One of the problems – or, perhaps, the best things – about Gothic Horror is that it does tend to be sad. Usually, there are at least one or two characters who don’t deserve whatever is happening to them, or who have done something which is being punished in a way which does not in any way fit the crime. M.R. James’s writing is perhaps a constant reiteration of the old proverb, “curiosity killed the cat”, but curiosity in itself isn’t a bad thing; while Jonathan Harker in Bram Stoker’s Dracula finds himself in the initial dangerous situation through no fault of his own. Perhaps the saddest story in this anthology is The Lady Who Dances in the Ashes , which was first published by Sley House in Tales of Sley House 2022 . Here is the story of a man who is facing professional and financial ruin as a result of suggesting that mental health patients can be treated in the community rather than institutionalised. He is one of the most sympathetic narrators you will find in the book, but he bad...
This week for #HistFicThursdays, I'm delighted to once again be teaming up with The Coffee Pot Book Club for author Luv Lubker's blog tour! Today, I'm sharing an excerpt from her gorgeous book, Under His Spell!
First of all, let's meet the book...
A beautiful love story between the Princess Royal Victoria and Fritz Wilhelm, Frederick III of Prussia
A lonely young man attends the first World’s Fair – the Great Exhibition of 1851 – and meets a family who changes his life forever.
Follow the young Prince Fritz – later Friedrich III – of Prussia and his wife, Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Vicky, (parents of Kaiser Wilhelm II) through their courtship and the joys and struggles of their first four years of marriage.
Fritz and Vicky dream of a peaceful united Germany, but Fritz’s uncle Karl has his own dreams of power…
Discover often hinted at but unrevealed secrets of the Prussian Royal court…
Vicky stepped out of her dressing-room.
The moonlight was bright; Fritz was already in bed, and appeared to be asleep.
She sat down quietly on the bed to brush her hair, and carefully began to braid
it.
“Do you need any help with that?”
She jumped up and whirled around at the
touch of Fritz’s hand on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry, I forgot.” She could see his
face flush even in the moonlight. “You have been so well and like yourself, I
didn’t think of that.”
“I have felt very well, indeed; even
having to sit with – him – last month – didn’t make me have nightmares. I am
only glad you spoke before you touched my shoulder, so…”
Fritz nodded. “Why didn’t you call your
maid?”
“I didn’t want to disturb you, as I
thought you were asleep. But yes, I would like some help. Alice and I always
helped each other at home. Hold this strand while I…” She showed him what to do
to help her with the long braid.
She glanced up as she tied the ribbon on
the end. “What is so funny?”
He was smiling slightly, as he always
did when he tried to hide that he was amused. “I was thinking of what I wrote
to your Mama about the Emperor Alexander’s coronation, about not knowing the
names of any details of the ladies’ dresses.”
“You know every detail of this, I suppose,”
she said, glancing up at him as she fingered the details of the lace edge of
her nightgown.
“No, I never see it, for what it
contains; one does not study the package of the present one wishes to have most
in the world.”
“Well, you may study it very closely
now.” She slipped off her night-gown, pulling it over his head as she
disappeared under the blankets, laughing.
***
“Fritz,” Vicky whispered as she laid her
head on his shoulder. She sighed, and snuggled closer. “I haven’t felt so
comfortable in my own skin in so long. I don’t think I will even have to put on
my dressing-gown tonight, though I will want my night-gown. Where did you put
it?”
“Where it always is.”
Now, let's meet the author:
Luv Lubker has lived in the Victorian era half her life, making friends with the Brontë sisters and the extended family of Queen Victoria. Now she knows them quite as well as her own family.
Born in a cattle trough in the Appalachian mountains, Luv lives in Texas - when she comes to the modern world.
When she isn’t living in the Victorian era, she enjoys being with her family; making and eating delicious raw food, riding her bike (which she only learned to ride at 25, though she’d ridden a unicycle since she was 7), and watching animals - the passion of her childhood.
Thank you for hosting Luv Lubker today!
ReplyDeleteCathie xx
The Coffee Pot Book Club