What do you think?
Rate this book
My Lady Angel
My Lady Angel by Joanna Maitland released on Dec 28, 2004 is available now for purchase.
299 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 3, 2004
2 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Joanna Maitland
64 books14 followersI am a Scot, born and raised in Glasgow, one of the friendliest places in the world. Unfortunately, there were not many career opportunities in Scotland at the time I left University, and so I migrated to London. Living in England didn't stop me from hankering after the glorious wildness of the Scottish mountains and lochs, but short visits were the best I could do.
I have always been a history fan, fascinated by the detail of how our ancestors lived. I try to imagine the effects of working by candlelight rather than electricity, and how they coped with all that coal and water carrying, all that horse dung in the smelly, unswept streets. I marvel at the idea of scythe men creating a bowling green lawn, or seamstresses hand-sewing every stitch of a spider gauze gown. And I shudder at the extravagances of the rich, who could gamble away tens of thousands of pounds at a sitting, while the working poor subsisted on only a few shillings a week.
Like most writers, I have always scribbled. At school, I concocted a handwritten magazine with tiny writing that hardly anyone could read. I wrote stories and poems for school magazines and competitions. As an exchange student in France, I wrote reams of letters filled with pretty wild imaginings and some bad poetry (in rather suspect French).
When we were living abroad, I started writing children's stories. My children liked them, of course, but the publishers didn't. Then one day, I found Mills & Boon historicals, and I was hooked. I used to write on the commuter train to London and back, for about two hours a day. It was very peaceful in those days; most commuters were hiding behind their newspapers, and mobile phones hadn't been invented. At one stage, I spent several journeys playing piquet against myself with a miniature pack of cards, in order to be sure that all the scores I was quoting in my story were possible. My fellow passengers looked curiously at me out of the corners of their eyes, but nobody ever broke the silence to ask what on earth I was doing. Just as well, probably. What could I have said?
It took me nearly nine years of rejections to get one of my manuscripts accepted. It was published in 2001, as A Penniless Prospect, and short-listed for the New Writer's Award of the Romantic Novelists' Association. I'm still writing Regencies, but I've been studying medieval history since I stopped working full-time, and I'm now planning stories set in that period, too.
When we moved away from London commuterland a few years ago, we did try to find a new home in Scotland, but it didn't work out. We settled near the Welsh border instead. It's an ideal location. The countryside is full of medieval history--ruined castles, Offa's Dyke, cathedrals and churches, black and white villages--and some of the scenery reminds me of Scotland.
I have now indulged my love of Scotland a little by writing a book set there — Bride of the Solway. When I was researching the story, I spent some time in the Border country, visiting the ruined castles and admiring the spectacular scenery. You can see pictures of some of the settings I used in the book here and read some of the romantic background. There are also tales about Gretna marriages and the perils of the Solway on my research snippets page. I found it all fascinating, and I plan to write more stories set in Scotland.
I have always been a history fan, fascinated by the detail of how our ancestors lived. I try to imagine the effects of working by candlelight rather than electricity, and how they coped with all that coal and water carrying, all that horse dung in the smelly, unswept streets. I marvel at the idea of scythe men creating a bowling green lawn, or seamstresses hand-sewing every stitch of a spider gauze gown. And I shudder at the extravagances of the rich, who could gamble away tens of thousands of pounds at a sitting, while the working poor subsisted on only a few shillings a week.
Like most writers, I have always scribbled. At school, I concocted a handwritten magazine with tiny writing that hardly anyone could read. I wrote stories and poems for school magazines and competitions. As an exchange student in France, I wrote reams of letters filled with pretty wild imaginings and some bad poetry (in rather suspect French).
When we were living abroad, I started writing children's stories. My children liked them, of course, but the publishers didn't. Then one day, I found Mills & Boon historicals, and I was hooked. I used to write on the commuter train to London and back, for about two hours a day. It was very peaceful in those days; most commuters were hiding behind their newspapers, and mobile phones hadn't been invented. At one stage, I spent several journeys playing piquet against myself with a miniature pack of cards, in order to be sure that all the scores I was quoting in my story were possible. My fellow passengers looked curiously at me out of the corners of their eyes, but nobody ever broke the silence to ask what on earth I was doing. Just as well, probably. What could I have said?
It took me nearly nine years of rejections to get one of my manuscripts accepted. It was published in 2001, as A Penniless Prospect, and short-listed for the New Writer's Award of the Romantic Novelists' Association. I'm still writing Regencies, but I've been studying medieval history since I stopped working full-time, and I'm now planning stories set in that period, too.
When we moved away from London commuterland a few years ago, we did try to find a new home in Scotland, but it didn't work out. We settled near the Welsh border instead. It's an ideal location. The countryside is full of medieval history--ruined castles, Offa's Dyke, cathedrals and churches, black and white villages--and some of the scenery reminds me of Scotland.
I have now indulged my love of Scotland a little by writing a book set there — Bride of the Solway. When I was researching the story, I spent some time in the Border country, visiting the ruined castles and admiring the spectacular scenery. You can see pictures of some of the settings I used in the book here and read some of the romantic background. There are also tales about Gretna marriages and the perils of the Solway on my research snippets page. I found it all fascinating, and I plan to write more stories set in Scotland.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 30, 2017
There were too many characters with the same name, and for a book with so few characters, it made it confusing in the beginning. Once I figured it out, it flowed much better. It was an okay book, but I was hoping there would have been a bit more intrigue with the other characters. It was lacking a bit for me.
September 3, 2020
I read Angel & Max's story more than a decade ago and I didn't remember it clearly so I decided to read it again. It was enjoyable to read but I still didn't like many aspects of the story.
Re-Read: 9/2020
Re-Read: 9/2020
Read
February 13, 2011I found this book in a box outside a local bookstore. I love Regency novels. Be warned , there is a chapter devoted to the explicit lovemaking of the two main characters Angel and Frederick. Ice water consumption strongly recommended . I was a little uncomfortable reading that chapter knowing they were distant cousins.
August 25, 2015
http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3...
An enjoyable Regency romance. Highly improbable, but eminently entertaining. It wasn't hard to like Angel & Max, despite their misunderstandings.
An enjoyable Regency romance. Highly improbable, but eminently entertaining. It wasn't hard to like Angel & Max, despite their misunderstandings.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews