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Author Archives: Cara King

Who’s Your Favorite Austen Heartthrob?

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Time to take a poll! Please answer any or all of these three questions, about the pictured film and television portrayals of Austen characters at the end of this post! (Or you can pick someone who’s not pictured!)

1) Which of these Austen characters, as played by the specific actor, do you think has the most of what Janet calls “essential hotness”?

2) Which would you find it easiest to fall truly, madly, deeply in love with?

3) Which would you most like to marry? (This of course takes into account your answers to questions 1 and 2, but also practical matters — like who your in-laws will be, and just how disgustingly wealthy he is.) 🙂

Just put your answers in a comment — you can explain your choices if you like! I’ll keep tabs on how voting goes, and soon we will know who are the hottest, the dreamiest, and the most marriageable cinematic Austen heroes!

If any gentlemen are here, you can vote on which hero you’d most like to be! And yes, you may take into account who you would get to marry, just how disgustingly wealthy you would be, and whether or not you have to have Lady Catherine de Bourgh as your aunt!

Cara
Cara King, MY LADY GAMESTER, Signet Regency 11/05
more Jane Austen movie info at www.caraking.com!

Posted in Frivolity, Jane Austen | Tagged , , , | 25 Replies

Hornblower, Aubrey and Nelson!

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This is Horatio Nelson’s flagship, Victory. If you have a chance to visit Portsmouth, you can even tour it! It’s fantastic. (Though very popular — the first time I took a daytrip to Portsmouth we arrived by noon, and all the tours were already full for the day! And this was a Wednesday. Though for all I know one can now book a place ahead of time…)

I don’t know why Regency warships are so beautiful! They were highly functional, yet somehow their lines are just gorgeous. That’s one reason I love the recent Horatio Hornblower television productions (starring the oh-so-nice Ioan Gruffudd, who also makes a hunky superhero) and the film “Master and Commander: the Far Side of the World” (starring the also very delicious Russell Crowe.)

Are there any other fans of Hornblower or Aubrey here? Of the films, or the books by C.S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian? What do you like or dislike about the books or the cinematic productions? Or have you buy any chance toured the Victory? What did you think?

Share your thoughts!

Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER, Signet Regency 11/05

Posted in Regency, Research | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Replies

St. George’s Hanover Square

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In Regency romance lore, St. George’s Hanover Square is the church where many society couples married during the Regency. Located in Mayfair, it’s a lovely “little” church (little compared to something like St Paul’s Cathedral!) which looks a bit like St. Martin-in-the-Fields. You can still see St. George’s Hanover Square today. Here are some photos I took last time I toured Mayfair. (They were doing some repair work at the time, as you can see!) There’s isn’t a huge amount of Regency Mayfair still standing (St James’s is much better preserved) — Almack’s is gone, and so much else — but there are some gems left (like this one!) Here are a couple more pictures:

I do love taking pictures of churches and cathedrals — they photograph so well!

If anyone wants to see more pictures of Regency London, let us know! (There’s a lot more where these came from . . .)

Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER — Signet Regency, November 2005

Posted in Regency, Research | Tagged , | 9 Replies

Honor

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Megan’s post yesterday has me thinking about more serious subjects — and one that comes to mind is honor. I think one reason why historical romances of all types (and fantasy fiction too) have such an emotional impact on readers is the characters’ attachment to honor. This honor is not just a code of behavior, but the idea that if you do dishonorable things, it changes you, it stains you. Honorable characters may have been dishonorable in the past, but when the critical moment comes, they do what needs to be done.

Aren’t the most honorable heroes often the most romantic ones? Think of the heroes in Barbara Metzger’s “A Debt to Delia” and Gail Eastwood’s “The Lady From Spain,” or any of Carla Kelly’s or Patricia Veryan’s heroes. Think of Georgette Heyer’s “Cotillion” — Freddy has his own immutable sense of honor. Think of Maximus in the movie “Gladiator,” or of so many characters in “The Lord of the Rings.”

What do you think? Who are your favorite honorable heroes? Does their honor make them more attractive?

And does the fact that romance and fantasy novels value honor mean that they are “mere escapism,” or are they actually celebrating something very real that our cynical times tend to wrongfully ignore?

All thoughts welcome!

Cara
Cara King, www.caraking.com
MY LADY GAMESTER, Signet Regency 11/05

Posted in Reading | Tagged , | 8 Replies

Upcoming Pride and Prejudice movie!

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I thought I’d mention how I’m looking forward to the upcoming PRIDE AND PREJUDICE movie! I hear it has a (tentative) release date of November 18.
Does anyone want to talk about it? (Yes, I know it’s ridiculously early to talk about it, but why not!) 🙂

What I’m excited about:

Judi Dench as Lady Catherine De Bourgh! (Okay, I’d be excited seeing Judi Dench as anyone or anything — I adore her! Did I ever mention I once saw her star in a RNT revival of A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC?) And she’s perfect for Lady Catherine! (Though I’d also love to see her do Northanger Abbey’s Mrs. Allen some day too!)

Brenda Blethyn as Mrs. Bennett. Too, too perfect!!!!

Rosamund Pike as Jane. I think RP is breathtakingly beautiful and
conveys serenity so well — perfect for Jane.

Okay, those are three reasons I’m looking forward to it! Anyone else?

Cara
Cara King, MY LADY GAMESTER, Signet Regency 11/05
check out more movie info on my website! www.caraking.com

Posted in Jane Austen, TV and Film | Tagged , , | 26 Replies