Hello Dear Readers

The models: Megan Channell and Paul Marron

For this cover I chose models well known to the romance book cover world. Readers love them, and what’s not to love? And if the model ‘pose’ is also familiar it is because it is a homage to the ubiquitous clinch seen on many a romance cover. What is new is seeing these models in 18th Century clothing, and Paul having roll curls above his ears, and with his shirt on!

Megan is the perfect Lady Mary, the “proud Mary” of the book title. She is beautiful, with gorgeous red hair and a noble bearing. Daughter of an earl, Lady Mary has been left destitute after a loveless marriage and lives in the depths of the country off the charity provided by her titled and powerful relatives. Pride is all that is left to her, or so she thinks…

Paul is how I imagined Christopher, with his mesmerizing dark good looks. There is something about the handsome Cotswolds squire Mr. Christopher Bryce that fascinates his neighbors, and causes females to swoon. I can well imagine Paul’s Christopher having a secret past in faraway Lucca, Italy, that is as surprising as it is shocking. And yet he has eyes only for his proud neighbor, Lady Mary.

Megan and Paul make a wonderful Mary and Christopher.

The Setting

Few can dispute that the Cotswolds area in south west England is one of the most beautiful landscapes in all of the United Kingdom. Designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), with hidden river valleys and densely wooded forests that evoke the time of mythical Arthurian legend, the landscape remains predominantly rural. The rolling hills are a patchwork of forest and pastures cross-crossed by dry stone walls dotted with sheep and cows. There are market towns and villages of thatched cottages, churches and stately homes, with many constructed from the distinctive honey colored indigenous stone of oolitic Jurassic limestone. While the area is rich in human history dating back to the Neolithic, many of the villages and farming areas remain unchanged since Georgian times.

Lady Mary and her young daughter Teddy live at Abbeywood Farm in the heart of the Cotswolds. Abbeywood is a mosaic of several Cotswold stately homes, but mostly it is based on the Jacobean manor Stanway House, which is featured in the artwork.

If you look closely at the Proud Mary artwork, you’ll see a couple of Cotswold sheep. Known as the “Cotswold lion” for their thick shaggy wool, this breed is now considered rare, but was ubiquitous to the area in the 18th Century. Introduced to England by the Romans, the wool produced by these “lions” played a major role in the development of many of the towns and villages of the Cotswolds, and the wool woven from their fleece was a significant contribution to the success of English cloth trade.

Do you also spy Teddy playing with her hoop and stick? Teddy is such an integral part of the story I wanted her to be present, and so she’s there in the artwork, and will appear on the back cover of the print editions of Proud Mary.

As for hoop rolling (or trundling), it was a wildly popular children’s game from the time of antiquity until the turn of the 20th century. Keeping the hoop upright and rolling it along required concentration and agility, and was a fun way to exercise. Introduced into England around the 15th Century, by the 1700s it was so entrenched that some writers (and newssheets) condemned the use of the hoop and stick as a nuisance and a time waster!

The Costumes

But first a very brief history of Chintz

Chintz is a woodblock printed, painted or stained calico, and it was first produced in 16th Century Hyderabad, India. The floral prints were loosely based on the Islamic art of Persia, with the first chintz patterns depictions of the tree of life. While British consumers described these vibrant colorful fabrics as “painted”, chintzes were in fact created by a complicated process of dyeing. A detailed description of the entire process can be found in this article by Atelier Nostalgia (scroll halfway down).

The first samples of Chintz came to England, France and The Netherlands via Dutch and Portuguese traders in the 16th century. It was initially used by Europeans for home furnishings such as bed linen, bed curtains, wall hangings and canopies. These soft furnishings were later repurposed, and that’s how Chintz found its way into the inner linings of petticoats, jackets, and gowns. Domestics and working women first wore chintz as outerwear, when they were given the off cuts and cast-off home furnishings of their masters and reworked the fabric into clothing for themselves and for infants.

Sometime in the early 1700s the English aristocracy came to regard Chintz as fashionable enough to be worn as “undress” at home. There are plenty of extant examples of gentleman’s dressing gowns (banyans) fashioned from Chintz, as well as women’s caracoes, petticoats, and day gowns (see below).

By the early 1700s, Chintz had grown in such popularity that it was thought to threaten local wool, linen and silk industries. And so both England and France banned the importation of printed cottons, hoping to protect the local economy. However, this did not stop English merchants from trading the Chintz obtained from their subcontinental territories with other countries. And while the French population were barred from wearing Chintz from 1681 until the 1750s, courtiers at Versailles were exempt (as they were from most bans on anything!) and enthusiastically embraced the wearing of Chintz for less formal occasions.

The ban on painted and printed cottons being sold in France was lifted in 1759, and in England in 1774. Of course the English aristocracy, like their French counterparts, had flouted the ban on Chintz for decades. As with anything that is illegal and in short supply, such a ban merely reinforced Chintz as a highly desirable and much sort after elite item. Wearing Chintz became a symbol of status amongst the ruling elites. 

And so we see in the Proud Mary artwork, Lady Mary, daughter of an earl, cousin of a double duchess, and great-granddaughter of a Stuart King, wearing a day gown made from Chintz. No matter she is a poor widow eking out an existence in the wilds of the Cotswolds, living on the charity of her relatives. No doubt the fabric was gifted to her by those same noble relatives. She may be poor but by wearing such a gown there is no mistaking her noble pedigree and connections. It was theologian Erasmus who stated vestis virum facit (clothes makes the man), and this was very apt for those living in the 18th Century!

Lady Mary

Lady Mary’s open robe Chintz gown, Dotted Swiss petticoat, white gauze engageantes and fichu were custom made to the model’s measurements by the talented Karen Bowler of Classic Costume in the UK. As always, Karen was exacting and very patient, and the result I am sure you agree is stunning!

The Chintz used to make the open robe gown is a faithful adaptation of a chintz baptism blanket from India, circa 1725, held in the Collection of the Marken Museum, The Netherlands. This reproduction Chintz is glazed cotton, printed and hand painted in the chintz technique in India and then exported to Holland. It is part of Dutch Fabric’s Den Haan & Wagenmakers Collection, which is based on antique examples from the 17th and 18th centuries.

The petticoat, which is worn to be seen, is a plain weave sheer cotton embellished with small dots called “Dotted Swiss”. The design is said to have originated at the textile center of St. Gallen in Switzerland in 1750. Under this petticoat was worn another white under-petticoat, and under that a hip roll was tied about the waist over the stays and chemise to give fullness to the petticoat and gown, and to provide further shape to the female silhouette.

Tied at the elbow are engageantes of white gauze with a fine ace edging. Lady Mary wears a fichu of the same material about her shoulders and decolletage.

To complete her ensemble, Lady Mary wears an equipage (called a chatelaine after c. 1830), which hangs from her waistband. An equipage was a necessary and utilitarian device used by women in their day to day living. And as with any such object, depending on the materials, it denoted the class and wealth of its wearer.

A little bit about the equipage (chatelaine)

The “swiss army knife” of the 18th Century, the equipage was a domestic “tool belt” women found indispensable.

It could be as expensive and as elaborate as the owner could afford. The extant examples in museums are often ornate, made from gold or gilded brass and some are inlaid with enamel. A hook on the reverse and at the top of a central shaft secured the equipage to the waistband of the wearer’s petticoat at the front of her gown. From this, on various lengths of chain, dangled the many “tools” she considered necessary. If she were a housekeeper these tools might be a set of keys, a pair of scissors, tweezers, needle and thread, perhaps a watch, and a tiny notebook and pen, etc.

If the equipage was for more personalized use then its tools reflected the interests and wealth of its owner. Usually this meant sewing and embroidery work, so dangling from chains would be a thimble in its case, a needle and thread in another, a container of straight pins, a small pocket watch, an etui with tweezers, nail file, and scissors. There could also be a scent bottle, and even a breloque containing breath-freshening sweets (see below). The possibilities for personalizing an equipage were endless!

Lady Mary’s equipage has an ornate shaft made in France (which is an authentic 18th Century French equipage shaft) and from the little chains dangle the items she needs most. She is a keen embroiderer, so there is a thimble in its case and a pin container full of straight pins. There is also a small perfume bottle, and an etui which has within it a pair of tweezers, a toothpick, scissors, and a place for several sewing needles. There is also a small key to the drawer of her escritoire. Missing is a pocket watch (but no doubt she had one of those too!).

This splendid equipage with its original 18th Century French shaft, and its various tools, was sourced and painstakingly constructed by Kimberly Walters of At the Sign of the Gray Horse Reproduction and Historically Inspired Jewelry. And hasn’t Kim created a most fabulous equipage fit for the daughter of an earl!

Kimberly also created Lady Mary’s pearl choker and bracelet. Both of which can be purchased from her Etsy shop via the Roxton Family Saga Jewely Collection, along with other pieces worn by the heroines of the Roxton Family Saga.

Christopher

Mr. Christopher Bryce is a local squire who owns the imposing Brycecomb Manor, the neighboring estate to Abbeywood Farm where Lady Mary and Teddy reside. Christopher was born on this estate, and except for a number of years abroad, he has spent his entire life in the Cotswolds. He is a no-nonsense bachelor of few words who is swooningly handsome, and hides a secret so shocking he is certain to be shunned by good society.

English society precepts were such that it was perfectly socially acceptable for the son of an earl to marry a wealthy squire’s daughter, but it was social suicide for an earl’s daughter to marry the son of a squire, or any gentleman of a lower social standing, no matter how wealthy he might be. That was called “marrying down”. Such a marriage would mean the female, and most definitely the couple, would not be accepted in Society drawing rooms, and invitation to balls and social gatherings would be limited. Such a marriage was considered a disgrace for her family.

To show the unequal social chasm between an earl’s daughter and a common squire, Lady Mary wears a Chintz gown – a fabric associated with the nobility, while Christopher is without his frock coat and in his shirt sleeves. It is his beautifully embroidered waistcoat that indicates he has taste and wealth.

Christopher’s gorgeous waistcoat with its autumnal wheat embroidery pattern is a made to order faithful reproduction of an original garment circa 1780. Darcy Clothing used digital print technology to recreate the hand embroidery. Even the covered buttons have digitally printed embroidery for absolute authenticity to the original. From a distance the result is indistinguishable from real embroidery.

And as having a hand embroidered waistcoat would be prohibitively expensive, and something only to be attempted by the very skilled and very talented, such as the incredible Sewstine, for the purposes of this book cover project this waistcoat was the perfect solution.

The Behind the Scenes video

Creative Collaborators

Gene Mollica and Sasha Almazan, Gene Mollica Studio
Sprigleaf Pty Ltd
Karen Bowler, Classic Costume, UK
Kimberly Walters, At the Sign of the Gray Horse Reproduction and Historically Inspired Jewelry

Until next time… Henri-Antoine and Lisa’s Happily Ever After in Satyr’s Son

Hugs

Proud Mary: A Georgian Historical Romance
Roxton Family Saga Book 4: Mary and Christopher’s Happily Ever After

Pride comes before the falling in love. Lady Mary must remarry. As great-granddaughter to a Stuart king, expectations demand she find a titled husband. Country squire Christopher Bryce has secretly loved Mary for many years. But a scandalous past and a heartbreaking secret make him thoroughly unworthy. The sudden return of a mischievous ghost, and the never ordinary members of the Roxton family, will intervene to seal both their fates.

B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree
Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Winner
Night Owl Reviews TOP PICK
Chatelaine Book Awards for Romantic Fiction Finalist

References

Megan Channell
Paul Marron
Chintz
Cheent to Chintz by Hemalatha, CSP January 21, 2020
Chintz, cotton in bloom, Textile forum blog, 2017
Chintz Fried Museum article by Irenebrination
Cotswolds—11 Reasons everyone should visit the Cotswolds at least once
Cotswolds—10 of the prettiest village in the Cotswolds
Cotswolds lion sheep
Cotswolds Stone
Chatelaine (Equipage), London, 1755, V&A
Chatelaines—the killer mobile device for Victorian women
Dutch Fabric
Enamel and Gilt Equipage 1765-1775, V&A
Hoop Rolling
Stanway Manor House Image ID: 158516416 Copyright Laura Facchini | Dreamstime.com, used under licence
“Little child playing hoop and stick at Colonial Williamsburg” copyright Emanuel Tanjala, Alamy Stock photo Alamy Australia Pty Ltd, used under licence