Belgravia de Julian Fellowes de Donwton Abbey

Mais uma produção bacana vindo aí, um romance de época du bom adaptado do livro de mesmo nome

Julian Fellowes é o criador de Downton Abbey

Um craque!

O livro saiu em capítulos para ler e/ou ouvir, de pouquinho em pouquinho, para sofrer bastante com os mistérios da trama.

Mas o que é Belgravia?

um hotel?

um nome?

uma cidade?

wiki

Um bairro de Londres!

Do wiki: A área tem o nome da vila de Belgrave, Cheshire, a 3 km da sede principal da família Grosvenor, no Eaton Hall. Um dos títulos subsidiários do duque de Westminster é o visconde Belgrave. Na Idade Média foi área de pastagem, no século 18 era frequentado por ladrões e distante o suficiente para ser um bom  local popular para duelos. A área começou a ser melhor frequentada depois que George III se mudou para a Buckingham House e construiu uma fileira de casas no que agora é Grosvenor Place. 

Belgrave Square
pic de Capus Land

Na década de 1820, Richard Grosvenor, 2º marquês de Westminster, começou a construção do bairro residencial de luxo para rivalizar com o prestígio de Mayfair. Isso duraria pelos próximos 30 anos.

Eaton Square
pic de Knight Frank

Eram grandes edifícios de casas germinadas concentradas em Belgrave Square e Eaton Square. Depois da Segunda Guerra Mundial, algumas das maiores casas deixaram de ser usadas como residências da nobreza e aristocracia para serem ocupadas por embaixadas, sedes de instituições de caridade, profissionais e grandes negócios. 
Belgravia tornou-se um distrito tranquilo no coração de Londres com poucas lojas.

Até hoje esses prédios enormes e bacanas ainda estão de pé e ainda são caros.

rightmove

Uma maisonette no 3º pavto do Terrace - mansão pequena - de 3 quartos, 150m² na área vale R$ 16.867.187,00... Quase 17 milhões!... 

rightmove

Na série/livro, as pessoas moram em Belgravia. Têm dinheiro novo, vindo do comércio, e querem fazer parte da aristocracia.

O próprio Julian Fellowes explicou assim a série.
Quando eu for gente grande, vou querer produzir um booktrailer assim!... Aff, que lindeza!

A sinopse:
'Um segredo se revela atrás das portas do pórtico do mais caro endereço de Londres. Situada na década de 1840, quando os altos escalões da sociedade começaram a se misturar com os emergentes novos ricos, Belgravia é recheada de um rico elenco de personagens. Mas a história começa às vésperas da Batalha de Waterloo, em 1815...'

segredos - pecados - escândalos - filhos bastardos - casamentos arranjados...

Tudo parte deste quadro...

Baile da Duquesa de Richmond

Wiki, de novo: 'O baile da Duquesa de Richmond foi realizado por Charlotte, Duquesa de Richmond, em Bruxelas, em 15 de junho de 1815, na noite anterior à Batalha de Quatre Bras. O marido de Charlotte, Charles Lennox, 4º duque de Richmond, estava no comando de uma força de reserva em Bruxelas, que protegia a cidade no caso de Napoleão Bonaparte invadir. Os festejos foram interrompidos logo após a chegada do duque de Wellington, quando ele foi notificado do avanço inesperado de Napoleão na encruzilhada próxima de Quatre Bras. Isso o forçou a partir depois de ordenar que seus oficiais saíssem do baile para se juntar a seus regimentos. Alguns oficiais logo morreriam em batalha, ainda vestidos para o evento social, e a pungência do drama forneceu um tema duradouro para artistas, romancistas e poetas.'

Já li que Wellington já sabia do quiprocó de Napoleão na fronteira quando foi a este baile, e por isso ele foi ao arrasta-pé, para fazer contatos importantíssimos que seriam necessários na guerra.

radiotimes

Agora sobe o post e assiste ao trailer de novo...

vou assistir, com certeza!

será do canal EPIX...

falei do livro aqui
falei da minissérie aqui

bj

All the women in Gentleman Jack

hello! It's been a while since I watched Gentleman Jack but I'm still in love with the series... How couldn't I be? 

twitter bbc one

At first I was mainly curious about it because it is set in 1832, the time frame for my historical Jane Austen fan fiction novel ECLIPSE OF THE HEART, book 2 of the LOVE IN 3 ACTS trio. 
As a Brazilian shying from writing historical fiction set here (especially in Rio de Janeiro) due to the abhorring practice of slavery that only started to ebb away from 1888 on, I'm always thristy for research material - any kind I can get my hands on. A  BBC/HBO production couldn't be too far from the reality, not that I keep checking to make sure the poetical licenses are not too big... Nope, not me. Huh, huh.
And what was my surprise and deep curiosity? I had never heard of  Anne Lister before.

shame on me!

I'm always sniffing around for any sort of files, manuals, historical documents, great personalities and still, nothing of the remarkable life of this woman had ever came to my knowledge. Not a clue! I was deeply disappointed in myself. 
So there was that characteristic of her homossexuality and the fact that Anne Lister wasn't the only one at the time. Duh! 

This I was aware of, humans are humans since forever, it's in our nature to experiment and cross boundaries in order to find a place to fit. Or a life style. Or a self-assurance. 
My historical romance novels tend to talk about that, the search; in the LOVE IN 3 ACTS trio there is a homossexual character, a nobleman, who lives a socially accepted life in the outside; his whole in Darcy & Lizzy's affair grows and shifts according to the problems they find. But he is a guy, and rich. How much different/difficult it was for a woman?
Women's little lives were so much more constrained than ours, what could they do about 'unusal preferences' in the 19th century?
Oh, btw, I have to warn you. I'm the spoiler queen and this post is filled with info and bits and POV. 

historical place at the Lister family property, Shibden Hall - Halifax 

For all those reasons,
this show was pure delight for me! 

These are the opening credits, notice the fantastic wardrobe for Anne! Petticoats, long skirt, pocket watch, cravat, coat and top hat! 

Ha! 

So ambiguous, so hybrid!

She is (was) a lesbian. Yes.
There are sexual insinuations of a liaison between women. Yes.
Anne seduces women. Yes.
But also there is something else no one considers:

THE POV OF OTHER WOMEN
and that is wonderful!

-Aunt Anne, old and sickly, who lives vicariously through her niece's (Anne Lister) aventurous life;
-Marian, Anne Lister's sister, spinster and hopeful, who makes a huge effort to marry in order to save her own life; 
-Eugénie, the wanton and stupid maid, who falls in love for any man and ends up rejected;
-Condingley, the wise and nice maid, who was thrown into the cook post because an illness prevents her from keep travelling with Anne;
-Mrs. Priestley, the prejudiced and gossiping neighboor, who plots against Anne for misunderstanding and judgement of other people's love choices;
-Ann Walker, poor rich girl, who is exploited & abused for her beauty and money by relatives, men, servants;
-Elizabeth, Ann Walker's unhappily married sister, who was duped by her husband interested in her money, not her company;
-Mrs. Aimsworth, deceased, unhappy and unable to fight her vile horrible husband;
-Mary, the frightened and abused tenants' wife, who lived under her violent husband's reign of terror;
-Susannah, the curious and smart steward's daughter, who marries a man without knowing he killed his own father;
-Mariana, rich and smart friend of Anne Lister, who decided to marry a man for fear of social sanctions to her sexuality;
-Anne Lister, our hero, a woman ahead of her time, adventurous, smart, clever, learned, who cheats on the society's restrict rules imposed to women. Of course, it wasn't cheap. 

twitter bbc one

These pictures came from BBC one on Twitter, all beautiful photos of the female characters compared to delicious treats... I thought it so... interesting. Of all the thousands of allegories they could have chosen, it was food to be eaten, indulgencies, small sins even. 

During the first three episodes I was very excited about wardrobe, settings, great acting, Anne Lister's manly funny gestures. She is very amusing and... Gentlemanly. The way she speaks, move around, behave when in women's company - very interesting detail is that she is allowed along women anytime because she is one of them, although she behaves like a man. The liberties only man of the family could have with the women but actually being a friend paying a visit. Ha! Many times she is in her shirt and waistcoat, no coat at all, while talking and telling jokes about her travels around the world.

hollywood reporter

And when she eventually wears girly dresses, it is hilarious!  

Ver essa foto no Instagram

"All night I kept thinking if you'd have seen me, you'd laugh. I had to wear white satin, head to toe in white satin. I had two birds of paradise in my hair. One of them fell out in the carriage, but I managed to stick it back it. I don't think anyone noticed but I made a bit of an impact one way or another." 🎩 #annelister #surannejones #gentlemanjack #pride

Uma publicação compartilhada por Gentleman Jack The Lass (@gentlemanjackthelass) em 12 de Jun, 2019 às 1:03 PDT

I kept wondering and comparing, thinking that if it was the reverse, if such thing could happen... if, if, if... Then I searched her diaries and found out that the writer of the show Sally Wainright (who did such a greeeeeat job) actually used SEVERAL QUOTES verbatin! And then I stopped. It was better to research after I finished bingewatching the show to avoid finding errors or too big licenses. It was the best thing I could do!

hiccup broom

That way I could enjoy all the small little sweet details as the perpetually sagging shoulders on the depressive Ann Walker's dresses opposed to the smart outfits for Anne Lister; the colorful prints in Marian dresses, the rich dresses for Mariana and the watery tones for Elizabeth, the sad sister.

So I arrived in episode 4. 

This scene was when the show really got me.
It came from another important one when Anne Lister demands an answer from Ann Walker: she must decide if she prefers to stay by her side (Lister) or marry her late friend's widower (I talked about Aimsworth above). Pressured, the depressive Ann sends a fruit basket (such an expensive gift) to Anne with a letter asking her to pick the answer 'yes' or 'no' from a pouch hidden between the treats since she is unable to solve her own life. Anne goes mad in rage and desperation, visits Ann and shouts if other people's lives are only a child's game to her. And then, me who was enraptured by the events so far, went mouth agape with this >>>
Watch. 

Did you notice the bidings of female reality? 

The many layers of social restraints?

The rich heir was abused constantly by her sickly friend's husband while the woman was in the joining room. Did she know and allowed because she was older than the husband (the 15 years difference between husband and wife is mentioned earlier in the show; also that the friend used to say that when she died, it would be up to Ann to care for the husband... Poor man... Boohoo!) Was she being fooled? Was this something created for the show? I didn't have the guts to research...

This complicity with us is very cool, each episode has such one moment. Usually this 'breaking of the 4th wall' is something funny or teasing, but this one broke my heart. 

From this point on I started to pay more attention to the other women in the show and found distance from the 'lesbian' - which was supposed to be the main attraction. The Anne Lister shown is much more than her sexuality, what at the time was considered 'something that people did' and not 'what people were'. She was the queen of her domain, cared for her property, made investments, bought, sold, decided everything... As much as we do today and as many of us still cannot do. It was pretty amazing!

In real life, Anne and Ann got anonymous hate mail too, only crueler than in the show, dirty jokes like posting adds searching for husbands in their names. In the show Anne is attacked violently and painfully humiliated. Also her sister in a very moving scene. Ann suffers from depression so severe that she ends up falling under social pressures. Elizabeth regrets having put herself in the awful position of her own husband's hostage when she accepted the unfortunate marriage. 

Life is hard in any era, I suppose.

annelister co

I believe that Anne Lister didn't actually have the intention of leaving us moral lessons, she kept journals for her own cathartic needs. It is said that she took the habit when she was isolated in an attic in tender age while at a boarding school. At the time she started a code (above) that she used up to her suden death, maybe from a mosquito bite along a tour through Russia - she was 49 years old.  

annelister co

As Jane Austen, she too wrote long letters and sometimes used the paper as much as she could scribbing in different direction. 

catablogue

But even unwittinly, her diaries left us incredible clues of female evolution through time. You don't have to be lesbian to enjoy the show or admire her amazing deeds. In fact, you may even fast foward the risqué scenes if you'd rather - or skip them altogether. Not many anyway. 

BTW: Gentleman Jack was a manner one of her lovers addressed her in mail, to disguise the homossexual liaison...

All in all, watch it. 

It's worth it.

look out point tv

I'm anxious for season 2!

see ya

I researched  here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and stopped because I have a lot to do, But could easily spend the whole day at it. 

All videos came from BBC one on Twitter. Many thanks.

A Victorian Romance - All those Dukes - chapter 2

Hello!
The lovely Victorian Romance, ALL THOSE DUKES, is already available and I'm posting the first two chapters here!

enjoy!

First we met Duck, the Marquess and his father, the Duke. Also a longtime thorn in his side, the difference in their appearance.
Soon after they meet - and we get to witness - a lively family of a tradesman called Johnson who has a pretty niece. Jessica Ellen is a widow dedicated to anthropometry.
Nothing much comes from their first meeting aside from a casual interest and an amusing coincidence in their lack of interest in marriage...
Now, as we dive into the story, the plot gets more serious...

Well, no. There's no Duke Ellington here. 
The Duke of Wellington is mentioned, but we do have many Dukes in this novel...

let's get to the 2nd chapter:

ALL THOSE DUKES

a Victorian men novella
read chapter 1

chapter 2

1

Unfortunately, instead of turning dark in features to look more like the father Duck adored, as he so wanted, what came was the day he met a hurtful truth: a tall, fair, handsome distant cousin had spent a long visit at their estate, Storm Grove Hall, in 1824, the year before his birth.

And what made matters worse was the occasion of discovering such a thing: the passing of his adored father, the Duke of Somerchester.
Unstoppable coughs, ever so durable tiredness, ineffective bleedings, useless cordials, all that the best surgeons in London could offer the Duke only provided the Marquess one week with his infirm father. Should he had been better advised, he would have left Spain earlier to spend the last year at home, he could have done more, taken his father abroad where the weather was warmer, so many possibilities hurting his heart that was already bruised with the regret of never inviting the Duke to Madrid because of the frown -  lips’ pursing - eye averting – exaggerated compliment ritual. 

Now it seemed irrelevant.

His father was dead, he was the new Duke and finally could face the ugly truth of his paternity.

For that, he even had started to devise a plan…

---

At the other side of town, in a comfortable townhouse, Frederica read the paper while Johnson and Ellen tried their luck with a giant jigsaw puzzle at the table by the window.

As they discussed where did a particular part of the coast of Cornwall fit, Frederica gasped loud. Stood. Cried. ‘Good Gracious!’

‘What?’ Johnson looked at his sister over his lenses that rested on the tip of his nose.

‘The Duke, such an elegant little man, could be one of my figurines over the mantle, so well attired and polite, wise too… With that beast of a Greek god of a son, bless that lad.’

‘Somerchester?’

‘Yes, Somerchester, we just met the man the other day.’

‘Eight days.’ Ellen mumbled. How could she forget? The day she had arrived in London after spending most of her life in India and France, and on arriving, was exposed to a huge shaming.

‘Dead.’

‘What?’

‘Dead, the little elegant rich Duke. Dead.’ Frederica turned the newspaper.’

‘Let me see that.’ Johnson crossed the room bumping his shin on a chair and a side table, took the paper from his sister’s hand and almost glued it to his nose.

‘What killed the Duke, aunt?’ Ellen whispered. ‘Poor man, he seemed fragile, didn’t he?’

‘He was sickened for a while, always had been if you ask me. He was a weakling.’

‘Don’t speak nonsense, Freddy.’

‘He was, brother, and you know it!’ She stomped. ‘He was our customer, bought tea and opium sometimes.’ Rushed voice. ‘But comparing to the rest of his family, he was the smaller of them all, short and dark. You saw the son, tall and strong.’

‘The duchess was a beauty, then? Have you met her?’

‘She was a handsome lady, yes. But the lad, the Marquess, he has the family blood. The weak blood from the father didn’t pass on to him.’

‘That does not make sense, aunt.’ Ellen shook her head. ‘It is the father who produces the son.’

‘With the blood from the grandfather.’ Frederica shook a finger in the air. ‘I may not have a diploma as you do, smart girl, but I do know the dealings of nature. I have watched the chickens that feed us, I observe the neighbors breed. Nature has not blessed me with children because it has given me sagacity.’

‘Amen!’

‘You jest.’

‘I do not!’

‘Here.’ Frederica moved to the mantle and chose three china figurines, delicate ladies in ball dresses. ‘The lady in white is grandfather, the lady in blue is the father and the lady in pink is the son.’ She arranged the three on the table over the half-assembled puzzle.

‘I see.’

‘The grandfather is a big man but during his life he spends his health in games and houses of ill repute.’

‘You know that of the former Duke.’

‘I suppose.’ Frederica shrugged. ‘Let us make suppositions.’

‘Fine.’

‘So, the grandfather seems strong but his blood is tainted. He passes it to his son, the father.’

Ellen shook her head. Son becomes the father… Oh, dear.

‘During his lifetime, the son is a weakling, for that he has a clean bill guided by good surgeons allowing the family excellent blood to gain strength, returning to the previous form.’ At that, she returned to the mantle and selected several other figurines to arrange behind the white lady. ‘These are the ancestral, all good blooded.’ She nodded, Ellen nodded back. ‘So, when this one, the father produces an heir, the child is blessed with the family blood.’

‘Good blood restored.’

‘Exactly!’

‘Ah, I see…’

‘Careful with these theories using the Nobledons, Freddy.’ Johnson mumbled. ‘The Dukedom of Somerchester is rich and powerful, a good client of ours.’ He shook his head. ‘I’m heading down to the office at the warehouse, surely there is something I can send for the lad. A card, perhaps.’ A moment of silent was spent in honor of the dead Duke. ‘You should come with me, Freddy, to help with etiquette and all.’

A quarter of an hour after her uncles left, the doorbell rang announcing morning visitors. Ellen should only expected callers in the afternoon since she had no close acquaintances in town, but didn’t think it odd at first, her aunt usually stayed at home in the mornings.

Even so, when the housekeeper delivered the expensive card, she was intrigued. ‘Am I well dressed, you think, Mrs. Warner?’

‘A bit Frenchy, dear.’ The housekeeper twisted her nose. ‘This fashion is… modern.’ She said as if it were something pejorative.

‘This has to be god enough until the new dresses I ordered with aunt Freddy arrive from the mantua maker.’ Ellen smoothed her skirts, inspected her face and hair on the mirror between the windows. ‘Show the Marquess in, he is too important to wait in our hallway.’

‘I will send your man servant as well. Better take care.’

Ellen could complain or say it wouldn’t be necessary, but she didn’t know what the grieving nobleman could possibly want.

‘Mrs. Dearstring.’ Duck said at the door. ‘Thank you for agreeing on seeing me without previous arrangement.’

‘Milord.’ Ellen curtseyed. ‘Allow me to pay my respects. We just read in the paper about your father, the Duke. I am horribly sorry.’ Her eyes met his, both of them could see they shared the same sentiments. ‘Barely two years since my father passed, it still feels like it was yesterday.’

‘I appreciate your words.’ He nodded with his hat and cane between his hands. ‘The last few hours have been absolutely…’

‘Heart-wrenching.’

He nodded again.

‘My uncle has left.’ She said. ‘He took my aunt to the office, to take care of pleasantries for you, actually.’

‘I know, I had someone waiting outside. I wanted to speak to you alone without calling much attention.’ 

‘Milord?’

‘May I?’ He pointed the sofa.

‘Please!’ Ellen hurriedly collected cushions to open space for the big man and sat on an opposed armchair holding them all to her chest.

‘I have come to hire your science, Mrs. Dearstring.’ Duck said. ‘Forgive me for being blunt, but my bearings are lost these last hours. My mind is filled with worries.’

‘The remembrance is vivid, rest assured I understand you perfectly.’ She waved without taking her eyes from him. ‘How can my science help you, milord? I mean, your grace.’

Duck twisted to where she waved and saw a dark skinned man, face of one who has very few friends in the world. ‘That man… He was at the restaurant when we met last week.’

‘Was he?’

‘I am sure.’ Duck turned completely to the door. ‘Please, sir, what is your name? What do you do for a living?’

‘He is called Jai, your grace, Jai Agarwal.’ Ellen answered. ‘He is my friend, works for me, with me actually. My father raised and trained him as a skilled secretary and when he passed, we were both orphaned.’

‘Your man servant follows you, is that so?’

‘He is my friend, a brother; my father’s friend.’

‘Your late husband used his services as well.’

Ellen glanced at Jai who had one of worst frowns one could get and back at the Marquess – or new Duke. She nodded. ‘How can I help you in this hour of need, your grace?’

‘Can we be left alone?’ He asked. ‘Send him away.’

‘Jai holds my total confidence.’

‘Not mine.’

‘Your grace, you came to me with some sort of request on the day of the Duke’s passing-’ She widened her eyes. ‘Something secretive, you want my scientific opinion on?...’

Duck tilted his head towards the door.

‘Jai, please give us a moment. Could you close the door and make sure no one bother us?’ To Duck, she half smiled. ‘Can I offer you tea or-’

‘No, nothing.’

‘Please, Jai?’

The man answered something Duck didn’t understand, Ellen nodded, they heard the door close and she nodded to him. 

‘No one will bother us. Jai will post guard at the door.’ 

‘Mrs. Dearstring, since the night we met at The Golden Plate, I have been thinking about you. Something you said struck me.’

Oh, no… Good thing her uncles had left or she might hear the m most charming hoarse voice expose her… So handsome…

‘Your science deals with genealogy, you said.’

‘I did say that, yes.’ She agreed with relief.

‘I need you to investigate me.’

‘Pardon?’

‘Your uncle said that you can measure people to determine genealogy.’ He extended and twisted his arms. ‘I have a suspicion of a cousin of my father who will be coming for the funeral, therefore you shall have the opportunity to find clues and guess as you please.’

‘Just one moment, your grace.’ Ellen showed him both palms. ‘I do not play a guessing game; neither do I search pieces to make them fit as jigsaw puzzle.’ She pointed the table where she had been playing with her uncle. ‘Anthropometry is a serious science, we research morphological characteristics of the human body, anthropometric measurements to identify individuals.’

‘Are you saying you answer my needs?’

‘Tell if the cousin is indeed part of your family.’

‘That is irrelevant. I am interested in my own genealogy.’

Ellen paused for a moment. ‘Identify your real genitor?’

‘Yes.’

‘Merde!’ Ellen swore in French. ‘This is insane, your grace.’

‘This doubt taints my being, Mrs. Dearstring!’ Duck stood to hold the mantle and hang his head. ‘I need to be sure that the most perfect man who lays motionless in his death bed was my real father. There couldn’t be a biggest honor in this nation, and I feel inappropriate to take his title.’

‘Resist the grief, your grace. It’s the pain talking.’

Duck turned from the mantle with such a stare that spooked Ellen. ‘You don’t know me, you cannot know.’

‘I have experienced terrible losses, I know.’ She whispered.

‘Devil take me!’ He groaned. ‘You are unable to work on such matter.’ A strong feeling of despair took him over and he could only hold in a tremor. ‘How much do I owe you for this inconvenience and your silence?’

‘I didn’t say such a thing.’ She shook her head. ‘But to determine what you ask through anthropometry; there are steps to be taken. First, I would need to… measure the Duke. That is a disgraceful thing to -’

‘Can it be done?’

‘Sure. That is how we study, in fact. Measuring cadavers.’ She finished in a whisper.

‘You are strong willed enough to do it on your own, then.’

‘I count on the assistance of Jai.’ She pointed at the door. ‘My friend who you just met and distrusted.’

‘If you vouchsafe his discretion, as I believe yours is to be gained, I can arrange opportunity for you to take these measurements tonight.’

Ellen was silent.

‘By then I shall have a contract for us to sign in the presence of my valet and your man, they should provide witness enough. You will not be able to make public any results acquired with this, even if in the end you think the payment I offer is not enough.’ Duck said. ‘I offer three thousand pounds; we can make further agreements later tonight. Will 9 in the evening be convenient?’

She could only nod and watch in astonishment as the handsome man nodded back and left without another word.

That much money for such a task!

A fortune one takes a lifetime to amass… It meant freedom, independence, means to dedicate to science, further specialization, funding for university studies!

How would she justify her absence to her uncle and aunt?

And how to conduct such an investigation without supervision of a professor?

How exciting!...

---

more details & links about this book here

Sanditon's final chapter was... I can't even!

Hello.
Yesterday was a very difficult day for me, the 2nd anniversary of my dad's passing. Very, very sad day. When I planned the launching of my new book, a Victorian romance called ALL THOSE DUKES, I hoped to add jolly moments to the date. 

"Pense no passado somente se a lembrança lhe trouxer prazer."
pic do kwize

But it didn't work.

I should have dedicated to marketing and all that, but I wallowed in the mire. In a way, I gave myself the opportunity. Grief is not easy to cope, anyway.

Thank God for Austen in the World 

usually I write when I get down to, sort of, clean my well of sorrow. Kinda like transforming water into wine.

makeagif

Yesterday, nothing helped... When I emerged from pain, I remembered the time difference between UK and Brazil and was glad for a moment:  SANDITON's last chapter was available! Yay!

but, nah...

Yieks, what a bazooka shot!

What was that, Sanditon?

Are you mad?
someone please, send her to Bedlam!

Ok, I get it that, at the end of the day, money is the final goal. Sadly, it is so and I painfully know the need. The writers and producers must have wanted to leave the seed for a second season. But, please, was it necessary to stop in the middle? Where we are, there isn't anything to grasp! It was all hurried, watered, spit as if one can't explain the plot! Oh, I hated it! 

pic from twitter - broken heart cookies: was it a PREMONITION?

obs.: some pics came from my phone aimed at the TV, they may be a little blurry... sorry.

Anyway, I am the spoilers' queen, and will babble here. If you haven't watched it yet, you'd better change to one of my free reads or ebooks. All have satisfying happy endings.
Here I come: What killed me wasn't the lack of happy ending for Charlotte & Sidney, even if the sweet loving on TV would have helped me a lot yesterday. What disappointed me was the awful way they stopped it. Paused, really, because since last week a few 
 clues about a 2nd season started to leak. 

I'll start by saying that I did consider the production as an inspiration, a perfume of Austen's novels that I so much admire. Why? Because Sanditon is a very small manuscript, not much to feed an adaptation per se. It basically has the characters' presentations and we know how Jane enjoyed fooling us, giving us wrong first impressions. She made us believe Darcy was a tyrant with a horrible secret to hide when he had just bad blood for Wickham. She also made us think Churchill was a charming gentleman when he was the worst cad vilan despicable man ever.  So, she left us too little of Sanditon for us to guess what she was hiding to show later.

That's why I thought the miniseries as an inspiration similar to the ones I love to read and write. I have several self-published and a fresh one for free read here called 9 ways to live Pride and Prejudiciously. I LOVE IT.  As you can guess, 9 inspirations in a single story... So, when the TV show first presented a Sidney completely different from the one Austen left us, cheerful and light-hearted to a brooding rude man, I thought: Oh, Well, it must make sense later on.

The show started pretty slow. Beautiful scenes, not much plot. Then we got to the middle and bam! Everything happening at once!

And we had so many nice options!
- Georgiana Lamb and her boy (fuckboy?)
- Esther and Lord Babbington
- Esther & brother Edward & cousin Clara
- Lady D pretending to die/sick and healed
- Burned will of Lady D
- Stringer, the ambicious constructor
- Stringer & Charlotte
- Mary Parker starting to make hubs walk the line
- Tom Parker in debt
- a very modern Doctor
- Charlotte who knew of Clara's improprieties
- Charlotte who worked for Tom
- fatty Parker courting the poor rich girl Georgiana
- Georgiana kidnapped
- Georgiana sold
- Georgiana taken to Gretna Green
- secret reason for Georgiana being Sidney's ward. Her dad save his life, it was said, but how? And why does she hates his guts so much?
- Workers x gents
- Lady Susan, Prince Regent's lover
- the Widow, Sidney's ex
- Sidney with puppy eyes for the widow
- Charlotte falling for the man who treats her like shit 

And we arrive at the 6th episode to start to run for the hills! All subplots are either MIA or forgotten. Only the easiest most foul ones last. Oh, I was devasted. 

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Georgiana was left out. We found out that her boy was a good guy and a bad gambler. Abolicionist, he talked too much about the rich girl he would marry and when he couldn't pay his debt, sold means to contact her. She was taken by force, then saved; he was fogriven and forgotten. 
WAIT!
She was SOLD! A slave's daughter. Threaten of spousal rape after a forced marriage. Damn!!!

And that was all, folks.

the tvdb

Clara found out the brothers were lovers, then the lovers were chaste (what?), then she burned the aunt's will, shagged the Baronet, was discovered and sent away ??? 
WAIT!
She could at least demand marriage, the guy compromised her twice: once in a crude handjob everyone saw and later on their aunt's house floor. 

the tvdb

Comprometimising, btw, is something no one cares about in Sanditon. Charlotte is always alone with a guy or another. Anywhere. Never coiffeured, hair always all over the place, she is a wild beauty heady for an adventure. At the beach, the hills, city walk, indoors, you name it. 
WAIT!

No, it was not how it was done!

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Lady's Manual of Etiquette, 1860, has specific instructions to not keep in a gentleman's company alone while travelling, calling on someone, visiting amusement places. Always keep the propriety avoiding contact and responding with civility.


Maria Grace talked to Kim Rendfeld about chaperones in Regency saying that young ladies could never be in a gentleman's company without a chaperone except walking to church or throught the park early morning. One needed to protect her reputation in all costs. 

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What about Charlotte? Jeez, hard thing is to find her with a lady friend... Boating with Sidney, in his coach, strolling beside him, at the beach when he was au naturel - ok, that was an accident, but she was on her own. 

With Stringer too: visiting his house, his work, strolling...

Ah, but that was a poetic license!...

Fine, I'll give you that. sometimes it's very hard to fit a chaperone in a scene, it kills the rhythm. 

But what about the show's final plot?

Can it be excused explained?

gify

step-by-step

-Sidney declares his love for Charlotte saying his truer to himself when with her, and that was why he sent the widow away

-Sidney kisses Charlotte on top of the hill

-Sidney admires Charlotte while she dances with Stringer

-Charlotte sends Stringer away believing Sidney will propose

-Charlotte meets Sidney at the ball room's balcony

-Sidney starts to propose, but Edward the Baronet starts a scandal 

-Sidney has to take Edward away so Babbington can propose to Esther

-A fire puts the city in turmoil

chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-

the following day...

chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp-

-Tom reveals he owns 80.000 bucks
- Parker brothers swear fidelity (huh?)

-Sidney leaves for London to stay a week in order to find money to save Sanditon and his brother

-Charlotte waits writing to her sister - one that never wrote before 

-Sidney returns saying he sold his bachelorhood to the widow, his ex, in exchange for the money to save everything 

huh?

Did you get the plate of the truck that ran us over?

At least did you see the coach?

What an horrible solution!!!

There were so many other options to save Sanditon WITHOUT THE NEED TO EXPLAIN/JUSTIFY an understanding between Sidney and his ex besides the obvious unresolved love they shared - that he said was forgotten. 

- Miss Lambe, his ward, was worth 100.000;
- Lord Babbington, his friend, Esther's fiancé who was Lady D's heir and so was interested in the city's sucess $$ no;
- Lady Susan with her connections and sudden adoration for Charlotte;
✔ sell his tight body to the pretty widow...

tenor

Of course there was still some lingering tenderness between them, the handsome fuckboy only needed an excuse to act on it. On her, I mean. The worst was what he told Charlotte when they parted. She wished him all the happiness and hoped he could make his bride happy, he said 'yes, I'd better keep my side of the bargain'. Oh... I hated it! To me it sounded as if he was referring to a business transaction, money for love - that has another name, different from marriage. She may be a villain for us, but she's a woman like me and no woman deserves half-a-husband, be half loved. That's wrong! 
WAIT: 
no one deserves that, nor woman, nor man. If money is the issue, arrange a business deal. Pay for love is something I dislike. 

But a profitable marriage is Austen's usual subject, isn't it? 
Guess so...
It was what Ms Bingley wanted from Darcy, Mrs. Bennet wanted Lizzy to marry Collins, Charlotte Lucas did marry him for personal gain and that was roughly the same reason why Anne Elliot's dad advised her against Wentworth... Lady Susan spends the whole book scheming for a good marriage. So many characters. 
BUT, WAIT A MOMENT:

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I don't think that leaving the story in the lurch is a very non-Austen thing to do. She'd tell us what happened afterwards. Specially if there were unhappy marriages....
I read somewhere that all marriages she included in her novels are miserable. The Bennets, the Hursts, Dashwoods, Mansfield Park's gang, Tilneys... 
I can only imagine what she'd do with Sidney and his widow bride. He'd turn out fat and drunk all the time to escape her nagging reminding him that he was bought.
She'd show us Stringer living a successful life in London as an architect or big constructor. 

Charlotte?... 
Don't know... Não sei. 
Lady Susan, the instantaneous buff, maybe could chose an advantageous connection, a dashing Lord or landed gentleman. 

Oh, what a lovely plot for a new novel! I can even see the first chapter...

How about that?

btw, my new book, a

a romance set in the Victorian era  is already available.

It has even a booktrailer...

Check it out here

See ya!