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LEWIS CARROLL: WHAT MAY HAVE INSPIRED HIS LITERARY GENIUS?
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-98) was a mathematics don at Oxford University who loved word play and puzzles as much as he did the study of Euclid. But then, Dodgson was a young man of many and...
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OH ~ THOSE SAUCY SOMNAMBULISTS...
These wonderfully exaggerated images were originally printed in the Victorian periodical known as The Illustrated Police News. In the pages of that magazine readers would often gasp and thrill at the...
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THE MUSIC HALLS ~ TRANSCRIPT OF A TALK GIVEN AT SALON FOR THE CITY
I’ve written three Victorian novels – one of which, The Somnambulist, is set in the London music halls - with particular reference to Wilton’s, in Grace’s Alley, in the East End.As I’m sure many of you...
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THE RISE AND FALL OF TOY THEATRE...
A WONDERFUL GUEST POST BY GARRETT EPPS which first appeared in CRAFTSMANSHIP MAGAZINE's Winter Issue 2016. A writer discovers the living remains of miniature theatrical productions, which served as...
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MR. A. WATKINS, & HEREFORDSHIRE'S TOURING BEE VAN...
We may think that our concern for bees is something relatively new but over a century ago, back in 1882, The Herefordshire Beekeepers Association was formed.Image from many thousands held in Hereford...
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THE PRE-RAPHAELITES ON PAPER...
King Pelles' Daughter Bearing the Vessel of the Sangreal. By Frederick Sandys ~1861For all who love the splendour and sumptuous decor of the Victorian age ~ owned by those who were wealthy, anyway ~ a...
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THE MERMAID AND THE MARDEN BELL...
In the VV's novel, Elijah's Mermaid, two children in landlocked Herefordshire create a small grotto beside a stream in the hope of luring a mermaid to come along and live there.Such an idea is not...
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MOST PECULIAR: Secrets of Victorian London
For all who love Victorian London, Lee Jackson has written an alternative guidebook revealing many secrets from the capital's nineteenth century. Think street signs, stink pipes, turrets and toilets -...
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THE MARGATE SHELL GROTTO...
In 1835, while attempting to dig a duck pond, a man named James Newlove and his son Joshua discovered a peculiar hole in the ground. When Joshua crept down inside he entered over 70 feet of winding...
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THE MAHARAJAH, DULEEP SINGH ~ QUEEN VICTORIA'S 'BEAUTIFUL BOY'...
Maharajah Duleep (or Dalip) Singh. Born 6 September 1838 - Died 22 October 1893)Duleep Singh - who is a character in the VV's novel The Goddess and The Thief - had the most dramatic life. And yet, so...
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RICHARD DADD, AND SHAKESPEARE...
Come Unto These Yellow SandsIn honour of the 400th anniversary or Shakespeare's death, the VV offers this painting by Richard Dadd. Come Unto These Yellow Sands, inspired by Shakespeare's poem Fairy...
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BRAM STOKER AND VARNEY THE VAMPIRE...
The Vampire by Philip Burne JonesThere are always rumours spread about that the Vampire genre has been done to death. But now and then a new writer emerges to inspire the readers yet again. Stephanie...
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THE INFLUENCE OF HEREFORDSHIRE IN MY VICTORIAN NOVELS...
I was born and spent my childhood in the English county of Herefordshire, so it's really little wonder that it features so strongly in my books.Having gone to school in Leominster, a medieval market...
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MILLAIS' MUSE ~ ESSAY BY KEVIN HILL
The VV first saw this essay published in the Pre-Raphaelite Society membership magazine. Now, she is delighted to publish Kevin Hill's article here as well. I returned on a grey January morning, having...
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FRENCH PANORAMIC WALLPAPER ...
This film, from the National Museums Scotland, describes the restoration of some truly beautiful panels of French panoramic wallpaper.Below are some more examples of panoramic wallpaper designs. Until...
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YOURS FOR HEALTH: LYDIA PINKHAM ...
Lydia Estes Pinkham - February 9, 1819 ~ May 17, 1883Born in Massachusetts as the tenth of twelve other children belonging to a Quaker couple, Lydia Estes, as she was then known, had a relatively...
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BEYOND THE TEMPORAL ~ SPIRITS AND FAITH IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND
The following article is taken from the body of a talk given by Essie Fox while at the 2016 Historical Novel Conference in Oxford. (Also speaking on this panel were Karen Maitland, Mary Sharratt, and...
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THE VICTORIAN CULT OF DEATH...
Recently, the VV gave a talk to the Dracula Society, discussing some aspects of her research into the Victorian Cult of Death. This is a transcript of that talk... I adore the gothic genre. Even when I...
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A STORY FOR HALLOWEEN ~ HERNE THE HUNTER IN WINDSOR ...
Herne the Hunter, from a print by George CruikshankOnce, quite some years ago, when the VV was wondering about in a Windsor High Street art gallery, she turned and suddenly gasped in shock when she saw...
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