March 24, 2022

Historical Romance Badassery

Historical Romance Badassery

To celebrate Women's History Month, I'm highlighting favorite real and fictional badasses. Warning: I mention the word badass many, many times in this episode. Clearly I love me a bit of badassery. Women worthy of official biographies and iconoclastic female characters in historical romances all provide ready-made inspiration. I need as much of that as I can get.

https://www.confessionsofaclosetromantic.com

Virginia Woolf's house on Gordon Square (4th picture in right sidebar).  She had many gatherings of the Bloomsbury Group in that house. See the windows with the balcony in front? I sat in that room as an inaugural student in the Gender Studies program at University of London. One of my favorite memories ever.


Mariah mentioned the gender non-conforming writer and performance artist Alok Vaid-Menon

Books

For me there is nothing like reading about someone's life through their diaries. Virginia Woolf was a dedicated diarist who documented the fascinating people, work and relationships that filled her days in the early 20th century.

She was also a talented essayist. A Room of One's Own is a groundbreaking, feminist classic.

A Week to Be Wicked is Book 2 in the witty, smart, sexy, sizzling hot Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare.

Mariah and I talked about Brazen and the Beast, Book 2 in the Barenuckle Bastards series by Sarah MacLean.

I read from At His Lady's Command by Nicola Davidson, part of the Surrey Sexual Freedom Society novella series. It's one of the hottest historical romances I've ever read.

Movies/TV Shows

Orlando is visually sumptuous and totally intriguing, as is the Virginia Woolf novel it's based on. The movie's gorgeous ethereal music was co-written by director Sally Potter.

Wynonna Earp is thrilling, a bit scary and thoroughly absorbing. 

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