Magical Emma Rose

The wishing well scene in Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs

Good morning, I hope you’ve had a fantastic week! Mine was truly excellent! It was my boyfriend Julien’s birthday on Wednesday, October 16 (I gifted him a good quality bomber jacket that he wanted and his mother came from out of town to have dinner with us at a Japanese restaurant – his favourite cuisine) and I also had plenty of time to myself to enjoy some lovely things (taking his birthday off work really helped!).

Cosy vintage books

I’ve absolutely got to tell you about High Rising because this is a huge, huge favourite. I’ve been hearing about Angela Thirkell forever, ever since Virago started reprinting her Barsetshire books in 2012. Goodreads tells me I’ve read and enjoyed High Rising before but I had no recollection of it so I read it again and what a delight! This is a hugely entertaining humorous village novel in the style of, say, Miss Buncle’s Book or Diary of Provincial Lady. Laura Morland is a widow with four boys (whose names and lives nobody can keep straight) and has got a rather successful career as a writer (which she constantly dismisses as unimportant and just here to pay the bills because she only writes potboilers – a topic for a different day). She lives with her youngest son Tony who’s an absolute DEMON and the novel consists of the whole lot of wonderful everyday nothings that happen in her village life – keeping things civil with her housekeeper Stoker, acquiring a secretary, keeping appointments with her publisher, school drama, Tony being an absolute nuisance every single minute of every day with his obsessive love for trains and the railroad and a little dash of very funny romance.

I can’t tell you how much I laughed reading this. The whole thing is wonderful but I must say Tony takes the cake. What a riot his scenes are! Angela Thirkell writes his (exhausting) conversations with his mother (who vacillates between wanting to hug him and wanting to smother him) so well I found myself absolutely CRYING with laughter so much several times. I’m SO happy I revisited this because all I want to know right now is read all of her books back to back. They’re exactly what I look for in cosy, fun village books. There seems to be 29 books in the series so I’m over the moon that I’ve got so many wonderful books ahead of me still!

Fantasy of manners books

The Dangerous Damsels series by India Holton, I love those covers and how detailed they are!

Fantasy of manners – essentially Jane Austen with magic – is my absolute favourite brand of fantasy and my favourite thing ever in books is comedy so it’s no surprise that I absolutely adore India Holton whose books about pirates, spies, flying houses, tea and a whole lot of enemies to lovers romance are amongst my most treasured possessions. Her Secret Service of Tea and Treason is my favourite of the three – Alice, Agent A, and Bixby, Agent B, have to infiltrate a pirate country house party under the guise of being husband and wife and much hilarity ensues. The most exacting, literary-minded characters with tons of chemistry thrown into THE silliest situations (a pirate conga line, anyone?). What a treat this book is and this entire series is a true gift.

I’m currently reading the first book in her new series, The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love (the quote in the title of this post is taken from this book), and it’s the light academia fantasy romance of dreams. I haven’t felt like something had been written specifically for me like this in so long. This made me want to apply to Oxford to pursue another degree (I’ve already got a Master’s in English literature, but perhaps a BA in History, or a PhD in English lit? Studying fantasy of manners? Oooo). This book features rival academics, parasols, tea (of course) and a whole array of exotic & rare birds. Also tenure and fowl play (HA!). I love it to pieces already and look at that cover, my goodness! Obsessed. This also made me want to reread all of Gail Carriger who was my first introduction to this genre and was the first author I felt was catering to my every whim without having ever met me!

Costume dramas

Bleak House (2005), written by Andrew Davies is one of my favourite costume dramas. I rewatch it all the time. I never watched much of Little Dorrit when it aired in 2008 – I remember that the Tattycoram scenes really upset me. I decided to revisit it this week and couldn’t help but watch the entire thing. Beyond anything else, Amy Dorrit (brilliantly portrayed by Claire Foy) is an absolute light and an angel and stays true to herself and to her values – goodness and truth always – through really challenging circumstances. While some of the characters irritated me hugely (Rigaud, Ms Wade), I thought this was an excellent, deeply entertaining adaptation and both Arthur and Amy must be protected at all costs. It’s got great secondary characters too (I loved Frederick, Amy’s uncle, very much). Amy’s unfailing kindness and patience and love (the ‘you can’t stop me loving you’ part of it all is so touching) makes her an absolute role model for me. I love her to pieces. I’d like to watch and read as much Dickens as possible before December to be ready for a Dickens tour I signed up for in London. I’m beyond excited about this trip! In one form or another, be it book, audiobook or adaptation, I’d like to go back to Our Mutual Friend, Dombey and Son, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol as priorities.

Princesses

A New Day at the Cinderella Castle by Thomas Kinkade

I’ve embarked on a bit of a Disney project. I’m a Disney princess devotee through and through but I don’t rewatch the other animated films nearly as much as the princess movies so I wanted to remedy that. I’ve been following along the Disuniversity podcast from the beginning – they’ve got a whole episode for each animated film and give you background and useful information for each. I’ve been absolutely loving their episodes. I’ve only watched the first two so far and while not every film I’ll revisit will be a hit (I think Pinocchio will haunt my nightmares for the rest of my life), I thought I’d tell you about some I’ve really enjoyed.

Snow White is never going to be my favourite princess film (hello, traumatising witch) but I loved watching it again and I love Snow White who’s such a gentle soul. The woodland scenes are gorgeous and beautifully pastel. I also absolutely adored the domesticity of this film – the cooking, the baking, even the cleaning with a song, I know Enchanted (a huge favourite of mine) has got similar scenes and it was a joy to see them here too. Snow White always sees the brightness in darkness (‘you can fill the world with sunshine’) and she gets her heart’s wish and gets to live with someone who loves her after years of abuse from her stepmother. It’s a fantastic story for her.

I’m wishing for the one I love to find me today/ I’m dreaming of the nice things he’ll say/ Away to his castle I’ll go to be happy forever I know.

I’ve had a look around for Snow White inspired fanart and I came across this absolutely gorgeous piece of art for the Wishing Well scene (one of my favourite scenes).

That’s it from me! I hope your week is full of lovely things, I’ll speak to you next Sunday or Monday. Lots of love. ❤️

victorian

A Victorian Summer from the Comfort of Home 🎩

10th Aug 202421st Oct 2024 Emma Rose

Preparing for the Ball by Viktor Schramm

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! ❤️

weekly treasures

Welcome to My Cosy Haven & Weekly Treasures ✨

7th Jan 20244th Nov 2024 Emma Rose

Good morning! I’m so happy to be chatting with you here on my blog. I’ve been wanting to have a space to write whatever my heart feels like sharing for a little while now. I’ve had various blogs since 1999, some of them for a number of years and others for just a few weeks and I’ve really missed it. You can expect a lot of posts about cosy books – books with little to no content warning you want to snuggle up with by the fireplace with a cup of hot chocolate sprinkled with cinnamon and perhaps a freshly baked pumpkin spice roll too. Mmmm… but I digress!

Today is Sunday, and I’m heading back to work tomorrow (I wish I could stay on holiday forever!). It’s been blissful staying at home and devoting my time to doing my favourite things! Here are a few highlights of my week:

Baking an apple crumble & new food musings

Photo courtesy of Sally’s, whose recipe it is!

Whenever I want to bake something, I always head to Sally’s Baking Addiction, she rarely steers me wrong (I make her banana bread pretty much every month! I don’t change a thing and add the recommended chocolate chips & walnuts – it’s divine). I followed her apple crisp recipe to a T even though I forgot the nutmeg but I must have missed a step in the making of the topping (I think my butter might have been too warm?), it wasn’t as crispy as I wanted it to be but a bit apple water logged. It was still delicious though and my sweetheart thoroughly enjoyed his share with plenty of Greek yoghurt (we both prefer this to vanilla ice cream, the tanginess offers a great balance here!). Next time, I’ll double the topping, make sure my butter is rock solid, buy nutmeg & cook the filling one the hob for about 5 minutes to give it a gooey caramelised headstart. I’ll report back!

I don’t cook or bake much (I’m extremely picky with food and have expensive tastes and none of my cooking comes up to scratch. My darling once joked I should have been a Michelin star critic – I WISH!) but I’m obsessed with food, and good food in particular, and I’m always thinking about dishes and recipes. I want to make it a priority this year to master at least ten recipes that I personally find wonderful (I think the banana bread mentioned above is out of this world even when I make it, so it IS doable). This is my fourth time baking an apple crisp/crumble for the past few months and none of them were exactly where I wanted them to be (though I’m delighted my angel seems to appreciate those attempts nonetheless!). I’ll let you know how it goes and will post a picture each time I cook something great! ❤︎

Princesses & fairytales

One of my favourite films, Cinderella 2015. Did you know that a lot of the Disney princesses appear in this ball scene? When Cinderella descends the staircase up till when the waltz starts, there’s at the very least Belle and Tiana. I can’t get enough of princesses!

I went through a bit of a reading slump in December for two reasons. 1/ I was looking forward to a fresh start in January and 2/ I was away visiting family on holiday and any change in my routine always impacts my reading. I, however, have been fully embracing all things Princessy since the beginning of the year. I will be writing a separate blog post about this soon – I’ve been revisiting a lot of favourites and rediscovering just how much this is my own special niche! To tide you over and if you haven’t seen it yet, I posted a video about a few of my favourite magical princess books here. There are four recommendations there, including two series. The Elemental Blessings series in particular is my desert island pick alongside Harry Potter! ❤︎

I’ve also always loved Disney concept art but finding art for this first blog post has been marvellous. The Tangled bookshop concept art at the very top of this post, by Scott Watanabe, for example, was found here. I loved reading this post on Pushing Pixels about The Art of Tangled. I own the gorgeous book but I had never seen this cut bookshop scene before. I’ve also watched Tangled: Ever After, but I still need to watch Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure. I can’t wait!

Currently Watching

I’ve reached the end of the second series of Miss Fisher. This is a rewatch for me. I completely adore it. A 1920s lady detective who’s a flapper, a wit and has a great heart. Hugh and Dot are engaged! My precious babies. I’m sad I’ve only got one more season to go, it’s been such a romp!

Father Brown is also back for its 11th series. Bless this show, I love it so! Ms Devine is an absolute delight, I adore her.

That’s it from me, I hope you have a marvellous week! ❤︎