Thursday, September 16, 2010

Regency Romance by Jacqueline Seewald



I find Regency romances fascinating. I’ve read many hundreds of novels in the genre. In this regard, I am like many other devoted readers. Regency romance has endured for a long time and I believe will continue to be popular. However, Regency romance fans are very particular about historical references. They want them to be completely accurate. To this effect, I did extensive research, reading and collecting numerous histories of this era as well as biographies of people who lived in those times before I wrote TEA LEAVES AND TAROT CARDS. For example, Mr. Brockton who is my heroine’s benefactor, runs a posh gaming establishment where many thousands of pounds exchanged hands each night. It is frequented by the cream of the ton. His character is based on an actual person, a gambler, who went from fish monger to millionaire and then lost it all again.


For those who are not familiar with Regency, let’s define it. When we talk about the Regency era, we mean the brief period lasting between 1811-1820 in England. However, for the sake of the novels, the era begins at the tail end of the Georgian period in about 1800. It includes the scope of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, a period of turmoil, social unrest and political revolution.


The novels of Jane Austen set in that era have caught the imagination of both readers and writers for centuries. Georgette Heyer was one of the writers who created her own novels set in the Regency era. These romances have also influenced many readers and writers. Her novels even introduced their own unique vocabulary.


At the time I initially wrote TEA LEAVES AND TAROT CARDS, I was working as a librarian with easy access to a multitude of reference sources. So my research proved both enjoyable and relatively easy. Now the internet offers so much valuable information on the Regency era which makes research more convenient. Here are just a few of the wonderful websites I recently located:http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/social-customs-and-the-regency-world/http://www.thenonesuch.com/lexicon.html#Dictionary

5 comments:

Joyce Elson Moore said...

Jacqueline: love those links for Regency info. Marked them as favs for my next workshop on researching for historicals. And I love, love the cover of Tea Leaves & Tarot Cards.

Jacqueline Seewald said...

Thank you for hosting me today!

Margaret Tanner said...

Hi Jacqueline,
I write historicals, but not Regency, but you are absolutely right, accurate research is crucial to the success of your novel. Nothing irritates me more than to find an historical inaccuracy when I read a story. If I do find a msitake, I would never buy that author again.

Regards

Margaret

Jacqueline Seewald said...

I agree with you, Margaret. The Regencies have become so popular that many writers who know nothing about the period simply slap books together that are totally absurd. That era, like all others, had its own social mores and customs which writers have to study and understand.

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