Cara Elliott salutes real-life Regency rebels
Cara Elliott, author of Scandalously Yours, helps us celebrate Women's History Month by saluting some women in history who bucked the norm — and made a big impression.
Cara: Smart. Strong. And bold enough to break the rules in order to follow their passions ... These days, we women have lots of support and inspiring role models to encourage us to dare to dream Big Dreams. Whether we aspire to be a doctor, a lawyer, an Olympic athlete or an astrophysicist, we're free to reach for the stars. However, we all know that hasn't been true for much of history — but that didn't stop our historical sisters-in-spirit from defying convention.
I tend to write offbeat, unconventional heroines in my Regency-set novels — maybe because I tended to be a tomboy as a child and was often chided to "act more like a normal young lady!" In any case, none of my heroines are demure, dainty demoiselles swathed in layers of satin and silk. They are more the sort of women who have the courage to march to the beat of their own inner drummer.
Which means some readers have scolded me for not creating "real" Regency ladies, but I beg to disagree! For the more I research the Regency era, the more I discover what fascinating and adventurous women lived during the era. And so, in honor of Women's History Month, let's celebrate a few of these real-life Regency Rebels.
• Augusta Ada Byron King, Countess of Lovelace, was Lord Byron's daughter, and like her father she was an artistic genius. But her talent was not poetry — in a world that considered women intellectually inferior, she proved herself a genius in mathematics. When she was 17, Ada met Charles Babbage, the inventor of the Analytical Engine, a precursor of the modern computer. They became lifelong friends, and together worked on the math theory of an all-purpose computing machine. Babbage called her "the Enchantress of Numbers," and indeed, Ada's notes for calculating sequences of Bernoulli numbers on the Engine is credited with being the first computer program ever written. Today, the U.S. Department of Defense has named one of its main programming languages ADA in her honor.
• Mary Wollstonecraft was a novelist, a travel writer, a historian and, most of all, a fearless voice for social reform. She wrote a famous essay calling for equal rights for women, and was in many ways the inspiration of the modern feminist movement. Her unconventional lifestyle shocked Society — she had several torrid love affairs before marrying the radical philosopher William Godwin. (Their daughter Mary went on to live an equally rebellious life — she eloped with the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and later wrote the famous novel Frankenstein.)
• Caroline Herschel was a tiny woman who stood only four foot, three inches tall, but she looms large in the history of astronomy. Born in Germany, she came to England to run her brother's household, and was soon assisting him in building telescopes. After William was appointed King's Astronomer to George III, Caroline learned to "sweep" the skies and study the stars. She earned her own place in the scientific firmament by discovering no less than eight major comets and meticulously cataloging countless stars. She was awarded a gold medal from the Royal Astronomical Society for her work. And in 1835, she and Mary Somerville were the first women ever elected to an honorary membership in the Society.
• Lady Diana Beauclerk — known as Lady Di, like her namesake and descendant Princess Diana — suffered through two bad marriages with wastrel aristocrats who squandered their fortunes. Left a single mother with poverty looming, she turned to her artistic skills to support her family, though earning money as a professional was considered scandalous by Society. Encouraged by the Duchess of Devonshire and Horace Walpole, she persevered and won acclaim for her watercolor portraits and illustrations. She later went on to design classical motifs for Josiah Wedgwood's distinctive blue and white china — which is still very popular today.
So how about you? Do you have a favorite woman in history who dared to defy the rules of her era? Please share.
About Scandalously Yours (courtesy of Forever):
Proper young ladies of the ton — especially ones who have very small dowries — are not encouraged to have an interest in intellectual pursuits. Indeed, the only thing they are encouraged to pursue is an eligible bachelor. So, the headstrong Sloane sisters must keep their passions a secret. Ah, but secret passions are wont to lead a lady into trouble ...
Scandalously Yours …
The eldest of the three Sloane sisters, Olivia is unafraid to question the boundaries of Society — even if it does frequently land her in trouble. Disdaining the glittery world of balls and courtship, Olivia prefers to spend her time writing fiery political essays under a pseudonym for London's leading newspaper. But when her columns attract the attention of the oh-so-proper Earl of Wrexham, Olivia suddenly finds herself dancing on the razor's edge of scandal. With the help of her sisters, she tries to stay one step ahead of trouble ...
However, after a series of madcap misadventures, Wrexham, a former military hero who is fighting for social reform in Parliament, discovers Olivia's secret. To her surprise, he proposes a temporary alliance to help win passage of his bill. Passion flares between them, but when a political enemy kidnaps the earl's young son, they must make some dangerous decisions ... and trust that love will conquer all.
Find out more about Cara and her books at www.caraelliott.com.