Jenna Dawlish

On 19th July, it’s 40 years since the SS Great Britain was returned to Bristol docks. The ship, built by Brunel, was one of the greatest feats of engineering in the mid-Victorian period. Not only was it the biggest ship ever made, it was steam powered not with paddles, but with a cork-screw propeller - how ships are still driven today.

The SS Great Britain is now a museum. It’s also fully accessible for the disabled.

For those of you who don’t know about the SS Great Britain, here is a short history:

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Yesterday I was lucky enough to visit the “Victorian and Albert, Art and  Love” at the Queens gallery in Buckingham Palace. The exhibition, which  is all about Victoria and Alberts gifts to one another and their enthusiasm  for art, was completely amazing and bowled me over.

Of course, for someone like me, who writes Victorian fiction, it was always  going to be a winner. But this exhibition is very special, not only because it  has so many exquisite items on display, but because all of the items were  purchased by Victoria and Albert as gifts. It is in essence a display of their  love for each other.

It was also fantastic to see so many Victorian items on display: paintings,  sculpture, jewellery, a dress, porcelain, caskets, jugs, a piano, an ivory  throne, interior designs, furniture and photographs.

The royal couple would have an   annual budget of £2,000 to spend   on art. Of course, 150 years ago  that was rather a lot of money. However, they didn’t always get to buy everything they wanted - some items of art could be priced as high as £9,000. They would give each other gifts of art often as a surprise in order to delight the other, and there was often sentimental items based around their children.

What was most interesting was that not only were the couple art buyers, they were also artists themselves and some of the items on display were their own design or work including music compositions, ornaments and paintings. The couple were also credited with helping making early photography popular, as they very much enjoyed this form of art.

If you can get to London, this exhibition is well worth a visit. The staff at the museum are really helpful and nice too ;0)

Jenna

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Wynfield’s Kingdom is a brilliant novel which will draw you into the Victorian London underworld.

The story centres around Dr Grant, a disgraced surgeon who takes up residence in Bermondsey, Wynfield a young man adopted by Dr Grant and Wynfield’s girlfriend Diana. I don’t like giving plot details away, so I won’t tell you anymore about that.. There are so many levels to this novel, it could be re-read several times and you’d still discover more. The characters are rounded and though all fundamentally flawed and at times grotesque, you find yourself caring what happens to them but hating what they do to themselves and other people. The most interesting aspect of the book was the relationship between Wynfield and Diana. Both young, and drawn together they cross boundaries that they shouldn’t.They both love and hate each other. Dr Grant, the disgraced doctor is the thin thread that stops them both from falling into even more depravity. He is a surprisingly sedate character, yet interesting and who gives us a few surprises. There are many other secondary characters (like Kip for example) who pull together a facinting tale of Victorian London underworld. What is most astonishing, is that the author is not English.

The research is faultless, but you do not feel as though you are reading a factual book - very important to me when reading a historical novel. I really enjoyed reading this book, and would recommend it to anyone. It’s very much setting a new era of Victorian novels. One that draws away from the cliched Dickens and Sherlock Holmes and has a gritty reality I’ve not seen before and would like to see again. It would make a great film!

My Eclectic Reads has reviewed Love Engineered.

Here is the link: http://myeclecticreads.blogspot.com/2010/02/thoughts-on-love-engineered-by-jenna.html

I’m really pleased she liked it!

I’m very excited, as Love Engineered is now available on the Kindle.

Click here to buy!

There is a new interview with me over on Joyce DiPastena’s blog here:

http://jdp-news.blogspot.com/2010/02/jenna-dawlish-author-interview-and.html

Thanks to Joyce for having me, and posing such great questions! I’m also giving a copy of Love Engineered away, so get on over there and enter!

Jenna

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