Category: victorian

I was listening to the new episode of The Simple Things podcast on my daily walk (I’ve been visiting Parisian gardens all summer) called Everyday Holidays, in which Jo and Lisa have a little tea talk over some of their favourite ways to waste time. Each of them acknowledged that they find it hard to ‘just do nothing’ – something I cannot possibly relate to. I believe the greatest treasure in life is free time – time to do exactly what you wish, which in my case is often reading books in the comfort of home while sipping copious amounts of tea. This is how I recharge and relax, this is my effortless happy place – what comes naturally to me, always. ❤️

I rarely go on holiday and this year I once again chose to spend my three precious free weeks of August staying home, living slowly, and reading. In this episode, they mention that they feel more curious in the summer – ready to try new things, reading or doing whatever presents itself without overthinking it or relying on lists. I’m the opposite. I’m a comfort rereader year-round but I think even more so in summer. You’d think that the prospect of having all those free days on a platter would give me permission to pick up anything, try new genres, new authors, new ways of reading, but I’ve found that I’m even more willing to retreat to my favourite things, and one of them is the Victorian Era.

I’ve been obsessed with the 19th century and the Victorian era in particular since the BBC adaptations of North and South and Bleak House were released in 2005 and I’m always longing to go back there through fiction.

I rewatched Bleak House recently and it’s just as wonderful as ever. I love Esther so much. I decided to read Dickens’s book. I thought I’d read it already but I can’t find any trace of it on my Goodreads. I picked up the audiobook read by Miriam Margolyes from Audible and what an absolute delight it’s been to listen to. I do think Dickens is meant to be listened to. Miriam Margolyes’s narration is absolutely excellent and her different voices are astonishing. I highly recommend listening to her preface just before she starts reading the novel in which she explains just how recording audiobooks works.

I’ve been rereading the entire Charles Lenox mystery series by Charles Finch back to back. It’s my favourite historical mystery series – it’s beautifully immersive and cosy. You always know what the characters are eating and drinking, what a house or room looks and feels like when you come in, it’s a slower pace and there are lots and lots of details about the period which I’ve been keeping track of in my journal to look up later, it’s the sort of books that make you want to read other books and delve deep into niche topics – my favourite kind. I love how it brings to life new characters while seamlessly interweaving them with familiar historical figures – Charles Lenox rubs shoulders with Disraeli and Queen Victoria. It’s my third time rereading those books and I always seem to be rereading them in the summer. I’m an autumn lover and it’s my way of fighting the most challenging of seasons with some foggy, moody fallen leaves. There are conflicting reports about when the next book in the series – The Hidden City – is coming out but I’m so deeply excited for it.

I’ve been rewatching all of Miss Scarlet and the Duke – recently retitled simply Miss Scarlet – again, a cosy historical mysteries TV show that I completely love. On the less cosy and more violent side, I’ve returned to Ripper Street, which, like the Charles Lenox books, constantly has Inspector Reid visit new corners of Victorian London and be suddenly awestruck by the inventions of his day while investigating a crime scene.

I’ve also discovered (much too late, Ubisoft won’t be updating the game anymore and is focusing on bringing their next game to life) the city management game Anno 1800 and have been having the time of my life building beautiful towns and looking up different 19th century architecture trends. I bought all the DLCs and it’s been beautifully immersive to play this game, discover new lands through expeditions which leads you to suddenly look up all the expeditions that took place in the nineteenth century, which leads you to the East India Company, to Turner’s paintings, to Caillebotte, to reading about the invention of the sewing machine, of electricity.

It seems I’m not the only one with a penchant for Victorian things in summer – the wonderful Carl Raymond of The Gilded Gentleman podcast, one of my absolute favourite podcasts ever, dedicated his latest episode to Osborne House, one of the royal residences of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. This episode was made with the help of English Heritage and is part of Carl’s summer series on country houses which I thoroughly enjoyed. If you’d like to imagine Victoria in a bathing machine on the Isle of Wight, look no further. It made me long and long to go visit it. Like Charles Lenox though, I’m an eternal armchair traveller to the core and will probably end up reading about it instead, accompanied by a comforting cup of tea. Just the way I like it.

I hope you’re having a fantastic summer! ❤️