Villains

I enjoy creating Regency era villains. They can be handsome and fashionable and their vices and bad habits are often so similar to the faults displayed by the hero that it causes confusion and discussion. That was an essential part of my plot in The Wild Card. I like having my first opinion of a character reversed when an event or action shows how a totally different interpretation can be put on their earlier actions. But sometimes this leads to a big disappointment as the charm and seductive manner reveal a heartless villain - or, even worse, one with a weak character. Consider Willoughby in 'Sense and Sensibility' - handsome, well liked, full of charm and so adaptable that he is universally pleasing... He merely lacks wealth and we can pity him for the restrictions that puts on him..... until we see how he overcomes that.

The supposed villain may have an excellent reputation in society and be much admired for their style - or perhaps being rakish or wilful makes the person more attractive. Think of Lady Barbara Childe in Georgette Heyer's 'Infamous Army'. Of course, she only appears to be a villainess. Her wild spirit and wilfulness stand her in good stead as eventually she must cope with a handicapped husband.
I'd rather cope with Willoughby than face a sinister rogue like Carver Doone. He is from a previous age, a swashbuckling, ruthless villain without one redeeming feature. Perhaps Georgette Heyer drew on him a little for one or two of her characters; the unpleasant Duke of Andover in 'The Black Moth', for instance.

The villain who attracts me most is Jane Austen's Henry Crawford. Jane Austen captured so exquisitely the potential of the person to turn either way. Each time I read 'Mansfield Park' I so want him to reform that I hope this time he will..., then am always desolated that he wastes his many good qualities through weakness in his character which mean he always opts for self indulgence. Stricken by this waste, I'm then left to hope that perhaps one day I'll be clever enough to write a villain who comes somewhere close to him.

Ah, well, we still have the heroes.

                                                 Copyright by Beth Elliott 21/ 03/2012

A Regency Celebration

The RNA will be holding

a Regency Celebration

on Saturday 8 October 2011 between 9.00am-6.00pm

at the Royal Overseas League, Park Place, off St James’s Street, London SW1A 1LR (near Green Park tube station).

This event will be a celebration of Jane Austen, Georgette Heyer and the books they have influenced. It coincides with the launch of a new biography of Georgette Heyer, written by Dr Jennifer Kloester, and 2011 also happens to be the bi-centenary of the publication of Jane Austen’s “Sense & Sensibility” – both perfect excuses for a Regency themed day!
The day will be a mixture of serious talks and more frivolous activities, and will include the following:-
• Georgette Heyer, Her Life and Writing – Talk by Dr Jennifer Kloester

• Sense & Sensibility: The Things You Didn’t Know – Talk by Amanda Grange

• Austen & Heyer – Were they better than they thought they were? Panel discussion

• The Celestial Bed: Sex and the Georgians – Talk and panel discussion

• Regency Scents: Odours and Malodours – Louise Allen and Christina Courtenay “sniff-and-tell”

• Regency Clothing - Jane Walton demonstrates the fashions of the day

• Regency Dancing – Mr and Mrs Ellis Rogers take us through the steps

• Parlour Games – Learn how to play Whist, Piquet, Vingt et Un or Loo

• Regency Walk – Guided tour of St James’s

• Afternoon Tea **



(** Please note, on a first come first served basis, fifty delegates will be able to attend a special afternoon tea at the East India Club in the room where the Prince Regent was given the news of the battle of Waterloo. For everyone else, there will be afternoon tea at the Royal Overseas League.)
Throughout the day, there will be a book stall and author signings, as well as a chance to chat to authors of historical romance. There will also be a competition and a quiz, with prizes donated by the authors.
The price for the day, including a sandwich lunch, tea and coffee, is only £55 (although for those of you wanting to attend the Waterloo Tea there is an extra charge of £18). At lunchtime, there will also be a cash bar available for extra drinks.
It all promises to be a wonderful day, so please spread the word.
If you’d like to join us, please fill out the booking form below. If you have any queries, please e-mail Pia Fenton at pia.fenton@googlemail.com and you can join us on Facebook on the events page “A Regency Celebration” for regular updates.

                     Regency Celebration Booking Form 

                                                       

The romantic hero and his appearance

Recently I asked in a blog discussion what a romantic hero's qualities should be. The answers came back : he should have integrity, honesty, courage, loyalty, compassion, kindness. In addition he needs a sense of humour and should be fierce and passionate.

How do we picture our hero when we write or read a novel? If we give him some or most of the above qualities, do we want them to be hidden by a moody exterior or do we want our hero to stride across the pages, straight-backed, fiercely gazing at his foes or merrily facing his troubles with a carefree front? Shall we add faults, weaknesses for him to overcome, a problem with his character, an unattractive appearance or maybe an external difficulty such as poverty to test him? And is our hero aware that he is a romantic hero?

Georgette Heyer had her tongue firmly in her cheek when she wrote in 'Devil's Cub' that the prim Frederick Comyn "cherished a love for the romantic, which the Marquis of Vidal, a very figure of romance, quite lacked."

It's tricky to give a precise description of a character when you are writing a novel. We all have our own idea of beauty and want to project that onto the hero in the story we are reading. Only Colin Firth has been [almost] universally accepted as Mr Darcy.  But we're each of us entitled to draw inspiration from the type of man we prefer - and isn't it a good job we all like different physical types!!
Here are some of the guys who help me create a hero for a story.

             Guess I rather like dark hair in a hero.... but notice I put Sean Bean at the top.

VENETIA and later

After joining in the Riskies' readalong of Georgette Heyer's Venetia, I began to wonder [as I always did on reaching the end of a story I'd enjoyed]... what did happen to them all.

So here's my version.

Damerel married Venetia by Special Licence six weeks after she had finally convinced him she understood what she was doing. He whisked her off on a prolonged tour of Europe [with the first stop in Paris for the purchase of dashing new clothes] and the Mediterranean. It was a dream journey for two people very much in love and able to understand each other's ideas so well.

Aubrey joined them when they visited Italy and Greece. In Athens they met various families involved in excavations and the preservation of ancient artefacts. The bluestocking daughter of one such family became a great friend of Aubrey's, a relationship which blossomed - but that's another story....

Eventually, Venetia and Damerel took up residence at the Priory, where renovations and improvements slowly turned it into a comfortable home. With Venetia's experience in land management, rents improved and Damerel eventually rebuilt his fortune. He was much inspired in this work by the birth of two lovely daughters and a son.

The rose garden was Venetia's special place. It became a perfumed outdoor room, a delight for the senses. When they were not absent on one of their many journeys of exploration, it was here that she and Damerel liked to walk every afternoon to recall their first meetings and all the events of a full and happy marriage.