Let us Talk of Many Things; of Books and Queens and Pirates, of Mystery and Kings...

Monday, 4 July 2022

My Coffee ot Guest: Renee Yancy - More Precious Than Gold

(The Hearts of Gold Trilogy, Book 2)

Welcome to my Blog!
Wander through wonderful worlds
real and fictional,
meet interesting people,
visit exciting places
and find a few good books
to enjoy along the way!

The struggles Kitty faces as she pursues a career in medicine.

My protagonist, Kitty Winthrop, is pursuing a nursing career when the Pandemic Flu of 1918 hits New York City. In 1918, seeking a career in medicine, for a woman, was incredibly more difficult.

Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female physician in the United States, moved from England to America at the age of eleven. The daughter of social reformer Samuel Blackwell, Mr. Blackwell ensured his daughters, as well as his sons, received a fine education.

The interesting thing is that Elizabeth didn’t originally desire to become a physician. It was only after attending the deathbed of a dear friend, who sadly stated that she would “have fared better if she’d had a lady doctor,” that Elizabeth sought entrance to medical school.

In Philadelphia, Elizabeth applied to four medical colleges and all four rejected her. A professor at one school suggested she disguise herself as a man. Still another advised her to go to Paris to study. But she had no intention of doing either.

Elizabeth wrote: “It was to my mind a moral crusade on which I had entered, a course of justice and common sense, and it must be pursued in the light of day, and with public sanction, in order to accomplish its end.”

She widened her search and Geneva Medical College, in upstate New York, accepted her by vote. But it wasn’t the faculty that encouraged her but rather the male student body! They adopted a resolution in October of 1847 stating in part that:

“To every branch of scientific education the door should be open equally to all; that the application of Elizabeth Blackwell to become a member of our class meets our entire approbation; and in extending our unanimous invitation we pledge ourselves that no conduct of ours shall cause her to regret her attendance at this institution.”

What progressive and far-seeing young men for their time!

Elizabeth graduated in 1849 and went on to found a hospital for indigent women and children and a medical college for women.

My character, Kitty, is similar to Elizabeth Blackwell in that both Kitty’s parents encouraged education for their daughter, as opposed to most families at that time, who felt that only boys should be educated.

Almost seventy years after Elizabeth Blackwell became the first woman to obtain a medical degree, prejudice against female physicians still existed. Compared to today, when most graduating classes from medical school are split 50-50 between men and women, a female physician in 1918 still had to put up with condescension and disdain, and the prevailing notion that there was something “wrong” with her because she wanted to enter a “man’s field.”

Those early female pioneers had to work twice as hard as their male counterparts did. But they persevered and began a long line of illustrious, successful, and dedicated physicians who accomplished amazing things.

Rosalind Franklin, remembered for her DNA studies which aided in the discovery of DNA’s double helix.

Virginia Apgar, known as the inventor of the Apgar score, which assessed newborns immediately following birth and helped lower infant mortality.

Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, who pioneered research that led to the development of the five stages of death, or as we know it today, the Kubler-Ross model.

Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to travel to space.

Mary Edwards Walker, the only female surgeon who took care of injured soldiers during the American Civil war. I bet she had some stories to tell! Maybe I will look at her life and write a book about her!

About the Book

Book Title: More Precious Than Gold

Series: The Hearts of Gold Trilogy, Book 2

Author: Renee Yancy

Publication Date: 28th June 2022

Publisher: Vinspire

Page Length: 345 Pages

Genre: Historical Romance

A young woman refuses to become a pawn in her grandmother’s revenge scheme and forgoes a life of wealth and royalty to pursue a nursing career as America enters WWI and the Pandemic Flu of 1918 wreaks havoc in New York City.

Universal Link: https://books2read.com/u/bQPlGd

Amazon UK:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/More-Precious-Than-Renee-Yancy-ebook/dp/B0B2ZQXTHV

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/More-Precious-Than-Renee-Yancy-ebook/dp/B0B2ZQXTHV

Amazon CA:

https://www.amazon.ca/More-Precious-Than-Renee-Yancy-ebook/dp/B0B2ZQXTHV

Barnes and Noble:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/more-precious-than-gold-renee-yancy/1141594321

Kobo:

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/ebook/more-precious-than-gold-4

Apple Books:

https://books.apple.com/gb/book/more-precious-than-gold/id6442926646

About Renee Yancy

Renee Yancy is a history and archaeology nut who works as an RN when she isn’t writing historical fiction or traveling the world to see the exotic places her characters have lived.

A voracious reader as a young girl, she now writes the kind of books she loves to read—stories filled with historical and archaeological detail interwoven with strong characters facing big conflicts. Her goal is to take you on a journey into the past so fascinating that you can’t put the story down.

When she isn’t writing, Renee can be found in the wilds of Kentucky with her husband and a rescue mutt named Ellie. She loves flea markets and collecting pottery and glass and most anything mid-century modern.

Social Media Links

Website: https://reneeyancy.com/

Twitter:

https://twitter.com/YancyRenee

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/renee.q.yancy/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/reneeyancy/

Pinterest:

https://www.pinterest.co.uk/reneeyancy/novel-more-precious-than-gold/

BookBub:

https://www.bookbub.com/authors/renee-yancy

Amazon Author Page:

https://www.amazon.com/Renee-Yancy/e/B00726MJDQ

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5754717.Renee_Yancy

Twitter Handle: @YancyRenee @maryanneyarde

Instagram Handles: @reneeyancy @coffeepotbookclub

Hashtags: #HistoricalFiction #HistoricalRomance #BlogTour #CoffeePotBookClub

Tour Schedule Page:

https://maryanneyarde.blogspot.com/2022/02/blog-tour-more-precious-than-gold.html

< Previous Guest Spot

note: Helen has not yet read this title - it is on her TBR list!

*** ***

You might also like

books written by Helen Hollick

Website: https://helenhollick.net/

Amazon Author Page: https://viewauthor.at/HelenHollick

The Jan Christopher Cosy Mysteries

set in the 1970s

buy from Amazon
https://getbook.at/MirrorMurder

http://mybook.to/AMysteryOfMurder

* * *

THE SAXON SERIES

the events that led to 1066

the Battle of Hastings

1066 - the events that led to the
Battle of Hastings
from Amazon
Harold the King (UK edition)
I Am The Chosen King (US/Canada edition)
1066 Turned Upside Down -
an anthology of alternative stories

* * *

NON-FICTION

Amazon: https://mybook.to/piratestruthtale

Amazon: https://mybook.to/Smugglers
e-book only

Plus many more...

fiction, non-fiction

www.helenhollick.net

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Friday, 1 July 2022

Guest Spot: THE HARDSHIPS OF DOMESTIC SERVICE by Alison Huntingford

Welcome to my Blog!
Wander through wonderful worlds
real and fictional,
meet interesting people,
visit exciting places
and find a few good books
to enjoy along the way!

THE HARDSHIPS OF DOMESTIC SERVICE

by Alison Huntingford

In my historical novel ‘A Ha’penny Will Do’ my heroine Kate McCarthy has to go into domestic service in order to earn a living. I’d like to try and give a picture of how hard it really was. As a ‘maid of all work’ in Liverpool Kate had to do everything without any other help, except a washer woman once a week, for the heavy stuff like bed linen. This was a common occurrence in middle class households at the time. Middle class trades people could only afford one servant so full use was made of them. They would start work at the unearthly hour of 6am and work through to at least 9pm, often sleeping in a damp basement or a garret room. In the novel Kate bemoans her lot:

“Every day, I get up at 5am and start work by 6. The list of things to do seems endless – lighting fires, sweeping floors, cleaning hearths and grates, washing dishes, cooking meals, dusting – oh, always dusting! The dusting is a task I can never hope to finish – chairs, tables, furniture, window frames and ledges, doors, shelves, ornaments, china, glasses – it never stops. Then there’s the beds to change and make, and the children to see to….”

Not only was the work exhausting, but no ‘followers’ were allowed, meaning no visitors, especially not any gentlemen callers. The household rules were very strict on this and on many other things, which had to be obeyed at all times. Servants in those days had to be ‘invisible’ to the household, not talking unless spoken to and as Kate describes it: “… a non-person’, a ‘nobody’ who just exists to serve.”

Luckily for Kate she ends up being taken into the MABYS servants programme when she gets to London. MABYS stands for Metropolitan Association for Befriending Young Servants and they ran a variety of centres around London to help train and place servants into decent households. The regime was strict but fair and fees had to be paid for the servants’ training and lodging, but it was a very good organisation which helped many people. As Kate notes in her diary:

“I never been much of a one for cooking, but now I’m learning fast. We’re also being taught all about the different roles in a grand house. As for the home itself – well, the beds are hard but clean, and the food basic but plentiful.”

This leads to Kate getting a much better placement as a parlour maid in a big house in Bloomsbury but even here the work is hard. There was also a strict hierarchy within the servants. At the top was the butler and the housekeeper, who were generally older and more experienced than the rest. Housekeepers were usually addressed as Mrs Smith, Jones or whatever, though they were rarely married! Names were often changed by the mistress of the house anyway, to suit what she felt was proper. Ladies’ maids were often called Jane (even if they weren’t) and the footman, James. The Master and Mistress had ultimate say over their servants lives and there was little freedom. Usually servants only got one day off a month, plus a half day once a week.

At the bottom of the hierarchy was the poor scullery maid, and this is what Kate sadly gets demoted to, after a lot of anti-Irish feeling in the country. This is where we get the term ‘skivvy’ from. It was the lowest of the low, and they weren’t even allowed to eat with the rest of the servants. In this extract from Kate’s diaries, she describes what it is like:

“Oh woe! I’m fed up with being wet and cold. From half past six in the morning to half past nine at night all I do is boil, wash, scrub, scour and heave water around! Water rules my life, as much as the sea does a sailor. My hands and arms are red raw and the only way I keep me feet dry is by standing on a wooden platform. The minute a utensil is used by Lizzie or Martha it has to be washed, dried and returned for further use; it’s a never ending cycle.

Not only that, but I also have to clean the kitchen, all the servant’s rooms, the offices and scrub the front steps of the house, just to show how respectable we are. We have to keep up appearances at all times. They may be very fine steps but I’m beginning to hate them!”

As we can see domestic service was not an easy option for anyone, but it was regular employment, plus board and lodging, which in those days was not to be under-estimated.

About the author

Let me tell you a bit about myself – I am married, have five cats (yes five!), a rabbit and I live in Devon, England. I used to work as a teacher of English and maths to teenagers, but now I just concentrate on my work as an author.

My inspiration for my books comes from the research I have done into my own family history. The reason I have been so fascinated by this is mostly because I am an only child of two only children, which thus means I have no brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts or cousins! I am sure this is very unusual. Is there anyone else out there in the same position? I’d love to know.

My debut novel was ‘The Glass Bulldog’ in 2019, followed by short novella ‘Someone Else’ in 2020. ‘A Ha’penny Will Do’ is my latest full length historical novel, set at the end of the 19^th Century.

Recently I have started up the South Hams Authors Network, based in South Devon, to support and encourage local authors. We meet regularly in the local pub to discuss issues such as publishing, marketing, social media etc and to create opportunities for the group. We have been reading from our works at local libraries, doing radio interviews as well as getting coverage from the local press. It has been a truly collaborative effort.

BOOK LINKS

https://www.austinmacauley.com/book/ha%E2%80%99penny-will-do

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hapenny-Will-Do-Alison-Huntingford/dp/1398408131/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1642419582&sr=1-1

Amazon US:

https://www.amazon.com/Hapenny-Will-Do-Alison-Huntingford/dp/1398408131/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1642427456&sr=1-3

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-hapenny-will-do-alison-huntingford/1140863962?ean=9781398408135

https://www.waterstones.com/book/a-hapenny-will-do/alison-huntingford/9781398408135

Website: https://alisonhuntingford.com

Email: alisonhuntingford91@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ahuntingford9/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ahuntingford9

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ahuntingford9/