Emily Bronte again

Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights is in my opinion one of the greatest novels of the Victorian age. Some critics and readers find it too Gothic, overblown and with violent sadistic characters. There is violence and some of the dialogue and action is “hammy” and overdone. But the novel is true to Emily’s vision of life, which was that the world and universe were harsh and frightening places and that love and hate were fierce passions that were very close together. Like her sister, Charlotte, she was drawn to men who were “macho” and capable of passionate love and violent hatred. Emily perhaps intuitively knew that no real person could come up to her visions so she never seems to have been involved at all with anyone. In the second part of the novel as in some of Shakespeare’s plays, a new vision of life is seen to be growing out of the wild and passionate early years. Emily’s younger characters, Hareton and young Cathy, are less exciting than their parents and Heathcliff, but gentler and more civilised and lovable. They have some of the good qualities of the Lintons, but some of the passion of the Earnshaws. The novel isn’t a conventional romance; it is more like a dramatic poem or a play so characters are not completely realistic – they are symbolic of various emotions. As one critic has said the book is about love, but it is about the painful difficult aspects of love. Cathy and Hareton have some of the quality of the young lovers in Shakespeare’s later plays, Like Ferdinand and Miranda or Florizel and Perdita. They are touched by the tragedies and drama of the first part of the book and the older characters -but they are able to rise above it and find a new happiness together. She teaches him to read, civilising him and helping him to learn what he needs to know, in order to take back his inheritance as owner of the Heights and Thrushcross Grange. Living in Wuthering heights, Cathy has had to become more practical and learn to work, so she has grown from the experience of being with him too.

Irish Names a snippet

I have always enjoyed looking at Celtic names and in particular Irish ones. A few favourites, in no particular order are Clodagh, Cliona, and Reiltin. Clodagh is the name of a river. Cliona is the name of a fairy princess and Reiltin means Little Star. Of men’s names I like Conor, Ciaran, and Ronan..When I was a kid -mostly, children were named after Catholic saints and almost all girls had the name Mary somewhere in their set of names. There wasn’t much into the way of native Irish names, which were thought of as pagan or new-fangled. That was starting to change as I grew up… In the 1980s, more people wanted give their children an authentically Irish name... So they began to look up meanings and adapt Irish words, to make a pretty and new name. People looked into Irish history and folklore and found names like Aoife (Beautiful), Cliona (Daughter of a poet in Legend), Reiltin (little star). Maeve (originally Medbh) meaning “She who makes drunk” – was the name of a queen in Irish legend and has become well known. In America and Australia, people of Irish descent did the same, often adopting odd spellings to make name seem more “Irish”. Names of Rivers like Shannon or Slaney or Clodagh became popular- but Megan which is a Welsh name is sometimes re spelled Meaghan because it’s believed to be Irish. Another name which has been popular in Australia is Colleen which is rare in Ireland. Of male names, Sean, Brian, Brendan and Liam have now become popular enough in the UK for them to be no longer really seen as Irish names... but other male names that are becoming very popular are Conor, Ronan, and Fergus. These respectively mean “High desire”, “Seal” and “Valorous man”. Orla means golden and is a name I like. Rosaleen is a diminutive of Rose, and is used as a symbolic name for Ireland. Una or Oonagh means lamb.

Dark Lady full version

I have now finished Anne Boleyn's Story, Dark Lady...and it is available here as a separate page on my blog.

A taste of My new romance story on Anne Boleyn

THE DARK LADY – A ROMANTIC TALE OF ANNE BOLEYN, by Nadine Sutton Anne bent over the figure in the narrow bed, in the small room off her own larger bedchamber. “Isabel, Isabel. Wake up. But you must keep silent. ” The younger woman opened her eyes to find her cousin standing by her bed, dressed still in her bed-gown. “What is it -Nan?” she asked sleepily. “You must help me to put on my gown. Madge is asleep and I would not wake her.” Isabel shook her head to wake herself. Madge Shelton was on duty as Anne’s lady, that night and would be sleeping on a pallet in her friend’s room. She climbed out of the bed and fumbled for her own gown. Her own tire-woman, who helped her dress, was probably asleep in an alcove just outside the door. From the light in the room, it was early in the morning. “Nan, what is it? Why are you awake so early?” “Help me to dress. Here.” Anne Boleyn picked up a formal tawny coloured gown of rich satin, and a petticoat of white lawn, which lay atop a wooden press. Holding them in her arms, she looked keenly at her friend over the crushed materials.She spoke abruptly. She was always imperious in her bearing. "Help me take off this bed-gown and put this on. Fetch me a smock.” “Anne, why cannot Madge help you to dress? Or Bess?”
“Because I require discretion, you foolish wench. You have always been the most sensible of my cousins.” Isabel tried to think of something to say. “Enough prattling, Isabel. I must be ready to meet the king as soon as maybe. Help me to put on my kirtle and gown, and stockings and slippers. Then, you can call Bess to help you. “ Isabel hurried to the press where Anne’s undergarments were kept and took out a smock, and stockings. She began to help her cousin to put on her clothes. Since her cousin had become the King’s constant companion, several years earlier, she lived in almost royal state, with her own apartments. She had ladies to keep her company and wait on her. Of course there were servants to do the more menial tasks. Some of her ladies felt that she was overly haughty, in her manner towards them, but she was the King’s companion and likely to be his wife, so it was an honour to serve her. Many were cousins of hers; others had once been in service to queen Katherine. Isabel Bladon was one of the Duke of Norfolk’s many relatives. She had known Anne, since they were children. She was a few years younger than the Boleyn girl. When Anne was finally gowned, she adjusted her French hood headdress, with its edging of small pearls. “So now, cousin, you may go to call Bess. I shall wait in my closet, until you are dressed.  But none of them must know where we are going. Hurry, Isabel... we will be meeting the king.” Isabel started, but she knew that it was wisest to do Anne’s bidding. She awakened the old tire-woman. Bess was far from young, but she was an experienced dresser. She didn’t care why Isabel was awake and requiring her clothes. She helped her mistress to dress, swiftly and when she had returned to her trundle bed, they slipped out, and quietly moved along the passage to the staircase at Whitehall.

Rough Music a band story

I started to write Rough Music some time ago; and then I wrote a sequel. It is a rather downbeat tale and I felt that a publisher wouldn’t be interested in it. So I decide to publish it myself and hoped that some people would like it, even if it is not a romantic story. I amalgamated the 2 stories. It is a story about friends and it’s not really about romance at all. Jeff Randles is a musician of the late 1970s, who has moved from having a small time band to moderate success, with his friend Brandon, who is a singer and guitarist. They both grew up in post war America and began their career in the 1960s, working and traveling through the USA. Now in the late 1970's, they are on TV at times, their records are doing well and they are making good money, but it never seems to be enough, and they are a bit jealous of the bands who have achieved big time status. They have a good friendship which has kept them together and helped them go on working hard. But the pressures of their work often get them down. The other musicians are jealous of Jeff’s being the front man of the band. Their manager wants them to do commercial work rather than the sort of rock and country they want to do. They both have wives, but neither of them is faithful because they are on the road most of the time. Jeff’s wife Lacy is increasingly tired of his infidelities and his lack of interest in a fashionable lifestyle such as she wants to have. She doesn’t care about his music, and he is not interested in her wanting to have a career or even to have a fancy home. Brandon’s wife Angela is a bit bored being at home with their small child, and she too has little interest in Brandon’s music. But she is less fed up than Lacy. Jeff finally gets the nerve to tell his wife that they don’t have anything in common anymore. They reach an agreement to get a divorce, at which point, he discovers that he is going to be a father. One of the girls he has seduced on the road has become pregnant. He is at first shocked and then pleased, because he always wanted children. He agrees to marry the girl, although he hardly knows her, and she is rather shy and several years his junior. Claudelle is from the South and when they get married, she wants to live there so they settle in Nashville. Jeff is still away much of the time. They have a son, whom they love but Jeff realizes that his second marriage has a lot of difficulties, even if it is not as bad as his first one. It has a wry conclusion, with both Brandon and Jeff going on with life, living from day to day and knowing that the perfect marriage doesn’t exist, nor does the perfect career. I know that many people don’t like stories that don’t end happily but while we can give our favorite characters happy endings, in fiction, it isn’t for real. And it may help some people to realize that there aren’t any easy answers or perfect lives. I wanted to make the men more realistic. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rough-Music-Nadine-Sutton-ebook/dp/B01AEQS0G0/

Civil Contract and Heyer

This in my opinion definitely Heyer’s best novel. In fact it is not really a “regency romance” at all but a “real serious piece of fiction.” Heyer’s plot of a convenient marriage between a rich Cit and an impoverished aristocrat has now been copied by many other writers in the regency genre, but she did it first. There is also good laugh out loud fun in the gloriously OTT Mr Chawleigh, Jenny’s merchant father who is shrewd, vulgar, and warm hearted and kindly. But he has awful taste in clothes etc... with one exception. He has a love of fine china. Heyer sets up a scenario where Adam’s late father has dissipated the family fortune and to save his home and help out his mother and sisters, he has a chance to marry money. Jenny is plain and shy, and she is the friend of Julia, the beautiful and sensitive daughter of Lord Oversley who is Adam’s first love. Heyer takes us through their first year of married life, and the birth of their first child, Giles. There are ups and downs, occasional quarrels and both sides have to adjust. Jenny grows to love Fontley, the family country house and finds a useful role for herself there, managing the house and gardens, visiting the tenantry and assisting Adam. Adam begins to realise that Julia is too silly and spoiled and over emotional to be much help to him in his life as a farming landlord. He knows her dramas and emotional ways would soon irritate him. And as he generously says she would find him a dead bore as a husband because he would not have been very romantic. Heyer does have two other novels where there is a certain similarity of theme, where 2 women friends are from different backgrounds and are very different in temperament, but are rivals for the same man. In Devil’s Cub. Mary Challoner, the daughter of a Cit has had a school friendship with the flighty Juliana Marling, who is pretty, dazzling, flirty and from an aristocratic background. Mary is one of the sensible heroines who win the heart of Lord Vidal by being calm and practical, when he abducts her. Juliana, who is Vidal’s cousin, drives him mad with her dramatics. She has fallen out with her admirer, Frederick Comyn, who then proposes to the sensible Mary…to rescue her from a difficult state of affairs, where she is almost forced to marry Vidal and Juliana becomes jealous! This mixing and matching all ends happily because the tone is lighter in Heyer’s earlier books. Similarly in Friday’s Child, Lord Sheringham, a good natured but immature young man, is in love with Isabella Milborne, a recognised “Beauty”. She is rather spoiled but essentially good natured. He asks her to marry him but she refuses -and in a temper he swears he’ll marry the first woman he sees. He is partly driven by practical motives, because he will not come into full control of his estates for another 2 years unless he marries. So he marries the young and naïve Hero Wantage, who is inexperienced in society, but is a neighbour of Sherry and Isabella and has been childhood friends with both of them. It isn’t quite the same situation as Civil Contract, since in Contract both Jenny and Julia in their ways genuinely love Adam... and are both a bit saddened by the fact that their friendship is damaged by their feelings for him. Julia marries another man, whom she is very fond of, and will probably grow to love him, because he understands of her dramatic nature. Whereas Isabella is not in love with Sherry, she is fond of him, and he of her. But she knows that the one she really loves is George Wrotham, Sherry's friend, who is not very rich. So in the end, Sherry realises that he was never in love with Isabella, that he does love his wife. Isabella finally admits that she loves George, and marries him. It’s a happy ending, with a lot of comedy. Sherry and Hero have their ups and downs, settling into marriage, as Hero is so naïve that she makes a lot of mistakes, unlike Jenny Chawleigh. However, there is less realism in Friday’s Child, like most of Heyer’s earlier works. But Civil Contract is realistic and it’s none the worse for that. We see the difficulties of marriage, especially one where the couple don’t know each other well, and only one of them is in love. We see the problems of Adam’s feeling “bought” by Mr Chawleigh, but his development of a gradual affection and admiration for the man. We see Jenny’s finding a satisfactory role in helping to run Fontley, and make it comfortable and pleasant to live in, and preserving some of the historical beauty. It is funny, but Heyer is able to fit in the realities of people’s psychology, the inconsistencies, the way we love and hate at the same time... Or have moments of anger against the people we love…I love the earlier stories, where Heyer tries out the situation of 2 friends and their being rivals and being friends from different classes. And I feel that both Friday’s Child and Civil Contract handle the situation beautifully in different ways.

Philip Fletcher Simon Shaw's actor murderer

Philip Fletcher is an actor around 40, who has never made it big. He has managed to stay in work and make a living but he sees other actors, less talented than himself, being more successful, getting the big parts and making money. He’s not bitter, but he’s cranky about this. He’s annoyed that Gordon Wilde, a gay actor whom he considers much less talented, is always getting better parts than him. One evening, he decides to ask a favour of his nemesis, to help him get a supporting role. It all goes wrong. He goes to Gordon's flat, and Gordon refuses to help him. He kills Gordon, almost accidentally. He gets away with it. And his career prospects begin to improve as if by magic. He has a new girlfriend; he stars in a successful TV series, and he has developed a taste for using crime to get what he wants. It is a very funny book with a light hearted picture of the British theater, and Philip’s use of his acting skills, for nefarious purposes. He does imaginary interviews with Terry Wogan and on Desert Island Discs and he never gets caught at his murders.