Victorian Era Reader Group

Hello, history nutter here. Just lurking to see the discussions about the Victorians. I find them fascinating and very dangerous, which is what I love about the era.

Hello, I've just set up a group for readers to follow my Morganstar Series and find out teasers and secrets about the series. Find it here: https://iturnpages.com/group/38/stream

This weekend I was editing Book 5 in the Morganstar Series, which is where the Victorian social standing really starts to crumble and by Book 6, it's all down around their Victorian ears.

When we think of the Victorian era, our minds usually drift toward the polished surface: elegant drawing rooms, fine china, whispered conversations over afternoon tea, and ladies gliding across ballroom floors in yards of silk. It’s an easy world to romanticise. It looks refined, orderly, and delightfully romantic.

But if you look just beneath that glossy lacquer, Victorian society was an absolute pressure cooker.

To be considered "respectable" in Victorian Britain wasn't just a lifestyle choice; for many, it was a matter of survival.

Read the full post here: https://iturnpages.com/topic/the-mask-of-victorian-respectability

And follow the Morganstar Series here: https://iturnpages.com/interests/morganstar-series

Here's one Victorian fun fact that stopped me mid-edit. On a steamship in 1870, if you were travelling first class, you got fresh water for washing.

Steerage passengers got what was left — after everyone above them in first-class had already bathed in it.

It's one of those details you can't invent, because the truth is stranger than anything I'd have made up.

And it's exactly why my character, Morgan Bretton, spends so much time at the stern rail in my Morganstar Series, watching the passengers most people never think to write about. I have a wonderful ensemble cast with people from all cultures.

Write what you know, they say. Well, I didn't know this until I started researching how Victorians lived and travelled. I have learnt so much about this incredible era, and learning new things each day is exciting, and infusing my writing with rich, historical facts to spice up the Morganstar Series.