strange and random happenstance

Three years ago Anne Lister strode onto the screen and became the darling of relevant period drama. Suranne Jones as Lister with a nod and a wink spoke right to the audience letting us into the secrets of Lister's life. And what a life! From 1791 to 1840 Anne Lister detailed the minutiae of her life in secret diaries that were found behind a wall panel in her home, Shibden Hall. What's more stunning is that they were written in a code that, when cracked, showed their importance because Lister was unapologetically a lover of women. She wrote about her seduction techniques and love affairs, as well as information about coal and canals. Lister's marriage to Ann Walker, which concludes the first season of Gentleman Jack, is viewed as the first lesbian marriage in Britain. There's a plaque and everything. You'd think that such a life as Lister's, with all her work and travel and love affairs, would have been adapted years early, and actually it was almost a decade previously, but The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister staring Maxine Peake just seemed to be missing something, and oddly not Gemma Jones who reprises her role of Aunt Lister here. And I can't really put my finger on the failure either other than perhaps the world was just waiting with baited breath for the perfection that is Gentleman Jack. This show is an amazing headlong plunge into the life of a woman who loved life. Suranne Jones as Anne Lister is more alive than anyone I have ever seen. Her personality is larger than life, you can see how Ann Walker fell under her spell and how Mariana Lawton can not live without her. But in Ann Walker we see the heart of the show, her vulnerability, her humanity, and how Anne Lister wants to protect her. This is a complicated love story as well as a celebration of a woman who lived her life as she wanted, not willing to conform to societies expectations of her. What's more this show has a stacked cast, Timothy West, Peter Davison, Rupert Vansittart, Gemma Whelan, and so many more. But I think a king, a doctor, an in-law of Mr. Bingley's, and a Greyjoy are pretty big names indeed! But the second season seems to lack focus. Yes, love, work, politics, they were all an important part of Lister's life, but here they're all mashed together with no rhyme or reason. And as for how they handle the politics, blues versus yellows, they do know us Americans don't know what that means right? I wanted Gemma Whelan to give one of her perplexed stares into the camera just for me. But maybe, just maybe, they didn't want to spell it out because Lister was actually a conservative, AKA a blue. And as for how they handled Mariana this season, hold me back. There is NO EVIDENCE that there was an affair after the marriage. And Mariana comes across as such a manipulative bitch. But I give them credit for showing Lister warts and all, especially in how she treated her sister. Sometimes you can't like her, but you have to root for her, because it's wrong that Miss Lister and Miss Walker are the only two people in the world who are rooting for their relationship to succeed.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Ann Walker, Anne Lister, Gemma Jones, Gemma Whelan, Gentleman Jack, Lesbian, Peter Davidson, Rupert Vansittart, Shibden Hall, The Secret Diaries of Miss Anne Lister, Timothy West

Last year I decided to watch a whole lot of old BBC miniseries that I had been meaning to get to with the loose theme that they all related to Edward VII. I watched Edward the King, because, Edward obviously! I watched two shows about Edward's mistresses, Lillie and The Duchess of Duke Street. Then I went more generic with The Edwardians and Berkeley Square bringing the viewings to a close. Berkeley Square was the only series I had actually seen before but now I can proudly say I've seen them all! As Patrick Stewart said, "I've seen everything." What's interesting about Lillie is that Francesca Annis played the character of Lillie Langtry in Edward the King and was so popular they made a whole series about the infamous mistress to the king and the famous actress she became from childhood to death, and the death was probably not meant to be hilarious, but she was picking fights in bars where you paid men to dance with you, so, that's on her. If the series had one fault it was that they didn't bring Timothy West back to play Edward, but I forgive them because I got to see a bitty baby Rupert Giles as Lillie's older brother in his second ever role! But while Francesca Annis, in my mind, didn't make that much an impression in Edward the King to warrant her own series there is one actor in her series that deserved their own. Lillie fell into the artistic community of the time where she quickly became it's star. She hung out with the likes of Millais and Whistler, her presence inspiring them. But the one historical figure she formed the strongest relationship with was Oscar Wilde. Now I am a huge fan of Oscar Wilde, I even wrote a lengthy paper on him for a class on writing for the threatre in undergrad, so I take my interpretations of Oscar VERY seriously. Stephen Fry is probably most famous to my generation for portraying the author, but no offense to Stephen, Peter Egan just blew me away. Peter Egan is still a stalwart British actor keeping his hand in the game, he was on this past season of The Spanish Princess AND he was on Downton Abbey. But forever more to me he is the only portrayal of Oscar Wilde I will ever think about. The pathos, the feeling, the tragedy, I don't know if I have ever, in my entire life, seen a better performance in ANYTHING! While I wish he had gotten a series of his own, Oscar's life is fully seen through the lens of Lillie's life. I'm just greedy because I want more.       

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Downton Abbey, Edward VII, Edwardian, Fifty Years a Masterpiece, Francesca Annis, Lillie, Lillie Langtry, Oscar Wilde, Peter Egan, Rupert Giles, Stephen Fry, The Duchess of Duke Street, Timothy West

Uneasy Lies the Crown by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 30th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

The Queen is dead, long live Bertie? No matter how indomitable Emily thought the Queen or how hard the Queen fought against the inevitable by keeping her son out of politics, somehow Emily has to grasp the fact that Bertie is Bertie no more but Edward VII. But that is the least of Emily's worries at the moment and scandalizing her mother at the Queen's funeral is the one bright spot in her day. Colin was called away from the funeral luncheon to the Tower of London due to a murder and Emily, as is her wont, followed. A body had been found in the room where Henry VI was murdered. The dead man staged to look like the long dead king with a sword run through him and the costume to match. Colin thinks this is a threat to the new king and that the king's mother new it was coming. On her deathbed Queen Victoria gave Colin a letter with instructions, the last she would give him: Une sanz pluis. Sapere aude. "One and no more. Dare to know." He didn't even show Emily the note until after what they found in the Tower. Colin didn't want to betray the Queen's trust. But with the Queen dead and her son possibly in danger he knows he needs Emily's help.

There has also been another letter. And as much as Emily loves the idea of the Queen sending her husband mail from beyond the grave Colin assures Emily this isn't the case as neither note was written in the Queen's hand. The second note contained a map of the Tower of London and the drawing of a medieval lance. Was this note hinting at the murder? Is it a clue to another murder yet to come? When the body of a second victim turns up in Berkley Square murdered in the manner of Edward II, poker and all, it is clear that someone is sending a message, only Colin and Emily don't agree what that message is. Colin is convinced it is a clear and present danger to Bertie, while the more Emily digs into the lives of the victims themselves and not the way they were murdered she sees an entirely different picture. She thinks they are revenge killings. The first victim beat his wife, the second victim was a pimp who killed one of his girls who happened to have known the first victim's wife. All the couple know is that thanks to a local costume shop there are at least two more murders to come. Yet Colin's notes seem to have less and less to do with the murders and more to do with Henry V... could they be dealing with two disparate cases? And is Bertie even in danger?

There are as many different types of authors as there are book genres. There are the decent authors, you can enjoy their work but will probably never pick up another one of theirs. There are the bad authors, those whose books you want to fling across the room and are consumed by rage as you force yourself to finish. There are the really bad authors who make you so depressed you never want to read again and end up in the land of book melancholia. On the other end of the spectrum you have the good authors, the ones who you will always seek out their new book and make sure to read everything they have ever written. But then there is the rarest category of all, the great writers. Writers who you not only want to devour every word they have ever written but who inspire you. They make you want to read everything. They make you curious to know more. They make you have a voracious appetite that will never be satisfied to read and read. They open the world to you and you dive right in. I have always considered Tasha a good writer, but over her last few volumes, starting around The Adventuress and A Terrible Beauty I started to notice a shift. Tasha was bound for greatness and she has confirmed this with Uneasy Lies the Crown.

This volume just spoke to me on so many levels, but in particular I really connected to the glimpse of Colin's family history and how it connected to Henry V and Agincourt. I was so connected to Cecily Hargrave and her husband William that anyone that stood in their way I wanted to psychically harm. Especially the mean girl Cecily was staying with while her husband was off fighting in France. Right here, this shows Tasha's greatness. Not just in creating characters I love but in bringing history to life. My British history is pretty sketchy prior to the Wars of the Roses. It just happened that in undergrad the way they structured the British History classes meant that the first class was the Wars of the Roses up to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and then the Glorious Revolution up to the present day, but my teacher was sick a lot so we only got to the Boer War. What I knew about medieval England was what I gleaned from Art History and my own personal studies. Therefore this little slice of medieval life had me wanting to read anything I could on Henry V. I wanted to pull down all my Philippa Gregory books and go on a binge. Then I wanted to watch all the miniseries I could, from adaptations of The White Queen to watching Edward the King with Timothy West. I wanted to take everything British and ingest it via osmosis. I haven't felt this invigorated as a reader in years.

But for how British I feel there is one thing I will NEVER get about England, and that is their obsession with controlling France. In fact when did they finally stop calling the British Monarch the King/Queen of England and France? I think I have some studying to do on that... Trying to see this ongoing conflict from the English point of view you can see, they're a tiny island, they want all the land they can get, how else do you think they became an empire? But from the logical point of view, France is a different country just leave them alone. Back to the British POV, yes, they did control many countries in their Empire... but I just don't get it. I guess my thinking is just too modern. A country should be it's own thing. They can have connections and allegiances, but they shouldn't be controlled or governed by any outside force. I believe in autonomy. This is oddly still very relevant as England and Spain have just started negotiations about Gibraltar. And here's my opinion on that, why they hell does England even still have Gibraltar? That's just crazy. Gibraltar should either be it's own entity or part of Spain. I don't get that there should be any confusion over this. But then England has been holding onto the Falkland Islands forever with an iron grip. And this folks is why I never play Risk. I don't want world domination.

Though we are here in the waning days of the British Empire and their world domination in that we are no longer in the Victorian Age, we are now in the Edwardian Era. An era that captured the heart of us Americans because of Upstairs, Downstairs, as well as other PBS shows from the aforementioned Edward the King to the spin off series featuring Francesca Annis as Lillie Langtry, Lillie, and even The Duchess of Duke Street. Americans, me included, became enamored with this era. But what I am most excited about currently is what this means for Emily. Queen Victoria, despite being a woman in power didn't believe in women having power. The most powerful hypocrite in the land, that's our Vicky! So while a man may be in charge of the country we are moving towards women's suffrage, we are moving towards more equality, we are moving towards Emily possibly being on more of an even footing with her husband as an agent of the crown in her own right. Possibly. What I love about Colin is while his work and society have never viewed his wife as his equal when it comes to his work, he has never taken that stance. He's always let Emily accompany him wherever his case might lead, from palaces to slums. But now with Bertie in charge? Those like this book's loathsome chauvinist Gale of Scotland Yard might have to eat their hat.

Yet for me, personally, such loyalty to a monarch is a little baffling. I think this has a lot to do with my disillusionment living in the United States at this moment in history. The whole "Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'" Yeah, that's not me. Yet it is Colin. The journey Colin takes through this narrative is fascinating. He was very devoted to Queen Victoria and has never had much of a favorable option of Bertie. But Bertie lived the life he was allowed to have so he will obviously be undergoing a seismic shift with the changing of the guard. Seeing him wonder if he even wants to stick around and continue as an agent of the crown is an interesting crisis of faith. Especially if Gale of Scotland Yard is in the mix. Comparing this crisis to his ancestor William who was a literal knight in shining armor on the battlefields of France is interesting. There's a connection down through the generations that doesn't just show the family's loyalty to the crown, but the chivalric instincts that make Colin such a good man and make him want to make his country, his world a better place. Colin is literally a modern day night. And you know what the thing is? We might all dream of a better world, a happily ever after with the person of our dreams, but the world, at this moment, needs men and women like Colin. Where's the armor when you need it?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Terrible Beauty, Agincourt, Alexander Autumn, British Monarchy, Edward VII, Edwardian, Lady Emily, Lillie, Queen Victoria, The Duchess of Duke Street, Timothy West, Uneasy Lies the Crown, Upstairs Downstairs

Uneasy Lies the Crown by Tasha Alexander
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: October 30th, 2018
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

The Queen is dead, long live Bertie? No matter how indomitable Emily thought the Queen or how hard the Queen fought against the inevitable by keeping her son out of politics, somehow Emily has to grasp the fact that Bertie is Bertie no more but Edward VII. But that is the least of Emily's worries at the moment and scandalizing her mother at the Queen's funeral is the one bright spot in her day. Colin was called away from the funeral luncheon to the Tower of London due to a murder and Emily, as is her wont, followed. A body had been found in the room where Henry VI was murdered. The dead man staged to look like the long dead king with a sword run through him and the costume to match. Colin thinks this is a threat to the new king and that the king's mother new it was coming. On her deathbed Queen Victoria gave Colin a letter with instructions, the last she would give him: Une sanz pluis. Sapere aude. "One and no more. Dare to know." He didn't even show Emily the note until after what they found in the Tower. Colin didn't want to betray the Queen's trust. But with the Queen dead and her son possibly in danger he knows he needs Emily's help.

There has also been another letter. And as much as Emily loves the idea of the Queen sending her husband mail from beyond the grave Colin assures Emily this isn't the case as neither note was written in the Queen's hand. The second note contained a map of the Tower of London and the drawing of a medieval lance. Was this note hinting at the murder? Is it a clue to another murder yet to come? When the body of a second victim turns up in Berkley Square murdered in the manner of Edward II, poker and all, it is clear that someone is sending a message, only Colin and Emily don't agree what that message is. Colin is convinced it is a clear and present danger to Bertie, while the more Emily digs into the lives of the victims themselves and not the way they were murdered she sees an entirely different picture. She thinks they are revenge killings. The first victim beat his wife, the second victim was a pimp who killed one of his girls who happened to have known the first victim's wife. All the couple know is that thanks to a local costume shop there are at least two more murders to come. Yet Colin's notes seem to have less and less to do with the murders and more to do with Henry V... could they be dealing with two disparate cases? And is Bertie even in danger?

There are as many different types of authors as there are book genres. There are the decent authors, you can enjoy their work but will probably never pick up another one of theirs. There are the bad authors, those whose books you want to fling across the room and are consumed by rage as you force yourself to finish. There are the really bad authors who make you so depressed you never want to read again and end up in the land of book melancholia. On the other end of the spectrum you have the good authors, the ones who you will always seek out their new book and make sure to read everything they have ever written. But then there is the rarest category of all, the great writers. Writers who you not only want to devour every word they have ever written but who inspire you. They make you want to read everything. They make you curious to know more. They make you have a voracious appetite that will never be satisfied to read and read. They open the world to you and you dive right in. I have always considered Tasha a good writer, but over her last few volumes, starting around The Adventuress and A Terrible Beauty I started to notice a shift. Tasha was bound for greatness and she has confirmed this with Uneasy Lies the Crown.

This volume just spoke to me on so many levels, but in particular I really connected to the glimpse of Colin's family history and how it connected to Henry V and Agincourt. I was so connected to Cecily Hargrave and her husband William that anyone that stood in their way I wanted to psychically harm. Especially the mean girl Cecily was staying with while her husband was off fighting in France. Right here, this shows Tasha's greatness. Not just in creating characters I love but in bringing history to life. My British history is pretty sketchy prior to the Wars of the Roses. It just happened that in undergrad the way they structured the British History classes meant that the first class was the Wars of the Roses up to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and then the Glorious Revolution up to the present day, but my teacher was sick a lot so we only got to the Boer War. What I knew about medieval England was what I gleaned from Art History and my own personal studies. Therefore this little slice of medieval life had me wanting to read anything I could on Henry V. I wanted to pull down all my Philippa Gregory books and go on a binge. Then I wanted to watch all the miniseries I could, from adaptations of The White Queen to watching Edward the King with Timothy West. I wanted to take everything British and ingest it via osmosis. I haven't felt this invigorated as a reader in years.

But for how British I feel there is one thing I will NEVER get about England, and that is their obsession with controlling France. In fact when did they finally stop calling the British Monarch the King/Queen of England and France? I think I have some studying to do on that... Trying to see this ongoing conflict from the English point of view you can see, they're a tiny island, they want all the land they can get, how else do you think they became an empire? But from the logical point of view, France is a different country just leave them alone. Back to the British POV, yes, they did control many countries in their Empire... but I just don't get it. I guess my thinking is just too modern. A country should be it's own thing. They can have connections and allegiances, but they shouldn't be controlled or governed by any outside force. I believe in autonomy. This is oddly still very relevant as England and Spain have just started negotiations about Gibraltar. And here's my opinion on that, why they hell does England even still have Gibraltar? That's just crazy. Gibraltar should either be it's own entity or part of Spain. I don't get that there should be any confusion over this. But then England has been holding onto the Falkland Islands forever with an iron grip. And this folks is why I never play Risk. I don't want world domination.

Though we are here in the waning days of the British Empire and their world domination in that we are no longer in the Victorian Age, we are now in the Edwardian Era. An era that captured the heart of us Americans because of Upstairs, Downstairs, as well as other PBS shows from the aforementioned Edward the King to the spin off series featuring Francesca Annis as Lillie Langtry, Lillie, and even The Duchess of Duke Street. Americans, me included, became enamored with this era. But what I am most excited about currently is what this means for Emily. Queen Victoria, despite being a woman in power didn't believe in women having power. The most powerful hypocrite in the land, that's our Vicky! So while a man may be in charge of the country we are moving towards women's suffrage, we are moving towards more equality, we are moving towards Emily possibly being on more of an even footing with her husband as an agent of the crown in her own right. Possibly. What I love about Colin is while his work and society have never viewed his wife as his equal when it comes to his work, he has never taken that stance. He's always let Emily accompany him wherever his case might lead, from palaces to slums. But now with Bertie in charge? Those like this book's loathsome chauvinist Gale of Scotland Yard might have to eat their hat.

Yet for me, personally, such loyalty to a monarch is a little baffling. I think this has a lot to do with my disillusionment living in the United States at this moment in history. The whole "Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'" Yeah, that's not me. Yet it is Colin. The journey Colin takes through this narrative is fascinating. He was very devoted to Queen Victoria and has never had much of a favorable option of Bertie. But Bertie lived the life he was allowed to have so he will obviously be undergoing a seismic shift with the changing of the guard. Seeing him wonder if he even wants to stick around and continue as an agent of the crown is an interesting crisis of faith. Especially if Gale of Scotland Yard is in the mix. Comparing this crisis to his ancestor William who was a literal knight in shining armor on the battlefields of France is interesting. There's a connection down through the generations that doesn't just show the family's loyalty to the crown, but the chivalric instincts that make Colin such a good man and make him want to make his country, his world a better place. Colin is literally a modern day night. And you know what the thing is? We might all dream of a better world, a happily ever after with the person of our dreams, but the world, at this moment, needs men and women like Colin. Where's the armor when you need it?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Terrible Beauty, Agincourt, Alexander Autumn, British Monarchy, Edward VII, Edwardian, Lady Emily, Lillie, Queen Victoria, The Duchess of Duke Street, Timothy West, Uneasy Lies the Crown, Upstairs Downstairs

Desperate Romantics
Based on the book by Franny Moyle
Release Date: Septmeber 21st, 2009 (Region 2), TBD (Region 1)
Starring: Aidan Turner, Amy Manson, Rafe Spall, Jennine Jacques, Tom Hollander, Zoe Tapper, Samuel Barnett, Timothy West and Sam Crane
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (UK)

This miniseries encapsulating the lives of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood from first laying eyes on Lizzie Siddal to her death was one of the most captivating and energetic adaptations I've seen in recent years. Narrated by the fictitious reporter Fred Walters, we follow the brotherhood of William Holman Hunt (Spall), Dante Gabriel Rossetti (Turner) and John Everett Millais (Barnett) as they set out to change the face of art forever. We first encounter them as outcasts trying to break into the Academy, despite the derision of those around them, Dickens himself even being a detractor. But upon finding Lizzie, they all become inspired and realize their best hope is to secure the patronage of John Ruskin, the artist and art critic. As there lives become more and more entwined with lack of inspiration and women troubles they gain more and more prominence in the art world. Their artistic achievements being encapsulated in the mess of their love lives. While each artist is his own character, from the naive child protege Millais, to the spiritually troubled pugilist Hunt, to the womanizing centrifugal force that is Rossetti, it's their friendship that is the driving force of their lives and their art.

What I think will really draw and keep the viewers is, that while this is based on a more historical text, there is a vibrancy and humor to the characters. The writing is willing to let you laugh and not bog you down with dusty old lectures on how life was back in the day. There's life in these artists! Some people I see have taken umbrage that this is too sensationalist, not real, but that's not the case. Sure they change things here and there and contract time, but overall the basic facts are correct. Plus they've done a great job on integrating the art into the show with each episode culminating in one piece created. The first three episodes concentrate on Millais' work, spotlighting Christ in the House of His Parents, Ophelia and The Order of Release. The next episode concentrates on Hunt's The Scapegoat, because who doesn't love a painting of a pretty goat? The final two episodes deal with Rossetti's Bocca Baciata and Beata Beatrix. The BBC's website has a great interactive page so you can learn more about the pieces used in the series. I also felt that this was perfect timing for me to watch this because a few weeks ago I went to the Art Institute of Chicago where they are hosting an exhibition on the Arts and Crafts movement, Apostles of Beauty, where they had not only original drawings from the Pre-Raphaelites, but they had Rossetti's Beata Beatrix, the idealization of his dead wife as Dante's Beatrice. To see the art in the flesh but then to see it celebrated in the series was too much to be hoped for.

Of course, not every miniseries is flawless, I have two issues with Desperate Romantics. The first is the music. It was atrocious, skipping from overtly Gothic to Beatles rifs... it was almost as if a madman had done the score, someone with no knowledge of musical time periods who just threw it all together at the last minute. You can have over the top slightly modern music, look to Murray Gold's work on Casanova. This was just shite. The second is the PR on this...it was billed as kind of a Victorian Entourage, or an Entourage with easels, thankfully it's anything but, no matter what the PR department thought. The main reason being Aidan Turner can act, whereas I've never seen any evidence of that fact with Adrian Grenier... I just think that saying that it's like this other thing that is popular but not very good is going to lead people to make unfair comparisons. The joy and exuberance that Aidan Turner lends to Rossetti, or the desperately psychotic stares of Hunt or the sweetness of Millais could never be captured by the actors or the writers of Entourage. I cry fowl! Just because it's fun and enjoyable doesn't mean you have to sell it by comparison to something similar but not quite, it should sell itself. I'm hoping once this hits stateside you'll get to see what I'm saying.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 2:00 AM 4 comments  

Labels: Aidan Turner, Beata Beatrix, Casanova, Desperate Romantics, Entourage, Hunt, Millais, Murray Gold, Pre-Raphaelite, Rafe Spall, Rossetti, Ruskin, Timothy West, Tom Hollander, Zoe Tapper