vodkafan Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 (edited) This is astonishing! I was unaware they had bombs back then, let alone terrorist attacks. And mail order catalogues? How fascinating. What I said was just the tip of the iceberg! The 1880s in particular were very turbulent. Just as now, London was a hideout for political refugees from Europe, some of them avowed anarchists and communists who wanted to stir up the British working class proletariat to overthrow the capitalists. The French also had many agents here looking for Frenchmen trying to avoid military service. London was considered as part of the 1st Arrondissement of Paris. The main terrorists were the Fenians who wanted Irish home rule. They bombed tube stations and public parks. There was a plan to bomb and kill Queen Victoria on 20 July 1887 on her Jubilee . But, in actual fact, it is now known to have been a fake plot instituted by a known double agent to draw out Fenians. Two were arrested in possession of the dynamite and the double agent was allowed to escape to America. All true and exciting stuff. Gun crime also got so bad in the early 1880s that in 1883 the Metropolitan police were allowed to be armed with revolvers. London was also the biggest shopping city in the world. Many upper middle class women were completely addicted to shopping and got themselves into crazy levels of debt. Often they didn't even have to go out shopping. Representatives from large department stores (a 19th century invention) would come to visit women at home when their husbands were at work or at their club and bring samples to get orders. Edited January 23, 2014 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 (edited) Here is something interesting I just turned up: not letters but telegrams. Would this be of interest? It is free on kindle so I have already downloaded it. In The Cage Henry James http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Cage here is another one written by an American telegraph operator: Wired Love Ella Cheever Thayer 1879 This is in paperback on Amazon but free for kindle on Project Gutenberg http://www.amazon.co.uk/Wired-Love-Romance-Dots-Dashes/dp/B003YMMJ1O/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1390506561&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=wired+Love Edited January 23, 2014 by vodkafan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 I haven't read it, no, it came up when I was doing a google/wiki search for suitable novels for you Well, that's kind of you, frankie. Thank you. The ability to edit here has appeared and if it wasn't for your explanation of the 10-message intro, I would have ended up sitting here wondering how I missed the "edit" button before I saw that wiki page you mention: astonishing, that huge gap in the C19th, isn't it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 26, 2014 Author Share Posted January 26, 2014 Your description of the 1880s, vodkafan, completely alters my views of those times! I simply had no idea it was anything like that. In particular, Frenchmen hiding in London to avoid military service. How fascinating. Is that touched upon in any novels of the time? And just as I was thinking, how clever to rewrite Dangerous Liaisons as tweets, novels were already dealing with stories told through telegrams! Thanks for those links. I'm going to take a look now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hayley Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 deb I absolutely love the nineteenth century, it was an incredible time for literature (even if they did go off the epistolary novel a bit ). If you like collections of real letters I would recommend the letters of Lewis Carroll (or his diaries actually), he met so many interesting people during his life and has such an interesting personality, they're really addictive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted January 27, 2014 Share Posted January 27, 2014 deb I absolutely love the nineteenth century, it was an incredible time for literature (even if they did go off the epistolary novel a bit ). If you like collections of real letters I would recommend the letters of Lewis Carroll (or his diaries actually), he met so many interesting people during his life and has such an interesting personality, they're really addictive! Hayley I didn't realise you are a fan of the 19th century too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 27, 2014 Author Share Posted January 27, 2014 deb I absolutely love the nineteenth century, it was an incredible time for literature (even if they did go off the epistolary novel a bit ). If you like collections of real letters I would recommend the letters of Lewis Carroll (or his diaries actually), he met so many interesting people during his life and has such an interesting personality, they're really addictive! I have read some of his letters to children, and those are fab. So, thanks, Hayley, I will look into his diaries and such too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Are there any Nineteenth Century novels written in the form of letters by multiple characters? Something like those by Samuel Richardson or Tobias Smollett, but 19th C ? Ideally I'd like titles which are readily available in paperback. Are there such novels, or had that form gone out of fashion by then? When I was browsing for Honore de Balzac's novels, I found Letters Of Two Brides, which I think is in your C19 time-frame (not sure though). Short synopsis:This richly drawn epistolary tale recounts the correspondence between two young women whose friendship evolves as they embark on marriage and motherhood. Although both have a distinctly different outlook, their shared observations and memories bring the beauty and difficulty of these experiences vividly to life. I've got it on my wishlist now . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 When I was browsing for Honore de Balzac's novels, I found Letters Of Two Brides, which I think is in your C19 time-frame (not sure though). Short synopsis:This richly drawn epistolary tale recounts the correspondence between two young women whose friendship evolves as they embark on marriage and motherhood. Although both have a distinctly different outlook, their shared observations and memories bring the beauty and difficulty of these experiences vividly to life. I've got it on my wishlist now . It's on mine too, Marie Frankie did suggest it earlier in the thread, but thank you for passing it on too. I'd love to know what you think of it if you get to read it before me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marie H Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 It's on mine too, Marie Frankie did suggest it earlier in the thread, but thank you for passing it on too. I'd love to know what you think of it if you get to read it before me. Ah, I missed the post frankie mentioned Letters Of Two Brides in the thread already. Found a free e-book of LOTB though ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deb Posted January 28, 2014 Author Share Posted January 28, 2014 Found a free e-book of LOTB though ! Hope you enjoy it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 I do feel sorry deb has gone from the forum.....we conversed quite a bit by PM and talked about 19th century novels. But she sent me a PM to say goodbye about a month ago and said she enjoyed it on here but wanted to live internet free. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Yes, the internet free life... it's so tempting in it's own ways! Too bad she won't be joining us for discussions. But she got what she wanted, we had fun while it lasted, and have a thread to show for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Yes, the internet free life... it's so tempting in it's own ways! Noooooo! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Noooooo! Well it is tempting, isn't it? I never said I could do it in actuality, did I? There there, Jänet darling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 28, 2014 Share Posted March 28, 2014 Phew! Don't do that to me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted March 30, 2014 Share Posted March 30, 2014 Sorry, I thought you knew how incapable of internet-less life I am Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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