The Siren of Sussex by Mimi Matthews – Book Review

  From the desk of Syrie James Can a daring, independent-minded equestrian and a brilliant, half-Indian dressmaker overcome the pressures of fashionable society to find love and happiness in Victorian London? That’s the premise of Mimi Matthew’s new novel The Siren of Sussex, and I have to admit, I was so intrigued that I could…

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Victorian Christmas Traditions

A Joyful Christmas - Victorian Christmas Card

  I put up my Christmas tree last weekend (I love how it makes the house look so sparkly and bright!) and it got me thinking about the way we celebrate this special holiday and about the origins of its traditions. Did you know that we owe many of our most popular Christmas traditions to…

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Down a Dark River by Karen Odden — Book Review

From the desk of Syrie James I’m always up for a good Victorian murder mystery, and I was excited to dive into Karen Odden’s Down a Dark River, the first book in her new Inspector Corravan Mystery series. It’s 1878 in London, when a small boat bearing a young woman’s corpse drifts down the Thames.…

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Victorian Capes and Cloaks: A Dramatic Fashion Statement

Victorian ladies fall and winter cloaks 1890s

  When I was writing my novel Dracula, My Love, I came to a crossroads and knew I was in trouble. In the book, my heroine Mina Harker falls madly in love with Dracula, a brilliant, charismatic, devastatingly handsome being who may not be the evil monster everyone supposes. I couldn’t help falling a little…

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