Winter's over and The Oldest House is once again open for the summer season! I missed the first weekend, as I was away in the UK for a writers' conference and also a bit of a holiday. However, we are now open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 1-4 each week for tours, and each month we have special events scheduled. Be sure to check out The Rocket Courier for ads about upcoming events, and 'friend' The Oldest House group on Facebook to keep up with the latest.
Winter and early spring this year found me collecting MORE period clothing pieces for our ongoing exhibit at the House, and also getting the bright idea of showcasing our jewel, the 1853 Swackhammer wedding dress, by mounting a display of bridal gowns from 1853 through 1914, which is the year our PCE ends. I was quite lucky at the auctions, and snagged some beautiful dresses and gowns and a couple of stunning veils.
Did you know that wedding veils didn't really get fashionable until about 1835? Up until then, women wore bonnets with their wedding gowns, albeit elaborate ones, and had veils attached front and back to the bonnets' brims.
The special Bridal Exhibit, titled, 'I do! I do!' also features a couple of gowns from area residents' treasure chests, so do try and come and see it. I DO I DO will only be open for this month, June; in July, the wedding gowns come down (with the exception of the 1853 Swackhammer dress, which is a permanent part of the PCE) and authentic pieces of light, summery clothing from 1835-1914 will be on display, along with a couple of 1781 era replicas.
It is extremely difficult to locate clothing from before 1800, particularly clothing that is in any kind of decent condition, and if you are lucky enough to find an authentic example, it is generally extremely expensive. We are fortunate to have one dress dated to 1835-6 which is authentic, but the 1781 dress and the 1775-85 man's trousers are faithful reproductions.
On that note, I might tell you that while I was finishing my holiday in the UK with a couple of days in London, I checked to see what was on offer at the Victoria and Albert Museum. To my delight (and some humor, I will admit) I read that they had a display of Wedding Dresses! Theirs, of course, went from 1775-2014, and occupied an entire wing. However, given the space we have and the budget we have, I do think The Oldest House's display stands up creditably.
However, I nearly cried when I saw that the V&A had not one, not two, but THREE wedding dresses from 1775, 1778 and 1780, all in really good condition. Ah well. I've had the book on the V&A exhibit shipped, and I hope it will be here in time for me to have it on display upstairs at the House, along with the rest of our Bridal Exhibit.
Now, to get to the title of this blog entry...since I wrote A RIVER IN TIME two years ago, people who've read it have asked me if I were going to write a sequel. For a long time, my answer was, 'no,' adding that RIVER should stand alone, I thought.
Then my friend Nancy Sharp, herself an artist and one who always sees outside the lines of convention, for which I treasure her, said casually, 'well you could always do a murder mystery and set it back in 1781, couldn't you?'
Ah...yeah. I didn't immediately jump at the idea but in April, just before I left for the UK, I did, indeed, begin a new book. It is a sequel to RIVER, and features the historical inhabitants of The Oldest House, the Sturdevant family, just like RIVER does. It also features my female protagonist, Izzy Richard and I guess I've now given the answer to the 'will she or won't she' question in RIVER. Izzy decides to stay in 1795, the year she time travelled to in RIVER from her own modern day life. In the new book, tentatively called TREACHERY IN TIME (but I think that may change) she is at The Oldest House once again, along with Elizabeth and Samuel, Jr., and Joshua, when a neighbor girl is found, hung in the family's barn. People assume it is a tragic suicide, but Izzy, who still sees the world through her 21st century eyes, is certain it's a murder.
Not only does she have the challenge of proving her theory to local authorities and residents, she must negotiate the tricky position of being a woman in the late 18th century, with virtually no voice in matters like criminal investigation. The fact that there is no such thing as forensics back then is another hurdle, and then, of course, Izzy has to figure out who murdered the girl, and why.
Like my modern day 'Reporting is Murder!'© series, there are several potential killers, long buried secrets, and a host of vibrant personalities that I hope will make the new sequel as popular (or more so) as RIVER was. Not only will it appeal to local residents who know and love The Oldest House, it should intrigue lovers of historical fiction, and it should attract murder mystery readers as well.
With luck and discipline, it will be ready for this autumn's Fancy Fair...usually in October...more on that to come.
Thanks for reading, and if you can, do visit The Oldest House this season. I'd be so very pleased to see you!
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