Strictly speaking, the Regency period in English history began in 1811 when King George III was declared insane and his oldest son, George, Prince of Wales, became the Prince Regent, acting in George III's stead until the old king died in 1820.

However, George III's illness had almost led to a regency much earlier, in 1788. At that time the prince became an important figure in the government even though his father recovered before a regency could be created. When the Prince Regent became King George IV, he ruled from 1820-1830. This period, from 1788 to 1830, is often called the "extended Regency."

Why Do I Write About the Regency Period in England?

The late 18th-early 19th century is a fascinating period in English history--in world history, in fact. The American colonies had recently won their war for independence. England, not quite reconciled to their loss of the American colonies, went to war with American in 1812. The French revolution began in 1789, destabilizing all of Europe. The Industrial Revolution was in full swing. It was a period of enormous changes at every level of society. The old aristocracy struggled to retain its hold on power in England as well as the continent. All during the period known as the Regency, England fought to restore monarchy in Europe, to preserve its own political institutions, and to end the tyranny of Napoleon. Ultimately England and its allies succeeded in restoring the Bourbons to the French throne (for a while) and beating back the tide of political reform in Europe.

At home in England there was a spectrum of opinion from ardently pro-democratic to ultra-reactionary. This is another reason I find Regency England so fascinating: I see so many of the same forces at work in our society today. In politics, the reactionaries won--temporarily. Treason was suspected in every attempt at reform. Civil liberties were suspended. Under the guise of union, Ireland lost its political identity, and England's hold on the Scots strengthened. Time after time efforts to regulate the working hours and conditions of the "lower orders" were beaten back, as were attempts to extend civil rights to the Catholics and non-Anglican protestants of Britain. All of these attempts added to the tension, the drama of the period.

In the world of literature, music, philosophy, technology, science, and fashion, change was in the air. One of the reasons the period is so fascinating is that it was on the edge, so to speak, between the old world and the new. Being an ardent democrat, I am very glad that ultimately the reactionaries lost the battle, but I still find the way of life of the aristocrats fascinating --go figure!

I first became drawn to this period through the romantic poets Wordsworth and Coleridge. I also loved the novels of Jane Austen, and can still remember how sad I felt when I had read all of them. This occurred during my college years, many, many moons ago. When I began, in my late 40's, to turn to light-hearted books instead of heavy literary fare, I discovered the Regency romance. Georgette Heyer's books charmed me. Imagine! A chance to revisit Jane Austen's world! Other writers and readers must have felt the same, because the English Regency romance enjoyed great success, especially in America.

I soon found that I wanted to get in on the fun! Not merely content to read Regencies, I wanted to write them too. For several years I lived, ate, and breathed the history of the period, preparing myself to write books that Regency readers, notoriously sticklers for accuracy, would find enjoyable. In a sense, I wanted to pay back the genre for the pleasure it had given me.

One of the things I quickly learned is that there is too much to know about the extended Regency period to master it all. I felt the need to zero in on a shorter time period, at least at first. So my books are set in the years from early 1815 through late 1819.

Another thing I learned is that all of the things I and other Regency writers thought we knew about the period weren't necessarily accurate. Even the divine Georgette, a careful historian, occasionally made mistakes. The fictional Regency world contains certain conventions which one would be hard put to justify on the basis of historical research. Just for example, the notion that a woman is "on the shelf" by twenty or so, that she had to marry in her teens or expect to be a spinster "ain't necessarily so." In the Regency period just as today, people married for the first time at all different ages. The age when a girl was considered marriageable was certainly younger than is the norm now, but had risen from previous periods, when 12 was considered about right!

For another example, young girls often learned to ride astride first, and then graduated to a side-saddle so they could ride like a young lady instead of a child. The extreme prejudice against females ever riding astride is more typical of the Victorian period.

I could go on for a long time about the difference between the fictional Regency world and the real one--it is a constant topic of debate among Regency readers and writers. For my Regency world, my general rule of thumb is "if it was good enough for Heyer, it is good enough for me." After all, the divine Georgette created the genre! (She didn't set out to do it, and wasn't pleased to find she had imitators.)

This is not to say I won't discretely avoid areas I know she hadn't quite nailed, or include some fact that is counter to Heyer's, if I find good primary historical evidence to back me up. I do strive for historical accuracy in my books!

Characteristics of the Regency Romance

For many years the Regency romance was strictly a light-hearted, comedy-of-manners type of fiction, hearkening back to Jane Austen as well as Georgette Heyer. Humor, sometimes witty and sometimes slapstick, gave the reader many delightful moments. Wickedness existed, but was seldom presented in a disturbing way. Sex was never overt, though to the sensitive reader (and Regency readers are nothing if not sensitive), sexual tension was there. Still, the bedroom door always closed with the reader on the outside, only able to imagine what went on within.

Recently, the genre has been expanded by talented writers who brought explicit sexual scenes, violence, the ills of society, paranormal and fantasy elements, and so forth, into their plot lines. This has had the paradoxical effect, in my humble opinion, of both enriching the genre and fragmenting the Regency audience. No longer can one count on picking up a Regency and finding a "sweet read," full of frothy fun. Fans who prefer the older type of Regency may avoid the newer ones. Those who love the new themes may avoid the "sweet reads." New readers discover the genre. Older (not chronologically, but in the sense of preferring the older format) readers may give up buying them in disgust.

In this situation, I feel it is only fair to the reader to tell how I have approached the Regency thus far. My Regency world is close to the traditional Heyeresque Regency in most ways, but in my own work there is a range from the traditional such as The Jilting of Baron Pelham, to the "sweet read" paranormals My Lord Ghost and My Lady Ghost, to the slightly darker The Baron and the Bookseller and The Duke's Desire, to the decidedly darker Miss Henderson's Secret, with its particularly nasty villain. As befits the personality of the hero and heroine, and as required by the plot-line, Isabella's Rake has much more sexual content than the others. My Lady Ghost, too, has some more sensual scenes. In none of my Regencies is there consummated sex before marriage.

When I say "my Regency world," I mean that literally. Although none of my books are sequels per se, there are recurring characters. As in any such closed society, the people in my books often know one another. Baron Langley from The Baron and the Bookseller crops up as a minor character in Miss Henderson's Secret, and has a brief "walk-on" role in several others. The "villain" of The Jilting of Baron Pelham is the hero of Miss Henderson's Secret, and so forth. All of my books are, however, stand-alone books. You do NOT have to have read any one of them to fully follow the plot line and comprehend the characters in any other. I have been told by readers that they like this approach. They enjoy the sense of "catching up on old friends," and feeling grounded in the society.

The Importance of Society in the Regency

That brings up an aspect of the Regency romance that is very important. Society is almost a character in my Regency world and that of most other writers of Regency romances. It is often the antagonist or villain, as the strict rules of the class structure of that time cause difficulties in the lives of the characters. This is actually authentic to the period, as anyone knows who reads the lives of Lady Caroline Lamb and Lord Byron.

I hope you will enjoy visiting my Regency world!

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