Summer in Brighton, 1814

The Rake's Challenge is set mainly in Brighton in summer 1814, after the grand Peace Celebrations in London, to mark the defeat of Napoleon and the restoration of the Bourbon king, Louis XVIII to the French throne.

In Brighton, the mood is relaxed - the long years of war are over and people want entertainment. There were visits to the races, to the theatre, sea bathing, promenades along the Steyne, card parties, and for the lucky ones, [or not always so lucky] an invitation to an evening at the Prince Regent's Pavilion.

 Below are some of the places visited by Anna during her seaside holiday.

The Steine in 1805

The Castle Tavern

               [ digital image owned by the Society of Brighton Print Collectors.]

THE BRIGHTON THEATRE

As it appeared 1814-19

 


[ http://www.mayhum.net/hcobb_theatre.htm ]

Anna does try sea bathing but she ends up in hot water with Giles.

and in one of her dashing new gowns


[from Ackermann's Repository series 1]

Off on a new adventure

THE OUTCASTS

The year is 1818. In Paris the French king, Louis XVIII, is doing his best to establish a peaceful regime. The Duke of Wellington, along with the other members of the Alliance, wants to withdraw the Army of Occupation and allow France to be independent. 

At the other end of France at the Chateau de Fontanes in the Pyrenees, Joachim de Montailhac, the youngest of the three brothers, has the job of caring for the family estate. He deals with replanting and maintaining the woods, organising the work of the tenants, villagers and farmers, supervising the family stables and other livestock.

Into his busy life come some unexpected problems, in the form of two sisters. He senses from the outset that they are going to be trouble. And at the same time the unrest that has simmered in the southern French towns spreads into the local area. It is clear the rebels are targeting his family.

Helen [Nell] and Sophie Hartford are cousins of Joachim's sister-in-law, Olivia [see Scandalous Lady]. In the Spring of 1818 they find themselves outcasts from their father's home and are forced to accept Olivia's assurance that the Marquise de Fontanes and her family will make them welcome. Two unhappy girls struggle to fit into the very different lifestyle of the large and slightly exotic Montailhac family. 
 

The Rake's Challenge - on Free Offer this week - 20th December 2017

                               click here :    The Rake's Challenge



REVIEWS  

5.0 out of 5 starsAh, a life of adventures

ByRosemary on 19 December 2017 - Published on Amazon.com

Oh what a perfectly wonderful Regency romance. A runaway heiress, saved by a Rake, who
then ensures her safe passage through the perilous corridors of the Ton. In the end she
saves him.

4.0 out of 5 starsDelightful

ByPaton 18 December 2017 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

I enjoy historical romances much and this one lived up to my expectations. The Prince Regent
was quite the ladies man, but more the young ladies man. I found that this story provided
a neat way of going around the diety. Actually the scene not being London was refreshing too.

5.0 out of 5 starsLovely

Byelfon 18 December 2017 - Published on Amazon.com

Verified Purchase

"Rake reformed by love. Young lady finds a very different adventure than the one she had planned.

I truly enjoyed this sweet Regency romance." 

A visit to Brighton, Prinny included in : - "The Rake's Challenge"

Do you know how there are those authors you buy no matter what? Those authors who you love and get so excited when I new book comes out. Well that is what Beth Elliott is to me! She is an amazing writer and a fantastic person! I even got to meet her on a trip to England and we had a lovely high tea together. If you have not read Beth, please do! Her books are reasonably priced, things I read over and over again, filled with new words for my vocabulary, and she has written one of my all time favorite heroes. His name is Greg, and yes, it's serious.  Rachel Joyce


I am deeply touched by this kind tribute from Rachel, herself an academic and writer and a keen fan of Regency England and stories thereof, as well as loving Wales, where she spent a year. 

             Rachel, I put a Welshman in this story [although in a very minor role].

                                            
                                         

                          https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B077K221F4


Another day, another duel for Giles Maltravers, Earl of Longwood. London’s worst rake lives up to his scandalous reputation, but begins to find it’s all getting wearisome. When his father, the duke, orders him to reform and marry. Giles responds by driving out of town in search of fresh adventures. On his way he sees a young lady being molested by a couple of drunken young bloods, and rescues her.
Shaken by her narrow escape, Annabelle Lawrence reluctantly allows Giles to drive her to her destination. She declares she is setting off on a life of adventure and he recognises a kindred spirit. A month later, they meet again in Brighton. But the agreeable summer holiday nearly goes horribly wrong when the Prince Regent is the target of a sinister plot, involving Anna. Giles has to rescue her yet again. He comes to realise that looking after her makes life more worthwhile, but of course, the path of true love does not run smooth.

Inspiration: what sets the process in motion?

In her monthly column "The Ideas Store" in Writers' Forum, Paula Williams examines how fellow writers find inspiration. 

For the issue No 192, published on 14th October 2017, I was one of the three featured authors. 

Each one of us has a different method of finding that initial spark to set a story forming in the mind. Here is the way I get drawn into creating another story, as recounted by Paula.

Historical novelist Beth Elliott writes stories of adventure, intrigue and romance, set in the time of Napoleon. Her late husband was a Turkish poet and linguist, and Beth has lived in France, Turkey and England, so she has a great mix of backgrounds and experiences to weave into her stories. Her latest publication is Scandalous Lady, published by Endeavour Press in December 2016.

 'For me, inspiration for a story always begins with a picture, maybe from an advert in a magazine or even a fashion catalogue' she says. 'That’s where I saw Olivia with her red curls piled high and a provocative look - the rebel! And soon her opposite appeared, leaning over a railing, his huge dark eyes calm and steady, but from the little smile I could tell he liked to tease. It was definitely a tale of ice meets fire.

Somehow the whole setting and the plot appeared so quickly, so easily, it felt as if I was simply recording events, rather than creating them. Even the year came quickly: 1811, the year Lady Hester Stanhope spent in Istanbul -or Constantinople, as it was called then. This real-life socialite and adventurer would serve as a model for my Olivia. It was also the year the Turkish Sultan was negotiating with the Russian Tsar to end a long-running war, so my hero was a diplomat. He suspects Olivia of being a spy, and sparks soon fly between them.'

    

                                                               Scandalous Lady        

[Beth adds: Scandalous Lady is the first story in the series about the Montailhac family. The next story,  The Rake and His Honour, is also available from Endeavour Press ]

                                                                                         

                                    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 PAULA WILLIAMS is a writer, speaker, workshop leader and tutor.

You can see her wide range of writing skills by following this link

http://www.paulawilliamswriter.co.uk

"Over the hills and far away..."

Fans of the Sharpe TV series will perhaps hear an echo of the melody as they read that title. It kept sliding into my head during a recent visit to the wilds of north-east Portugal, in the Peneda-Geres National Park. The landscape of sharp [sorry] hills, winding roads and mighty rivers is breath-taking. 

                     View across the River Lima from the Roman bridge at Ponte da Lima

St Barbara's Garden in Braga

 and the main square with several sets of fountains

There are frequent festivals and feast days in Portugal. The picture above shows the square being prepared for the festival of Braga Branco, a 24 hour festival of dancing and music.

Dolmens at high altitude in the Serra Amarela. A suitable landscape to imagine a troop of British soldiers scouting for signs of the French army in an episode of Sharpe. As we didn't see any such thing, here's a couple of pictures to fill that missing link.

                  Richard Sharpe and his faithful sidekick, Sergeant Harper

         All in all, plenty to set the imagination working on a new tale set in Portugal.

A magic carpet

My latest visit to Turkey involved stops in Istanbul, Bursa, Ankara and finally in Adana.






The first activity was visiting family in the leafy suburbs of the Asian side of Istanbul. It is such a pleasant area, with parks full of flowering trees and shrubs, and hydrangeas in bloom spilling out over their garden walls into the streets. As always, the cats of Istanbul are peeping out from the bushes, hoping for treats.

A few days later I took the Sea-bus across the Sea of Marmara to the outskirts of Bursa. Even though it was mid May, the peaks of Uludag, the Turkish Mount Olympus were still covered in snow. 
 In the foothills, the vast olive groves were a delight. The olive trees were a mass of frothy green tops on gnarled trunks, with drifts of red poppies stretching out under them. The region is famous for its delicious olives, called Gemlik olives from the name of the nearby town.




The next stop was Ankara for lots of warm hospitality and the pleasure of joining in a wedding celebration. The family breakfast was a remarkable feast each morning and a time to exchange anecdotes, jokes and news as we helped ourselves from the heaped dishes of fruit, olives, cheeses, conserves and pastries.

All too soon it was time to move on again, this time to Adana, where the weather at last relented and the sun made an appearance. Again I received a heart warming welcome from dear friends and family. 

So far my travels had been by boat, car and train, but one afternoon in Adana a very special carpet made an appearance. It was made by the great-grandmother of our hostess. She had woven a Turkish samovar as part of the design. The colours were absolutely fresh and vibrant and when it was spread on the floor,it did seem we could have flown off on it. However, nobody dared to put a foot on such a precious heirloom.

 I spent a pleasant afternoon talking to the Turkish-American Ladies English Reading Group in Adana. The members had read my story, Scandalous Lady, and invited me to explain why I chose to set the tale in Constantinople in the year 1811.

We had an interesting discussion on what fires a writer's imagination and how a story develops from things seen, from memories and how the plot can change due to the characters taking over the story. And, as always when a group of ladies gets together in a Turkish home, the event ends with a splendid feast. The kind hospitality of everyone on this occasion made it truly an afternoon to remember with pleasure.