In the early nineteenth century,
girls were not so much educated as expected to demonstrate certain
accomplishments. Among these were an ability to dance, converse, perhaps draw,
do embroidery, or perform music. But others were more general, more overall qualities.
One of these was gracefulness. To
that end, girls of that era were encouraged to play the Game of Graces. Two
girls would toss a beribboned hoop back and forth using sticks. To catch the
hoop, one would hold their sticks straight about four inches apart. To toss,
one would cross the sticks and release them, scissor fashion. In the course of
this game, girls assumed what were thought of as graceful poses; hence the
game’s name.
Mastery of the skills involved was
by no means easy, and young ladies could spend a while getting the hang of it.
Once they did, however, they might make it into a competition, where the first
girl to successfully toss and catch the hoop ten times was the winner.
The nineteenth century society was
hardly the poster child for erasing gender stereotypes. I would assume any boy
caught playing this game might be considered a sissy. Yet the heroine of my new
release What a Lady Demands teaches
this game to her young charge, Jeremy. Viscount Lindenhurst hires Cecelia
Sanford as the latest in a string of governesses for his five-year-old son.
Cecelia soon notices Jeremy has difficulties walking and running like a normal
child, so she introduces this game to him in hopes of helping him move without
falling so often. Does she succeed? I suppose you’ll have to read the book to
find out.
One of these was gracefulness. To that end, girls of that era were encouraged to play the Game of Graces. Two girls would toss a beribboned hoop back and forth using sticks. To catch the hoop, one would hold their sticks straight about four inches apart. To toss, one would cross the sticks and release them, scissor fashion. In the course of this game, girls assumed what were thought of as graceful poses; hence the game’s name.
Mastery of the skills involved was by no means easy, and young ladies could spend a while getting the hang of it. Once they did, however, they might make it into a competition, where the first girl to successfully toss and catch the hoop ten times was the winner.
The nineteenth century society was hardly the poster child for erasing gender stereotypes. I would assume any boy caught playing this game might be considered a sissy. Yet the heroine of my new release What a Lady Demands teaches this game to her young charge, Jeremy. Viscount Lindenhurst hires Cecelia Sanford as the latest in a string of governesses for his five-year-old son. Cecelia soon notices Jeremy has difficulties walking and running like a normal child, so she introduces this game to him in hopes of helping him move without falling so often. Does she succeed? I suppose you’ll have to read the book to find out.
What a
Lady Demands
The Eton
Boys Trilogy # 2
By: Ashlyn Macnamara
Releasing November 4th, 2014
Loveswept
Blurb
Readers of
Julia Quinn, Eloisa James, and Sabrina Jeffries will love Ashlyn Macnamara’s
novel about a smoldering new love that is threatened by past betrayals.
Viscount
Lindenhurst cannot seem to find a governess who meets his impossible
standards—until Cecelia Sanford becomes the first woman to interrupt the
widower’s brooding in years. Lind had returned home from the Napoleonic wars,
broken in body and soul and longing for his wife’s embrace, only to find her
changed. Before they could reconcile, an accident struck their son and claimed
her life. Now enter Cecelia, with her soft curves and sharp tongue—a tempting
distraction, it is true, but not a welcome one.
Past the
usual marrying age and haunted by a scandal of her own, Cecelia soon finds
herself caring for both the child and the man. The viscount is brittle and even
abrupt at times, yet she cannot deny the attraction that stirs her body in his
presence. Moved by the deep sense of abandonment that tortures his soul,
Cecelia aches to fully awaken Lind’s heart from its rancorous slumber—if she
can just keep their pasts from destroying a second chance at love.
Buy Links :
Author Info
Ashlyn
Macnamara is the author of What a Lady Craves, A Most Devilish Rogue, and A
Most Scandalous Proposal. She lives in the wilds of suburbia outside of
Montreal with her husband and two teenage daughters. When not writing, she
looks for other excuses to neglect the housework, among them knitting, reading,
and wasting time on the Internet in the guise of doing research.
Author
Links:
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