tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24582831149123974052024-03-15T21:10:14.022-04:00The Secret VictorianistSecret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.comBlogger396125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-8331656871351118172024-02-21T20:40:00.002-05:002024-02-21T20:40:45.160-05:00Neo-Victorian Voices: Edith Holler, Edward Carey (2023)Welcome back to the Secret Victorianist and my Neo-Victorian Voices series, where I write about books published in the twenty-first century but set in the nineteenth. Today, I’m breaking my own rules by reviewing a novel set in 1901, but, since that was the year of Queen Victoria’s death and this is mentioned in the opening pages of the book, I’m going to give myself an exception.Our main Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-51464784139303618262024-01-30T23:16:00.001-05:002024-01-30T23:22:06.688-05:00A Master Class in Character Introduction from Mary Elizabeth BraddonIt’s been a while since I published a writing “master class” on this blog, doing a close reading of a Victorian novel to discuss craft techniques that are still relevant to authors today. But this week, I’m turning to one of my favorite nineteenth-century reads—Mary Elizabeth Braddon’s sensational 1862 novel, Lady Audley’s Secret—to explore how she introduces her title character.If you’re pullingSecret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-64712269752071363592023-12-30T12:31:00.001-05:002023-12-30T12:37:47.746-05:002023: My Year in Reading—A RetrospectAs 2023 comes to a close, it’s time to review what I read in the last year. How did my habits change compared to 2022 and what themes emerged from the books that made it from my TBR and onto my nightstand? As usual, I tracked my progress via Goodreads and set myself a challenge on the platform, so to keep up with what I’m reading in 2024, make sure you connect with me there.In 2023, I read 50 Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-72767472973809344662023-11-30T19:57:00.002-05:002023-11-30T19:57:35.429-05:00The Secret Victorianist’s 2023 Holiday Gift GuideMerry Christmas/Happy Holidays to everyone celebrating this festive season and welcome (back?) to the Secret Victorianist—my blog dedicated to nineteenth-century literature and culture. In today’s post, I share some gift (or let’s face it, self-gifting) ideas for lovers of books and Victoriana. Let me know what you think and what else is top of your wish list…For the busy bookworm… Consider Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-37993499411962682792023-11-21T12:34:00.004-05:002023-11-21T12:41:04.853-05:00A Q&A with Hope C. Tarr, Author of Irish Eyes (2023)Welcome back to the Secret Victorianst for a different sort of blog today—an interview with fellow historical novelist, Hope C. Tarr. You might remember Hope from the virtual panel event I did with Lady Jane’s Salon, the NYC-based romance readers’ club she co-founded, back in 2020. Next month, Hope’s debut historical novel Irish Eyes will be released by Lume Books, and I know readers of the Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-87696664002225307782023-10-31T08:46:00.000-04:002023-10-31T08:46:08.739-04:00Review: Half-Life of a Stolen Sister, Rachel Cantor (2023)You might be surprised that my review of Rachel Cantor’s 2023 novel Half-Life of a Stolen Sister, a retelling of the Bronte siblings’ lives, isn’t part of my Neo-Victorian Voices series. After all, those are the blog posts in which I dissect works of fiction written in the twenty-first century but set in the nineteenth. However, Half-Life of a Stolen Sister, while it is a book about the Brontes, Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-10656544300304388002023-10-07T17:51:00.000-04:002023-10-07T17:51:07.481-04:00Neo-Victorian Voices: Daughters of Nantucket, Julie Gerstenblatt (2023)Welcome back to my Neo-Victorian Voices series, where I review books set in the nineteenth century, but written in the twenty-first. For the second time in this series, following my review of Amy Brill’s The Movement of Stars (2013) in 2019, we’re back in nineteenth-century Nantucket. This time I’m reviewing Julie Gerstenblatt’s 2023 Daughters of Nantucket, which follows several women’s lives on Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-60906017394721730762023-09-24T20:41:00.002-04:002023-09-24T20:50:43.809-04:00Writers’ Questions: Should Authors Worry About AI?Welcome back to my Writers’ Questions series, where I write blog posts answering authors’ and aspiring authors’ top questions related to the craft and business of writing, drawing upon my own personal experience. This week I’m writing about how generative artificial intelligence is changing the industry. Search engine data and IRL conversations I’ve had over the last few months demonstrate that Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-80536831515428060532023-09-03T14:09:00.002-04:002023-09-03T14:09:50.965-04:00The Top 10 Blog Posts from the Secret VictorianistI can hardly believe it, but I’ve now been running this blog on nineteenth-century literature and culture for over a decade! The blog has changed a lot over the years as I’ve made the move from London to New York City, my interests have evolved, and I’ve become a published author myself. So, in a belated anniversary celebration, I decided to look back through the archives to revisit my top Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-43819427969721600492023-08-08T15:57:00.000-04:002023-08-08T15:57:25.103-04:00Thomas Hardy’s “How She Went to Ireland”: An AnalysisI’m being a poor Victorianist today and straying outside the nineteenth century to analyze one of Thomas Hardy’s lesser-known poems, “How She Went to Ireland,” which was written in response to the death of writer Dora Sigerson Shorter in 1918. While Hardy is now remembered best for his great nineteenth-century novels (think: Tess of the d’Urbevilles (1891) and Jude, the Obscure (1895)), he Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-59160256939076478752023-07-31T03:57:00.001-04:002023-07-31T03:59:04.425-04:00The Historical Novel Society North America Conference 2023, San Antonio, Texas—In Quotes (Part Three)Welcome back, everyone! It took over a month after the close of the Historical Novel Society North America Society conference in San Antonio, Texas, for me to finish listening to all the recordings—a testament to the wealth of great information about historical fiction on offer. I already published Part 1 and Part 2 posts detailing some of my favorite quotes from the event. Today, I’m concluding Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-89105175651330216282023-07-09T22:12:00.000-04:002023-07-09T22:12:15.248-04:00Theatre Review: Being Mr. Wickham, 59E59 Theaters, New York CityIt is a truth universally acknowledged that Austenites never tire of new takes on Pride and Prejudice (1813), so last month I joined JASNA NY’s outing to 59E59 Theaters to watch a one-man play about one of the novel’s most infamous characters. Being Mr. Wickham brings us George Wickham on his sixtieth birthday, still married to Lydia (nee Bennet) and reminiscing about the dramas of his youthSecret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-30939346182374122852023-06-23T22:46:00.003-04:002023-06-23T23:03:26.298-04:00The Historical Novel Society North America Conference 2023, San Antonio, Texas—In Quotes (Part Two)Welcome back. Two weeks ago, I attended the Historical Novel Society North America conference in San Antonio, Texas, and shared some of my favorite quotes from the sessions I listened to live at the multi-day event. Today, as promised, I’m back with more words of wisdom from the speakers I caught later via the on-demand recordings. There was so much great content available that I still have a fewSecret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-9422229272087555962023-06-11T18:45:00.001-04:002023-06-11T18:57:43.932-04:00The Historical Novel Society North America Conference 2023, San Antonio, Texas—In Quotes (Part One)I’m currently on my way home from the Historical Novel Society North America’s first in-person conference since 2019, which was held in San Antonio. For several days, IRL and virtual attendees enjoyed an array of talks, panels, and masterclasses from authors, agents, and editors in the historical fiction world. Those of us in Texas also enjoyed socializing and signing books at the readers’ Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-72675207821393694832023-05-15T13:13:00.000-04:002023-05-15T13:13:07.732-04:00Neo-Victorian Voices: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2022)Historical fiction meets science fiction in the latest book I’m writing about as part of my Neo-Victorian Voices series, on novels written in the twenty-first century but set in the nineteenth. Moreno-Garcia’s The Daughter of Doctor Moreau (2022) is inspired by H.G. Wells’s classic tale of man playing God—The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896).Readers of the original novel will recognize some common Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-66865818540768771352023-05-03T18:21:00.000-04:002023-05-03T18:21:59.247-04:00Neo-Victorian Voices: The Parting Glass, Gina Marie Guadagnino (2019)Gina Marie Guadagnino’s 2019 The Parting Glass has many of the elements I love to see in books I review for my Neo-Victorian Voices series, on novels written in the twenty-first century but set in the nineteenth. Not only does the story take place in the 1830s, but the location is New York City, our heroine is Irish, and the subject matter is forbidden love (including several lesbian romances).&Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-80320206339760992012023-04-20T18:45:00.000-04:002023-04-20T18:45:41.971-04:00Film Review: The Wonder (2022)Back in 2018, I reviewed Emma Donoghue’s 2016 nineteenth-century-Ireland-set novel, The Wonder, for this blog—check out my full review here. Today, five years on, I’m back with a post about the book’s film adaptation.The Wonder (2022) is remarkably true to Donoghue’s novel and doesn’t resort to Hollywood theatrics to enhance the story. It stars Florence Pugh as the English nurse, Lib, and she’s Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-60093705390046261722023-04-08T17:07:00.001-04:002023-04-20T17:25:22.728-04:00Writers’ Questions: What are some writing websites I should know about?In my Writers’ Questions series, I’ve been sharing advice about the writing and publication process for the past four years. In today’s blog post I’ll be sharing more free writing resources—five great websites that should already be on your radar…Chill Subs: Submitting short stories or poems to literary journals? Entering writing contests? Applying to residencies? You need to check out Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-59309628894117857462023-03-18T21:54:00.002-04:002023-03-18T22:02:54.088-04:00Film Review: Emily (2022)As the author of a novel inspired by the scandalous lives of the Bronte siblings (Bronte’s Mistress), I’ve fielded a lot of questions recently about Emily, the 2022 biopic about the most mysterious Bronte sister, which only came to theaters in the US last month. Have I seen it? Do I like it? Is it accurate??In this blog post I’m finally breaking down my response to the movie into two sections—Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-68350514002614084402023-02-25T17:44:00.000-05:002023-02-25T17:44:32.729-05:00Neo-Victorian Voices: Booth, Karen Joy Fowler (2022)I imagine that many American readers will come to Karen Joy Fowler’s 2022 novel, Booth, with preconceptions about John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865), the man who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865). However, having grown up outside the US, my knowledge of the killer and the theatrical family he was part of was essentially nonexistent before I sat down to read this latest book in my Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-1328075042091404882023-02-18T01:19:00.001-05:002023-02-18T01:19:52.967-05:00Emily Bronte’s Love and Friendship: An AnalysisEmily Bronte is the Bronte sibling who’s top of mind for many of us right now, with the release of the biopic Emily (which I’m hoping to see this long weekend!). So, in honor of the most mysterious Bronte sister I thought I’d spend some time on an exercise I haven’t done in a long time on my blog—a close reading of a poem. I’ve previously shared analyses of other Victorian poems, including Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-37584324294352493742023-01-31T17:09:00.001-05:002023-01-31T17:09:36.376-05:00Writers’ Questions: Why, oh why, is writing so hard?I’ve been publishing blog posts as part of my Writers’ Questions series since 2019, covering a range of topics related to craft and the business of writing. But many of my most-asked questions really boil down to one that’s psychological, rather than artistic or technical, in nature: why is this writing thing so damn hard?!Feeling down? Digest these tips and eat some ice cream...First, I feel youSecret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-51706769644962472782023-01-25T15:15:00.000-05:002023-01-25T15:15:22.198-05:00Writers’ Questions: How shouldn’t I begin my novel?Happy January, everyone! Many of you might have made writing a novel (or another novel) one of your New Year’s resolutions for 2023, so, in this latest post in my Writers’ Questions series, I’m covering what not to do at the opening of your book. I’ve already talked about the top mistakes beginner writers make when embarking on a fiction project. This time the focus is on what not to do in those Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-54880492656912573122022-12-31T05:31:00.000-05:002022-12-31T05:31:21.594-05:002022: My Year in Reading – A RetrospectHappy New Year! For the last two years, I’ve taken part in the Goodreads Challenge and posted a retrospect on all the books I’ve read to round out the year (check out the 2020 and 2021 editions here). It’s New Year’s Eve today which means it’s time for the 2022 round-up.As in 2021, I read 60 books in total. To keep myself on track that meant I aimed to read 60 pages a day (sometimes more than Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2458283114912397405.post-43382505655062117082022-12-28T06:00:00.003-05:002022-12-28T06:00:48.767-05:00Neo-Victorian Voices: Hester, Laurie Lico Albanese (2022)Welcome back to the Neo-Victorian Voices series, where I review books written in the twenty-first century, but set in the nineteenth. Today it’s the turn of Laurie Lico Albanese’s 2022 novel, Hester, which was inspired by one of the great American nineteenth-century novels—Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter (1850).The title of the novel may be Hester, but our protagonist is the fictional Secret Victorianisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15346234352007002183noreply@blogger.com0