Jun202014

Victorian Pregnancy Research for Heartless

July 1, 2014 Heartless and Timeless released in trade paperback size to the US market. At that juncture the mass market editions have been discontinued.

If you have already read the Parasol Protectorate series, read on! (Or if you don’t mind spoilers.) Otherwise, just skip today’s blog post, OK?

It should come as no surprise at this juncture, I hope, that in my fourth book, Heartless, Alexia is pregnant. Very pregnant, in fact. This book was so much fun to write, partly because in her advanced state the slapstick part of humor writing was really easy to come by.

Never having endured the condition myself, I did a lot of research into what it was like to be pregnant. Fortunately for me, at least half my friends were in various states of inconvenience at the time. I asked them many questions. I had them tell me stories which entered the text in new and Victorian form. Alexia is tired and hungry all the time, the werewolves around her are in a snack-carrying panic. The thing with the fried eggs staring back at her? Yeah, that’s my friend Willow.

But I also did a lot of research into Victorian pregnancy as it actually was particularly the ridiculous medical advice surrounding it. That thing about avoiding bad expressions in people around you when pregnant or the child will end up ugly and looking like them? Yeah, real advice from Medical Common Sense and Plain Home Talk by Edward B. Foote, M.D., 1871.

“– gave the signs of pregnancy, in order of appearance, as ‘ceasing to be unwell’ (i.e. menstruate); morning sickness; painful and enlarged breasts; ‘quickening’ (which would not have been felt until the nineteenth week); increased size. That meant that no woman could be absolutely certain she was pregnant until the fifth month. As early as the 1830s it had been known to doctors that the mucosa around the vaginal opening changed colour after conception, yet this useful piece of information did not appear in lay publication until the 1880s, and the doctor who wrote it was struck off the medical register – it was too indelicate, in its assumption that a doctor would perform a physical examination. Neither doctors not their patients felt comfortable with this.”
~ Judith Flanders The Victorian House (pg. 15)

And a note for the upcoming Prudence books, you may notice that there is a certain awkwardness between the young persons, now grown up, and their respective parents. Some of this has to do with personality, but not all.

“The higher up the social scale, the more open about this distance from their children the parents were.”
~ Judith Flanders The Victorian House (pg. 15)

Example from the footnote, same page, references upper-class child Augustus Hare.
“Hare’s uncle, also an Augustus Hare, died shortly before his godson-to-be was born; his widow, Maria, stood god-mother instead, and she tentatively asked his parents if she could perhaps have the child to stay for a while. The answer to her letter was immediate: ‘My dear Maria, how very kind of you! Yes, certainly, the baby shall be sent as soon as it is weaned; and if anyone else would like one, would you kindly recollect that we have others.’ Maria Hare cared for him for the rest of her life, and he called her his mother.”

Want more behind the scenes sneak peeks? Join the Chirrup

GAIL’S DAILY DOSE


Your Tisane of Smart . . .

My repainted coffee table

Sometimes when I am really over-run with writign obligations I need an art project to just rest my brain wish a less demanding creative endeavor. This month I worked on sanding down and repainting the house coffee table. The finished product appears above! Super pleased with myself.

Tags: , , , ,

Posted by Gail Carriger

 Comments are closed

Comments

  1. Kimberly Baker said:

    I just wanted to tell you that the Parasol Protectorate Series was fabulously witty, well-written and immensely entertaining for me. I read a free sample of the first novel and instantly fell in love with Alexia, and then purchased and read every book since. I, in fact, just finished Timeless. I loved every minute of the series. The characters were well developed and just wonderful. My only regret is that it's over. The end had brought even bigger questions. Does that mean the Lord Akeldama used to be a Drifter? Where does he come from? What do you mean Floote's men? What happened to him? Where did he go? Where did Mrs. Tunstell take up? A hive queen certainly can't be residing in a rented apartment. What happened!? Lol. So many questions… ah but it was good while it lasted. Sorry I'm long winded. My point was thank you. It was an awesome series and I'm looking forward to reading about Prudence.

  2. Gail Carriger said:

    Thank you! I am so so pleased you liked them. And thank you for taking the time to tell me so. There is a spin off coming in March featuring Alexia's daughter.

© 2024 Gail Carriger
Site built by Todd Jackson