Books
Only a Duke Will Do Scoop
- I've chronicled most of the political stuff in the author's note in the book, but if you want to explore it more, you can check out these fascinating pages about Lord Liverpool's Ministry. These and other discussions about politics of the period can be found on the Peel Web. Yes, believe it or not, there are still people who not only talk about this stuff, but debate who was responsible for what. Depending on who is writing, you can find people who think Peel was fabulous and people who think he is over-rated. The same is true of Liverpool. Pick your favorite interpretation—I certainly did.
- The scene where the doctor turns Betsy's baby was based on information I got from an excerpt from Martha Ballard's diary (A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812). She writes, "The foets [fetus] was in an unnatural posetion but I Brot it into a proper direction and shee was safe delivered," which told me that the turning of breech babies could be done at this time.
- The talk about making "white wood" toys for the children was entirely influenced by a period article I read about Victorian toymaking. The period was a bit later than my book, but I got the impression that toymaking hadn't changed much.
- There's a lot of info about the Maratha
wars. Of course, in this modern age, we have a different perspective
on colonialism than the British did in 1822, but it's still interesting
to read their take on it.