My latest story idea came from my friend Julie. She recently returned a manuscript of mine that she’d had at her house and with it was a chapter I had written about a governess and a marquess. I had forgotten all about this story! But once jogged, I remembered it very well.
It is a governess story and I can hardly wait to start writing it.
Ever since reading Jane Eyre, I’ve loved the fantasy of the governess winding up with the lord. It was one of my favorite themes in traditional regencies and one of my favorite variations on the Cinderella story.
In Emma, Jane Austen gives us a good idea of a governess’s fate, both in a positive way–her own beloved governess, Miss Taylor, who was treated as a beloved family member and who married well–and a negative way–Jane Fairfax, who looks upon the prospect of becoming a governess with as a fate akin to death. Charlotte Bronte’s later depiction of a governess is similarly bleak, and includes the gothic elements that Victoria Holt (another of my favorites) popularized in later years in The Mistress of Mellyn, or another classic, Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart.
I think governesses are perfect for Cinderella plots, because their status and situation set them apart from the society in which they live. Often they are depicted as well-born young ladies fallen on hard times who must toil for long hours for little pay. They neither fit in with the servant class nor the class of their employers. (But they might befriend some darling mice and pretty little birds–and have a fairy godmother)
Do you like governess stories, or are you (gasp) sick of them? If you like them, do you have a favorite?
Hurry up and comment on yesterday’s interview with Lavinia Klein if you want a chance to win a download of Kathryn the Kitten or a Real Duchesses of London T-shirt. I’m picking the winners at midnight.
Today the Riskies welcome back my good friend Lavinia Kent. I’m so excited about this latest venture of Lavinia’s. It is so much fun!
Lavinia is one of the first authors for Avon’s new digital imprint, Avon Impulse, which aims to offer fresh, exciting content in digital format, available wherever ebooks are sold.
Lavinia has written a series called The Real Duchesses of London, four short, connected novellas based on the “Real Housewives” TV series. Kathryn the Kitten, the first novella in the series is available now.
Here’s some of the review rattle for Kathryn the Kitten:
“Interesting and intriguing…fabulous reading…” —Novel Reaction
“…a terrific blend of love, friendship and a tad bit of suspense.” — Tracy’s Place
“I can’t wait to read about the romantic tribulations of the four other women and to find out who is behind the caricatures.” — Romance Novel News
Take a look at this fabulous Book Trailer for Kathryn the Kitten:
There’s also a longer video, for the entire Real Duchesses of London Series.
Lavinia will give away one download of Kathryn the Kitten to one lucky commenter chosen at random AND to a second randomly selected commenter, a Real Duchesses of London T-shirt featuring the Real Duchesses logo!!
Tell us how you came up with the idea for the series The Real Duchesses of London. I was watching a episode of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and thinking how ridiculous it all was. Then I started to think about how their real lives must be different from what was seen on TV. I’d also just watched Downton Abby and was excited by the idea of having the maids take the place of the TV viewer.
Who are the “Real Duchesses”? The real Duchesses are a group of aristocratic women who are brought together when a print of them all is pasted to shop windows all across London. Each of the women either has a problem with her husband or develops one as the result of a scandalous print.
Kathryn the Kitten is available now. What is her story? Kathryn, the Duchess of Harrington, has always done everything perfectly. When a tragedy changes her world Kathryn doesn’t know how to react and finds herself withdrawing farther and farther from her husband. When a cartoon implies that her husband has a huge secret, Kathryn must find away to start a new relationship with the duke.
What is Risky about this series and its first story? The relationships between the women can be very risky. In the first story Kathryn discovers things about her dearest friend, Linnette, the Dowager Duchess of Doveshire, that change and almost ruin their long-lasting friendship.
From a personal standpoint the most risky thing was trying to write a scene with several duchesses in the room and still make it clear who was talking. There were “Your Graces” all over the place. I had to move everybody to a first name basis much sooner than I would have otherwise or it was just too confusing.
Where was most of your research time spent? Watching the “Real Housewives” on TV or researching in the regency? Did you discover anything interesting in your research? I spent time looking at old prints and cartoons. It’s hard to call it research because it was just so much fun. It is amazing the things that could be printed for anyone to see.
I also re-examined the fashions of the time because I moving into the early 1820’s with these stories and things were starting to change. I actually make use of the great bell shaped skirts in my second story, Linnette, the Lioness.
Tell us how the YouTube video and its depiction of the Duchesses came about. It all started when I saw my friend Janet Mullany’s daughter making a drawing for another author. I loved it and asked if she could do one for me. Even if I never used it I thought it would be fun to have a drawing to represent the first cartoon in my book.
My daughter, who is taking computer graphics in high school, asked why I didn’t have a book trailer – and before I knew it she was creating one for me. The original concept of using the cartoon and combining it with the opening credits from The Real Housewives was mine, but she took it and ran with it. The ultimate product is very much her creation.
What’s next for you? What’s the next book in the series and what is your next book? The next novella in my series is Linnette, the Lioness. It comes out this Tuesday. It’s a reunion story and also a story of learning to love again after a past betrayal. Annabelle the American will be released in August and Elizabeth the Enchantress, in September.
My next book, What a Duke Wants, comes out this October and is the story of a runaway lady and a duke who doesn’t want to be a duke. I had great fun writing about mistaken identity and learning to survive when life doesn’t work out the way you want.
A question from me:
Is there anyone who will admit to liking the women’s clothing of the 1820’s? I am genuinely curious. I love true regency dress and then suddenly the skirts poof out and the sleeves as well – and the bonnets . . .
I just can’t imagine ever wanting to wear it. How about you?
Thanks for visiting the Riskies, Lavinia. Remember, everyone, to comment for a chance to win either a download of Kathryn the Kitten or a Real Duchesses of London T-Shirt! Winners will be selected after midnight Monday night and announced on Tuesday.
Sotheby’s made the announcement a few days ago that one of Jane Austen’s original manuscripts is coming up for sale in mid July. It’s of The Watsons, consisting of 68 heavily corrected pages. It’s the largest existing original manuscript of any of her novels. The only other one that survived is two canceled chapters of Persuasion in the British Library.
It’s not even the whole thing. The first twelve pages were sold by a descendant to raise money for the Red Cross in World War I and are now in possession of the Pierpont Morgan Library, NY. The next few pages were somehow lost while being “looked after” by the University of London. So the remaining pages are being sold by the anonymous person who bought them in 1988 from the British Rail Pension fund, which obviously went in for some odd investments. The Fund should have hung onto them because they probably didn’t count on at least one of the retirees making it to 100 (my dad, still hanging in there).
The pages are quite small; Austen apparently liked to cut sheets of paper in half and fold them into an 8-page booklet.
So if you have about $485,000 burning a hole in your pocket in mid July, you might win the auction.
I really hope a museum wins The Watsons. I hate the idea of coming upon this tantalizing news item and knowing there’s a possibility no one will ever see it again; it makes my Jacobin blood boil. And I wonder how the person who, uh, borrowed those missing pages feels. Does he or she take them out for special occasions and admire them? Share them with a few friends bound to secrecy?
If you owned something as precious as this, what would you do with it? Hand it over to a museum on permanent loan and go and visit occasionally?
As I am writing this, it is snowing again! Although I’m done with tax paperwork, I’m still processing an annoying insurance issue. The garage door broke and I can’t get my car out. Maybe it’s a blessing, because now I can’t see the Check Engine Light. I still am not finding time to write. When I’m this grumpy, I don’t want sunshiny saccharine consolation. I do like “get real” advice.
Pema Chodron writes that “…abandoning hope is an affirmation, the beginning of the beginning. You could even put ‘Abandon hope’ on your refrigerator door instead of more conventional aspirations like ‘Every day in every way I’m getting better and better.’ She also writes that “Giving up hope is encouragement to stick with yourself, to make friends with yourself, to not run away from yourself, to return to the bare bones, no matter what is going on.”
In other words, you deal with the reality of yourself and your situation. It’s the only way to get from here to there. Thich Nhat Hanh writes that “Thanks to impermanence, everything is possible.” Maybe I’ll find some time to write soon. I’ll stay alive to opportunities and in the meantime, enjoy bits of “get real” wit and wisdom like these from Jane Austen:
“Nothing ever fatigues me, but doing what I do not like.”
“And pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked.”
“Do not give way to useless alarm; though it is right to be prepared for the worst, there is no occasion to look on it as certain.”
“Every moment has its pleasures and its hope.”
“I will not say that your mulberry trees are dead; but I am afraid they are not alive.”
When you’re grumpy, what helps? Do you have a favorite quote, from Jane or anyone else?
It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.—Jane Austen
I owe so much to Jane Austen. When I read Pride And Prejudice for the first time, I accepted the opening line as truth, not irony. Not a scathing commentary on Society, or people’s expectations, or any of that. I thought it was universally acknowledged, and it wasn’t after several re-readings that I got the humor; for me, at first, it was all about the love story.
On subsequent reads, I figured out some of what she was saying. I don’t think I’ll ever get all the subtlety and nuance, but Austen was my introduction to understated irony, something that is my stock-in-trade now, both in everyday speech and in my writing.
When I read Austen, I was transported to a land where the smart chick gets the hot guy, families are full of foibles and people spend time at balls in gowns that hide their legs.
I haven’t read Austen in years, perhaps because I read her SO MUCH when I was in young. I think I found her in my parents’ library when I was around 12, the perfect age for love and romance and a happy ending. Her dry wit, ability to distill the world into a small village and her characterization has informed me, imprinted me, in ways I cannot overstate.
In recent years, trying to find time to write, I continue to be impressed with her, writing in secret and actually finishing a book. I have my family’s support to write, and still find it hard. Plus, she didn’t have a computer and files to write into and easily change, which is astonishing. Her barrier to entry was so difficult, and yet she did it, which is an inspiration.
I have a card on my bureau I bought when in Portland, OR many years ago. “Success supposes endeavor,” it says, a quote from Austen’s Emma. I look at it regularly, every time things seem too hard for me to do, every time I wish things were easier. They’re not. Success supposes–and requires–endeavor.
And so I have to thank Austen for inspiring me to endeavor, as well as giving me a platform–writing romance–to endeavor in.
In Emma, Jane Austen gives us a good idea of a governess’s fate, both in a positive way–her own beloved governess, Miss Taylor, who was treated as a beloved family member and who married well–and a negative way–Jane Fairfax, who looks upon the prospect of becoming a governess with as a fate akin to death. Charlotte Bronte’s later depiction of a governess is similarly bleak, and includes the gothic elements that Victoria Holt (another of my favorites) popularized in later years in The Mistress of Mellyn, or another classic, Nine Coaches Waiting by Mary Stewart.
