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A VICTORIAN VIEW OF THE VIKINGS...
Illustration by Thomas Heath RobinsonOf late the VV has been immersed in researching the world of the Vikings – not exactly a nineteenth century theme or so you might imagine - except that the...
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EXTRACTS TAKEN FROM THE TIMES...
The VV has recently received some actual copies of The Times, dating back to the summer of 1850 - and apart from the slightest sneezing attack brought on by the pungent aroma of such musty antique...
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'GENERAL ADOPTION OF THE ROLLING SKATE'...
A few weeks ago the VV went on a visit to the Wellcome Institute on the Euston Road where the current free exhibition, SUPERHUMAN provides a thought-provoking display of the many technological means...
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'DEVOURED' - A VICTORIAN CRIME MYSTERY BY D E MEREDITH...
The VV has recently read a copy of Devoured by D E Meredith, a Victorian 'forensic' mystery to be published by Allison and Busby. Devoured is the first in a series of ‘Hatton and Roumande’ mysteries....
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ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE: AKA THE BUTTERFLY MAN...
GUEST POST BY D. E. MEREDITH - AUTHOR OF 'DEVOURED.'Photograph of Alfred Russell Wallace, courtesy of The Wallace FundI started writing almost by accident. I was between contracts, had builders in the...
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EDWARD BURNE-JONES AND THE FINE ART OF MERMAIDS...
A Guest post from Kirsty Stonell WalkerTuesday, August 28th marked the birthday of Edward Burne-Jones, and while pondering what aspect of his work and life to talk about, I decided on a subject near to...
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EVOLUTION OF INAMINATE OBJECTS...
The Evolution of Inaminate Objects: The Life and Collected Works of Thomas Darwin (1857-1879) is a novel written by Harry Karlinsky and published by The Friday Project. The book is beautifully designed...
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SOME BEST-LOVED PRE-RAPHAELITE PAINTINGS...
The Pre-Raphaelites are of great interest to the VV – not only because of their influence on her own novel writing, but also because of the new exhibition about to open at Tate Britain -...
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RESTORERS OF THE MARGATE SHELL GROTTO ARE SHORTLISTED FOR THE ENGLISH...
Regular readers of the Virtual Victorian will know how enthused the VV was when she first discovered the Margate Shell Grotto - so much so that her forthcoming novel which is called Elijah's Mermaid...
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YOUR FAVOURITE PAINTINGS...
A Mermaid by J W Waterhouse Following a recent post regarding the best-loved Pre-Raphaelite paintings, the following are suggestions collected from your comments here, and from friends on Twitter and...
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THE TRUE VICTORIAN HISTORY OF HEREFORDSHIRE'S HAMPTON COURT...
Hampton Court is a grand castellated house set in the Herefordshire countryside. When the VV was a child she loved to stare through car windows whenever out for a family drive, to gaze at that sprawl...
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THE GHOST AT KINGSLAND RECTORY...
The VV often visits the village of Kingsland in Herefordshire. Some of her family still live there, and she spent many childhood days wandering past the muddle of black-and-white houses often set next...
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THE CREMORNE PLEASURE GARDENS...
The Dancing Platform at Cremorne Gardens - by Phoebus Levin, 1864Between 1845 and 1877, many fashionable - and many disreputable - Victorians would have shared the delights of Cremorne Pleasure...
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THE TERROR OF SPRING HEELED JACK...
This Halloween evening the VV may stay in, sitting safely beside the fire while sipping an innocuous cup of tea - and reading through some pages of her novel, Elijah's Mermaid,in which one of the...
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VICTORIAN NYMPHS AND MERMAIDS...
Charles Kingsley has a lot to answer for. When the VV was seven years old, she joined the town library and The Water Babieswas the very first book that she chanced to draw down from the shelves. From...
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PUBLICATION OF ELIJAH'S MERMAID...
Today is the publication date ofElijah's Mermaid, the VV's second Victorian novel - a story of love and betrayal where nothing is quite what it seems, where the realms of high art and literature mingle...
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ON ASYLUMS AND FAMILY SECRETS...
This is a personal story in memory of Mary, my great-grandmother, whose fate I only came to discover after writing about a Victorian asylum in my novel, Elijah's Mermaid.Burghill Asylum ~...
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IONA AND PETER OPIE: THE CLASSIC FAIRY TALES...
The VV possesses an ancient and battered copy of this book; one that is so well-thumbed and worn that not a single page remains still attached to the crumbling spine. But that does not detract from the...
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THE BLOODY CHAMBER ~ AND OTHER STORIES...
There is an enduring fascination with the 'glamour' of fairy tales. Just this year, Philip Pullman published the re-workings of his own favourite stories taken from the collection originally compiled...
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THE CHRISTMAS PANTOMIME BEGINS...
Christmas is traditionally the time when the pantomime season begins – the modern day template of which with its rhyming couplets, double entendres, and topical wit, was very firmly established during...
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