Highlighting Historical Romance and musical burlesque in the Victorian Era with Stephanie Patterson
Musical burlesque, as music hall was once known, has a colorful history from its beginnings in working-class taverns, to the full-scale performances inside gilded theatres that we think of today. In the early 1860s, when my story takes place, people continued flooding into the poorer areas of London to seek their fortunes. Women received very limited rights under the Marital Act of 1857, and the impresario, Charles Morton offered people from all walks of life entertainment from the stage of the Alhambra theatre. These are the people and events I used to create the glittering theatrical world of, Bobby Dazzler.
It’s interesting to know that in early music halls, it was the scandals and crimes of the rich and famous that fascinated the working-classes and the poor. There were staged reenactments and bawdy songs created for some of the more salacious incidents. It can be said these reenactments were the ‘reality television,’ and tabloid journalism of the Victorian age.
Opera dancers are often portrayed as little more than the ‘other women’ in romances. I wanted mine front and center, because women who defy the odds to provide for themselves are a recurring theme in my novels. My heroine, Nettie Pomeroy, illustrates the dedication and hard work necessary to succeed as a professional dancer in Victorian England. I borrowed the famous and fascinating ballet danseur, Marie Taglione, to act as her mentor. L’Taglione, written off at age six as an ‘ugly duckling,’ overcame significant shortcomings due to the curvature of her back and become one of the greatest dancers of her time.
The stories of history captivate me and I am always on the lookout for the next aha moment to inspire me. My next book will draw from Victorian divorce law and I can’t wait!
About the Book: Bobby Dazzler
Caelan Hennesy meets the young woman of his dreams in a Paris museum. She is educated, beautiful and refined – everything his family and society expects of his bride.
Venetia believes she found her prince that day in Paris, and she is certain that their love is strong enough to overcome her scandalous birth. Venetia is the lovechild of a duke and his commoner mistress.
When her half-truths and lies of omission are exposed, a disillusioned Caelan walks away, leaving Venetia at the mercy of a ruthless enemy.
Nine years later Caelan, now the Earl of Bainbridge, discovers Venetia to be a dazzling music hall dancer named Nettie Pomeroy. Nettie wants nothing to do with the man who walked away from her. Still, neither one of them can deny the passion or the love that continues to bind them together. As Nettie and Caelan continue fighting their feelings, an enemy draws closer determined to bring harm to people Caelan cares about. Will he be able to protect the one woman he refuses to surrender again, and can Nettie trust him enough to open her heart for a second chance at love?
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About the Author: Stephanie Patterson
I began writing at age three by designing my own alphabet by using symbols to represent words. Thankfully school got me back on track with mainstream communication and I’ve has been creating stories ever since. I owe my initial publication to a query letter I sent to Katherine Falk.
She sent my submission on to Genesis Press, an up and coming house at the time that her magazine, “Romantic Times,” happened to be profiling in a feature story. A year later, my first book, Playing for Keeps, was released by Genesis for their Tango line. The Woman in Question, a contemporary romantic thriller, followed a couple of years later from an electronic publishing house in Canada.
I recently completed my first series, Season of the Furies, with the release of book three, A Ghost of the Rose, and released the first book in my new series, Bobby Dazzler, Book 1, Tales from the Arcadian.
I’m a resident of northern Oregon and worked as a paralegal for a criminal defense attorney for seventeen years. I’ve worked all sorts of criminal cases from petty theft to capital murder and murder for hire.
My first name is Venette, by brother and nieces and nephews called me Nettie. I would love to read your book not only because of the names but it sounds immensely entertaining.
Thank you for your article about Music Halls! I love that you put your heroine front and center! They deserve a HEA more than some!