatre at approximately the same time. I was doomed, wasn't I? :)

Gail, good to hear from you!! I could not escape b...

2012-12-07T11:09:34.735-08:00

Gail, good to hear from you!! I could not escape being an Anglophile, could I, being named Victoria. Not to mention the fact that I always knew I was a princess, wheter anyone else acknowledged the fact. Especially my little brother. I am truly dedicated to all things English -- except for my envy of my blog partner, Kristine Hughes, who is about to leave for London. Since she and her hubby live in Florica, they may have a frigid experience, but knowing Kristine, her snowflakes will be diamonds and the cold a mere cheek-reddening cosmetic effect!

I was very small when our family chanced upon a lo...

2012-12-07T09:49:08.079-08:00

I was very small when our family chanced upon a lovely couple from London. Long years of association eventually enticed me to England for a summer. Though I grew up with Pooh, my first awareness of England in my reading was Tolkien. His LOTR threw open the doors on the world.

Dear friends, please don't forget to include y...

2012-12-07T08:52:56.885-08:00

Dear friends, please don't forget to include your email address (or contact me through email or facebook) if you want to be included in the drawing for the free book next Friday!

Evangeline, that is unfortunately so true about Fr...

2012-12-07T08:48:04.083-08:00

Evangeline, that is unfortunately so true about France being declasse (sorry I don't know how to put in the accent marks in this format!)in historical fiction. The publishers are certain the reading public doesn't want that setting. We can hope the independence of e-book publishing may help break that taboo. I have a historical story set in Paris that I want to do. I offered it to Signet back in the day, and my editor said -"I like the story --can you change it to London?" That would have ruined the story, so it hasn't been done yet. It's on my "to-do" list!! I did have a French hero in my trad Regency THE CAPTAIN'S DILEMMA (1995). (He was a POW). I'll be re-issuing that one as an e-book some time in 2013.

Helena, that's an interesting point about what...

2012-12-07T08:42:39.902-08:00

Helena, that's an interesting point about what kids are exposed to in England now. Too bad we can't get them to read all the lovely old books that we did! I worry about an England in the future where the old traditions aren't valued.
Thanks for your comment, the congrats & email --I'll enter you in the drawing!

Both my parents came from Lithuania, so I definite...

2012-12-07T05:58:09.366-08:00

Both my parents came from Lithuania, so I definitely have no birthright. Unless a handsome British spy was present at the Treaty of Tilsit (very close to where my mother's family lives) in 1807 and fell in love with a Lithuanian girl.

Fiction aside, my gateways included C.S. Lewis, Tolkien and Georgette Heyer. I became even more of an Anglophile during a 3 year international assignment in the UK. I wished I could have stayed longer, but the job wasn't conducive to starting a family.

Hi Gail, Fun post! My dad was stationed in England...

2012-12-07T05:46:36.196-08:00

Hi Gail, Fun post! My dad was stationed in England when I was twelve. It was not love at first sight for me, but it didn't take long to fall head over heels. We lived in a tiny village where the postman rode a bicycle, and the fish and chip truck drove around the village green every Saturday night. I still miss it!

Congratulations on getting your books out there again. Somehow I missed them the first time around, but I look forward to reading them now!

I am an utter Francophile. I've been in love w...

2012-12-07T05:09:21.574-08:00

I am an utter Francophile. I've been in love with the language since I was a child, and love the cities, the history, the food, the architecture--just everything. Oddly enough, France, our longtime ally and the destination for Americans in Europe, is déclassé in historical fiction!

Although I am English, I was born abroad and didn&...

2012-12-07T04:51:29.384-08:00

Although I am English, I was born abroad and didn't live here for years. My grandmother sent over all my mother's old children's books so from very young I was reading Enid Blyton and forming a very out-of-date but likeable and romanticised view of England! I'm sure that our early reading is key, and these days so is TV too, I think. If you see lots of beautifully costumed, well-scripted, dramas set in England (from any period) then you'll also have a pre-disposition towards England. I see it working in reverse on children and teenagers here - they watch endless repeats of Friends and the OJ and think that America is like that, and desirable.

Congrats on the re-release of your books! I love the fact that books which were previously difficult to get hold of (especially those by American authors which were never released here) and becoming more easy to get hold of, as authors recover their rights and release them as ebooks. Encourage all your colleagues to do the same! helenajustina at hotmail dot co dot uk

No dark and scary traditions in our family. Chris...

2012-12-06T20:02:38.774-08:00

No dark and scary traditions in our family. Christmas has always been a time of happiness. Our son has gotten lumps of coal in his stocking over the years. Now he appreciates it, he is a blacksmith.

I have never heard of frightening Christmas traditions. They seem so out of step with the "spirit" of the season.
I'll stick with the comfort and joy themes.

Hope you have a great Christmas with or without Belnickel.

Nancy, was La Llorona especially active during the...

2012-12-06T16:19:34.984-08:00

Nancy, was La Llorona especially active during the Christmas season or did she cry out for her children all year?

I think the two characters are probably the same, ...

2012-12-06T16:18:09.993-08:00

I think the two characters are probably the same, actually, based on what I've read about them. But I heard about Belznickel first so I'm sticking with that name. And yes, St. Nicholas Day is today, so this is the time these bad guys would often make their visits! Watch out, everyone...

I that is Krampus in the picture, not Belsnickel. ...

2012-12-06T13:10:33.522-08:00

I that is Krampus in the picture, not Belsnickel. It's Krampusnacht today in fact.

Hi Janet and Kate! Great post. I have never heard ...

2012-12-06T12:51:25.400-08:00

Hi Janet and Kate!
Great post. I have never heard of the story of Belznickel. I grew up with the stories of a jolly fat man in a red suit, and I have to say, I prefer those stories. Growing on a border town of Mexico,my friends tried to scare me with stories of La Llorona, the crying beautiful woman who walked the streets late at night screaming for her lost children. [She killed them]. During Christmas vacation, we would seek out of our beds and try to find her. Of course, we never left our yards... too dark... too scary.LOL Give me a fat man and his red nose reindeer anyday.

I've never heard of Belznickel either. Guess h...

2012-12-06T12:43:52.051-08:00

I've never heard of Belznickel either. Guess he's been hiding under the bed!

I first heard of Belznickel during Christmas festi...

2012-12-06T10:48:27.508-08:00

I first heard of Belznickel during Christmas festivities at Riversdale, the historic site where Janet is a docent. So I owe a debt of gratitude to whoever did the planning for the event, probably Ann Wass.