Into a New Salon

"How strange does it seem, my dearest Louisa, to address you at this distance! What is it that has supported me through this long journey, and given me strength to combat with all the softer feelings; to quit a respectable parent and a beloved sister; to leave such dear and tender relations, and accompany a man to whom four months since I was wholly a stranger! I am a wretched reasoner at best.—I am therefore at a loss to unravel this mystery. It is true, it became my duty to follow my husband; but that a duty so newly entered into should supersede all others is certainly strange."

-Julia to her sister, Letter 3, The Sylph by Georgiana

Although I am not following a husband, I am on quite an adventure and can understand Julia's apprehensions.  I'm journeying afar this weekend to situate myself in a more eighteenth-century setting, so please excuse my absence and feel free to entertain me via twitter when I am stuck at the airport Friday night!

Lady Lucy Talks Georgiana

They say that the means of differentiating celebrities from historical figures is that historical figures' names will last forever where as celebrities ignite and then fizzle out, gradually becoming forgotten through time.  Georgiana was an undeniable celebrity and did sort of fade into obscurity, but was never forgotten!

Evidence of this: Lady Lucy Cavendish's personal diary.  This Victorian lady, like our Georgie, married into the Cavendish clan.  It was only a matter of time before their paths would cross, so to speak.

Denise at Lady Lucy Cavendish Diary Blog was kind enough to inform me when Georgiana's name appeared in the diary.  She is quite the blog-mistress, putting all the diary entries in blog form for our convenience and for free!  Methinks, I need a few more rare books to be put into blog form.  In 1871 lady Lucy wrote of Georgiana's child-like enthusiasm, expressed in a letter soon after her marriage.

I can't help but be reminded of Georgiana's book, The Sylph which is a reflective semi-autobiographical tale about a country girl marrying into the aristocracy when Lucy talks of "how there was no fear but that she would be happy in a simple country life." I especially enjoyed the easily offended Victorian sensibilities being triggered at the thought of Bess and the Duke!  Check it out here.

The Sylph Now on Amazon

Ta-da! Look what has made its way to Amazon.com and qualifies for Super Saver Shipping! It's the most fabulous edition of The Syph. Order yours today and it should arrive just in time for our first salon in the The Sylph Group Read. Haven't signed up yet? Why not! You can do that here, or wander in at any time! The audiobook will hopefully be out soon but I can't decide between readers; either Dame Judi Dench or Dame Edna, decisions, decisions!*
In other Sylph Group Read news check out Girlebooks's latest blog post on The Sylph, which contains a sneak preview! The group read even made it into the Austen Tattler.

I can't tell you how excited I am for the impending salons. It's not often I have someone to discuss my current read with so, as always, I am looking forward to the gossip.
The Sylph is now available in both print and ebook format so why don't you grab your copy today!

The Sylph on Amazon.com


Girlebooks for Free

20% off with code 95Y8NF33

*Heather wishes

A Very Special Announcement

I am extremely excited to announce the Librifiles edition of The Sylph is now available to order. This is the same edition as the Girlebooks ebook now available to download for free, but in print form for those who enjoy a good old fashioned book. I had a wonderful experience working together with the fabulous Laura of Girlebooks to put this out and was overwhelmingly flattered when she suggested distributing a print version with a introduction by myself. You can immediately begin to order The Sylph on Createspace.com now and for those Amazon.com addicts like myself, the book will soon be available to purchase there as well.

For those who are interested, especially participants in The Sylph Group Read next month this is great opportunity to get your hands on a print copy of the book that also supports humble bloggers, and more importantly, independent publishers.

Don't forget to use discount code 95Y8NF33 at checkout with CreatesSpace to get 20% off!


A Note About the Cover
Thomas Gainsborough, Elizabeth Linley (later Sheridan), ca. 1775
The portrait of Elizabeth Linley was not only selected for the beauty of both the sitter and the painting but for Elizabeth's many similarities with the main character of The Sylph, Julia. In the many images Gainsborough painted of Elizabeth, she is portrayed with her curly locks loose and a natural glow. In this portrayal of the singer, she is made up with the high hair and makeup of the latest fashions and therefore, looks slightly out of her element, and almost uncomfortable. The process of this primping process is described in detail in the book from the perspective of a girl who had lived her life in the country, unused to the extreme fashions and unable to cope with them. Julia's similar discomforts with a rake husband, a malicious high society, and leaving a loving family match those of Elizabeth Linley Sheridan's, making her portrait an appropriate selection for the book's cover.

The Sylph Group Read

Crack open the champagne everyone! Laura from GirlEbooks and I have finally finished editing The Sylph. You know what that means, next month we can begin our group read of the book!

The e-books is up now on Girlebooks, so everyone can have easy access to Georgiana's novel. I'll have more details on how we'll go about conducting our book group later. Just plan on clearing your reading schedule for May!

If you are more of a traditionalist you can get a copy of the book on Amazon for about $12 or (a better option) you can wait for Girlebooks' sister site, Librifiles to release a print version with a foreword by yours truly. I will keep you updated as to when that will come out as well.

Keep coming back for more details on the Group Read and clear your schedule for The Sylph in May! So who is in?

Public Service Announcement

Just because I've had some questions about it...

If you recall a while ago, I set up a poll to see if anyone would be interested in a group read of The Sylph by Georgiana. Just to update you all, yes this is going to happen and I'm very excited about it. So what is taking so long?

Well, I am very happy to say I am currently working together with GirlEbooks to get a free edition of the ebook to everyone who is interested. That is where the time-snag is. We've been basically translating the 18th century text into the proper format which take a massive amount of editing. Becaufe everything is being written with those long s's I am fo fond of as well as other jumbles that came in the converfion.

Hopefully by the time we are able to finish this task everyone will still be interested in the group read. I sure hope so because the book is a great read, and filled with juicy gossip. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

Georgiana the Author

"I should be very happy if I could borrow some friendly Sylph (if any are so kind to hover about Hardwick)..."

-Georgiana, in a letter to her mother

When Georgiana was a naive, young girl of sixteen with her whole life ahead of her she did something unusual for a daughter of an aristocrat: she wrote a book. Emma was published anonymously and tells a story similar to Austen's Pride and Prejudice in that first impressions are not always reliable. It tells of a young woman who finds herself in love with a man but forced to marry another. The book is often forgotten and there is little knowledge it in history.

Georgiana's second book was published during the height of her popularity when she was newly married and had just made her name for herself as a fashion icon (think: Victoria Beckham when she was a newlywed). Again, she published it anonymously, which given the scandalous details, could have ruined the reputation Georgiana was enjoying. It was called The Sylph and was so popular it went through four editions quickly. It was written in the form of letters, just like Fanny Burney's Evelina.* The story is that of the naive country girl, Julia, who marries a rich aristocrat but soon discovers him to be a rake who spends all his money on gambling and mistresses. To distract herself from her woes, Julia involves herself in the ton and fashion, making friends and frenimies with the elite. Meanwhile her home life only gets worse when her husband gets more and more abusive. Her fellow wives of the ton bring little consolidation because they are just as ill-used by their husbands. In her worst time of need an anonymous person calling himself The Slyph (a sylph was a mythical invisible spirit) writes to her offering her advice. Eventually, Julia is forced to run away from her husband (who promptly commits suicide) and she discovers the true identity of The Slyph and the two wed. Does the story sound familiar? The first half it anyway.

The Sylph was based on Georgiana's personal experiences as a debutant in high society. It didn't take a genius to recognize the similarity between the fictional Julia and the young Duchess of Devonshire so it wasn't long before everyone had figured out who the author was, although Georgiana would never publicly admit it. This only helped sales. Another part of the book's success was its scandalous details which were were labeled "obscene" by the Blue Stocking Group (one of the first feminists groups). The Gentleman's Magazine was made uncomfortable by the author's knowledge of the ton and the details of the physical and sexual abuse.

Although fiction, The Sylph stands as a great contemporary document into the ton. It is made up of many stories from Georgiana's personal life, stories of the abuse her friends suffered and the snobbery she herself was involved in. That, is possibly why the book was received with such shock. People to this day, always seem more frightened by fact than fiction; even if that fiction is fact.

pollcode.com free polls

Would you be interested if we began reading The Sylph here? (ie: a chapter a week)

Yes! I need more scandal! No thanks, it doesn't tempt me.

*When it was first published, many thought The Sylph was Burney's work which her publisher didn't negate, only boosting sales further.