Sara Bennett joins us this week with her novella, Lord Ravenhill Comes For Christmas, and the facts behind a perfect Victorian Christmas.
I have written a Christmas novella! I have always craved a white Christmas so I wrote one, and dived into the sort of Christmas traditions that became so popular during the Victorian era. I think we’ve all seen pictures of decorated trees and tables weighed down with food, a roaring fire with the snow falling outside, while the smiling family gather around.
I am an Australian and more used to sweating through steamy summer December days than rugging up for a walk across snowy fields. Although the European heritage of many of us share means we still feel the urge to serve up a hot meal despite the temperature outside.
In my fictional Christmas story, the guests arrive from the cold outdoors into the welcoming warmth of Starling Hall. There before them is “the tree” with its tinkling, shining decorations. Queen Victoria’s ancestors, the Hanoverians, brought the tradition of the tree from Germany but it was Victoria and her husband Albert who made it popular. In fact many of our modern Christmas traditions can be traced back to them.
As my fictional guests stand and admire the tree, the smell of the waiting meal permeates the air, and their mouths begin to water.
There could be a serving of oyster soup to start off with. Oysters were cheap and a good substitute for fish or red meat. The Victorians were fond of a roast goose or turkey for Christmas, and if they were wealthy enough to afford it, there was roast beef. They made the most of the vegetables that were available at that time of year—potatoes, parsnips, carrots and whatever greens were to be found—probably sprouts and cabbage.
The plum pudding was the highlight of the meal. It contained dried fruit, suet, egg and flour, and once it was made the pudding could sit for months in the pantry, awaiting its big moment. Other than the pudding, there might be mince pies or sugared almonds to satisfy that sweet tooth.
Crackers or bon bons were originally sweets wrapped in pretty paper, but it was discovered that they were much more popular if notes were added, along with paper hats and small toys. The “bang” came later.
Carol singers were something else I made sure to add to my story. I love the old Christmas carols. Then, as the day draws to a close, the guests retreat inside once more to tell ghost stories and drink mulled wine.
And there we have it, the perfect Christmas!
It was fun to write about those cozy Christmases past, but I also wanted to give my heroine, Abby Starling, her dearest wish. To have Lord Ravenhill, her unsuitable beau, accept her invitation to share Christmas with her family at Starling Hall.
The Starlings are a respectable farming family who live in Somerset, England, and as well as the parents, there are eight children, all with red hair.
I married a man with red hair and have two red headed children. You don’t find a lot of red-haired families in romance, or maybe I just haven’t come across them. Anyway I thought why not, and the Starlings were born.
Lord Ravenhill Comes For Christmas is the third novella in my Starlings of Starling Hall series, but it can be read as a Stand Alone.
The book is out on the 17th of November, and here is the blurb.
There is a bit of Cinderella about Abby Starling. The sweet and beautiful woman that no one notices. When her aunt decides to give her the London Season she never had, Abby resists. But as she begins to enjoy herself and find her feet, she begins to fall in love with a most unsuitable gentleman, Lord Reeve Ravenhill.
Reeve had an unhappy childhood, lightened only by his grandfather who happened to live near Starling Hall. He seeks out Abby to find out more and finds himself attracted to her. Is he in love? When she invites him to Starling Hall for Christmas he wants to go, but their kisses are interrupted by Abby’s aunt and they are parted. On Christmas morning Abby makes a wish. Please let Lord Ravenhill come for Christmas.
But do wishes really come true?
BUY LINKS
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FV8Q98JZ
https://books2read.com/u/3L6w7X
About Sara Bennett
Sara Bennett is an Australian bestselling author of Historical Romance. She has written many books set in various time periods—Medieval, Regency and Victorian—as well as Paranormal Romance under the name Sara Mackenzie.
Sara has been a finalist for the RITA award (Romance Writers of America) and the RUBY (Romance Writers of Australia).
Sara lives in Victoria, Australia, in an old house in a goldrush town, with her husband, two important cats and a rescue poodle. She would love to spend more time in the garden but there are just too many stories to be written.
LINKS
https://sara-bennett.com/
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063537491049
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