Regency Research
Are you thinking about entering the Trust and Tribulation Final Chapter writing competition? Here are some links and books to help brush up your Regency knowledge. And remember, use research in your writing with a light touch. A few well-selected period details here and there will evoke the era and blend into the scene without holding up the action. Try to avoid the “info dump” i.e. big paragraphs of information about the world.
Websites/Blogs
Jane Austen’s World
This site is a good starting place for articles and information about Regency social customs and life, grouped under very handy headings such as Dancing, Dining, Etiquette etc. Be aware that some of the links do not work.
http://janeaustensworld.wordpress.com/social-customs-and-the-regency-world/
Candice Hern
Candice Hern is a very successful Regency romance writer and has set up a very informative and accessible guide to Regency society. She also has a gallery of illustrations and her own collections of Regency objects to help with descriptions.
http://www.candicehern.com/regency.htm
Austenonly
This site is focused on Jane Austen, but does have a lot of incidental Regency information. It regularly reviews books as well, which is a great way of keeping up with new resources in the area.
Joanna Waugh
I’ve only just found this site myself, so haven’t been through it extensively. However, it seems to have a number of links to interesting Regency articles and some specific resources for people writing about the Regency period including lists of phrases used.
http://www.joannawaugh.com/Page1.html
And of course, a Google search will bring up blogs and other sites devoted to the Regency that may be useful.
Books
Some of the following are also available as e-books.
Georgette Heyer’s Regency World by Jennifer Kloester (Arrow Books).
This is an excellent resource about Regency society, people and places with brief references to Heyer’s work interspersed. Highly recommended.
Fashion in the Time of Jane Austen by Sarah Jane Downing (Shire Library).
A short guide to fashion and associated accessories of the Regency era with great illustrations.
An Elegant Madness, High Society in Regency England by Venetia Murray (Penguin). This is a fabulous and very entertaining overview of high society in the Regency. Not a quick reference guide but it does give enormous detail and evokes the attitudes of the age.
The Regency Companion by Sharon H. Laudermilk and Teresa Hamlin (Garland Publishing).
This one is only available from libraries as it is out of print (I was going to buy a second hand one for myself from a book dealer but the cheapest one I could find was about $400!). However, it is a truly excellent reference to the period.
If you have a regency research resource (try saying that fast!) to share, please do post it in the comments section below.
Happy writing!
Cheers,
Alison
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