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Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes
This book published in 1879 mulls what how authentic a romance can be that is mediated over the wire by two telegraph operators.
An excerpt from the book:But a very significant noise to Miss Nathalie Rogers, or Nattie, as she was usually abbreviated; a noise that caused her to lay aside her book,and jump up hastily, exclaiming, with a gesture of impatience:--"Somebody always 'calls' me in the middle of every entertaining chapter!"For that noise, that little clatter, like, and yet too irregular to be the ticking of a clock, expressed to Nattie these four mystic letters:--"B m--X n;"which same four mystic letters, interpreted, meant that the name, or, to use the technical word, "call," of the telegraph office over which she was present sole presiding genius, was "B m," and that "Bm" was wanted by another office on the wire, designated as "X n."A little, out-of-the-way, country office, some fifty miles down the line, was "X n," and, as Nattie signaled in reply to the "call" her readiness to receive any communications therefrom, she was conscious of holding in some slight contempt the possible abilities of the human portion of its machinery.For who but an operator very green in the profession would stay _there_?Consequently, she was quite unprepared for the velocity with which the telegraph alphabet of sounds in dots and dashes rattled over the instrument, appropriately termed a "sounder," upon which messages are received, and found herself wholly unable to write down the words asfast as they came.
An excerpt from the book:But a very significant noise to Miss Nathalie Rogers, or Nattie, as she was usually abbreviated; a noise that caused her to lay aside her book,and jump up hastily, exclaiming, with a gesture of impatience:--"Somebody always 'calls' me in the middle of every entertaining chapter!"For that noise, that little clatter, like, and yet too irregular to be the ticking of a clock, expressed to Nattie these four mystic letters:--"B m--X n;"which same four mystic letters, interpreted, meant that the name, or, to use the technical word, "call," of the telegraph office over which she was present sole presiding genius, was "B m," and that "Bm" was wanted by another office on the wire, designated as "X n."A little, out-of-the-way, country office, some fifty miles down the line, was "X n," and, as Nattie signaled in reply to the "call" her readiness to receive any communications therefrom, she was conscious of holding in some slight contempt the possible abilities of the human portion of its machinery.For who but an operator very green in the profession would stay _there_?Consequently, she was quite unprepared for the velocity with which the telegraph alphabet of sounds in dots and dashes rattled over the instrument, appropriately termed a "sounder," upon which messages are received, and found herself wholly unable to write down the words asfast as they came.
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1879
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766 people want to read
About the author
Ella Cheever Thayer
13 books5 followersElla Cheever Thayer (September 14, 1849 – 1925) was a playwright and novelist. A former telegraph operator at the Brunswick Hotel in Boston, Massachusetts, who used her experience on the telegraph as the basis for a book ("Wired Love, A Romance of Dots and Dashes" was a bestseller for 10 years). She was a playwright, writing "The Lords of Creation" in 1883 as a suffragette (her play is reviewed in the book "On to Victory: Propaganda Plays of the Woman's Suffrage Movement" by Bettina Friedl, Published in 1990) and it was one of the first suffragette plays. She also wrote "Amber, a Daughter of Bohemia" which was a drama in 5 acts in 1883.
She also wrote short stories for magazines including "The Forgotten Past" in Argosy (magazine) (January, 1897).
She was a resident of Saugus, Massachusetts.
She also wrote short stories for magazines including "The Forgotten Past" in Argosy (magazine) (January, 1897).
She was a resident of Saugus, Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
October 28, 2017
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b099xpwgDescription: Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes, published in 1879, was a ground breaking book about a long-distance romance conducted over the telegraph wire - aptly termed The Victorian Internet. Written by the previously unknown Ella Cheever Thayer, Wired Love's Manhattan publisher trumpeted it as "a bright little telegraphic novel" that told "the old, old story - in a new, new way". But Thayer's story was grounded in Victorian reality. Men and women alike worked as telegraph operators, with predictable results. At least one wedding was conducted over the wires and Electrical World magazine even warned of "the dangers of wired love".
Presenter Lucy Hawking looks at how the invention of the telegraph led to social changes in the role of women as well as providing the inspiration for this first on-line romance novel, published over 100 years before the internet. Finding parallels in today's e-mail world she profiles the life of Ella Cheever Thayer, discusses the appeal of the novel and talks to Laura Otis, Britt Peterson and Thomas C Jepson, about the revolutionary technology and the social changes it encouraged.
February 24, 2023
This is a delightful love story. There were parts of this that were just so adorable. I enjoyed all the main characters immensely. Cyn is a particular standout though I wanted her ending to be different. I love the scene in the country with her and another character. Cyn did feel like a more natural heroine than Nattie. I found Nattie a little blah later in the story compared to Cyn and Clem. Quimby is such a funny character. Poor guy cannot help but get into scrapes! And he has no Jeeves to extricate him. 😆
September 10, 2022
When I first picked it up, I thought it was an historical romance, written in modern times. As it had a similar cover to romcoms. But when I got into the ebook I saw it was a classic from 1879 or similar. Fascinating little read that is unlike any classics I've read. It was fun seeing that people could form friendship and such back then with "Dots and Dashes" long before smartphones and computers
April 12, 2021
Probably only 4-stars for the plot but I'm rounding up because oh my goodness it was so freaking adorable and also I am in awe that a novel about two telegraph operators published 1879 could capture the essence of long-distance romance and friendship so well.
I mean, seriously. She basically predicts the advent of cell-phones.
This is the story of Nathalie Rogers, a telegraph operator who dreams of writing books. One day, she starts up a conversation with a neighboring telegraph operator, a man she knows only as C. Over time, they spend every day chatting and he becomes an instrumental part of her life. But you can't fall in love with someone you've never met in person...can you?
This was just so, so cute and it even has a strong female friendship. I want someone to turn it into a play. It would translate well.
If you're looking for something to download free on your Kindle, this is one you won't want to miss.
I mean, seriously. She basically predicts the advent of cell-phones.
This is the story of Nathalie Rogers, a telegraph operator who dreams of writing books. One day, she starts up a conversation with a neighboring telegraph operator, a man she knows only as C. Over time, they spend every day chatting and he becomes an instrumental part of her life. But you can't fall in love with someone you've never met in person...can you?
This was just so, so cute and it even has a strong female friendship. I want someone to turn it into a play. It would translate well.
If you're looking for something to download free on your Kindle, this is one you won't want to miss.
November 21, 2017
Ah, telegraphy, the text messages of yesteryear! ;-)
I so wanted to love this novel but it fell short of my expectations. I see it has garnered a surprising number of reviews here for what I had assumed was a fairly obscure little novel from the 1879, many more glowing in their praise than mine would be, so I will make mine brief. I really love the premise and feel that it's surprisingly contemporary in our age of internet chat groups, emails, texting and online dating. If you fall for someone "over the wires" (or internet, whatever) will the flesh-and-blood version be as wonderful as words and daydreams have painted them, or will they be a devastating disappointment? I really enjoyed the first part of the novel, in which Nattie and "C" form their acquaintance and build their affections in the form of dots-and-dashes. It was really sweet and charming and fun, and I also appreciated the glimpse into how telegraphy worked -- I mean, I already knew about Morse code and telegrams, of course, but it was interesting to hear about the "key" and "sounder" and all the little intricacies and day-to-day aspects that only telegraph operators would know about (Thayer having been one herself). However, I became increasingly annoyed with both story and characters as the book progressed and various misunderstandings ensued. The characters never really won me over, either. I found Nattie to be a rather inscrutable heroine, and her supposed desire to be a writer never rang true (and the idea that she needed either great love or great disappointment to precipitate her career nettled me). Oh, there was nothing wrong with Nattie, but I just never felt that I really understood her or could be "chums" if I met her in real life. I liked "C" well enough on the whole. Quimby, ah, Quimby! I could see an actor like Jimmy Stewart making him really adorable and lovable but I'm sorry to say that on the page I mostly found him extremely annoying. Cyn and Jo and Celeste felt a bit too stock-character for me. And, by the end of the book, though I am no supporter of corporal punishment, I found myself wanting to slap some sense into a few of the characters. I suppose Thayer succeeded in surprising me as I did not expect some of the relationships/romances to end the way that they did. Unfortunately, I just wasn't too satisfied with the way some did work out. I'm curious to know how this book was received when it was originally published, since it is rather "Bohemian" and I imagine the Miss Klings of the public were a bit scandalized ;-) Anyway, read some of the other reviews from readers who loved the book. If the premise sounds interesting, give it a whirl. It's free on Project Gutenberg and I'm glad I read it as it did afford several chapters that were very pleasing and some insights into the era that I greatly appreciated.
A rather prophetic paragraph that I couldn't help but share! ;-)
"What with [telegraph and fac-simile] and the telephone, and that dreadful phonograph that bottles up all one says and disgorges at inconvenient times, we will soon be able to do everything by electricity; who knows but some genius will invent something for the especial use of lovers? something, for instance, to carry in their pockets, so when they are far away from each other, and pine for a sound of 'that beloved voice,' they will have only to take up this electrical apparatus, put it to their ears, and be happy. Ah! blissful lovers of the future!"
I so wanted to love this novel but it fell short of my expectations. I see it has garnered a surprising number of reviews here for what I had assumed was a fairly obscure little novel from the 1879, many more glowing in their praise than mine would be, so I will make mine brief. I really love the premise and feel that it's surprisingly contemporary in our age of internet chat groups, emails, texting and online dating. If you fall for someone "over the wires" (or internet, whatever) will the flesh-and-blood version be as wonderful as words and daydreams have painted them, or will they be a devastating disappointment? I really enjoyed the first part of the novel, in which Nattie and "C" form their acquaintance and build their affections in the form of dots-and-dashes. It was really sweet and charming and fun, and I also appreciated the glimpse into how telegraphy worked -- I mean, I already knew about Morse code and telegrams, of course, but it was interesting to hear about the "key" and "sounder" and all the little intricacies and day-to-day aspects that only telegraph operators would know about (Thayer having been one herself). However, I became increasingly annoyed with both story and characters as the book progressed and various misunderstandings ensued. The characters never really won me over, either. I found Nattie to be a rather inscrutable heroine, and her supposed desire to be a writer never rang true (and the idea that she needed either great love or great disappointment to precipitate her career nettled me). Oh, there was nothing wrong with Nattie, but I just never felt that I really understood her or could be "chums" if I met her in real life. I liked "C" well enough on the whole. Quimby, ah, Quimby! I could see an actor like Jimmy Stewart making him really adorable and lovable but I'm sorry to say that on the page I mostly found him extremely annoying. Cyn and Jo and Celeste felt a bit too stock-character for me. And, by the end of the book, though I am no supporter of corporal punishment, I found myself wanting to slap some sense into a few of the characters. I suppose Thayer succeeded in surprising me as I did not expect some of the relationships/romances to end the way that they did. Unfortunately, I just wasn't too satisfied with the way some did work out. I'm curious to know how this book was received when it was originally published, since it is rather "Bohemian" and I imagine the Miss Klings of the public were a bit scandalized ;-) Anyway, read some of the other reviews from readers who loved the book. If the premise sounds interesting, give it a whirl. It's free on Project Gutenberg and I'm glad I read it as it did afford several chapters that were very pleasing and some insights into the era that I greatly appreciated.
A rather prophetic paragraph that I couldn't help but share! ;-)
"What with [telegraph and fac-simile] and the telephone, and that dreadful phonograph that bottles up all one says and disgorges at inconvenient times, we will soon be able to do everything by electricity; who knows but some genius will invent something for the especial use of lovers? something, for instance, to carry in their pockets, so when they are far away from each other, and pine for a sound of 'that beloved voice,' they will have only to take up this electrical apparatus, put it to their ears, and be happy. Ah! blissful lovers of the future!"
March 6, 2023
Absolutely darling! Funny, heartwarming, romantic, and full of charm. I would never have guessed that this was published in 1880. Thayer's voice is so modern, breezy, and easy to read.
September 2, 2016
Many stories have been told over the years, of couples who meet and correspond without – or before – ever coming face to face. ‘Wired Love’ is a particularly lovely example of that type of story, and – given that it was published in 1879 – a strikingly modern story.
Nattie – Miss Nathalie Rogers – was making her own way in the world. She was bright, she was independent, she hoped to become a writer one day; and she had secured a room in a respectable boarding house and employment in the small, local telegraph office. I lked her from the start, and oh how I empathised with her when she had a difficult day.
She was trying to take down a message that was being sent far too quickly for her to transcribe, she was being interrupted by a customer asking foolish questions, and then she upsets a bottle of ink all over herself. Of course she had to ask “C” – who was sending that message from another telegraph office – to stop and repeat quite a few times. “C” lost patience with her , but when “N” stood up for herself and explained exactly what she was having to deal with “C” understood. The pair went on chatting over the wire – in Morse code – whenever things were quiet in their respective offices..
The relationship between “C” and “N” grew beautifully. They weren’t really supposed to chat on the wire, but the other operators in their circuit were tolerant, and curious about what might happen. They knew that ”C” was a man, and Nattie knew too but he was so easy to talk to, she never expected to never meet him in person, and so she was maybe a little more open than she should have been.
“C” and “N” did meet – of course they did – and Nattie’s friend Cynthia, who was intrigued by the relationship that grew on the wire, drew him into their social circle. But things didn’t play out as Cynthia hoped. “N” was shy with “C” is real life, and quite sure that he would fall in love with Cynthia. And “C” was sure that “N” had another admirer; she did, but she could never see him as more that a friend.
The story played out perfectly, with a lovely mixture of comedy, drama and romance. The characters were beautifully drawn, and I particularly liked the way that Ella Cheever Thayer presented Nattie and Cynthia as modern, independent young women, with ambitions beyond matrimony, without pushing things too far.
Their friendship was beautifully drawn, and the pair brought out the best in each other.
The story was engaging, a likeable cast was well managed, and I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that the author was a playwright – this seems to have been her only novel – that she had worked as a telegraph operator. The story lived and breathed, and it rang true.
It was, at times, wonderfully prescient:
“Ah well then the young woman was only in advance of the age,” said Miss Archer; “and what with that and the telephone, and that dreadful phonograph that bottles up all one says and disgorges at inconvenient times, we will soon be able to do everything by electricity; who knows but some genius will invent something for the especial use of lovers? Something, for instance, to carry in their pockets, so when they are far away from each other, and pine for a sound of ‘that beloved voice,’ they will have only to take up this electrical apparatus, put it to their ears, and be happy. Ah, blissful lovers of the future!”
My only concern was how we were going to get to the inevitable ending, which was also the ending I wanted.
It came, of course, via the telegraph …..
Nattie – Miss Nathalie Rogers – was making her own way in the world. She was bright, she was independent, she hoped to become a writer one day; and she had secured a room in a respectable boarding house and employment in the small, local telegraph office. I lked her from the start, and oh how I empathised with her when she had a difficult day.
She was trying to take down a message that was being sent far too quickly for her to transcribe, she was being interrupted by a customer asking foolish questions, and then she upsets a bottle of ink all over herself. Of course she had to ask “C” – who was sending that message from another telegraph office – to stop and repeat quite a few times. “C” lost patience with her , but when “N” stood up for herself and explained exactly what she was having to deal with “C” understood. The pair went on chatting over the wire – in Morse code – whenever things were quiet in their respective offices..
The relationship between “C” and “N” grew beautifully. They weren’t really supposed to chat on the wire, but the other operators in their circuit were tolerant, and curious about what might happen. They knew that ”C” was a man, and Nattie knew too but he was so easy to talk to, she never expected to never meet him in person, and so she was maybe a little more open than she should have been.
“C” and “N” did meet – of course they did – and Nattie’s friend Cynthia, who was intrigued by the relationship that grew on the wire, drew him into their social circle. But things didn’t play out as Cynthia hoped. “N” was shy with “C” is real life, and quite sure that he would fall in love with Cynthia. And “C” was sure that “N” had another admirer; she did, but she could never see him as more that a friend.
The story played out perfectly, with a lovely mixture of comedy, drama and romance. The characters were beautifully drawn, and I particularly liked the way that Ella Cheever Thayer presented Nattie and Cynthia as modern, independent young women, with ambitions beyond matrimony, without pushing things too far.
Their friendship was beautifully drawn, and the pair brought out the best in each other.
The story was engaging, a likeable cast was well managed, and I wasn’t at all surprised to learn that the author was a playwright – this seems to have been her only novel – that she had worked as a telegraph operator. The story lived and breathed, and it rang true.
It was, at times, wonderfully prescient:
“Ah well then the young woman was only in advance of the age,” said Miss Archer; “and what with that and the telephone, and that dreadful phonograph that bottles up all one says and disgorges at inconvenient times, we will soon be able to do everything by electricity; who knows but some genius will invent something for the especial use of lovers? Something, for instance, to carry in their pockets, so when they are far away from each other, and pine for a sound of ‘that beloved voice,’ they will have only to take up this electrical apparatus, put it to their ears, and be happy. Ah, blissful lovers of the future!”
My only concern was how we were going to get to the inevitable ending, which was also the ending I wanted.
It came, of course, via the telegraph …..
March 8, 2013
Tremendously cute. The type of story in the "Shop Around the Corner" and "You've Got Mail" genre, although this one pre-dates both.
Nattie, a young woman who has obtained a post in a telegraph office, is having a particularly bad few minutes. The telegrapher on the other end is sending way too fast for her to decipher, a customer is asking stupid questions, and then she upsets a bottle of ink all over herself. These things cause her to interrupt "C" (the telegrapher on the other end) several times and ask for a repeat of the message, until "C" loses patience with her and gets a little sarcastic. Nattie (who signs as "N") retorts back and also attempts to explain what was going on to cause her to be so inefficient. "C" mellows out, and the two "converse" in Morse code over the wire whenever they get a few moments the rest of the day.
"C" and "N" find over the weeks that follow that they are developing a unique friendship, and Nattie is satisfied to find out, as she soon does, that "C" is a man. She expects to never meet him in person, and so allows herself a greater degree of openness than she normally would. Of course, all this is: A) extremely UNPROFESSIONAL, and B) risky due to the possibility of deception. (This is why it feels kind of modern in places...technology has changed, but the pitfalls are the same.) Anyway, half of the story is their friendship over the wire, and the second half is their friendship in person, which actually gets MORE complicated than the formerly anonymous relationship, because Nattie finds herself tongue-tied when she's away from her telegrapher's key, and gets convinced that "C" is actually in love with her best friend.
Anyone who likes the aforementioned movies will probably like this book.
Nattie, a young woman who has obtained a post in a telegraph office, is having a particularly bad few minutes. The telegrapher on the other end is sending way too fast for her to decipher, a customer is asking stupid questions, and then she upsets a bottle of ink all over herself. These things cause her to interrupt "C" (the telegrapher on the other end) several times and ask for a repeat of the message, until "C" loses patience with her and gets a little sarcastic. Nattie (who signs as "N") retorts back and also attempts to explain what was going on to cause her to be so inefficient. "C" mellows out, and the two "converse" in Morse code over the wire whenever they get a few moments the rest of the day.
"C" and "N" find over the weeks that follow that they are developing a unique friendship, and Nattie is satisfied to find out, as she soon does, that "C" is a man. She expects to never meet him in person, and so allows herself a greater degree of openness than she normally would. Of course, all this is: A) extremely UNPROFESSIONAL, and B) risky due to the possibility of deception. (This is why it feels kind of modern in places...technology has changed, but the pitfalls are the same.) Anyway, half of the story is their friendship over the wire, and the second half is their friendship in person, which actually gets MORE complicated than the formerly anonymous relationship, because Nattie finds herself tongue-tied when she's away from her telegrapher's key, and gets convinced that "C" is actually in love with her best friend.
Anyone who likes the aforementioned movies will probably like this book.
August 18, 2017
Ella Thayer was a former telegraph operator who carefully followed the adage "write what you know" for this romantic novel. And thus, in Wired Love, Nattie Rogers is a telegraph operator who strikes up a friendship -- unseen, of course -- with fellow telegraph operator, "C".
I had thought this was a Great Independent Discovery of mine, but there are numerous appreciations all over the Internet. This makes sense, because it's jaw-droppingly modern. Replace the telegraph lines with an IRC chatroom and this 1880 work would not be out of place set in the 1980s through early 2000s, any time between the beginning of the internet revolution and the emergence of cheap digital cameras.
I'm not sure the book is that great in and of itself, but the eerie modernity definitely raises it to a full four stars.
I had thought this was a Great Independent Discovery of mine, but there are numerous appreciations all over the Internet. This makes sense, because it's jaw-droppingly modern. Replace the telegraph lines with an IRC chatroom and this 1880 work would not be out of place set in the 1980s through early 2000s, any time between the beginning of the internet revolution and the emergence of cheap digital cameras.
I'm not sure the book is that great in and of itself, but the eerie modernity definitely raises it to a full four stars.
April 14, 2023
i’m sorry but did this book from 1880 invented emojis & mobile phones?
this was hilarious! it was so sweet & so lovely! better than most romances i had the misfortune of reading these days. truly, the best of it kind. you would not guess it was written at the end of 19th century, if someone told you it’s just historical fiction; it feels so incredibly modern and familiar! the pacing is great, the characters are excellent, absolutely charming, the plot is believable and funny. not one thing to complain about!
also cyn is a lesbian and no one will convince me otherwise
this was hilarious! it was so sweet & so lovely! better than most romances i had the misfortune of reading these days. truly, the best of it kind. you would not guess it was written at the end of 19th century, if someone told you it’s just historical fiction; it feels so incredibly modern and familiar! the pacing is great, the characters are excellent, absolutely charming, the plot is believable and funny. not one thing to complain about!
also cyn is a lesbian and no one will convince me otherwise
July 5, 2010
This was a joyful surprise. I was immediately drawn in by the similarities of the long distance communication via telegraph and today's chat rooms, as well as other comments concerning technology. The author had a wonderful grasp of where technology (cell phones!) was headed. And then the characters grabbed hold of me. The various personalities and the situations they found themselves had me laughing out loud through the grand majority of the book. It was such a fun, light read.
April 8, 2022
3.5 stars rounded up for being utterly adorable. Before there were email, WhatsApp or text messages, there were morse code and telegraph offices. Nattie, a telegraph operator, starts sharing messages with another operator, C, following a confusion involving a "hearse" or a "horse". There are the ups and downs expected of a romance to get to the happily ever after, but a lovely cast of characters and a very sweet story line. I loved this one.
September 2, 2009
In all honesty, I have to point out that I actually read the scanned version of this book available (for free) for download through Google Books. I've long been intrigued by the similarities between our times and the 1880s, and this book points out another connection. It tells the story of an early online romance conducted between telegraph operators. The relationship progresses much as you would expect it to if it were conducted using say, Match.com, today. Pitfalls are recognizable to anyone who's used an online dating network, chat rooms, instant messaging, or email to strike up a new relationship (or friendship) with someone else online.
And that connection described in language that is clearly true to its time makes it (at least for me) a fun fun read.
And that connection described in language that is clearly true to its time makes it (at least for me) a fun fun read.
February 5, 2023
This is such a cute story about two telegraphers who meet "on the wire" in 1880. They feel that they have fallen in love -- but could a person really fall in love with someone they have never met?!
The most interesting part for me is how similar this story is to today's online dating and our daily connections to others through social media. Nowadays, we often meet people online that we will probably never meet in real life. But it is surprising how close a person can feel to someone else through the written word alone. And that is what this story is about -- it just happens to be a precursor to what we now do everyday! I so wish the author of this book could just have a quick peek at the future that she was outlining in 1880 as she wrote this cute tale of falling in love "on the wire."
The most interesting part for me is how similar this story is to today's online dating and our daily connections to others through social media. Nowadays, we often meet people online that we will probably never meet in real life. But it is surprising how close a person can feel to someone else through the written word alone. And that is what this story is about -- it just happens to be a precursor to what we now do everyday! I so wish the author of this book could just have a quick peek at the future that she was outlining in 1880 as she wrote this cute tale of falling in love "on the wire."
November 27, 2017
From BBC Radio 4:
A Romance of Dots and Dashes, published in 1879, was a ground breaking book about a long-distance romance conducted over the telegraph wire - aptly termed The Victorian Internet. Written by the previously unknown Ella Cheever Thayer, Wired Love's Manhattan publisher trumpeted it as "a bright little telegraphic novel" that told "the old, old story - in a new, new way". But Thayer's story was grounded in Victorian reality. Men and women alike worked as telegraph operators, with predictable results. At least one wedding was conducted over the wires and Electrical World magazine even warned of "the dangers of wired love".
Presenter Lucy Hawking looks at how the invention of the telegraph led to social changes in the role of women as well as providing the inspiration for this first on-line romance novel, published over 100 years before the internet. Finding parallels in today's e-mail world she profiles the life of Ella Cheever Thayer, discusses the appeal of the novel and talks to Laura Otis, Britt Peterson and Thomas C Jepson, about the revolutionary technology and the social changes it encouraged.
Presenter: Lucy Hawking
Drama adapted by Danny Westgate
Performers: Samantha Dakin, Tom Bevan and Anna Farnworth.
Sound Design: Nick Romero
Producer: Julian Mayers
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b099xpwg
A Romance of Dots and Dashes, published in 1879, was a ground breaking book about a long-distance romance conducted over the telegraph wire - aptly termed The Victorian Internet. Written by the previously unknown Ella Cheever Thayer, Wired Love's Manhattan publisher trumpeted it as "a bright little telegraphic novel" that told "the old, old story - in a new, new way". But Thayer's story was grounded in Victorian reality. Men and women alike worked as telegraph operators, with predictable results. At least one wedding was conducted over the wires and Electrical World magazine even warned of "the dangers of wired love".
Presenter Lucy Hawking looks at how the invention of the telegraph led to social changes in the role of women as well as providing the inspiration for this first on-line romance novel, published over 100 years before the internet. Finding parallels in today's e-mail world she profiles the life of Ella Cheever Thayer, discusses the appeal of the novel and talks to Laura Otis, Britt Peterson and Thomas C Jepson, about the revolutionary technology and the social changes it encouraged.
Presenter: Lucy Hawking
Drama adapted by Danny Westgate
Performers: Samantha Dakin, Tom Bevan and Anna Farnworth.
Sound Design: Nick Romero
Producer: Julian Mayers
A Sweet Talk production for BBC Radio 4.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b099xpwg
August 14, 2017
I really enjoyed this! Very unexpected. I'm beginning to actually enjoy historical romances.
I'm sure if I was reading this during the time it was written my emotions and reactions would have been much stronger.
I was enthralled by the sweet pursuit of love. Expressing our interest in someone is so different today.
Very refreshing read.
I'm sure if I was reading this during the time it was written my emotions and reactions would have been much stronger.
I was enthralled by the sweet pursuit of love. Expressing our interest in someone is so different today.
Very refreshing read.
March 14, 2023
I loved this one! It is really, really hard to believe this was written in the 1890s. It reminded me of my favorite movie - The Shop Around the Corner. The characters are charming, and the romance is sweet. The misses and misunderstandings between the two main characters kept the plot moving at a pleasant speed, and the author gives her readers a mostly satisfying ending.
February 26, 2023
Had no idea what to expect with this one—but it pleasantly surprised me with its charm and wit! Really enjoyed it!
August 22, 2024
Spotted this on my Project Gutenberg feed, and it was well reviewed, so I gave it a try. It's a rom-com from the 1880s about two people who meet online - or rather, "on the wire," through their common occupation as telegraphists. It would actually make a pretty good movie.
There are six characters at the centre of the plot, three men and three women. Among them, we get most of the possible romantic pairings and mispairings and misunderstandings; A loves B, B loves C, C loves D, but thinks that D loves E although D actually loves C back, and F loves E but for a long time won't admit it... Not all of these romances end happily, which is a note of realism a modern romance novel might omit, but I think the book is stronger for it. There are also a small cast of supporting actors: two very different middle-aged landladies, one of whom thinks it absolutely scandalous that a young man and a young woman should be communicating via the telegraph; the father of one of the women, mostly a loud voice offstage; and a despicable man who's the equivalent of an online troll.
The flirting and the banter is lively, the young people are likeable and have distinct personalities, the emotional arc is sound, and the working out of the premise is irresistibly reminiscent of how young people used current technology about 115 years later, in the early days of the public internet. I met my own wife online back when that was considered weird, and the exchanges between "N" and "C" are reminiscent of our early email exchanges, allowing for personality differences.
A fun, light romance with moments of seriousness that aren't overplayed. Recommended.
There are six characters at the centre of the plot, three men and three women. Among them, we get most of the possible romantic pairings and mispairings and misunderstandings; A loves B, B loves C, C loves D, but thinks that D loves E although D actually loves C back, and F loves E but for a long time won't admit it... Not all of these romances end happily, which is a note of realism a modern romance novel might omit, but I think the book is stronger for it. There are also a small cast of supporting actors: two very different middle-aged landladies, one of whom thinks it absolutely scandalous that a young man and a young woman should be communicating via the telegraph; the father of one of the women, mostly a loud voice offstage; and a despicable man who's the equivalent of an online troll.
The flirting and the banter is lively, the young people are likeable and have distinct personalities, the emotional arc is sound, and the working out of the premise is irresistibly reminiscent of how young people used current technology about 115 years later, in the early days of the public internet. I met my own wife online back when that was considered weird, and the exchanges between "N" and "C" are reminiscent of our early email exchanges, allowing for personality differences.
A fun, light romance with moments of seriousness that aren't overplayed. Recommended.
August 3, 2013
This review also posted on Red Hot Books.
Miss Nathalie Rogers, aka Nattie, is a telegraph operator in the 1870s. She is eighteen and lives in a boarding hotel, having left her family so that they won’t have to support her. She is independent, smart, and aspires to be a writer someday, once she finds the time.
One day, at work, another telegraph operator some sixty miles away begins to chat with her through Morse code. They begin telling stories, laughing (“the circumstance being conveyed to her understanding in the usual way, by the two letters ‘H a!’”), and keeping each other company.
It soon slips that the other operator, “C,” is a man named Clem, and Nattie finds herself wondering what he looks like. She knows it’s silly to even think about him romantically, since “she was not the kind of girl to sit down and wait for someone to come along and marry her.” Still, she goes to work early and stays late just to have uninterrupted conversations with him.
One day, C takes the day off, and then surprises Nattie by showing up at her station. Unfortunately he has greasy red hair, wears big, fake jewelry, and has a musky odor. She is shocked and disappointed, and manages to ignore him over the wire after that.
Allow me to interject here and say that this was probably a lot of young women’s experience in the early 1990s, am I right? Meeting someone over the telephone line connected to your computer? Chatting and emailing with someone you haven’t seen, perhaps snail-mailing photographs to each other? The first picture I received of that sort was kind of a shock, in an older-and-balder-than-I-expected way, so I felt for our heroine here. Dreams dashed, alas!
A few weeks later, C leaves his job permanently. Then, when Nattie and her opera singer friend Cyn are having a bohemian picnic in Cyn’s small parlor, their neighbor Quimby drops by with friend. The friend turns out to be the real Clem, heartbroken from Nattie’s unexplained brushoff. Nat is delighted that he’s not really greasy and musky (an eavesdropper on the telegraph line was the impostor), but then she finds it difficult to relate to him in the real world among other people. “It is nicer talking on the wire, isn’t it?” he agrees.
Would anyone else like to share their contemporary-world parallels here? Me again? The second picture I received from a different online friend was a vast improvement from the first (I may have exclaimed, “He’s not ugly!” to my roommates). Then we managed to meet up in person, and it wasn’t terrible but it didn’t have the free-flowing, friendly banter that a romance novel would predict. It ended, well, awkwardly, and then he found a girlfriend in his own city and we lost touch. Dammit, someday I’m going to write that novel but with a much better ending!
So, anyway, Nattie and Clem and their group of wacky friends hang out and party, but Nattie begins to believe that Clem has fallen for her friend Cyn. Note to Clem: if you’re in love with a girl, you should maybe try to spend some time alone with her, okay? Nat gives Clem the cold shoulder again, and he almost gives up hope, until a well-timed comment from a nosy landlady gets him to finally profess his love — in Morse code — and Nat gets her romantic ending.
This is a cute, quirky book, and the characters are fun although one-dimensional. It’s interesting to compare their unsupervised lives with those of youthful aristocracy across the pond, who couldn’t be alone with someone of the opposite sex. I was surprised that Nattie, a young woman, could have such a respectable job at a young age, and aspirations beyond her telegraph office.
The most surprising fact, though, is that this book was published in 1880 by a thirty-year-old woman who was herself a former telegraph operator and a suffragette. It was a bestseller for ten years, and resurfaced about five years ago thanks to Project Gutenberg. It’s free! You can read it and feel pompous that you are reading “classic” literature that was also popular at the time and also happens to be a romance! Plus, the author uses the word “ejaculate” as a dialogue tag over and over, which will make you giggle. Go on, give it a whirl!
Grade: B
Miss Nathalie Rogers, aka Nattie, is a telegraph operator in the 1870s. She is eighteen and lives in a boarding hotel, having left her family so that they won’t have to support her. She is independent, smart, and aspires to be a writer someday, once she finds the time.
One day, at work, another telegraph operator some sixty miles away begins to chat with her through Morse code. They begin telling stories, laughing (“the circumstance being conveyed to her understanding in the usual way, by the two letters ‘H a!’”), and keeping each other company.
It soon slips that the other operator, “C,” is a man named Clem, and Nattie finds herself wondering what he looks like. She knows it’s silly to even think about him romantically, since “she was not the kind of girl to sit down and wait for someone to come along and marry her.” Still, she goes to work early and stays late just to have uninterrupted conversations with him.
One day, C takes the day off, and then surprises Nattie by showing up at her station. Unfortunately he has greasy red hair, wears big, fake jewelry, and has a musky odor. She is shocked and disappointed, and manages to ignore him over the wire after that.
Allow me to interject here and say that this was probably a lot of young women’s experience in the early 1990s, am I right? Meeting someone over the telephone line connected to your computer? Chatting and emailing with someone you haven’t seen, perhaps snail-mailing photographs to each other? The first picture I received of that sort was kind of a shock, in an older-and-balder-than-I-expected way, so I felt for our heroine here. Dreams dashed, alas!
A few weeks later, C leaves his job permanently. Then, when Nattie and her opera singer friend Cyn are having a bohemian picnic in Cyn’s small parlor, their neighbor Quimby drops by with friend. The friend turns out to be the real Clem, heartbroken from Nattie’s unexplained brushoff. Nat is delighted that he’s not really greasy and musky (an eavesdropper on the telegraph line was the impostor), but then she finds it difficult to relate to him in the real world among other people. “It is nicer talking on the wire, isn’t it?” he agrees.
Would anyone else like to share their contemporary-world parallels here? Me again? The second picture I received from a different online friend was a vast improvement from the first (I may have exclaimed, “He’s not ugly!” to my roommates). Then we managed to meet up in person, and it wasn’t terrible but it didn’t have the free-flowing, friendly banter that a romance novel would predict. It ended, well, awkwardly, and then he found a girlfriend in his own city and we lost touch. Dammit, someday I’m going to write that novel but with a much better ending!
So, anyway, Nattie and Clem and their group of wacky friends hang out and party, but Nattie begins to believe that Clem has fallen for her friend Cyn. Note to Clem: if you’re in love with a girl, you should maybe try to spend some time alone with her, okay? Nat gives Clem the cold shoulder again, and he almost gives up hope, until a well-timed comment from a nosy landlady gets him to finally profess his love — in Morse code — and Nat gets her romantic ending.
This is a cute, quirky book, and the characters are fun although one-dimensional. It’s interesting to compare their unsupervised lives with those of youthful aristocracy across the pond, who couldn’t be alone with someone of the opposite sex. I was surprised that Nattie, a young woman, could have such a respectable job at a young age, and aspirations beyond her telegraph office.
The most surprising fact, though, is that this book was published in 1880 by a thirty-year-old woman who was herself a former telegraph operator and a suffragette. It was a bestseller for ten years, and resurfaced about five years ago thanks to Project Gutenberg. It’s free! You can read it and feel pompous that you are reading “classic” literature that was also popular at the time and also happens to be a romance! Plus, the author uses the word “ejaculate” as a dialogue tag over and over, which will make you giggle. Go on, give it a whirl!
Grade: B
December 14, 2024
“Non dovete chiamarmi in nessun modo, solo C. Sapete, più mistero c’è in una cosa, più diventa interessante. Perciò, se mi avvolgo in un’aura di mistero, posso nutrire la segreta speranza che fantastichiate su di me!”
☆ 3/5 | Per Nattie Rogers, diciannove anni, il suo lavoro da operatrice in un ufficio telegrafico è il fulcro della sua vita. Nonostante la voglia di qualcosa di diverso, ripiega i suoi giorni su una realtà monotona e malpagata.
Il tutto cambia quando sul filo conosce un altro operatore che si firma con C.
Della persona lontana a miglia di distanza, Nattie non sa nulla, non ha idea se dietro quella comunicazione di punti e trattini ci sia un uomo o una donna. Tutto ha inizio con una parola compresa male, con discorsi pungenti, ma poi la ragazza si trova a condividere con quella persona la sua vita quotidiana, i suoi pensieri, i suoi problemi.
Per lei quella comunicazione diventa quasi essenziale e quando scopre che dietro a C. si nasconde un gentiluomo la sua curiosità si accentua, nonostante sia convinta che non incontrerà mai l’uomo dal vivo.
Eppure, un giorno, al telegrafo si presenta un uomo, etichettandosi proprio come C. Nattie ne rimane sbalordita, perchè quella visione riesce a far crollare ogni idea che si era fatta di lui.
Ma sarà davvero C.?
“Una storia d’amore di punti e trattini” è una lettura frizzante, leggera e con personaggi bizzarri che riescono a strappare un sorriso. Perchè, durante il racconto, non solo scopriremo di più su Nattie e C., ma anche sugli inquilini che vengono ospitati nella pensione in cui Nattie abita.
Ci sono equivoci divertenti in uno stile fluido, leggero ed elegante che caratterizza i romanzi d’amore dell’Ottocento. Ho trovato un piccolo neo sulla caratterizzazione dei personaggi, ma tutto sommato la lettura è consigliata a chi vuole sognare un po’ e spera in una storia d’amore con il lieto fine.
Ringrazio Cignonero Edizioni per la copia del libro🌹
Recensione del 05/05/2020
Instagram: lalibreriadiale
Blog: www.lalibreriadiale.altervista.org
☆ 3/5 | Per Nattie Rogers, diciannove anni, il suo lavoro da operatrice in un ufficio telegrafico è il fulcro della sua vita. Nonostante la voglia di qualcosa di diverso, ripiega i suoi giorni su una realtà monotona e malpagata.
Il tutto cambia quando sul filo conosce un altro operatore che si firma con C.
Della persona lontana a miglia di distanza, Nattie non sa nulla, non ha idea se dietro quella comunicazione di punti e trattini ci sia un uomo o una donna. Tutto ha inizio con una parola compresa male, con discorsi pungenti, ma poi la ragazza si trova a condividere con quella persona la sua vita quotidiana, i suoi pensieri, i suoi problemi.
Per lei quella comunicazione diventa quasi essenziale e quando scopre che dietro a C. si nasconde un gentiluomo la sua curiosità si accentua, nonostante sia convinta che non incontrerà mai l’uomo dal vivo.
Eppure, un giorno, al telegrafo si presenta un uomo, etichettandosi proprio come C. Nattie ne rimane sbalordita, perchè quella visione riesce a far crollare ogni idea che si era fatta di lui.
Ma sarà davvero C.?
“Una storia d’amore di punti e trattini” è una lettura frizzante, leggera e con personaggi bizzarri che riescono a strappare un sorriso. Perchè, durante il racconto, non solo scopriremo di più su Nattie e C., ma anche sugli inquilini che vengono ospitati nella pensione in cui Nattie abita.
Ci sono equivoci divertenti in uno stile fluido, leggero ed elegante che caratterizza i romanzi d’amore dell’Ottocento. Ho trovato un piccolo neo sulla caratterizzazione dei personaggi, ma tutto sommato la lettura è consigliata a chi vuole sognare un po’ e spera in una storia d’amore con il lieto fine.
Ringrazio Cignonero Edizioni per la copia del libro🌹
Recensione del 05/05/2020
Instagram: lalibreriadiale
Blog: www.lalibreriadiale.altervista.org
November 12, 2015
Usually when I review a book from previous centuries, I have to preface it with warnings about the bits that are dated, weird, or offensive to modern sensibilities. No such preamble is needed here.
The book is a bit prescient in that it presents that unfolding of a romance between two people who first meet as operators over a telegraph wire. Maybe that's dated again because now when people meet online they often do know what each looks like. Still, the story, including the fascination of the unknown others, seemed to speak to experiences I've had with online friendships and would-be romances.
The structure of the story is the classic comedy-romance with multiple couples, mistaken intentions, mistaken identity, interfering others, and a happy ending. If you've read, for example, PG Wodehouse, the plot structure will feel familiar. I don't mean this to say it's boring, but rather that the structure (unlike in many older books) is pretty accessible to a modern reader.
The last important thing worth mentioning is the main character, Nattie. Nattie works as a telegraph operator, lives on her own in a rented apartment, is not particularly pretty, and has aspirations to be a writer. Most of the story is from a close 3rd person view of Nattie, and Nattie is an excellent character. The narrator, speaking from Nattie's close view, has some sharp things to say about women's limitations in society in some places, and Nattie's very existence as a working and ambitious woman are a statement about women's changing place in society.
Read this book for its delightful story line, its prescience about online friendships, its view into Victorian society, and its progressive view of women's role in society.
The book is a bit prescient in that it presents that unfolding of a romance between two people who first meet as operators over a telegraph wire. Maybe that's dated again because now when people meet online they often do know what each looks like. Still, the story, including the fascination of the unknown others, seemed to speak to experiences I've had with online friendships and would-be romances.
The structure of the story is the classic comedy-romance with multiple couples, mistaken intentions, mistaken identity, interfering others, and a happy ending. If you've read, for example, PG Wodehouse, the plot structure will feel familiar. I don't mean this to say it's boring, but rather that the structure (unlike in many older books) is pretty accessible to a modern reader.
The last important thing worth mentioning is the main character, Nattie. Nattie works as a telegraph operator, lives on her own in a rented apartment, is not particularly pretty, and has aspirations to be a writer. Most of the story is from a close 3rd person view of Nattie, and Nattie is an excellent character. The narrator, speaking from Nattie's close view, has some sharp things to say about women's limitations in society in some places, and Nattie's very existence as a working and ambitious woman are a statement about women's changing place in society.
Read this book for its delightful story line, its prescience about online friendships, its view into Victorian society, and its progressive view of women's role in society.
May 28, 2014
The version I read was free through the google play store.
This was a light, entertaining read. The setting and plot is fun, and it started out pretty well. Almost all of the characters are insufferable though, and every single male character unreasonable. None of them know when to back off, or how to accept 'no' or 'not interested' no matter how many times it is said. I really enjoyed the close friendship formed between Cyn and Nattie, and that their support of each other is prevalent throughout the book. After a point in the story, though, everyone just stops being able to communicate effectively like actual adults. This makes the second half of the book increasingly frustrating to read and rapidly whittled down the likable members of the cast to one or two.
This book wasn't particularly awful, but it is a lot like eating M&Ms. You get them because you think they'll taste good, and they do, but after eating them for a bit they start to taste a little gross.
This was a light, entertaining read. The setting and plot is fun, and it started out pretty well. Almost all of the characters are insufferable though, and every single male character unreasonable. None of them know when to back off, or how to accept 'no' or 'not interested' no matter how many times it is said. I really enjoyed the close friendship formed between Cyn and Nattie, and that their support of each other is prevalent throughout the book. After a point in the story, though, everyone just stops being able to communicate effectively like actual adults. This makes the second half of the book increasingly frustrating to read and rapidly whittled down the likable members of the cast to one or two.
This book wasn't particularly awful, but it is a lot like eating M&Ms. You get them because you think they'll taste good, and they do, but after eating them for a bit they start to taste a little gross.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 17, 2015
"We will soon be able to do everything by electricity; who knows but some genius will invent something for the especial use of lovers? something, for instance, to carry in their pockets, so when they are far away from each other, and pine for the sound of 'that beloved voice,' they will have only to take up this electrical apparatus, put it to their ears, and be happy. Ah! blissful lovers of the future!"
A nicely-crafted little melodrama. Funny (even 130some years after publication) and moving, with some genuinely frustrating obstacles thrown in the path of romance. I think most readers will guess early on how it'll turn out, and there might have been too much repetition of certain 'catch phrases' for the character of Quimby, but this was a fun read, regardless. Perfect for reading on an invention the author predicted a century in advance.
A nicely-crafted little melodrama. Funny (even 130some years after publication) and moving, with some genuinely frustrating obstacles thrown in the path of romance. I think most readers will guess early on how it'll turn out, and there might have been too much repetition of certain 'catch phrases' for the character of Quimby, but this was a fun read, regardless. Perfect for reading on an invention the author predicted a century in advance.
November 12, 2020
Moved to gwern.net.
September 27, 2015
It's just another day in the office when Nattie begins chatting with "C@Xn" over a customer service snafu. Soon enough, conversations with the witty "C" are the highlight of her day — a highlight for which she comes to work early and leaves late. Until the day he suggests that "C" and "N" should meet.
Ella Cheever Thayer has written the most topical book of 1999, a charming romcom that combines the cyber-pals of You've Got Mail with the urban-twenty-somethings-living-in-the-same-building of Friends.
Except that "N" and "C" are telegraph operators. And Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes was published in 1880.
One of my groups was discussing the extreme maleness (and whiteness) of the Guardian's recently unvealed 100 Best Novels Written in English as chosen by Robert McCrum, despite the fact that 90% were chosen from the 19th and 20th centuries. One member argued that while there were plenty of female novelists in the 1800s, there was a "[lack of] very good ones."
This is when I stopped giving fucks, and went back to reading Wired Love.
Because when I think of novels from the 1870s, or novels about the 1870s, I think of stodgy moral tales —Far from the Madding Crowd, or on the opposite end The Age of Innocence— that embody a lost way of life fairly alien to my own experience.
Wired Love is pretty much the opposite of that. Its pop sensibility rends it ripe for a movie adaptation*; the title page already provides the perfect tagline. ("The old, old story,"—in a new, new way.) Imagine it now... Nattie idly aspires to be a writer one day, but is working at the telegraph office for now. Her androgynously-named friends (Jo, Cyn, Quimby) are a breed of young urbanites whose romantic connections are highly incestuous to the friend group. They're highly obsessed with food, and spend a lot of time getting it around their nosy landladies.
I don't say how much of this familiarity comes from the setting, or if indeed some of it reflects more of Thayer's prescience. I can't find much on Ella Cheever Thayer at all, other than that she was a suffragette and playwright, and penned the suffragette play "The Lords of Creation".
And I'd like to. I'd love to know more about what the androgyny says about technology mediating change in social relations, or what the comparison between indominable opera-singer Cyn and reserved, bookish Nattie represents.
Wired Love shows how little we know and understand about relatively recent writing. That even basically forgotten midlist novels and one-shot wonders can offer something new. (I normally wouldn't have thought to consider gendered communication in the 19th century in the modernist framework of [wo]man's relationship to machine.)
That's why I can't prescribe to notions of a canonicity, or the idea of "timeless" value based on "objective" standards of aesthetics. Works should be re-experienced as objectively timeless, but rediscovered each time. They should be experienced again because they are timely, again and again. Rating: 3.5 stars
*I would totally watch that. Suggestions for director/screenwriter/cast accepted in the comments.
**Apparently stories of telegraphic romance were a fascination in industry publications of the time. An 1891 article in Western Electrician titled "Romances of the Telegraph" tells the true story of John Stansbury, who planned a camping trip with a fellow operator he'd sparked a long-distance friendship with, only--
Ella Cheever Thayer has written the most topical book of 1999, a charming romcom that combines the cyber-pals of You've Got Mail with the urban-twenty-somethings-living-in-the-same-building of Friends.
Except that "N" and "C" are telegraph operators. And Wired Love: A Romance of Dots and Dashes was published in 1880.
"There certainly is something romantic in talking to a mysterious person, unseen, and miles away!" thought Nattie, as she put on her hat. "But I would really like to know whether my new friend employs a tailor or a dressmaker!".The results are flipping adorable, as much as they are highly uncanny. Thayer largely anticipates the pratfalls of digital connection, including catfishing and the different intimacy created over anonymous communication [Clive Thompson]. And she does so in a tale that involves all the romantic misunderstandings, amusing repartee, and slapstick a fan of screwball could ask for.
One of my groups was discussing the extreme maleness (and whiteness) of the Guardian's recently unvealed 100 Best Novels Written in English as chosen by Robert McCrum, despite the fact that 90% were chosen from the 19th and 20th centuries. One member argued that while there were plenty of female novelists in the 1800s, there was a "[lack of] very good ones."
This is when I stopped giving fucks, and went back to reading Wired Love.
Because when I think of novels from the 1870s, or novels about the 1870s, I think of stodgy moral tales —Far from the Madding Crowd, or on the opposite end The Age of Innocence— that embody a lost way of life fairly alien to my own experience.
Wired Love is pretty much the opposite of that. Its pop sensibility rends it ripe for a movie adaptation*; the title page already provides the perfect tagline. ("The old, old story,"—in a new, new way.) Imagine it now... Nattie idly aspires to be a writer one day, but is working at the telegraph office for now. Her androgynously-named friends (Jo, Cyn, Quimby) are a breed of young urbanites whose romantic connections are highly incestuous to the friend group. They're highly obsessed with food, and spend a lot of time getting it around their nosy landladies.
I don't say how much of this familiarity comes from the setting, or if indeed some of it reflects more of Thayer's prescience. I can't find much on Ella Cheever Thayer at all, other than that she was a suffragette and playwright, and penned the suffragette play "The Lords of Creation".
And I'd like to. I'd love to know more about what the androgyny says about technology mediating change in social relations, or what the comparison between indominable opera-singer Cyn and reserved, bookish Nattie represents.
Wired Love shows how little we know and understand about relatively recent writing. That even basically forgotten midlist novels and one-shot wonders can offer something new. (I normally wouldn't have thought to consider gendered communication in the 19th century in the modernist framework of [wo]man's relationship to machine.)
That's why I can't prescribe to notions of a canonicity, or the idea of "timeless" value based on "objective" standards of aesthetics. Works should be re-experienced as objectively timeless, but rediscovered each time. They should be experienced again because they are timely, again and again. Rating: 3.5 stars
*I would totally watch that. Suggestions for director/screenwriter/cast accepted in the comments.
**Apparently stories of telegraphic romance were a fascination in industry publications of the time. An 1891 article in Western Electrician titled "Romances of the Telegraph" tells the true story of John Stansbury, who planned a camping trip with a fellow operator he'd sparked a long-distance friendship with, only--
'Mat!' I said, for I was completely beaten. Then it flashed upon me. She was the operator at Banning, and I, like a fool, had always taken it for granted that she was a man.and it seems several magazines had similar serials (The Victorian Internet).
Read
March 22, 2023This is an easy breezy romance that is centered around the telegraph. I loved the friendship between Nattie and Cyn, and I loved the conversations "over the wire." However, there was A LOT of miscommunication, and it was frustrating. Overall I enjoyed this one, but I don't know if I would ever reread it.
March 16, 2023
This is a quick fun romance but my favorite thing was the friendship between Nattie and Cyn! The premise was a good one, I loved being in that time. Unfortunately, most of the characters were a bit overdone. The romance took a while to happen because of miscommunication! 🫠.
January 17, 2020
I loved this book! Very cute romance with some laugh out loud moments. The author had a few idiosyncrasies but nothing I couldn’t step over and nothing that detracted from my enjoyment of this story. Loved the plot/storyline - certainly unique - and the author’s development of her characters.
May 7, 2014
I believe this could very well be the first "Internet Romance" novel ever written!!! Published in 1880, it describes the romance between two telegraph operators: Nellie and an operator known only to her as "C". Our heroine is a young woman just gaining her independence and earning her way in a very male dominated field of work. Through a bit of serendipity, our protagonist meets "on the wire", the object of her growing affections,an unseen male operator in a distant town, who she becomes ever more enamored with while sending a receiving short messages between her one woman station and "C"'s remote outpost station some 70 miles distant. Neither of them have much hope of ever seeing each other due to the distances between them in a pre-automobile age but they slowly come to build a friendship that becomes something more than either ever expected. There is an interesting cast of secondary characters that adds depth and no small amount of humor (in a very 19th century vein...). The descriptions of life, love and customs of society at that time, as well as the limits of technology are very evident in the story. The author was in fact herself a telegraph operator as well as a writer so we get to hear in some authoritative detail about the work involved and descriptions of the equipment and the limits imposed on those who use it which adds a bit of authenticity to many situations. The only warnings I would issue to potential readers is that it is not a quick, easy read as the language is a bit archaic (not in a Shakespearean way mind you) and arcane, but still understandable for the most part. Most of the differences are in how sentences are structured and in word usage. The vocabulary can be a bit of a challenge too as some words used in this story mean something very different today. It is a story written by a woman of that time describing romance in a way that is decidedly more gentile and proper than the "bodice rippers"one finds on the book racks in the local supermarkets today.
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