Tudor History Podcasts: Hits and Misses on Elizabeth I

History Podcasts on the Tudors   

My Substack about these podcasts got such an enthusiastic response, I wanted to share that section here on my author website blog.

After enjoying two episodes from different podcasts on Henry VIII in recent weeks, I was excited to see that the long-running podcast The Rest Is History was releasing a series of episodes devoted to Elizabeth I. I’ve enjoyed the witty and erudite talks by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, especially their mini seasons devoted to Lord Byron and the French Revolution. 

This is why I was dismayed to hear so many mistakes and misinterpretations in “Elizabeth I: The Fall of the Axe,” the episode about her parents. After beginning reasonably well on the background of Henry VIII and his first marriage, I’m told that Elizabeth I’s mother, Anne Boleyn, “was not even really an aristocrat.” 

Oh?

She was the granddaughter of the Duke of Norfolk and spent her childhood and teenage years as a maid of honour at the courts of Brussels and Paris, two of the most prestigious in Europe. No other Englishwoman in the early 16th century had such a heady start. 

We’re also told that Anne’s father, Thomas Boleyn, was a country squire who loved horses, akin to Major Ferguson, Sarah Ferguson’s father.

 

What?

Boleyn, proficient in Latin and French, was England’s ambassador to France, nothing like the “galloping major.”

 Things got worse. They say Anne Boleyn miscarried of nearly a full-term son in 1534, Henry VIII formed a liaison with Jane Seymour in 1534, and Henry Norris, executed for adultery with Anne in 1536, defended her on the scaffold. The historical record does not support any of these “facts.” 

 What makes it so baffling is that in the YouTube version, you can see the men reading from notes. Where on earth did they get these notes? It’s not as if the life of Anne Boleyn is obscure! The Tudors and The Other Boleyn Girl get more history right than this. I’m baffled. 

 Nonfiction Book to the Rescue 

I don’t think I will be listening to the rest of The Rest of History’s episodes on Elizabeth I. Which is a shame, because it feels like these days historians are putting the Late Elizabethan court under greater scrutiny than the usual “Armada-Shakespeare-James I Succession” golden haze.

 Five years ago, I was drawn to the end of Elizabeth’s reign and wrote “Elizabeth I: The Final Days of the Great Queen” for English Historical Fiction Authors. When researching it, I felt like Elizabeth’s naming of her successor, the Scottish king who was her first cousin twice removed, carried the whiff of the apocryphal. Supposedly, while dying and unable to speak, she pointed to her head when James’ name was spoken.  But I wasn't aware of anyone challenging it. Until now.

 I have just finished reading a full-length book that delves deeply into this fascinating subject: The Stolen Crown: Treachery, Deceit and the Death of the Tudor Dynasty. The author is Tracy Borman, Chief Historian for Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that manages Hampton Court Palace, the Tower of London, Kensington Palace, Kew Palace, and more. Borman’s research makes a strong case that Elizabeth I never named James; instead, Elizabeth’s closest counselors engaged in a dangerous conspiracy with James, up in Scotland, to smooth the way for him to succeed. Years after he took the English throne, James was so sensitive on this subject that he pressured William Camden, writing a book about Elizabeth I, to distort the tale of the succession sequence. Borman reports that examining Camden’s handwritten manuscript proves that key passages were pasted over and rewritten to make James I look better. 

 James I is very much a mixed bag. Undeniably intelligent, he was obsessed with a fear of witchcraft and personally wrote Demonology, a treatise meant to justify witch trials and executions. Elizabeth’s councillors were taken aback to realize that, unlike the last Tudor monarch, he was not interested in hands-on running of the country or financing world explorers. When not ranting about witches, he wanted to go hunting and have affairs with beautiful young men. The miniseries Mary & George depicts an ambitious woman from a second-rate gentry family, played memorably by Julianne Moore, scheming to get her handsome son, played by Nicholas Galitzine, into the bed of the new King of England. 

One bone I have to pick with Borman’s book is the title. James “stole” it from…who? He had no serious competition for the English throne. That's one of the chief reasons the Tudors were followed by the Stuarts. His tragic first cousin, Arabella Stuart, seems to have struggled with severe emotional problems and behaved erratically, Borman writes. Other relatives with a strain of Tudor or Plantagenet blood were not persuasive candidates. He was the strongest in a weak field. 

While she took great pains not to name him officially, Elizabeth maintained a steady correspondence with young James, giving him a “master class in monarchy” that, in a pique of misogyny, he ignored his whole reign, Borman writes. James didn’t want to work with Parliament or create a majestic presence that the public could admire, as the Virgin Queen had done. Instead, he was obsessed with the “divine right of kings,” a concept unconnected to leadership, which he unfortunately instilled in his son, the future headless Charles I. 

The Stuart father and son’s conviction that God had put them on a higher plane than mere mortals didn’t go down well in the 17th century. Today, reading about disgraced Andrew Windsor-Mountbatten’s demand that he be given a cook, housekeeper, gardener, and a butler before agreeing to hide himself away on the vast Sandringham estate, you have to wonder what delusions of innate superiority are still being inculcated by the royal family. Can a more severe punishment be imposed on Andrew? This isn’t the 15th century, when Edward IV could order his brother, the duke of Clarence, to be drowned in a barrel of Malmsey. As Tina Brown pointed out in The Interview, released yesterday, it’s risky to make Andrew and Fergie’s lives so horrible that they have nothing left but to sell their secrets...

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If you want to read more of my reviews of historical podcasts and nonfiction as well as historical fiction, subscribe to my new, free substack, "History, Horror & Headlines."

Mary Jane Kelly: The Last Victim of Jack the Ripper?

 
By Nancy Bilyeau

A mournful funeral procession made its way to St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery in Leytonstone on Nov. 19th, 1888. Thousands lined the streets to say farewell to the woman in the coffin, some of them weeping.

“God forgive her,” some called out as the procession lumbered past.

Forgive her for what?

The tragedy began the morning of Nov. 9th, ten days before. James Whitehead, a 54-year-old merchant who’d made a successful second career in politics, was the star of the Lord Mayor’s Show, a London tradition that was always held on this date. 

As the city’s new mayor, Whitehead, a champion of reform, had desired a more stately event than the circus-like Mayor’s parade, famous since the 16th century. But, heedless of Whitehead’s embarrassment, crowds gathered along the Gresham Street to Guildhall route, with many police called upon to patrol and control.

It was perhaps a welcome distraction from the horror.

For the past six months, London had been transfixed and terrorized by the murders of a series of women in the Whitechapel District of the East End. The last of the horrific slayings — dubbed the “Double Event” as two prostitutes, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes, had their throats cut within two hours of each other — was on Sunday, September 30th.

The stereotypical image of Jack the Ripper. In reality, to blend in on Dorset Street and the rest of Spitalfields, the murderer would have had to appear much less posh

 

Although the police had interviewed at least 2,000 people, they had not zeroed in on the man responsible, the same one who may or may not have written taunting letters to the newspapers signed “Jack the Ripper.” There was some hope that the killing spree was over, since more than a month had passed. The Lord Mayor’s Show was an occasion to set aside fear and celebrate.

One person not hurrying to the parade was Jack McCarthy, landlord of many properties in Whitechapel occupied by the destitute, ranging from the respectable working poor to thieves, gamblers, hopeless alcoholics, and “Unfortunates,” the Victorian euphemism for prostitutes. As always, McCarthy had money on his mind. Around 10:30 am, McCarthy told his assistant, Thomas Bowyer, to try to collect the rent in arrears at №13 Miller’s Court, a ground-floor room on a narrow 20-foot-long cul-de-sac of Dorset Street.

Even within Spitalfields, an overcrowded East End parish infamous for its poverty, crime, and filth, Dorset Street was in a class all its own. Part of the “wicked quarter mile,” it was a 130-yard-long street almost entirely occupied by common lodging houses and pubs. In 1901, the Daily Mail, under the headline “The Worst Street in London,” would publish an article saying, “…The lodging houses of Dorset Street and of the district around are the head centers of the shifting criminal population of London… the common thief, the pickpocket, the area meak, the man who robs with violence, the unconvicted murderer…”

As grim as these lodgings were, the alternative — “sleeping rough” — was worse. Many of the poor struggled daily to pay for their “doss house” bed. The September 8th victim of Jack the Ripper, 47-year-old Annie Chapman, was murdered while trying to earn enough money on the streets to pay the nightly charge at her common lodging house at 35 Dorset Street.

(To learn more about the "canonical five" victims of Jack the Ripper and how their lives are far more complex than that of the stereotypical East End prostitute, I highly recommend The Five, written by Hallie Rubenhold.)

Dorset Street, dubbed “the worst street in London”

At 10:45 a.m., Thomas Bowyer knocked on the door of 13 Miller’s Court. In April of that year, a Billingsgate Market fish porter, Joseph Barnett, and his young companion, Mary Jane Kelly, had moved into the room, costing 4s/6d a week. It was 10-foot-square with two small windows, a bed, two tables, and a fireplace. In Spitalfields, this was a home better than the average.

But Barnett lost his job. He moved out after quarreling with Mary on October 30. She was living there alone, a common sight in the neighboring pubs, drinking with friends. Although she told those friends she was afraid of Jack the Ripper, Mary had turned to prostitution to support herself. It was not her first time earning her living as an “Unfortunate.”

Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s painting “Found”

Press enter or click to view image in full si

No one answered the knock on the door. The small window next to the door had been broken weeks earlier by Barnett or Mary and was blocked by a heavy material hanging from the inside. Bowyer pushed aside the material to see inside. Seconds later, sickened and horrified, he ran to fetch landlord McCarthy.

Press enter or click to view image in full size

The series Ripper Street centers on the ingenuity of the late 19th-century East End police. The reality was different. An inspector joined the men at the Miller’s Court window but did not provide initiative. The group summoned a doctor. The doctor had the presence of mind to call for a photographer. But the door was locked — McCarthy had no key — and the group waited outside, first for trail-sniffing bloodhounds that never showed up and then for someone to make the decision on how to enter the room. At 1:30 pm, McCarthy finally broke through the door with a pickax. 

This delay made it even harder to set the time of death, which is hotly debated to this day. Some put it as early as 1 a.m., others say it was as late as 8 a.m., with the murderer taking advantage of police being preoccupied with the Lord Mayor’s Show. Two days later, Mary Jane Kelly was formally identified at the mortuary by Joseph Barnett, who was questioned and cleared of suspicion. 

As the city responded with panic and revulsion, doctors performed their post-mortem and police gathered what information they could. It had been a cold, drizzly night. No one had seen or heard anything suspicious besides a soft female cry of “Oh, murder” at about 3:30 am. That cry was ignored. It seemed incredible — even supernatural — that she’d been killed in such a crowded area. Despite the presence of hundreds of people nearby, sleeping fitfully, coming and going all night, men in and out of pubs and prostitutes returning to their rooms to warm up before going back on the streets, no man was seen leaving Mary’s room, covered with blood or otherwise. However, Miller’s Court was just a little over a yard wide and lit by a gas lamp. 

Mary herself was seen and heard by neighbors throughout the preceding day and sporadically that night as she looked for business. Just before midnight, a neighbor saw Mary lead a man with a “blotchy” face and a thick “carrot” mustache to her room. At 2 a.m., an acquaintance spotted Mary with a man on Commercial Street, five foot seven inches or so, in his 30s, “respectable appearance.” After sharing a laugh and a kiss, they walked together to Dorset Street and toward her home. Was either of these men her killer? Although an elaborate mythology has developed surrounding dark involvement by the Royal Family — particularly Prince Albert Victor — nothing in these theories has any connection to fact. Far from being indifferent to the Whitechapel murders, Queen Victoria was upset and concerned.

Queen Victoria in 1885

On November 10th, the day after the murder, she sent a telegram to Prime Minister Lord Salisbury: “This new, most ghastly murder shows the absolute necessity for some very decided action. All these courts must be lit, & our detectives improved. They are not what they should be. You promised, when the 1st murders took place, to consult with your colleagues about it.” Three days later, Her Majesty sent her ideas to the Home Secretary of what the detectives should focus on, including “The murderer’s clothes must be saturated with blood and must be kept somewhere!”

As for the persistent association of Queen Victoria’s grandson, Prince Albert Victor Christian Edward, the Duke of Clarence, to the public and Prince Eddy to friends, with the crimes, the prince was unquestionably not prowling the East End at the time of the murders. Documentation has placed him far away from London. On the night of the “double event,” Prince Eddy was at Balmoral. To account for this inconvenient fact, subsequent theories have his doctor or trusted aide killing off prostitutes to cover up a secret marriage or as vengeance for syphilis. These are fantasies.

Although he was not a man fond of learning, Prince Eddy’s reputation for depravity is undeserved. A new theory is that some people in the 20th century confused the reputation of Eddy, who died of influenza at age 28, with another royal heir, Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria, who died in a murder-suicide with his teenage mistress in 1889. Shy, insecure, and partially deaf, Eddy, during his short life, is known to have hurt no one. His greatest crime was possibly boring people. 

So where did all of this come from? In 1970, a retired British physician, Dr. Thomas Stowell, published an article in The Criminologist, suggesting that Prince Eddy was involved, based on documents he claimed to have seen (and which no one else has since unearthed). Dr. Stowell, rather eerily, died days after the controversial article was published. His son burned his papers shortly afterward. The hook, however, was baited. All sorts of feverish theories followed, including the one outlined in the 1979 film Murder By Decree: That Prince Eddy’s doctor and friends slaughtered the five prostitutes because they knew he had secretly married an East End woman named Annie Crook. The case is solved by Sherlock Holmes!

Prince Eddy

One of the reasons there was so much fascination with Mary Kelly, then and now, is that she was young and attractive. She was “fair as a lily” and had “blue eyes and a very fine head of hair which reached nearly to her waist.” She “was on pleasant terms with everybody,” one contemporary said. Her landlord McCarthy said she was “a very quiet woman when sober but noisy when in drink.”

Heather Graham as Mary Jane Kelly

Barnett testified as to his dead lover’s background:

“She said she was born in Limerick and went when very young to Wales. She did not say how long she lived there, but that she came to London about four years ago. Her Father’s name was John Kelly, a gaffer or a foreman in an ironworks in Carnarvonshire or Carmarthen. She said she had one sister, who was respectable, who traveled from market place to market place. This sister was very fond of her. There were six brothers in London and one in the Army. One of them was named Henry. I never saw her brothers. She said she was married when very young to a collier in Wales. I think the name was Davis or Davies. She said she lived with him until he was killed in an explosion.

 

After her husband’s death she went to Cardiff to a cousin. She was following a bad life with her cousin, who, as I often told her, was her downfall. She was in a gay house [brothel] in the West End, but in what part she did not say. A gentleman came there to her and asked her if she would like to go to France… She did not remain long…”

A friend confirmed that Mary said she was originally from Ireland. She talked of receiving letters from a beloved mother and hoping to reunite with her and live there.

Nonetheless, in the 137 years since her death, no fact about Mary Jane Kelly’s background has been verified. Despite the efforts of many Ripper scholars, there are no records of her birth, marriage, or residency in Ireland, Wales, or France. No member of her family attended her funeral or came forward after her murder; no one could find evidence of the young husband’s life or death. There is not a trace of her to be found before she came to London. This was not the case for the other four women, who were thought to have been killed by the Ripper. Researchers have records of birth and marriage, employment, and even a wedding photo of one woman.

It is possible that Mary Jane Kelly used a false name the entire time Barnett and their friends knew her and invented all the details and names of family and husband. If so, will anyone ever discover her real identity? Because she was the last agreed-upon victim of Jack the Ripper, the youngest, the most horribly murdered and the most mysterious, she maintains an inescapable grip on the imagination of those obsessed with the crimes, unsolved to this day.

On Monday, November 19th, 1888, the woman known as Mary Jane Kelly was buried at St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery in Leytonstone. Barnett and her friends could not pay for her funeral; the expenses were met by a sexton of Shoreditch. Thousands attended the six-mile-long procession, some straining to touch her coffin. Men removed their hats; women called out, “God forgive her.” Two mourning carriages followed, carrying Barnett and five women friends. The coffin was carried to an open grave listed as №16, Row 67.

The entrance to St. Patrick’s Catholic Cemetery. 

On the night of her murder, neighbors on Miller’s Court had heard Mary Jane Kelly singing in her room one of her favorite songs, over and over, for about half an hour between midnight and 1 a.m.. The song was “A Violet From Mother’s Grave,” written circa 1881.

Scenes of my childhood arise before my gaze

Bringing recollections of bygone happy days.

When down in the meadows in childhood I would roam,

No one’s left to cheer me now within that good old home,

Father and Mother, they’d have pass’d away;

Sister and brother, now lay beneath the clay.

But while life does remain to cheer me, I’ll retain

This small violet I pluck’d from mother’s grave.

Only a violet I pluck’d when but a boy,

And oft’ time when I’m sad at heart this flow’r has giv’n me joy;

So whole life does remain in memoriam I’ll retain,

This small violet I pluck’d from mother’s grave.

Well I remember my dear old mother’s smile,

As she used to free me when I returned from toil,

Always knitting in the old arm chair,

Father used to sit and read for all us children there,

But now all is silent around the good old home;

They all have left me in sorrow here to roam,

But while life does remain, in memoriam I’ll retain

This small violet I pluck’d from mother’s grave.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Nancy Bilyeau is the author of nine historical novels, including the Genevieve Planche mystery series.

Interview: Jillian Forsberg of 'The Porcelain Menagerie'

I was intrigued to hear about the new novel by Jillian Forsberg, titled The Porcelain Menagerie, and even more so to learn it is set in the eighteenth century! In researching and writing The Blue, I delved into the tumultuous--even violent--history of porcelain creation in Europe, once inventors had "broken" the secret of the Chinese formulas.

I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of Jillian's novel and loved it. Here's a plot description: In a world where ambition is as fragile as porcelain, two lives are shaped by a king's dangerous obsessions. In 18th-century Dresden, the dangerous whims of King Augustus the Strong shape the court and the lives of those held captive, both people and animals.

Now the novel is out and winning rave reviews everywhere. I caught up with Jillian to ask her a few questions:

Nancy Bilyeau: You and I are both drawn to the history of porcelain when creating historical fiction. Why does it fascinate you?

Jillian Forsberg: Art history has always been interesting to me, but the creation of porcelain is truly an intriguing story — I love secrets, drama, and beauty, and porcelain encompasses all of those things. From the Chinese makers who perfected it to the Europeans who tried and failed and tried again to copy it, there’s such humanity in the process. In China, from one step to the next is the product of community, and in Europe, it always inspires me to find stories of reliance when the early makers failed so many times and just kept at it. It’s amazing, too, to see the differences in art that are considered wildly successful from different parts of the world: some look amazing, and some look downright grotesque. 

 

NB: What makes the 18th century an exciting setting for a narrative? 

JF: Well, I think I’m biased! My master’s thesis is set in the 18th century, and therefore, a lot of my mental energy was spent in that time period. Those 100 years for me have always been delicious because of the Age of Enlightenment, the expansion of curiosity, and then, toward the end of the century, upheavals and revolutions all over the world. One of my favorite things is a good museum gallery, and the 18th century produced some of the finest artifacts and collections of any time period. The ultra-wealthy sought out collections of all kinds of things, and it really was a testament to how the 1% lived. But below the shimmering surface of fine goods, the middle class was finding its footing… the thread through the 18th century is change, beauty, and endings. That makes for quite an exciting historical fiction setting!

 

NB: I find Augustus the Strong pretty mind-blowing as monarchs go. What were the most surprising things you learned about him?

JF: He truly is. I think I was truly surprised that even with my formal education, I had never heard of him. He would have been sorely disappointed in that! The man was almost a caricature as far as kings go — over the top, outlandish, boisterous, and relentless. But he didn’t really DO anything. The latest biography published about him, just last fall, is literally called Augustus the Strong: A Study in Artistic Greatness and Political Fiasco. He tried his best to be memorable, but unfortunately, what was most recorded was his rumored 300+ bastard children, terrible addiction to blood sport, chaining artists to the floors of their studios, and, my personal favorite, ripping horseshoes in half in front of a crowd. The man was unbelievable. A perfect fictional subject, a quite imperfect king. 

To learn more about Jillian Forsberg, go to her website.

To order The Porcelain Menagerie, click here.

Giveaway of The Heiress of Northanger Abbey & Kickstarter FAQs

 

Muse Books, the publisher of my next novel, is offering a special giveaway of The Heiress of Northanger Abbey.

This is a softcover special edition! To enter the giveaway, go here.  It will be open until September 1st.

Plot description:

"Twenty-two years after her fateful first visit to Northanger Abbey, Catherine Tilney is happily married to Henry Tilney and raising their daughters, Phoebe and Susan. Life seems idyllic until a disturbing letter arrives. Now, with the prospect of Phoebe inheriting Northanger Abbey, Catherine fears fortune hunters are circling. It all feels eerily like the plot of the latest Gothic sensation, The Vampyre — but is Catherine again letting her imagination run wild or is a deadly threat closing in?" 

The Heiress of Northanger Abbey is part of "Once Upon a Gothic," a four-book set: The other classics with sequels or retellings will be Frankenstein, Phantom of the Opera, and Dracula.

My novel can be ordered individually or as part of the quartet. This is all an initiative happening on Kickstarter. Fiction sold on Kickstarter is a new path to publishing fiction that's gaining in popularity. Because of its newness, people have a lot of questions. I figured my website blog would be a good place to answer the questions I'm fielding.

Why is this novel available on Kickstarter?

Because it could very well be the future of fiction—or at least one type of future. When you back this book on Kickstarter, you’re purchasing the book directly from the authors and publisher, instead of through a retailer—Kickstarter allows authors to sell our books without splitting profits with retailers, who can take up to 70% or more of a book’s sticker price. This enables us to produce special edition publications that wouldn’t be financially feasible otherwise. In exchange, readers get exclusive, high-quality books and unique swag not available elsewhere.  We envisioned these books being read by candlelight during a storm! 

What format is the book going to be available in?

The Heiress of Northanger Abbey is part of the Once Upon a Gothic book series, which consists of four beautifully designed special edition books in Tête-Bêche format, meaning they are two books in one, with the classic novel and the retelling bound together. All of the books will be available in softcover and hardcover formats individually and as a four-book set. Because these are special editions that won’t be sold through retailers, there are no ISBN barcodes or sales text on the books, which are required by retailers. An e-book omnibus will also be available of all four novels.

The other three books in the Once Upon a Gothic book series are Paulette Kennedy's The Last Bride, told from the perspective of Dracula's bride before Mina and Lucy; Kris Waldherr's Unnatural Creatures, focusing on the women in Victor Frankenstein's life; and Heather Webb's The Phantom's Apprentice, which offers the story of Christine Daaé.  

Is this a fundraiser for the publisher or authors?

No, this isn’t a fundraiser. All Kickstarter funds go to printing books, fulfilling orders, and author royalties. The books are already written, edited, designed, and ready to go on press upon conclusion of the Kickstarter campaign. We already have sample books printed! Again, Kickstarter is an alternative way to purchase books. 

What kinds of extras or swag are planned for the Once Upon a Gothic books?

Every reader who purchases books during our Kickstarter campaign will receive a bundle of exclusive extras. Some are digital—these include a short story by Paulette Kennedy, Nancy Bilyeau's playlist for writing, a never-before-shared alternate ending to Kris Waldherr’s “Unnatural Creatures”, and an invitation to an exclusive AMA Zoom event with all four authors. (The event will be recorded for those who can't make it.) Other extras are physical, such as signed bookplates, custom-designed bookmarks, and more. In addition, special gift packages and add-ons will be available for purchase through Kickstarter, which will offer books bundled with candles, tarot readings, custom-designed book boxes, virtual experiences, and other goodies. 

Will The Heiress of Northanger Abbey be on Goodreads or Netgalley?

No, it won’t be on Netgalley. This is a Kickstarter exclusive that won’t be released to the general public because it is a special edition. However, the book may be posted on Goodreads, if people want to review it. 

Can I purchase The Heiress of Northanger Abbey as an ebook?

Yes. Although the print version is how the special book design features can best be enjoyed, there will be an ebook omnibus of all four novels available through Kickstarter and from the publisher. However, the ebook will only be available for a limited time after the Kickstarter ends. 

Can I get the extras and add-ons after the Kickstarter is finished?

No, those are exclusives for people who purchase books during the Kickstarter campaign. One of the joys of Kickstarter is that we can bundle special edition books this way. 

How do I ask my librarian to order it?

When the Kickstarter is finished, you can ask your librarian to order it. However, these special editions will only be available directly through the publisher for a limited time. 

Please follow this campaign on Kickstarter. Signing up to follow it does not obligate you to buy anything! If you are curious about this publishing journey, following the campaign is the best way to gain information. And if you are a reader, we hope very much you will want to support our breaking free from traditional paths to do something different and creative. Thank you so much!

Sign up here: Click "Notify Me on Launch" It's FREE :)

 

Limited-Time Deal: 'The Blue' Is Free

I'm thrilled to let people know that they can download my novel, THE BLUE, for free until July 5. It's the first book in my Genevieve Planche series. 

Joffe Books set a three-day deal on the ebook of THE BLUE, coordinating with BookBub on a promotion. 

Here's the Publishers Weekly review from the time of its publication in 2018: 

Genevieve Planché, the appealing 24-year-old narrator of this intriguing thriller from Bilyeau (The Crown), longs to be a painter at a time, 1759, when “female sensibilities” are considered “too delicate for art.” Reluctantly, she accepts a job as a decorator at the Derby Porcelain Works, but before setting off from her London home, she’s approached by dashing Sir Gabriel Courtenay, who asks her to spy on the new chemist at the factory, Thomas Sturbridge, who has “created an entirely new shade of blue.” In exchange for this treachery, she’s promised enough money to set herself up as a painter in Venice. After agreeing to this scheme, she comes to realize that the quest for the new blue can alter the destiny of a king and create works of awesome beauty but also lead to kidnapping, betrayal, and murder. Fascinating details include glimpses of the newly opened British Museum, a Christmas party at the home of William Hogarth, and Madame de Pompadour’s residence at Versailles. Historical fans will be well satisfied.

I was fortunate enough to win endorsements for THE BLUE from some wonderful authors:

'Definitely a winner!' -- Kate Quinn, bestselling historical novelist

'Fascinating' -- Ian Rankin, author of the top-selling Rebus mystery series

'Bilyeau is an impressive talent who brings to life a heart-stopping story of adventure, art and espionage.' - Stephanie Dray, author of My Dear Hamilton.

‘...transports the reader into the heart of the 18th-century porcelain trade—where the price of beauty was death.’ - E.M. Powell, author of the Stanton & Barling medieval mystery series.

'With rich writing, surprising twists, and a riveting sense of 'you are there,' The Blue is spine-tingling entertainment.' – Gayle Lynds, New York Times bestselling author of The Assassins

To download an e-book in the US: here.

To download an ebook in the UK: here.

To download an ebook in Canada: here

To download an ebook in Australia: here.

My Novel 'The Versailles Formula' Is on Sale

The day has arrived!

The Versailles Formula, my eighth historical novel, is available in paperback and ebook format in North America, the United Kingdom, and Australia. I've created a suspenseful story rich with atmospheric detail that I hope will plunge you deep into mid-18th-century England and France.

r

Here's the story:

May 1766: Genevieve Sturbridge lives a quiet life in the countryside with her husband and son. But an invitation to dine at Sir Horace Walpole's eerie Gothic estate pulls her back into a deadly world of espionage. Genevieve uncovers a shocking secret - a rare pigment of pure blue is being produced again. Coveted by royalty, chemists, and spies, the formula is priceless . . . and lethal. Only Genevieve can recognise the formula and discover the truth before time runs out, because this time the price of failure will cost more than just her own life.

Reviews:

‘[A] compelling adventure replete with spies, political intrigue, gorgeous Gothic manor houses, romance, impeccably researched history.’ Susan Elia MacNeal, New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope series

‘In Genevieve Planché, Bilyeau has created a wonderfully wilful woman: as smart as she is sensitive, as brave as she is bold. Compelling to read . . . This is a series going from strength to strength.’ Kate Braithwaite, author of The Scandalous Life of Nancy Randolph

To order:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Amazon Canada

Amazon Australia

Barnes & Noble

Bookshop org

What Other Authors Say About 'The Versailles Formula'

With one day left before the official publication of The Versailles Formula, I would love to share the early reviews and endorsements from other novelists. Some are historical novelists, some are thriller writers, and some are historical mystery scribes. I deeply appreciate the time they took to read it and wanted to share the response to the book from my peers.






"Nancy Bilyeau's Versailles Formula is the continuing compelling adventure of whip-smart and determined heroine Genevieve Planché. It’s replete with spies, political intrigue, gorgeous gothic manor houses, romance, impeccably researched history—and the shocking history of the color blue."

--Susan Elia MacNeal, New York Times bestselling author of the Maggie Hope series



"A plucky heroine, intriguing mystery, and rich, well-researched historical background. Nancy Bilyeau has found the winning formula!"

--Eva Stachniak, author of The School of Mirrors

"Nancy Bilyeau has done it again. It is a masterful work which weaves great characters not to mention a plot that Poe himself would love. The story unfolds through the eyes of the protagonist and we see a treacherous world where nothing is as it seems. When we enter the Gothic world of Sir Horace Walpole then the reader treads a thrilling path which keeps you on the edge of your seat."

--Griff Hosker. author of An Officer and a Gentleman


"The excitement and action ramp up steadily, and Bilyeau's exquisite pacing will have you wanting to binge the novel in one sitting. Part espionage novel, part intriguing look at the historical importance of art and the porcelain industry to 18th-century diplomacy, The Versailles Formula is a riveting and deftly written tale that will keep you up much too late at night, for all the right reasons."

-- Paulette Kennedy, author of The Artist of Blackberry Grange



"Bilyeau gives the reader a fabulous tour of 18th-century Paris from its convents and opera houses to the louche masked balls of the aristocracy. Genevieve is a complicated, highly intelligent character who never falls into the dull predictability of the "spirited woman ahead of her time" tropes. The ending leaves the possibility open for another Genevieve Planche novel, and I very much look forward!"

-- Mariah Fredericks, author of The Wharton Plot


"In Genevieve Planché, Bilyeau has created a wonderfully wilful woman: as smart as she is sensitive, as brave as she is bold. Compelling to read . . . This is a series going from strength to strength."

--Kate Braithwaite, author of The Scandalous Life of Nancy Randolph



"An indomitable artist turned spy heroine on a near impossible mission. A color of blue so seductive that men will kill for it and countries will go to the brink of war. A star-crossed love, as delicious as it is forbidden. Thoroughly researched and exquisitely wrought, The Versailles Formula has all the ingredients of a rollicking, riveting historical mystery must-read!"

-- Hope C. Tarr, author of Irish Eyes and Stardust



"What impressed me the most is her gift for detailed description. When Genevieve lands in Paris to begin her dangerous mission, we can see the narrow streets with their buildings that 'sagged towards each other, nearly touching.' Inside the Comedie Française, we smell the 'thick, intoxicating swirl of perfume, a hothouse of human flowers blooming all at once.' And we can laugh at the absurdity of the nobility in their white silk socks, jeweled shoes, and heads covered in wigs that 'resemble sparkling beehives.' The Versailles Formula is a master class in the lost art of description, and I loved it for that."

--Jodi Daynard, author of A Transcontinental Affair


"With action-packed scenes to rival the classic The Scarlet Pimpernel, Nancy Bilyeau's excellent third book in the Genevieve Planché series, The Versailles Formula, solicits page-turning suspense until the very end. Reader, be ready for the world outside of reading this book to disappear."

-- Susan Wands, author of Magician and Fool


"Nancy Bilyeau's engaging protagonist, Genevieve Planché, returns in an undercover mission to 18th-century Paris, where she risks her life to unearth a secret that could reignite war between England and France. But Genevieve’s quest is as personal as it is political — Cracks have begun to form in her once-happy marriage, and she finds herself drawn to the man assigned to be her partner in France. With a cast of real and fictional figures, prose as smooth as French silk, and breathtaking twists, The Versailles Formula is exactly the book any lover of historical fiction would want to have in their hands right now."

-- Mally Becker, author of The Paris Mistress


"Thanks to the depth of Bilyeau’s craft, readers will share Genevieve’s tension and fear as she races through settings from rough, working-class Southwark to glittering Versailles. As Genevieve’s heart races, so will yours. If you like your mystery with twisty, dark history, The Versailles Formula is for you."

-- Sophie Perinot, author of Medicis Daughter



"Sumptuous and deeply engaging, Nancy Bilyeau's Versailles Formula is a gorgeously written adventure . . . brimming with mystery, beauty, romance, and history's most fascinating luminaries."

--Emilya Naymark, author of Behind the Lie



"The action takes place in England and France, castles and cemeteries and chateaux, grand ballrooms, sinister prisons, and cloistered convents. Historical figures flit through, from Horace Walpole, the father of the Gothic novel, to the Marquis de Sade, who lived one. The Versailles Formula is Bilyeau at her best, a classic tale of mystery and intrigue that only lacks a cameo from a dueling D'Artagnan to make my life complete. If you've read the first two books in the series, this is one you've been eagerly awaiting. If you haven't, this is a hellacious introduction."

--Timothy Miller, author of The Strange Case of the Pharaoh's Heart.



"The Versailles Formula takes readers on a fascinating journey to eighteenth-century England and France, where vicious aristocrats play a deadly game of forgery and espionage . . . Nancy Bilyeau treats us to another tale full of intrigue and delightful historical details."

-- Mark Alpert, bestselling author of The Doomsday Show

A New Design for My Genevieve Planché Series

After I turned in my final edits on The Versailles Formula, I felt a tug of excitement over seeing what cover design my publisher's designer had created for the novel. Both The Blue and The Fugitive Colours displayed lovely covers, and I was curious to see the plan for the third in the series.

To my surprise, my editor emailed me that the team at Joffe Books had come up with a bold new idea: to redesign the covers of the first two novels along with the cover of the third. The series would take a fresh approach, emphasizing that these were suspenseful historical novels with a woman protagonist at the center who was facing obstacles and searching for answers. (Once I think about it, the covers of the first two, while striking, did not convey that.)

They fiddled and fussed over the details for a while—I have to say the suspense was building in my house! But when my editor emailed me the covers, I was enthralled. They have a rich atmosphere, a touch of eeriness, and a mood that I think conveys the spirit of Genevieve Planché.

Here they are:

I hope you like the new look of the series!

To kick off the series and find new readers, The Blue's ebook is discounted at 99 cents (or pence). 

Cover Reveal of 'The Versailles Formula'

 I am so excited to share the cover of my third novel in the 18th-century Genevieve Planche series: 'The Versailles Formula.'

Genevieve Sturbridge has left the dangers of London for a quiet life in the countryside with her husband and young son. But when she is invited to a dinner party at Sir Horace Walpole’s magnificent Gothic estate, she is drawn into a terrifying web of deception, espionage and murder.

At the mysterious dinner party Genevieve makes a shocking discovery — a secret pigment of the deepest, purest blue is being produced once more. The formula is so rare, it’s the obsession of chemists, royalty, and spies.

Some will kill to possess it. Others will kill to keep it buried.

Only Genevieve can recognise the formula and stop it falling into the wrong hands. But when a ghost from her past resurfaces, Genevieve must determine who she can trust. Years ago, this secret nearly cost her and her husband their lives. Now, someone is willing to kill for it once more.

Genevieve must discover the truth before time runs out, because this time the price of failure will cost more than just her own life.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You can preorder the book today!

The Christmas Ghost Story Is Much Older Than You Think It Is

 

Those fun business partners, Scrooge and Marley

The winter solstice falls on Saturday, December 21st, this year. For centuries, the belief has been that the veil between the living and the departed is most easily lifted on the shortest day of the year.

That is why the ghosts appear to Ebeneezer Scrooge just before Christmas. Charles Dickens’ writing of A Christmas Carol followed a long tradition of ghosts showing themselves at this time of year. 

The tradition has continued right up to modern times. In the 1963 song “The Right Time of the Year,” Andy Williams sings:

There’ll be parties for hosting/ Marshmallows for toasting/And caroling out in the snow/There’ll be scary ghost stories/And tales of the glories/Of Christmases long, long ago.

When did this begin, the custom of scary tales told just around the time when families traditionally gather to open gifts, admire the Christmas tree, and dive into a big dinner?

It is the solstice rather than the celebration of the birth of Jesus that seems to have launched it. The days were at their shortest, food supplies could be running low — and spring seemed a long way away. Gathering to frighten one another with stories of the supernatural was a way to ward off more prosaic fears. (Not that different than people going to the cinema to watch a horror film today.)

However, there was nothing Andy Williams-ish about the earliest known Christmas ghost stories. They were gruesome medieval stories. Within some stiff competition, the Icelandic tales were particularly terrifying.

In The Saga of the People of Floi, a group gathers for feasting on Christmas Day, finally falling asleep, exhausted. That night, a knock is heard on the door. One of the revelers rouses himself to answer it, steps outside and disappears. One by one, some half a dozen men are picked off, for it turns out that specters wait outside to drive them insane and to their deaths.

“Once Christmas is over, the dead return in force: not only are the rowdy Jostein’s crew brought back as Revenants, but so are a number of dead locals,” writes Jon Kaneko-James in the article Ghosts of Christmas Past: Christmas Ghost Stories, Scandinavian Revenants, and the Medieval Dead in England. “Finally Thorgils, captain of the crew who slept early, takes all of the dead and burns them in a pyre, ensuring that none of the Revenants, one of whom was his wife, would rise to trouble the living again.”

More Icelandic stories unfurl Christmas horrors, such as certain chapters of The Eyrbyggja Saga, in which a moon foretells the dead seeking to join the living for Christmas — and it’s very difficult to get them to leave. The Thorgunna section revolves around a wealthy woman dying and giving specific requests about what should be done with her bedsheets. These requests are not honored. (Are you surprised?)

Note: The excellent podcast Saga Thing tackles The Eyrbyggja Saga with insight and humor.

Things go bump in the night in the Thorgunna section of the Icelandic saga

Today Iceland has the tradition of the lovable Yule Lads who show up on December 12th, leaving gifts in the shoes that children left on windowsills.

But the Yule Lads have gone through an astonishing transformation. In Journalist Ragnar Tomas writes:

“The first mention of the Icelandic Yule Lads is the 17th-century Poem of Grýla , which asserts that they are the sons of Grýla — a flesh-eating hag who cooks children in a cauldron — and Leppalúði, a lazy troglodyte. Needless to say, such people should not reproduce. Ailurophiles (‘cat-lovers’) might think better of them knowing that they kept a cat. But not so fast. Theirs was not some amiable Maine Coon, who lazed around their apartment and snuggled up to house callers. No, their cat was the ‘Christmas Cat,’ who prowled the snowy countryside and devoured children who had not been given new clothes to wear before Christmas (admittedly, an oddly specific culinary preference).”

Medieval England offers up its goodly portion of Yuletime chills too. One example: A tailor named Snawball who encounters the spirit of a dead man in the form of a crow wreathed in fire.

One of my favorites is from the Tudor period, taking place on the Orkneys. A woman named Katharine Fordyce dies in childbirth but appears in a dream to tell a woman who was her neighbor that she must name her next daughter after Katharine. As long as that girl lives in the home, the family will be safe.

When the girl grows up and marries, preparing to leave home, Katharine Fordyce has her vengeance. On the wedding night a “fearful storm” arrives that “the like had no’ been minded in the time o’ anybody alive,” according to Examples of Printed Folk-lore Concerning the Orkney & Shetland Islands

The sheep belonging to the bride’s father were swept off the land and into the sea:

Some folk did say that old men with long white beards were seen stretching their pale hands out of the surf and taking hold of the creatures.

More and more such stories found themselves into print. In Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, Mamillius says, “A sad tale’s best for winter. I have one. Of sprites and goblins.” It hardly needs to be pointed out that the Bard loved a ghost!

Still, it’s the Victorian age, with its whiff of the occult, when telling ghost stories on Christmas Eve or another night close to Christmas firmly established itself. Groups gathered, usually around the fireplace, to share tales of ghouls and specters, trying to outdo one another.

Of course, no discussion of ghost stories is complete without M. R. James, who lived from 1862 to 1936. A medieval scholar and provost of King’s College, Cambridge, he published collections of ghost stories that have exerted enormous influence. As The New Yorker wrote in a story on James, “At Eton and at Cambridge, he liked telling his scary stories to boys and undergraduates around the fire in a dimly lit room, and presenting a new story to friends at Christmas.”

I'm not the only one to thrill to M.R. James. He is the subject of a recent episode on one of my favorite podcasts, Gone Medieval: 'The Haunting Medieval World of M.R. James.' It's worth a listen!

It’s hard to choose among H. R. James’ gems, but the one that seems to linger with me the longest is “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad.” A professor finds a whistle in a ruin bearing two Latin inscriptions. One he can translate; the other he can’t. Not knowing it’s a warning, he blows the whistle…

“Whistle and I’ll Come to You”

From 1971 to 1978, the BBC ran A Ghost Story for Christmas, adapting five stories from M. R. James, among other works for television. They were “The Stalls of Barchester,” “A Warning to the Curious,” “Lost Hearts,” “The Treasure of Abbot Thomas,” and “The Ash Tree.”

Americans are no slouches in the telling of ghost stories, nor in connecting them to the tradition of Christmas time. Henry James begins his 1898 horror novella The Turn of the Screw like this:

The tale had held us, round the fireplace, sufficiently breathless, however except the obvious remark that it changed into gruesome, as, on Christmas Eve in an antique residence, a weird tale need to basically be, I remember no commentary uttered until someone to mention that it become the satisfactory case he had met wherein the sort of visitation had fallen on an infant.

Ghost stories are very subjective — of course — and forgive me if I’ve left out anyone’s favorites! And be sure to read one around Christmastime.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Nancy Bilyeau is a magazine editor who has worked on the staffs of ‘Entertainment Weekly,’ ‘Rolling Stone,’ and ‘InStyle’ and a writer of historical fiction. She followed her Joanna Stafford suspense trilogy, set in Tudor England, with ‘The Blue,’ an espionage tale set in the porcelain factories of 18th century Europe, ‘The Fugitive Colours,’ its sequel, and, in 2025, ‘The Versailles Formula.’

Nancy wrote a Christmas ghost story novella titled ‘The Ghost of Madison Avenue.’ It is set in the Morgan Library in 1912.

Learn more at www.nancybilyeau.com.