Happy mid-winter holiday season! I’m starting to relax into the holiday season despite the seemingly ever-increasing To Do list – this year complicated by a certain one-year-old birthday party and having a new release out.
As I’ve been taking time to promote His Spanish Bride, it occurs to me that the story of Malcolm and Suzanne’s wedding combines two literary traditions – wedding stories and holiday stories. I have a fondness for both types of story, from wedding stories like The Philadelphia Story and Busman’s Honeymoon to holiday tales like Lauren Willig’s delightful The Mischief of the Mistletoe and Deanna Raybourn’s new novella Silent Night. I think what i like about both types of story is that they bring together friends and family with plentiful opportunity for conflicts, reunions, and revelry. Parents and children, sibling rivalry, ex-lovers home for the holidays or attending the same wedding–or perhaps one disrupting the wedding of another. Jane Austen recognized the benefit of such gatherings for bringing characters together. Emma opens with a wedding and includes a holiday party.
Both weddings and holidays involve certain traditions which give a frame to the story yet to which individual characters give their own unique spin. It’s fun seeing fictional characters, even historical ones, go through some of the same traditions we go through ourselves, and also fun to see the differences. Malcolm and Suzanne’s wedding takes place at the British embassy and is wrapped up in the investigation of a missing letter that could drive a wedge between Britain and her Spanish allies in the war against the French.They slip away from their betrothal party for a bit of skullduggery, and Suzanne arrives at the solution to the mystery on their wedding night. Both their motives for entering into the marriage are complicated, and perhaps they are even deceiving themselves about the true reasons. The story ends at an embassy Christmas party at which, again typically for them, Malcolm and Suzanne are wrapping up the investigation.
What are some of your favorite holiday and wedding stories?
Speaking of the holidays, with this week’s Fraser Correspondence addition, I’ve jumped to December 1815 with letter from Mel/Suzette to Simon.
Tracy Grant - Novelist 
December 11, 2012 at 1:55 am
Hi,
It occurred to me that Melanie and Charles grew up in different cultures and, pre-Victoria, there were considerable differences between French and English Christmas traditions. I did a little research and found something Jo Beverley wrote about English Regency Christmas (http://jobev.com/xmasarticle.html) and another site that compares French and British traditions in Canada in 1812 (http://www.warof1812.ca/christmas.htm). I don’t suppose there was much space to include the differences in The Paris Affair but, especially in future books when they’re back in England, it would be fun to see Suzanne acting as a pre-cursor to Prince Albert and introducing Continental Christmas traditions to her English family.
In both, of course, there are family gatherings, great meals and partying of one type or another. I’ll have to go back and find out how you handled Christmas in Spanish Bride. I have to admit, I wasn’t paying close attention to the traditions – I was totally absorbed in following Malcolm’s and Suzanne’s thoughts and emotions!
Jeanne
December 11, 2012 at 2:39 am
They are not about Christmas exactly, but I can think of two great books that include elopements to Scotland that take place during the winter; in fact the cold weather plays an big part in both of them. “Mrs. Drew Plays Her Hand” by Carla Kelly and “Devil In Winter” by Lisa Kleypas. I’ve never been swoony about big weddings, but I just love those eloping-to-Gretna-Green stories, go figure!
December 11, 2012 at 3:58 am
Thanks for the links, Jeanne! Yes, they would have grown up in different traditions. Mel/Suzette’s father was a secular Jew and her mother was a lapsed Spanish Catholic and I imagine in the traveling theatre company there was a mishmash of traditions. The epilogue to Vienna Waltz takes place at Dorothée’s Christmas Eve party at the French embassy where she really did have a Christmas tree – apparently they called in “Christmas Berlin style” in Vienna that year. I have Suzanne telling Malcolm Colin loved the tree and they talk about perhaps having one themselves some day. It made me realize I could believably have them have a Christmas tree and other Continental traditions in pre-Victorian England. In His Spanish Bride the holiday mentions are English – a band playing “God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen” (I had “Deck the Halls” until my wonderful copy editor pointed out that while the tune is old enough the words aren’t) and a Christmas Eve party at the end. The book I’m writing now has moved into December 1817 so I could include their anniversary and Jessica’s first birthday. Not sure it will go as far as Christmas, but maybe in the epilogue…
December 11, 2012 at 4:01 am
Thanks for the great suggestions, Karin! There’s something wonderful about winter weddings and elopements have such an immediacy in stories. My historical romance Rightfully His has a January wedding in Scotland, though it isn’t an elopement.
December 11, 2012 at 9:48 pm
Although I knew that “What Child is This” is the same melody as “Greensleeves,” I did not know that it was King Henry VIII that wrote that beautiful song…but who was ‘greensleeves’? Was it Anne? Or someone else?
– Forgive the post for not being very christmasy 🙂
December 11, 2012 at 10:01 pm
I think the story/legend is that Henry wrote it for Anne, Tiffany, though I think there’s also some disagreement about whether he wrote it at all. The “waged both life and land” part certainly fits their story. And no need to confine posts to Christamassy topics!
December 12, 2012 at 12:25 am
I love mischief and mistletoe too!
December 12, 2012 at 12:41 am
Isn’t it a great book, Alison? I was amazed by what a wonderful hero Turnip made.
December 12, 2012 at 1:48 am
According to wikipedia, Henry VIII did not write it. I recall reading that the melody is even older, one of the oldest known melodies still currently known.
And going back to Christmas, my family background is German/Austrian. When I was growingup, we didn’t have Christmas stockings, the gifts were opened on the evening of Christmas Eve, not Christmas morning, and it was common to decorate the tree with real lighted cancles and edible ornaments(cookies and chocolate). The cookies were a big thing, especially almond crescents(vanilla Kipfel).
December 31, 2012 at 2:21 am
Thanks, Karin! I knew the Henry VIII connection was at least disputed. And love the German/Austrian Christmas details.