Bath Tangle by Georgette Heyer

Before reading this book I had never read a Georgette Heyer book and never planned on doing so. But after reading so many nice things about Heyer on other  blogs such as Madame Guillotine  I decided to give her a try. My library only had two copies of Heyer on the day I visited and I liked the cover of Bath Tangle better so Bath Tangle was the book I checked out.

When the Earl of Spenborough dies he leaves behind his independent, high spirited, and single(!) daughter, the lady Serena. He also leaves his demure, twenty two year old wife, Fanny. The reading of the will is expected to be an mundane affair but  instead the late Earl shocks everyone by leaving Lady Serena's fortune in the trusteeship of the Marquis of Rotherham. The same Marquis Serena jilted years ago and the same Marquis who can not seem to stand the company of Serena. To make matters worse the only way Serena can gain control of her inheritance is to marry a man of whom the Marquis approves. To escape their former home Serena and Fanny decide to retreat to Bath to wait out their mourning period. Their stay there is soon complicated by many unwanted admirers of Fanny and the appearance of Serena's first love. Before you know it there are four people engaged to the wrong person and it is up to the Marquis of Rotherham to set things right.

This is a good book for a rainy or snowy day when you don't want to leave the house. Entertaining with little to no demands upon the reader. I think my teenage self would have enjoyed it more then my adult self but even as I write this I remember several nights going to bed late because I did not want to put Bath Tangle down. So I have to say I liked it and if you like period romances you should try reading Heyer.

Victorian Mourning Customs

Today I attended a lecture on Victorian mourning customs given by Lee Ward at the Wornall House. The Victorians, being preoccupied with death developed some extremely odd(to us) customs. But as Mr Ward said we see the Victorians through 21th century eyes. Death is more distant to most of us. It was not so during the 1800s.

The most fascinating portion of the lecture was devoted to post mortem photography. At this time most people never had a photo or portrait done of themselves while living but both were common after death. This was quite expensive, $5 for a daguerreotype, which was more them most workers weekly pay. And the photo had to be taken quickly after death. As photography developed the photos themselves could be used in different ways. People hung them on their walls, wore them as lockets, and made them into watches. Families wore proud of these photos and mailed as many as they could to family and friends too far away to attend the funeral. Mr Ward showed many examples of these photos. Mothers and Fathers holding dead infants, even posing dead infants with a sibling(how traumatic). It is worth noting that the infant mortality rate in America during the 1800s was 30 to 50%. Many families did not name a child until he or she had survived for at least a year.

Families also saved the deceased hair, creating wreaths, lockets, and key fobs to decorate the house and carry as a memento of the lost loved one. Funeral homes sold wreath frames to wrap the hair around and these wreath were passed from one generation to the next.

This may seem odd and morbid to us now but if the Victorians dragged out the mourning period to extremes at least they did not drag the death process out like we do today. Keeping the dying alive on machines and massive cocktails of medication seems almost more morbid to me then carrying around a post mortem photo or locket of hair.

Now I must give a plug for the Wornall House. Located at 6115 Woranll Rd. it was built in 1858 by John B Wornall for his bride, Eliza. The house is open for tours Tuesday through Sunday for a small fee. Among the contents of the house is a hair wreath and several lockets containing hair. The story of the house is very interesting if you like history.