Would you like to go back in time and
live in the Regency era?
By Anna Campbell
Hi
Mary Anne! Thanks so much for inviting me back to your blog to talk about my
latest release.
People
often ask me if I’d like to go back and live in the Regency, as it’s perfectly
clear from reading my books that I admire a whole lot of things about this
period.
It
may surprise you to hear that my answer is always a very emphatic NO!
If
someone offered me a week in the Regency with a stash of money, the address of
a good modiste, and entrée to a few
high society events, not to mention tickets for a box at Covent Garden and
perhaps the chance to go to a balloon ascension and the Royal Academy, I’d jump
on them. But permanent residence in the first quarter of the 19th
century? Never.
Apart
from turning my nose up at the (to our eyes) primitive state of medicine and
dentistry, I would hate to go back to a society where women had such limited
legal rights. Of course, in practice, a lot of women managed to negotiate free,
happy and useful lives, but that was in spite of rather than because of the strictures
of the world they lived in.
The
plot of my new historical romance, The Highlander’s Lost Lady, hinges very much on the position of women in this
era. My heroine Fiona Grant has had a dreadful time, poor lassie. When her
father dies, her brutish kinsmen whisk her away to the isolated Highland stronghold
of Bancavan where at fifteen, she’s married off to an old man. She bears a
daughter who has since been fostered out to a Grant cousin with a view to
marrying her off once she hits puberty (it will shock many people to know that
in this era, the age of consent for a girl in Scotland was twelve).
When
a now-widowed Fiona runs away from her clan to rescue her daughter Christina,
she falls into the clutches of dashing Diarmid Mactavish, Laird of Invertavey.
The Grants and the Mactavishes have feuded for centuries, but as anyone who has
read the first two books in the series, The
Laird’s Willful Lass and The Laird’s
Christmas Kiss, will know, Diarmid is a knight in shining armor type. He
doesn’t care about the feud. He does care about getting justice for a woman who
has had child stolen away. Much adventure ensues!
Something
else that shocks modern readers about this era is that when a woman married a
man, she became his property with no individual legal rights (they took the one
flesh bit of the marriage service very seriously back in the Regency) and no
rights to her children. Not only that, but even once she was a widow, a
mother’s moral character was taken into consideration if she wanted to take
responsibility for bringing up her offspring. Any whisper of scandal, and a
widow kissed goodbye to all chance of obtaining custody of her children.
You
know where this is leading, don’t you? Yes, The
Highlander’s Lost Lady turns into a marriage of convenience story, where
Diarmid and Fiona must marry to present an appearance of respectability in the
fight for Christina. MOC is one of my favourite tropes. It offers so many
delicious opportunities for sexual tension!
The
Highlander’s Lost Lady
A Highlander as brave and strong as a knight of
old…
When Diarmid Mactavish, Laird of Invertavey, discovers a mysterious woman washed up on his land after a wild storm, he takes her in and tries to find her family. But even as forbidden dreams of sensual fulfillment torment him, he’s convinced that this beautiful lassie isn’t what she seems. And if there’s one thing Diarmid despises, it’s a liar.
A mother willing to do anything to save her daughter…
Widow Fiona Grant has risked everything to break free of her clan and rescue her adolescent daughter from a forced marriage. But before her quest has barely begun, disaster strikes. She escapes her brutish kinsmen, only to be shipwrecked on Mactavish territory where she falls into her enemies’ hands. For centuries, a murderous feud has raged between the Mactavishes and the Grants, so how can she trust her darkly handsome host?
Now a twisted Highland road leads to danger and passion…and irresistible love. But is love strong enough to banish the past’s long shadows and offer these wary allies all that their hearts desire?
When Diarmid Mactavish, Laird of Invertavey, discovers a mysterious woman washed up on his land after a wild storm, he takes her in and tries to find her family. But even as forbidden dreams of sensual fulfillment torment him, he’s convinced that this beautiful lassie isn’t what she seems. And if there’s one thing Diarmid despises, it’s a liar.
A mother willing to do anything to save her daughter…
Widow Fiona Grant has risked everything to break free of her clan and rescue her adolescent daughter from a forced marriage. But before her quest has barely begun, disaster strikes. She escapes her brutish kinsmen, only to be shipwrecked on Mactavish territory where she falls into her enemies’ hands. For centuries, a murderous feud has raged between the Mactavishes and the Grants, so how can she trust her darkly handsome host?
Now a twisted Highland road leads to danger and passion…and irresistible love. But is love strong enough to banish the past’s long shadows and offer these wary allies all that their hearts desire?
Scroll down to enter Anna Campbell’s fabulous Giveaway.
Giveaway
*Giveaway is now closed.
Anna Campbell is giving away one eBook copy of her
upcoming book
The Highlander’s Lost Lady.
All you need to do
is answer this question:
Would you like to be a time traveller?
If so, what period would you like to visit and what
would you like to see and
do there?
Leave
your answer in the comments at the bottom of this post.
Giveaway
Rules
•
Leave your answer in the comments at the bottom of this post.
•
Giveaway ends at 11:59pm BST on May 2nd.
You
must be 18 or older to enter.
•
Giveaway is only open Internationally.
•Only
one entry per household.
• All
giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspect of
fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be
disqualified at our discretion.
•Winners
will be announced in the comments.
•
Winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
Pre-order your copy of
The Highlander’s Lost Lady
today!
Anna Campbell
Australian
Anna Campbell has written 10 multi award-winning historical romances for Grand
Central Publishing and Avon HarperCollins, and 21 bestselling independently
published romances. Her next release is The
Highlander’s Lost Lady, the third Lairds Most Likely story, out at the end
of April.
Anna, I’m with you. I’d a brief visit if I could negotiate being the rich, loved and spoiled daughter or wife of a good man, but frankly, the risks are too high, so it’s a no from me. I like living in the 21st century and reading in the 19th. Chances are I’d land back there as the scullery maid and lose my position for mouthing off before dying a lonely death from a disease they couldn’t treat back then, like the flu or tuberculosis. Even for the wealthy, childbirth was really dangerous thanks to medical practitioners not thinking it necessary to wash their hands before delivery. Can’t wait to read this one :) Laura
ReplyDeleteLaura, my feelings exactly. So glad you're looking forward to this one - it's my most action-packed story for a while!
Deletei would want to go back to ww2 mostly because to see what my mom's dad did in ww2. i know some but didn't get a chance to know more. so i'd like to go back and understand him better
ReplyDeleteLaurie, what an interesting answer. I know what you mean. I had a grandfather who led the most adventurous life before he settled in Australia and I'd love to go back and meet him and hear about his life.
DeleteTime travel creeps me out. No thanks.
ReplyDeleteAnd I believe if the story is half as good as that cover, it will be a winner!!! Did you see that cover? 😋
Ha, Krazymama, I love your take on the cover! It's a good one, isn't it? I was in love from the moment my designer showed it to me.
DeleteHi Anna! I think I would like to briefly visit various different times and places if I had the chance. Spend some time with my parents when they were younger, meet my dad's dad, that sort of thing. :) Can't wait for this book! Love your stories!
ReplyDeleteLorie, how lovely. Thank you for those very kind words. Yes, the family research angle of time travel would be great, wouldn't it?
DeleteHi Anna! You know I would love to time travel! I would go back to the 1300s Scotland and meet up with Robert the Bruce and hang out in his court! ❤️
ReplyDeleteOh, that would indeed be cool! I can see you pulling off some really stylish medieval babe looks too!
DeleteI would definitely visit Regency England and attend a ball like a proper young lady and even dance with a duke or two. And maybe stole some kisses in a dark library or garden.. LOL.. I'd like to play the role of a young debutante even just for a night like Cinderella :)
ReplyDeleteJhommie, I so agree - doing it short-term and visiting high society would be HUGE fun, especially if kisses from a duke were involved!
DeleteI'd love to go back to the regency era but, like you Anna, only on a temporary basis and on my rules. I think life would have been much simpler as a man, and much easier clothing options, corsets no thank you. As a man you were king of your castle and people did your bidding, and filthy rich of course. Your newest book sounds like a real adventure, Scotland is on my list of places to visit.
ReplyDeleteDeb, it was fun writing something with a bit more intrigue in the plot. I agree with you about life as a man being easier/more fun. Sadly I think that's true for most of history.
DeleteCarrie from Wisconsin, United States here. I never really thought about it until I saw the movie, Lost in Austen. It really made me truly consider it. It's one thing to daydream about the escapism, but when I really thought about it: it's a place I'd like to visit but I wouldn't want to stay. I would really love to go back and meet some of the great inventors and artists of the era though.
ReplyDeleteAs I have chronic kidney disease, health care makes it a no brainer for me. I'll stick to reading great books by authors like Anna Campbell, Amanda Quick, and a host of others. 🙂
Carrie, I loved Lost in Austen. I thought it was really romantic as well as being really funny. I also think that when we fantasize about going back to the Regency, we're usually imagining ourselves in the upper classes whereas statistically, we'd be much more like to be cleaning the big house rather than enjoying living in it! I hear you on the medical treatment - thanks for the kind words about the books!
DeleteCarrie, you have won a copy of The Highlander’s Lost Lady. Congratulations. Please email me author@maryanneyarde.com to claim your prize!
DeleteI would have the whistlestop tour of Regency in the British Isles. A week or two in London for modistes, book stores,libraries, as well as the parks.
ReplyDeleteThen off to the wilds of Scotland for all the good things in life. Not least of all would be medicinal quantities of whisky.
Hmm. Much as I'd love to visit the Regency (under the same conditions as you), something in me thinks more of going back to the 17th century and dropping an apple on Newton's head, or whispering something in Darwin's ear that helps him on his way... On a more serious note, it would be more productive to do something simple like visit lots of doctors and suggest (in very strong terms) that they wash their hands more often and forget about the blood-letting malarkey.
ReplyDeleteGiveaway is now closed! Thank you to all who took part The winner of The Highlander’s Lost Lady is Carrie. Congratulations! Carrie, please email me author@maryanneyarde.com to claim your prize!
ReplyDelete