Today, I am visiting with Jakki at Leatherbound Reviews where I interview Mr. Darcy about time travel in connection with my new release, Another Place in Time. Previously, I interviewed modern-day time traveler, Christine O'Malley, regarding her first impressions after her initial meeting with Fitzwilliam Darcy. You can read that post here.
Christine O'Malley also visited with Maria Grace on her blog Random Bits of Fascination where she wrote about what it would be like to visit Regency-Era London. I am reposting her blog post here.
An excerpt from Another Place in Time: Soon after the carriage exited Manchester
Square, they plunged into the chaos that was London, the capital of the
commercial world. The cacophony was extraordinary. Hackney drivers shouted,
sellers advertised their wares, pamphleteers screamed scandalous headlines, and
horses neighed. It was like New York City at rush hour, except with horses,
dogs, cats, and the occasional pig thrown in for interest.
By Christine O'Malley, Time Traveler
Prior to journeying to London in 1812
with Fitzwilliam Darcy, I had visited modern London three times. I consider it
to be the most vibrant city in the world—then and now. In 1812, London was the
undisputed capital of the commercial world. Its main highway, the River Thames,
was chock-a-block full of ships of every shape and size, and those ships
carried every imaginable commodity. For the well-heeled of London, the world
came to their doors with coffee, tea, spices, muslin, and so much more.
But London
paid a price for its success. The only way to get around Town was by horse. As
a result, its streets were clogged with even worse traffic than there is today,
and you crossed the street at your peril. The most efficient way was to travel by river, but if you chose that route, you had best bring a bouquet
of posies or a handkerchief dipped in vinegar as the Thames served as London’s
sewer, serving more than one million people. Because the city was powered by
coal, the beautiful dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral that Londoners see today was
covered with soot as was Westminster Abbey and every other building (thus the
reason for black umbrellas).
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| London Street Scene |
My first stop on my tour of
London with Fitzwilliam and Georgiana Darcy was Lackington’s, also known as the
Temple of the Muses, a bookstore that would be the envy of any modern urban
store. After returning to the carriage, Mr. Darcy ordered the
driver to take us down the Strand where we were able to catch glimpses of the
river traffic, St. Mary le Strand, Somerset House, and Northumberland House
(now gone). Nearby Fleet Street served as headquarters to a vibrant press, and
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a pub still in existence, was serving pub grub and
ale.
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| Northumberland House |
Another day, while Mr. Darcy
rode with Mr. Bingley in Rotten Row, Georgiana and I paid a visit to
Westminster Abbey, but the familiar narthex (vestibule) was not built until the
mid 20th Century. We visited the south transept and the grave of
Chaucer. Because later poets requested that they be buried near the first poet
to write in the vernacular, the transept would come to be known as Poet’s
Corner.
Georgiana and I also visited
Carlton House. Fitzwilliam had been invited to join us, but because he
disapproved of the Prince Regent’s lifestyle, he declined, preferring to spend
his afternoon at Brooks’s, one of London’s many men’s clubs.
The White Tower (aka Tower
of London) stood high above the city, but public executions at Tyburn (now the
site of the Marble Arch) had ceased to provide entertainment for the public. Although
Trafalgar Square had yet to be developed, Charles I was already sitting on his
horse in front of what would become, two decades later, the National Gallery. After
bumping along in a carriage, dodging hundreds of other conveyances, and stepping gingerly whenever we exited the carriage, we returned to the Darcy
home on Manchester Square.
While Georgiana enjoyed
London during the Season and visiting the shops, Darcy loved London for its
history, architecture, and energy. During his time in Baltimore, when he saw
photographs of modern London, he nodded his head in approval. Although the
man’s sensibilities were firmly rooted in the early 19th Century, he admired
the engineering required to build the Gherkin, the efficiency of the
Underground, and the crowds walking the streets listening to iTunes and talking
on their smart phones because Mr. Darcy loves gadgets! Unfortunately for Mr. Darcy,
cell phone reception in 1812 is terrible!
Another Place in Time is available at Barnes and Noble in e-book and on Amazon in e-book and in paperback.
