Jude Knight joins us this week with some facts behind the fiction in her novel, A Gift to the Heart.
One of the iconic television series of my youth was a British espionage television series called The Avengers, staring Patrick McNee—bowler hatted, in a smart business suit, and armed with an umbrella, which he uses in a variety of ways, including—though rarely—to shelter from the rain.
But when I armed my pair of heroes in A Gift to the Heart with umbrellas to take their heroines walking, it occurred to me to wonder whether it was appropriate for a Regency gentleman.
It turns out that the umbrellas were a quarter of a century on the right side of history. Umbrellas were used in China as early as 3,500 BC, and waterproofed with a combination of wax and lacquer by 3,000 BC. They came to Europe through ancient trade routes, but were considered appropriate only for women. In England, they were still considered a female accessory as late as 1790, but a man called Jonas Hanway ignored popular ideas of suitability, and used an umbrella for decades. By the early 19th century, men and women in England both used umbrellas. The folding
umbrella, though, would not appear until the 1850s.
To this day, a neatly furled umbrella is a British gentleman’s fashion accessory, and one of the songs of my young adulthood was all about a romance under an umbrella. (Bus Stop, by the Hollies.)
About the Book: A Gift to the Heart
When Cilla Wintergreen supports her sister’s plans to punish the man who ruinedtheir friend, she helps in a miscarriage of justice, for they catch the wrong man. But no haris done, except to her imagination. She cannot forget the sight of their victim, half naked, his torso shining in the candle light. Just as well she is unlikely to meet him again. Until she
does.
When Drake Sanderson is mistaken for his licentious older brother Colin, he readily forgives the women who captured him. After all, they release him when they realize he isn’t Colin. But the event changes his life, for one of those women captures his heart, and he won’t give up until she agrees to be his wife or marries another.
When Livy Wintergreen tries to take revenge on a cruel seducer, and catches the wrong man, she puts in train a series of events she could not have imagined. For she had long thought she was too old, too contentious, and too independent to find a man to love her. When Bane Sanderson rescues his brother from female revelers out for retribution, he did not expect their queen to consume his heart and mind, until courting her seems the only sensible course of action. If she is not put off by his scars, his irregular birth will disgust her.
But he must try.
You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FTFYXNXB
About the Author
Jude Knight always wanted to be a novelist. She started in her teens, but life kept getting in the way. Years passed, and with them dozens of unfinished manuscripts. She had a successful career in commercial writing, but the fear grew. What if she tried, failed, and lost the dream forever? The years since 2014 have seen more than a score of novels, twice as many novellas, 5 volumes of short stories, 3 awards, and thousands of positive reviews.