The Westminster Intrigue--Tracy Grant

DEBORAH CROMBIE: We are inclined to think that our own era had the most scandalous scandals, the most outrageous behavior, but Tracy Grant, who writes wonderful Regency mystery/suspense novels, has a story for us today that could compete with any reality TV sensation. (Although of course if you watched any of Bridgerton, you have an idea what those lads and lasses could get up to!) Here's Tracy to tell us more!

TRACY GRANT: When I finish writing a book, I always find it interesting to look back at the influences that have shaped it. I write historical mysteries, so historical events always shape my books, and favorite classics such as Jane Austen and Shakespeare often influence me, but the influence of both were particularly strong in The Westminster Intrigue, my latest historical mystery about married ex-spies Malcolm and Mélanie Rannoch. The Westminster Intrigue released in May, but the inspiration goes back to the summer after I graduated from college, when my mom, Joan Grant, and I sought refuge from a heat wave in Ashland, Oregon, in the Southern Oregon University library. We were already co-writing our second Regency-set book, and when we stumbled on the divorce trial of George IV (the former prince regent) and his estranged wife Queen Caroline in a collection of Regency letters we were browsing, we knew it had to be the focus of a book. We started plotting our third book, Frivolous Pretence, that night.

 Years later when I began my historical mystery series about Malcolm and Mélanie Rannoch (who spied for opposite sides in the Napoleonic wars), I knew at least one of the Rannochs' investigations would take place against the background of the royal divorce trial. But first Mélanie and Malcolm had to navigate the intrigues of the Congress of Vienna, the Battle of Waterloo, and post-Waterloo Paris and London (with a side trip to Italy). I didn't get to the royal divorce trial until their latest adventure (by which time my own daughter was nine and writing her own stories). It was exciting to revisit the historical events I had explored with my mom decades ago.

George and Caroline's marriage was a disaster from the first (from the moment they met it seems). Their one child, Princess Charlotte (who died tragically in childbirth in 1817), was born almost exactly nine months after the wedding night. The royal couple soon separated. George returned to Maria Fitzherbert (whom he had married years before, secretly and without royal consent, which made the marriage legally invalid) and then took other mistresses. Caroline would later quip that she had once committed adultery, but it was "with the husband of Mrs. Fitzherbert." Eventually Caroline went to live in Italy. George sent commissioners to gather evidence against her. When he became king on the death of his father, George III, in late January of 1820, he was determined to divorce his wife and prevent her from being crowned queen. The divorce trial took the form of a "bill of pains and penalties" in the House of Lords (if it had passed it would have gone to the House of Commons) charging Caroline with "a most unbecoming and disgusting intimacy" with her courier, Bartolomeo Bergami (also called Pergami).

The trial was the talk of London, with the Whigs backing the queen and the Tories, the governing party, supporting the king. The evidence was decidedly bawdy—dirty linen literally being aired in public, with testimony about bedsheets and debates about if Caroline and Bergami had been seen lying down or sitting up (leading one of the characters in The Westminster Intrigue to say one can do quite as much in either position). Public opinion was on the queen's side, with petitions from groups all over the country, demonstrations in the streets, and insults hurled at peers as they drove to Parliament. Emily Cowper, sister of William Lamb (later Lord Melbourne) said in one letter that she regretted having a crown on the crest on her carriage. Reactionaries like my fictional Hubert Mallinson feared popular revolt. Malcolm and Mélanie Rannoch, needless to say, are firmly on the queen's side. Malcolm, as an MP, is in the midst of the political turmoil, as is my ongoing character Julien St. Juste (now Mallinson), who is now in the House of Lords.

The Westminster Intrigue also features my first opera singer character, Danielle Darnault, whose missing memoirs are potential blackmail fodder that could be used to influence the trial. Danielle's memoirs were inspired by the real-life memoirs of Harriette Wilson, who attempted (later in the 1820s) to blackmail a number of her lovers by offering to keep them out of her memoirs if they paid enough. Her lovers included the Duke of Wellington and Radical politician Henry Brougham who served as Queen Caroline's attorney-general. Both Brougham and Wellington are entangled with Danielle Darnault in The Westminster Intrigue.

While Danielle's memoirs were inspired by Harriette Wilson, Danielle's career and wonderful vocal range were inspired by the real-life Angelica Catalani, who sang Susanna in the English premiere of Le nozze di Figaro in 1812. I love opera (my nonwriting job is at the Merola Opera Program) and have had several scenes set at the opera in my books, but this is the first time I've written an opera singer.

Captain James Blayney, whose murder is the focus of the investigation in The Westminster Intrigue, is attempting to sell Danielle Daranult's memoirs, making a number of key figures at Queen Caroline's trial (both real and fictional) suspects. Jamie Blayney's character fell into place for me when I thought of him as similar to George Wickham in Pride and Prejudice, with his relationship with Lord Pendarves, one of the suspects, having echoes of Wickham's relationship with Darcy. Jamie Blayney's entanglements with Pendarves's sisters owe something to Wickham and Georgiana Darcy but also more than a bit to Edmund's sex and power games with Goneril and Regan in King Lear (at which point I decided Jamie needed a brother, so we have an Edgar parallel too).

 By the end of The Westminster Intrigue, we are just at the point where Henry Brougham (who has spent the book dealing with the threat of Danielle Darnault's memoirs) is about to begin his defense of Queen Caroline. So there is plenty of fodder for Malcolm and Mélanie's next adventure…

 Authors, what historical events or literary influences have shaped your writing? In the case of literary influences, are you aware of them as you plot or only in retrospect? Readers, what historical events have you particularly loved to see dramatized? What events (from historical to present day) would you like to see the focus of a mystery? What parallels to literary classics do you see in your favorite mysteries?

DEBS: Funny story: my first ever attempt at a novel, co-written with a neighbor when I was in college, was a Regency romance. We didn't get very far--we had a plot but our writing styles did not mesh! And I'm sure it wouldn't have been nearly as good as Tracy's books! 

More about The Westminster Intrigue: Autumn 1820. From Mayfair to Covent Garden to Seven Dials, London is in an uproar over George IV’s (the former prince regent) attempts to divorce his wife Queen Caroline. And nowhere is the crisis more intense than in Westminster where the royal divorce is playing out in the House of Lords.

In this tense atmosphere, former spies Malcolm and Mélanie Rannoch go on an undercover mission in a brothel that leads to a brawl–and the murder of the man they were tracking. The victim, Captain James Blayney, was selling the memoirs of a notorious courtesan, whose lovers may include Napoleon Bonaparte, the Duke of Wellington, and key noblemen involved in the royal divorce trial. The missing memoirs may also hold crucial information about the Elsinore League, the powerful organization the Rannochs have been battling for years.

As revelations mount, Malcolm and Mélanie uncover the secrets of some of the most powerful people in Europe. The future of the British monarchy hangs in the balance. But as the Rannochs unravel the clues in the memoirs, they realize that the consequences for the royal family may be nothing compared to the consequences for their own…

Teresa (Tracy) Grant studied British history at Stanford University and received the Firestone Award for Excellence in Research for her honors thesis on shifting conceptions of honor in late fifteenth century England. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her young daughter and three cats. In addition to writing, Tracy works for the Merola Opera Program, a professional training program for opera singers, pianists, and stage directors. Her real life heroine is her daughter Mélanie, who is very cooperative about Mummy’s writing. Tracy is currently at work on her next book chronicling the adventures of Malcolm and Suzanne Rannoch.

DEBS: What is it that is so fascinating about Regency England? In my case, I know my interest was fueled by reading Georgette Heyer novels when I was in my late teens and early twenties. What about you, REDS and readers? Jane Austen? Georgette Heyer? (Or Bridgerton!) 

 

The dreaded one-star review...

HALLIE EPHRON: We all get negative reviews, and my advice is always DON'T READ THEM! To fellow authors I say: Your book is finished, published, there's not a thing you can do about it so don't torture yourself. Besides, every book has its audience, and we've all had the experience of hating the occasional book foisted off on us by well-meaning friends.

I take perverse comfort in browsing one-star reviews of classics. Here are a few of my favorites -- you get to guess which review goes with which book.



1. A dreary, uninspiring book full of tired clichés: all whites in the Southern US are racist rednecks, all blacks are victims, all liberals are wonderful caring people. I detested having to read this guff at school and work with it as a teacher. Fortunately, most of my pupils felt the same way.

2. I found it was lacking in sympathetic characters, focus, meaning (aside from the very obvious, played-to-death 'everything is superficial' theme), and thoroughly unabsorbing. From the moment it started out, it rang false

3. I cannot fathom why anyone became famous, or wealthy, for writing this material... This book is one long, rambling, goofy, repetitive in the *extreme* diatribe...presented as an ode to Borderline Personality Disorder. It's like page after page after page...of absolutely nothing. And at the end of it all, there is no pay off.

4. The female characters are a bunch of air heads that are significantly over indulged and have nothing else to do but simper and fret. The male characters are not paragons of thought either.

5. This book, written by the king of bore himself, and 811 pages long has got to be the most pointless book I have ever had to read. It's just about some woman's extra-marital affair with some guy and these two newlyweds' life together. Honestly I could care less.

6. This book is all about some badly behaved brothers and their mean father and how they do nothing but shout and drink and threaten one another and are lewd and then, one of them anyway, goes to England, or at least he wants to. You call that a story?

Today's question: is there a classic you love Love LOVED, only to recommend it to a friend who hated it?

Keep Calm and Read On

SUSAN ELIA MACNEAL: This photograph is of intrepid readers at a recently bombed Holland House, in Kensington, London, England, during World War II. It may or may not have been staged for British propaganda purposes, but the spirit of the British during the war — as well as the tenacity of readers even (perhaps especially) in hard times is unmistakable.

I love this photo, for so many reasons, but probably most because reading is what's helped me through so many challenging times. And books aren't illegal, immoral, or fattening! (Although often best enjoyed with a glass of wine or a cookie, in my opinion....)

For me, it's not just reading during these times, but rereading — comfort reading, in other words. Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, anything by Alice Hoffman, anything by Laurie Colwin, early Ken Follett.... And so-called children's books — by Philip Pullman, J.R.R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, T.H. White, Frances Hodgeson Burnett, and Louisa May Alcott — are standbys as well.

I'm assuming if you're reading this blog, books are important to you as well. What books to you turn to in times of crisis? What do you consider "comfort reading"? What books do you read again and again?

Please share in the comments section — we'd love to know!

Photograph reprinted with permission of English Heritage.

Comfort Reads

RHYS BOWEN: Yesterday we talked about going back to a much loved place and whether we were disappointed or not. Today we're going to talk about revisiting a much loved book.
 Do you re-read books you've enjoyed? Do you have particular favorites you revisit again?

I love the feel of a real book in my hands, but on trips I've come to value my Kindle. I have it loaded with the complete Jane Austen, the complete P.G. Wodehouse and Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christies and Dorothy Sayers. These are my go-to comfort reads when flights are delayed, when I'm too tired to read anything new and complicated.
Of course my Kindle is also loaded with newer favorites: our Debs, my friends Jackie Winspear and Tasha Alexander and Louise Penny and several non-mysteries.
I've become a huge fan of Kate Moreton (The Secret Keeper) and I sometimes like to indulge in the light-hearted froth of Sophie Kinsella.
So I'm wondering what books are your go-to comfort reads.

ROSEMARY HARRIS: I don't have too many automatic re-reads but I can always take a spin with Pride and Prejudice, The Golden Bowl, The Razor's Edge, Howard's End or The Age of Innocence. Confession here..I read far fewer mysteries than the rest of the JRs. I tend to throw myself into a time period or subject matter. Right now it's the 19th century and it's morphed into the world of the victorian lady travelers.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Ro, I'm fascinated by Victorian lady travelers! Give us your reading list!
Rhys, I'm trying to downsize paper books, so putting comfort reads on my tablet is great idea.  I do go back to Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes. Would love to reread Austen. And James Herriot. Right now I'm rereading The Hobbit, but in a gorgeous 75th Anniversary edition. Sayers, yes; PD James, no, although I love her books, they're not comfort reads.  Some odd choices: All Barbara Peters Amelia Peabody's. And Vicki Bliss. Susan Conant's Holly Winter books. Dick Francis. Christopher Fowler's Bryant and May books. Laurie King's Mary Russell books. Charles Todds' Bess Crawford's.
I like Sophie Kinsella, too, but my real British guilty pleasure/comfort reads are books by Katie Fford. They are funny romance/comedy of manners, and the characters always do ordinary things that I like; cooking or gardening  or living on narrowboats... Now I have to see if I can get them on my tablet as I don't think they are readily available in the U.S.

LUCY BURDETTE: I always THINK I'm going to reread so I don't get rid of books I love, but I find it very hard to go back and not forward. And since we have a big trip coming up in October, I'm already worrying about reading material. It may be that I'll have to read some on the Kindle or Ipad, but I'm still smarting from the occasion in which the Kindle failed as soon as we got abroad. Panic! Panic! Panic! I had to madly borrow books from other travelers...

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Huh. I can't remember the last book I re-read. (Which does make me look at ALL THOSE BOOKSHELVES in our house in a different way...yikes. What are they FOR? But maybe that's a different blog.) If I loaded my Kindle with things like Agatha and Conan Doyle and Grafton, I would be delighted to know they were there, but I wouldn't read them.
Funny, yesterday we were talking about being disappointed when you go back to a place from the past. In reading, I'm a "go forward." I'd rather read Sue's new "W" than "A" again.

HALLIE EPHRON: Rereads for comfort? Anne of Green Gables. A Wrinkle in Time. The Little Princess.  Or one of the novels of Booth Tarkington (Magnificent Ambersons, or Alice Adams.) Or something by Barbara Pym. Or a Stephen King book of short stories. Or Early P.D. James (the Cordelia Gray mysteries).

And speaking of Sue Grafton... it would be very interesting to read "A" and "W" back to back. Maybe I will.
HANK: OOh, yeah Hallie, it would. I'm doing it, too. (I'm interviewing her next week, so that'd be fun.)

RHYS: So let's hear from you. Who re-reads old favorites? And what are your old favorites?

Comfort Reads for Uncomfortable Times: a guest blog by Tasha Alexander

JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I'm logging in from my local library to post this, since I (as well as several other east-coast Reds) am still without power. Fortunately, I don't have to write anything clever; our friend Tasha Alexander volunteered to take on blogging duties today. 

I know Tasha is one of the Reds communities favorite authors. Her Victorian-era Lady Emily novels brings together wicked mysteries and heart-stirring romance in stunning locations like Vienna, Constantinople and Venice. The latest in the series, Death in the Floating City, was a New York Times bestseller. 

Since Tasha and her dashingly handsome husband Andrew Grant live in Chicago and the UK, we're usually the ones consoling her for lousy weather. (If you've ever taken a cross-country flight in the US, you know about Chicago's tumultuous climate.) She knows about the stresses and strains we all come under - and has a wonderful suggestion for easing them.

The pounding given to the East Coast by Hurricane Sandy has put me to thinking about comfort and those things we do when we need it. Most of us are fortunate enough to be assured of basic material comforts--food, shelter, clothing. But that does not mean we don't face challenges, disappointments, and a variety of seemingly unending stresses, and we all need means to cope with them.

Last year when I was here, I talked about books I wished I could read again for the first time. This year, I'm considering those dog-eared volumes that, like the most loyal and steadfast friends, stand by us through every difficulty. I have many, many comfort reads. First come the old favorites. The really old favorites. On the Banks of Plum Creek and These Happy Golden Years from Laura Ingalls Wilder's wonderful Little House series got me through those horrible pre-teen years when I spent most of my time at school dances crying in the bathroom. It probably speaks badly of me, but I took great joy in reading about Nellie Oleson dancing around the creek bank with leeches stuck all over her legs.

As I got older, Gone With the Wind became a favorite. I would get to the end of my enormous hardcover edition (a tenth birthday present) and turn straight back to page one. Until, that is, Scarlett's story was eclipsed for me by Pride and Prejudice.

Sometimes, when I'm stressed, I need a giant heap of books that I can tear through, one after another, to fill loads and loads of time. Elizabeth Peters' Amelia Peabody series could not be better for this. Amelia's wit and intelligence can divert my attention from almost anything.

Then there are the times when what I really want is something more ethereal. That's when I go back to Haruki Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and escape into a bizarre world that is at once magical and disturbing. Not to mention written in some of the most beautiful sentences ever.

Interestingly enough, what I don't turn to for comfort is the book I consider to be my absolute favorite, David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. Maybe that's because I don't want it tainted by whatever is causing me stress. Maybe it's because I want to keep it separate. I'm not sure. But I am sure about the one book that, no matter what, never ever lets me down when I'm in need. I think we all have a book like this--the one you can never tire of reading, the best dependable friend. For me, that's Pride and Prejudice. What's yours?

Let us know your comfort read, and one luck commenter will receive a signed hardcover of the newest Lady Emily mystery, Death in the Floating City!

You can find out more about New York Times bestselling author Tasha Alexander and read excerpts of her books at her website. You can follow her on Twitter as @talexander, friend her on Facebook, and see some of the actual locations in her novels on Flickr.

Oops, they did it again...movie remakes

ROSEMARY HARRIS: Whenever I hear that a classic film is being remade I can't decide if it's hubris or simply a dearth of original ideas. On a recent rowing machine kick, I've rowed through three different versions of Pride and Prejudice, three of Little Women, two of Dr. Zhivago and three of Anna Karenina. Now there's a new Anna coming.

My admiration for Keira Knightley is unalloyed and unalterable. Girl crush. I've loved her ever since Bend it Like Beckham. But I do wonder if the world needs another Anna Karenina a mere 35 years after the splendid PBS version.

Maybe it's good that every generation has it's own Anna - and Elizabeth Bennett, and Lara. And Sherlock (but more about him later this week...) But I can't imagine another Scout Finch. The young Jena Malone would have made a good one, but who could step into Gregory Peck's shoes? And could there be another Holly Golightly?

Which films would you like to see remade and which are "NO, don't mess with perfection!"

(For the record, my faves of the above classics..David Lean's Zhivago, Keira's Pride and Prejudice, Katharine Hepburn's Little Women and so far the Nicola Pagett Anna. Which are your faves?)

LUCY BURDETTE: Okay, so anyone who watched the Jungle Red Family Feud knows that I am weak on movies! But I hope no one messes with SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, or for that matter, anything starring Meryl Streep. And TOOTSIE, remember that one? Could not do better than Dustin Hoffman and Jessica Lang.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: Urgh. Can you imagine a remake of Casablanca?  Sacrilege! Key Largo?  And I'm with Ro on Breakfast at Tiffany's. No one else could play Holly Golightly. No one but Juliette Binoche could do Chocolat. And I agree on Sleepless in Seattle. A remake I did like? The updated version of The Italian Job. Great fun.

Oh, and Lucy, we get that you like Dustin Hoffman:-) Speaking of, nobody better dare mess with The Graduate!

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Well, of course they ruined THE WOMEN (the genesis of Jungle Red, remember.) Even with the wonderful Annette Bening, it stunk up the place.

Can you IMAGINE a remake of To Kill A Mockingbird? NO way! And I bet they wouldn't dare try it. Not a chance to replace Gregory Peck, RO.

They could do a new WORKING GIRL, one of my everlasting favorites, but no one could be like Melanie Griffith and Harrison Ford. Sigh. That was SO good.

The remake of Music Man with whats-his-name was a bomb, wasn't it? And it is interesting, though to see the incarnations of James Bond. Do you all still imagine Sean Connery? Or has Daniel Craig crept into your consciousness?

And don't even think about Lawrence of Arabia.

HALLIE EPHRON: Speaking of Dustin Hoffman, I can't imagine a remake of Midnight Cowboy.

When an actor has nailed a role, it's hard to imagine anyone remaking that movie with a new cast. Audrey Hepburn OWNS Holly Golightly. And who else but Humphrey Bogart could be Sam Spade (even though he's not remotely like Sam Spade in the book) or Lauren Bacall Miss Wonderly? Or Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates? Or Sandra Bullock as Gracie Hart? Or Kathleen Turner as Peggy Sue.

JAN BROGAN: The beauty of Netflix is I just finished rewatching the Old PBS Anna Karenina and Ro, you are right. It was awesome. But I would love to see what Keira does with the role. Interesting, when her version of Pride and Prejudice first came out, it got terrible reviews - mostly because the new Darcy couldn't match Colin Firth, but I still loved it. It's just so visually rich, and I think she was a terrific Elizabeth.

ROSEMARY: Now...as much as I love Colin Firth - and Kristin Scott Thomas was a ninny to prefer Ralph Fiennes in The English Patient - I thought Matthew McFayden did a wonderful job as Darcy. Less wooden and more believable, although not nearly as hot.

JAN: Isn't Sleepless In Seattle sort of a remake itself?  Of An Affair to Remember Or is it just an "ode" to An Affair to Remember.

ROSEMARY: Ode. You've Got Mail was a remake of In The Good Old Summertime which was a remake of Shop Around the Corner. All charming.

JAN: I would hate to see a remake of The Philadelphia Story. Who else could pull off that Katharine Hepburn hyperactivity?

ROSEMARY: But they did...that was High Society with Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby! I don't think it matched up to the original.

JAN: Okay, can you imagine anyone but Jimmy Stewart in It's A Wonderful Life?  Hmmm...maybe Tom Hanks. He always reminds me of Jimmy.

RHYS BOWEN: I can't actually think of a single remake that I enjoyed more than the original. Every time I've seen one I've wanted to shout "Why? Why?"
I would never go and see a remake of Roman Holiday (one of my all-time favorite movies,because nobody could equal Audrey Hepburn-- or West Side Story, Casablanca, or Out of Africa. I agree--don't touch anything starring Meryl Streep.

And sorry, I did not think the Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice measured up to the TV version with Colin Firth (coming out of the lake soaking wet). 

ROSEMARY:...yeah the lake scene alone was worth the price of admission.  Sad to say I could not find a pic of him dripping wet but this one is mighty fine.

Rationing Oneself for good or ill

JAN BROGAN - A woman I play  tennis with told a story last week that I can't get out of my head.   She was never allergic to almonds or nuts of any kind. She ate almonds  her entire life, and then one day, she ate something with almonds in it and she swelled up like a balloon. Every since, she can't even brush an almond to her lips or her lips get suddenly puffy and itchy. And now, she has to carry some sort of antidote in case she eats one by mistake because she could die.  She went to the doctor and he explained it like this:  With certain things it is like filling a cup.  You eat almonds, you fill the cup. Then, one day, when it gets one almond over the cup; WHOOSH, you are allergic.

That made me think:  A lot of things are like that, when you think about it.  I love tennis. But now because of deterioration in my cervical spine,  I have a limited amount of smacking-the-ball-as-hard-as-I-can left in me. I don't want back surgery so I've started to limit the amount of times I play tennis and who I am willing to play tennis against (men WHO HIT heavy TENNIS balls with a lot of spin are on my boycott list). I have self-rationed.

So how about the rest of you, are there things that you love - like almonds - that you love so much you'd be willing to ration yourself for the rest of your life? Any area of your life that makes you wary of overfilling your cup?

HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN : What? Can this be true? (Isn't there that Will Smith or (someone) movie, where he's told he can only say 1000 more words for the rest of his life? If he hits 1000, he'll die? I thought that was a kind of cool story idea...)

One almond over the cup and you are Allergic? No. NO. I cannot believe it. How many is too many? Anyone? Anyone? Does this make sense?

Okay, rant over. Janny, I know you were asking about something else entirely. Frankly, I feel as if I already do that, ration myself. But I eat almonds every day, you see, and now I'm starting to itch. No, really, I'm not kidding.

HALLIE EPHRON: So weird -- that is what happened to me with mussels. I ate them for years and then BLAM just a taste and I get violently ill. If it had happened with almonds I'd be bereft.

RHYS BOWEN: I already have a love/hate relationship with nuts. I love them but they don't love me back. So I've learned to chew a cashew very, very slowly, once in a while. Hank, I don't think I could ration myself to a certain number of words (but what a great story idea!) I'd probably die not shutting up. When I was a small child I was horribly allergic to berries. Two strawberries and I came out in giant blisters. Strangely enough I outgrew this.
I would have no problem with any kind of food or drink. I'm quite disciplined about what I eat--but only one episode of Downton Abbey a year? Only half an hour of As Time Goes By? Or worse still--only ten minutes of reading a day or my eyesight might go? Those would be super hard for me.

JAN: Rhys, I hadn't thought of Downton Abbey, but that's what PBS seems to be doing to us, rationing us on our favorite program. Come to think of it,  I have DVD copies of both the old Pride and Prejudice and the Keira Knightly one and ration myself to once a year. I'm afraid I'll get bored (maybe because I already know every line by heart) and one day, I won't get the same thrill out of watching them.

ROSEMARY HARRIS: And of course my first thought was....hmmmm,.... she's gonna save herself a lot of money in injectable filler treatments in the years to come if all she has to do is rub a nut on her lips and they swell up like Angelina Jolie's. But I guess I digress.

The hard part for me here is the defnition of "fill my cup." Or we talking death or other unpleasant experiences? I always feel that I have to ration myself when it comes to cheese - and peanut butter. my husband has taken to hiding the cheese (who moved my cheese?) because I don't know when to stop. Same thing for peanut butter. Oddly enough if the package is sealed or the jar unopened I don't mind. But once it's out there, I will eat it until it's all gone. Unfortunately when it's over I have the same thin lips.

DEBORAH CROMBIE: I'm not allergic to anything, thank goodness, and tend to be moderate about foods that I do like.  But oh, I would hate to have to give up tea, or cheese, or eggs, or lemons--I am addicted to lemons. And olive oil.  The list goes on, but none of these are things I'd sit down and eat pounds of.

I think Rhys has it.  The worst thing to have to ration would be reading.  I do, in a sense, because I almost never read fiction during the day, or I'd get even less work done than I do now.  But if I could only read five or ten minutes a day? Or only read a certain number of words? Yikes.  Lots to be thankful for, right?


LUCY BURDETTE: Ro, you gave me the best laugh for the day! For me it's cheese too, and milk. I'm one of the few weirdos who drinks milk with dinner and always with cookies or cake. My father was deathly allergic to peanuts and eggs that weren't hard-boiled. We were all well-trained to put the jelly on a sandwich first and then the peanut butter, so the jelly would never accidentally become contaminated. But I digress too:). I'd hate to have to go gluten-free. I adore bread and cake and biscuits and pizza...but reading would be worse. We went shopping for my mother-in-law who can't read normal print very well (and hasn't totally mastered her ipad.) The large print book department is really quite appallingly thin....

Oh wait, wait, I forgot one more...if I became allergic to pets, it would be a true tragedy!

JAN: So come on, we all self-ration in one way or another. To keep your cup from running-eth over, what kind of discipline do you impose on yourself? And in what areas?

And don't forget to come back tomorrow when social media expert and my new guru Glenn Miller (not the big band leader) gives us the best advice ever on how to ration our social media energy.

Tasha Alexander

JAN BROGAN: We are lucky today to have Tasha Alexander here at Jungle Red to dish on what is let's face it, our favorite topic:

Books and why we love 'em.

Tasha is known for her witty dialogue, period detail , attention to historical detail and her ability to keep readers on the edge of their seats with her romantic suspense. Her work has been nominated for numerous awards and has been translated into more than a dozen languages. She and her husband, novelist Andrew Grant, divide their time between Chicago and the UK.

Her latest, A Crimson Warning, has just arrived at book stores. This novel brings her popular protagonist Lady Emily Hargreaves back to high society in Victorian England, where she will join the Women's Liberal Federation in the early campaign to win the vote for women while she must uncover the identity of a vandal who is threatening to reveal scandalous secrets.

TASHA ALEXANDER: If You Had it All to Read Over...

There’s nothing more magical than when you realize you’re reading one of Those Books. One you know you won’t be able to put down, one you know you’ll never forget, one your friends will grow tired of being told they have to read. And one you know that you’ll never be able to read in the same way again.

Books change. At least I think they do. As the always-brilliant David Mitchell says in Number 9 Dream, “A book you finish reading is not the same book it was before you read it.” This is why there are some books that languish on my shelves for long periods of time while I Pleasure Delay. Just knowing the new (ok, not-so-new-anymore) Michael Cunningham is sitting there, waiting for me, makes me happy. Once I read the not-so-new-anymore Michael Cunningham, it may or may not prove to be one of Those Books, but regardless, it will have changed.

And if I read it again, it will change even more.

When I was ten years old, I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time. I loved it, but was utterly flummoxed when Lizzy turned down Darcy’s first proposal. A BOY LIKED HER! Did she not understand this rare and mysterious event might never happen again? Sure, he was a little difficult, but he had some qualities (Pemberley) that deserved careful consideration of their own. Lizzy’s decision baffled me. I was filled with relief when she did agree to marry him, and as soon as I’d finished the book, I set to work making paper dolls of all the primary characters. My Lizzy never turned down my Darcy.

Since then, I’ve reread Pride and Prejudice more times than I can count. It’s the Comfort Book equivalent of macaroni and cheese or mashed potatoes. But as I got older, the way I evaluated the story changed. In college, I rejoiced when Lizzy turned down that arrogant, pretentious twit, Darcy. High time he got what was coming to him. Later, I came to see that neither Lizzy nor Darcy was without significant flaws, and I could understand both of their positions. My emotional reaction to the book altered as my own circumstances and experiences formed the way I think.

is probably why, now, I give such careful thought to when I read certain books. But it’s impossible to always pick the right time to read the right book. That’s part of what makes finding Those Books so utterly and completely delightful. You can’t plan it, and you can’t ever have quite the same experience with even the same book again, which is a bittersweet fact that stings me every single time I realize I’ve found one of Those Books. I can read them again and again, but it will never be quite the same as that first time, when the story and the writing took me by surprise and enchanted me.

David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas is a masterpiece, one that blew me away when I read it like nothing else had in years. The writing is so gorgeous I get chills just thinking about it:

A half-read book is a half-finished love affair.

…she has to lose her pre-Copernican view of a universe revolving around herself.

Books don’t offer real escape, but they can stop a mind from scratching itself raw.

Lying’s wrong, but when the world spins backwards, a small wrong may be a big right.

I’ve gone back to Cloud Atlas a couple of times, and loved it differently after each read. But, boy, how I wish I could fall in love with it all over again. Which brings me to my question for you: What one book would you like to read again for the first time? I have a sneaking suspicion your answers are going to make my To Be Read Pile grow to untenable proportion...

For more on Tasha, check out her website at www.tashaalexander.com

Desert Island Comforts

RHYS: When I worked for the BBC one of the first programs I was assigned to was called Desert Island Disks. It involved asking celebrities which music they would choose to take to a desert island with them.Since I'm off to Hawaii next month my thoughts have turned to desert islands and I'm going to ask my Jungle Red Sisters the following questions:If you were marooned on a desert island:
1. Which 3 books would you choose to take with you?

2. Which one piece of music (and the Ring Cycle is cheating)

3. If you could bring one person with you--from history, from the present, who would it be?

ROSEMARY: Oh fun..I love these things...and I'll probably think of other answers as soon as I write these but here goes...Pride and Prejudice- because I can read it over and overThe Bible - because I've never read itMy WIP - obvious
Brandenburg Concertos
My husband.

HANK: Oh, I can never ever choose.Three books--Winters' Tale, by Mark Helprin. (gorgeous) Bonfire of the Vanities. (maybe? hilarious. Laughing is good.) And yeah, my WIP. Got to.
Music? The Beatles White Album? (I guess it's not fair to say--some huge Mozart compilation.)
And yes, of couse. Jonathan. If husbands don't count, in this situation at least, I'd say--Shakespeare? And if you don't think he existed, then I guess..Paul Simon. (The songwriter, not the senator.) That's a tough one, though. It would have to be someone fun to talk to, right? Oh, maybe I should have chosen a doctor. Or a cook!

DEBS: Rhys, what brilliant questions!
Do the Bach cello suites count as one piece of music? (Can I have Torvill and Dean skating to them as well?)
Hank, I LOVE Mark Helprin's A Winter's Tale! Must go on the re-read list . . .
Three books? Oh my gosh, only three? Does Lord of the Rings count as one? That would keep me occupied for a while. #2, waffling between Possession by AS Byatt and Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruis Zafon (and I can think of a hundred others, but am restraining myself mightily.) #3, WIP, as I would hate not to finish it, even if I had to scribble in sand . . .
And the one person, if we don't count husbands . . . I see we're having a bit of a male bias on this. How about Amelia Erhart? I'll bet she'd have some good stories to tell, and would be useful to have around on a desert island in a pinch.
(Of course, if we're not limited to real people, I might go for Sawyer on LOST. Very handy to have around on a desert island, and looks quite nice without a shirt as well.)

ROBERTA: I'm definitely choosing my husband. You need someone you can get along with over the long, long haul, right?
As for books, something about boat-building would be a good choice. and Gone with the Wind. And okay, I'll bring my WIP though Rhys did not say anything about computers or even legal pads.
For music, I'll go with The Messiah or else La Traviata. Though I hate when I listen to something too much and it gets stuck in my head like an earworm...

HALLIE: Books--Amanda Hesser's compilation of NY Times recipes in The Essential New York Times CookbookInto Thin Air by Jon KrakauerGhost Light: A Memoir by Frank Rich
Music--Heaven help me: Carole King's Tapestry. Or Mozart's Eine Kleine Nacht Musik
Person: Husband aside, definitely Julia Child.
DEBS: Hallie, love Into Thin Air. Have read it multiple times and will probably read it many more. And why didn't I think of Julia Child?

RHYS: Wouldn't it be torture to have a cook book and Julia Child if all you had to work with was coconuts and clams? Or are you picturing a lush and abundant desert island?
It's amazing how much we are soul sisters. I would definitely choose Lord of the Rings, even though I have read it so many times, but I'd find its essential message of good triumphing over evil, of the small and weak being able to conquer inspiring. I also adore Pride and Prejudice, although I'd choose the Colin Firth TV version if I could...
And Debs, I also adore Possession. I could take the time to read all those poems and marvel at their cleverness.But now I'm starting to think I might need the Dummies Book of Desert Island Survival as one of my choices.
And for the third: maybe Winnie the Pooh to remind me that life is funny and touching and simple.And if not that, then maybe a book on Einstein's Theory of Relativity or on String Theory so that I'd finally have the time to understand them.
For my music: (why did I ever start this thing. How can one choose one piece of music?) Something to make me happy and uplifted. Probably Die Fledermaus.
I'm impressed that everyone wants her husband there. I'm sure mine would be a nuisance and want me to treat his sunburn and coral scratches and the bumps from falling coconuts. Is it cheating to ask for Jesus so that he could inspire me and then teach me how to walk on water? Yes. Okay. Probably Peter Ustinov because he had so many good stories.

Hundred Books Everyone Should Have Read

RHYS: A couple of weeks ago, the BBC published a list of books that everyone should have read in their lifetime. There were 100 books on the list and they included the very weighty tomes like War and Peace, but also the more popular Harry Potter. I felt rather proud of myself because I had read at least 70 of the hundred books. When someone on another list published a different set of 100 books, this second list was more a compilation of world Classics, and I have to confess that I had only read around 50 of those.

So this list got me thinking about my own work and why I wasn't included on either list. Okay, that is meant to be a joke. But I suppose any writer at one stage in their career wonders if they will write a book that will have enduring value. I know that I write books that are meant to entertain. They do interlude social concerns and an accurate look at history, but they are not To Kill a Mockingbird.

Obviously, before I stop writing I would love to write that one definitive book. I would like to future readers to say "Oh, Rhys Bowen, didn't she write X?", But I have no idea what that book would be. I enjoy what I write, I think I have a flair for humour and when I try to be too serious and too deep I depress myself. So looking at that list what is the one book that I wish I had written? I am very impressed with Byatt's Possession , and the way that she created a complete body of work of two fictitious poets. But that book doesn't really touch the heart. I'd like to have written something like Of Mice and Men, or a Tale of Two Cities and had my readers weeping by the end. But I think if I could write only one of those books it would have to be the Lord of the Rings. For me this was the definitive creation of a fantasy world and I have never attempted fantasy since I read it, because I know I couldn't do as well.

So fellow Jungle Red Writers-- which book do you wish that you had written?

HALLIE: The one I just read. ROOM by Emma Donaghue. It's a stunning work, written in the voice of a 5-year-old. Unputdownable.

JAN: If I get only one, I wish I wrote Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. Which captures England as the world changes and end of the era. I love books that capture history just as its changing. (Gone with the Wind does this too)

If I get more, I'll add: Pride and Prejudice, which is the ultimate, enduring CInderella Story. And the short story THe Lottery by Shirley Jackson which reminded humans about their mob mentalities.

ROBERTA: Right now I think I will say Anne Lamott's book on writing, BIRD BY BIRD. Have you ever talked to a writer who hasn't loved that book? Somehow she managed to lay out the agony of writing while coming through as supportive and encouraging. It's not a great classic, but it's a book that has affected a lot of writers' lives. Okay, and here's one more: THE WIND IN THE WILLOWS. That book is a masterpiece!

RHYS: I'm changing my mind and thinking maybe Harry Potter. Not only did she create a complete world, true to its own rules (although I do wonder why the world's most powerful wizard has to wear glasses), but she single-handedly got kids passionate about reading again.

Any other suggestions?

Tasha Alexander, Not at all Dangerous to Know!

RHYS: It's funny in our profession how every now and then we come across an alter ego. It happened to me when I first met Jacqueline Winspear. We clicked instantly and had so much in common.
And more recently it's Tasha Alexander, writer of the Lady Emily Ashton novels of suspense. I was first attracted to her books by their gorgeous covers. I'm always skeptical of English historical novels written by Americans but she has a great feel for Victorian England and I was hooked.
Then her books started showing up next to mine on Amazon. You know--people who bought your book also bought.... one by Tasha Alexander.
We met last week at the Bouchercon mystery convention and Tasha was still in that newlywed glow, after her recent wedding to fellow novelist Andrew Grant.
And yes, she really is that gorgeous. It would be easy to hate her but she's also SO NICE!

So welcome to Jungle Red, Tasha. You're a girl from the Mid West, so what drew you to Victorian England?

TASHA; I've been a confirmed Anglophile from an early age. When I was ten, I read Pride and Prejudice for the first time, and was a little worried about Lizzie when she turned down Mr. Collins's proposal. At the time, I couldn't imagine ANY boy ever liking me, EVEN someone as awful as Mr. Collins, and figured it would probably be the same for Lizzie. As far as I was concerned, she was taking quite a risk hoping for a second chance. Needless to say, I was relieved when it all worked out with Darcy, and celebrated by making paper dolls of all the characters. My paper Lizzie was not kind to my paper Mr. Collins. From then on, I read everything I could get my hands on that was set in England. As I got older, I became more interested in the social history of the Victorian period, particularly the latter part of it. I've always been drawn to its strong women who struggled against social mores and repression to live vibrant, fascinating lives.

RHYS; How did you get a feel for the lifestyle of the British aristocracy?

TASHA;I read a lot: histories, diaries, memoirs, letters. Some of the memoirs published by vanity presses are especially wonderful insights into the period and the people. Just the fact that so many "Great Women" (and men) felt the need to see in print the tales of their experiences is extremely telling. There was certainly was no lack of ego amongst the aristocracy. Also, because I spend loads of time in the UK, I visit houses, which helps give me a concrete sense of how these people lived. Chatsworth is one of my favorites, but there's no shortage of great country estates. Unfortunately, many of best London townhouses were torn down, but there are still some (Spencer House springs to mind) to see.

RHYS:Lady Emily Ashton? In what ways is she like you? Does she lead the life you'd like to read?

TASHA: When I started, I set out to write the book I wanted to read. Emily's like me in some superficial ways--it would be no fun to write about someone who likes things I hate, after all. I've always been fascinated by Classical art and antiquities, love to read, love to travel, and wouldn't object to a nice glass of port. There's lots about her life I envy. I certainly would have no issue having an enormous fortune irrevocably settled upon me, and I'd love to have a house in Mayfair. But Emily is much more impulsive than I am. And I was never married to a viscount....

RHYS:Tell us a little about the new title, Dangerous to Know.

TASHA: Emily has come to the lush Norman countryside in search of respite. Instead, she finds a brutally murdered woman, a ghostly child, and a family being destroyed by hereditary madness. Not to mention a disapproving mother-in-law. Most importantly, however, this book continues developing her character. When I started writing, I wanted to tell the story of a young lady in a repressive time period who found her way to independence. And I wanted to do this in an historically appropriate way. In the first book in the series, Emily underwent an intellectual awakening that led her to start to question her role in society. Over the course of the following books, she branches out more, seeing a world beyond the sheltered, aristocratic one in which she grew up, and has to reconcile her own intellectual and emotional growth with her place in the world.

RHYS: Tasha, I can't let you go without asking you about your recent marriage. How did you meet Andrew? How much time do you plan to spend in England? What do you like about UK better than US and the other way around?

TASHA:We met at Bouchercon in Baltimore. I saw this tall, handsome guy leaning against the bar, and couldn't resist introducing myself. We clicked immediately. By the end of the weekend (most of which we spent sitting on a couch and talking in the hotel lobby until the sun came up), we were already (half) joking about him moving to Chicago. We now spend about a third of our time in England and are constantly diverted by new differences we find between the two countries. I've been converted to craving scampi and chips, am addicted to Boots hand cream, and carry more Fortnum and Mason tea in my suitcase than is probably decent (have to keep my US supplies up!). The wonderful thing about having a foot in each culture is gaining new appreciation for them both--the drawback is it's much more difficult to romanticize either place. That said, Andrew playing Heathcliff and stalking across the moors is a sight to behold.

RHYS: We wish you both a lifetime of happiness and good books! So thank you for visiting us today and the best of luck with Dangerous to Know!

(It is spooky that I have always loved Pride and Prejudice (my hero is called Darcy, after all) and also used to make paper dolls to act things out. And I also come back from England with a suitcase full of tea. If this were a soap opera, you'd be my long lost young sister..or the child I never remembered having!)

Tasha's website is www.tashaalexander.com

Nancy Drew and...?

HALLIE: There it is on the best seller list: "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." It begins: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”

Brilliant blasphemy! If only I'd thought of it. Listening to author Seth Grahame-Smith on the radio, I was not surprised to learn that the book was his editor's brain child– he’d been noodling around with lists of classic book titles and, I assume, creatures, until BINGO: P&P and Zombies.

Trying to recreate his process, here's my list of titles (and some main characters) and creatures, and I started tyring to pair them up and realized this is not as easy as it looks. Nancy Drew and...Oompaloompas? How would you pair these up--or come up with your own title/creature pairing...(look down...can't seem to get rid of this big fat space below here)

TITLES 1984 Cherry Ames David Copperfield Don Quixote Ellery Queen Hercule Poirot Gone with the Wind The Great Gatsby The Hardy Boys Huckleberry Finn Sherlock Holmes Jane Eyre Little Women Nancy Drew Madame Bovary The Maltese Falcon Miss Marple Moby Dick Moll Flanders Nero Wolfe The Odyssey Oliver Twist Rebecca Robinson Crusoe The Scarlet Letter The Three Musketeers To Kill a Mockingbird Wuthering Heights The Valley of the Dolls War and Peace (Your choice)

CREATURES Anacondas Death eaters Demons Devils Dragons Fairies Ghosts The Jabberwock Jugglers Leprechauns Monsters Mutants Mummies Ninjas Oompaloompas Pirates Poltergeists Robots Samurai Sneetches Shape shifters Space aliens Succubi Trolls Tribbles Triffids Vampires Velocaraptors Werewolves Witches (Your choice)

Do you love it? Hate it? What would you pair up? Best pairing wins a prize!