Some royal, some talented, the women featured in this month’s stories inspire and fascinate. Placed in exotic venues or inspired by momentous events, they fought to fulfill their dreams despite the restrictions and obstacles of their times and places.
We begin with TIFFANY GIRL by Deeanne Gist. Louis Tiffany, heir to the Fifth Street jewelry empire, plans to use the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair to showcase his unique stained-glass chapel. When a glassworker’s strike threatens his vision, he recruits female students from the Art Students League of New York to complete his designs. Eager to claim a career as a New Woman, to the dismay of her parents, Flossie James answers the call, moving to a boarding house where she encounters a range of people, from married couples to fellow glass workers to newspaper journalist Reeve Wilder. As she masters her craft as a “Tiffany girl,” she must reconcile her new independence with her attraction to Reeve, who believes a woman belongs at home. Full of fascinating details about the making of stained glass, Gist’s story also shows the growth of both Flossie and Reeve as they gain experience and change their visions of the world.
We meet another woman who dares to explore new visions in THE WOMAN AT THE WHEEL by Penny Haw. Daughter of a wealthy master builder, Bertha Ringer falls in love with brilliant engineer Carl Benz and his dream of building a horseless carriage. A passionate believer in his design, she invests her dowry along with the skill at negotiation and marketing her husband lacks to support him, while unlike most men who believe women incapable of anything beyond the domestic sphere, Carl values her ideas and suggestions. The couple encounter financial difficulties, betrayal, and competition, until in a brilliant marketing ploy, Bertha and two of her teenage sons take her husband’s “Motorwagen” for a 66-mile drive to prove to potential investors and buyers that the vehicle can travel long distances (a drive that was commemorated in 2008 as the “Bertha Benz Memorial Route.”) After the car wins the 1888 gold medal at the Munich exhibition, the vehicle becomes a resounding success, finally vindicating Bertha’s faith in her husband’s design. One of the early pioneers in balancing work outside her family, Mrs. Benz was a groundbreaker who continues to inspire.
Our final two stories prove that being born a princess doesn’t always lead to a fairy-tale life. In A MOST ENGLISH PRINCESS by Clare McHugh, we meet Princess Victoria, daughter of the famous queen, who becomes wife of “Fritz,” Prince Frederick, heir to the throne of Prussia. Her marriage a love match like that of Victoria and Albert, like them, she and her husband hope to turn an absolute monarchy into a Parliamentary state, potentially creating a liberal and unified Germany. But Fritz’s father King William has other ideas, turning to conservative diplomat Otto von Bismarck to reinforce the absolute monarchy. Bismarck’s successes allow him to gain ever greater power—and he sees in the English idealist a threat to be sidelined. Though Bismarck’s masterful creation of a new German military machine wins even Vicki’s grudging respect, her husband’s long wait to inherit the throne sees their dreams of liberal Germany gradually fade. Her strained relations with her son, who will become Kaiser Wilhelm, marks the final tragedy, as his authoritarian rule will reject all the liberal concepts so beloved of his parents. McHugh sets her portrait of Vicki against a fascinating political and social backdrop of the royal marriages, strategic international alliances and populist sentiments that will lead Europe into World War I.
THE ROMANOV BRIDES, also penned by Clare McHugh, features Princess Alex of Hesse, who will become Alexandra, last Empress of Russia, and her sister Princess Ella. Though their grandmother, Queen Victoria, urges the sisters to marry into English or German royal families, the girls will ultimately choose Romanov cousins. Ella falls for Grand Duke Serge when he and his brother Paul visit her father’s kingdom; rejecting her grandmother’s advice, she gains her father’s approval for the wedding. While in Russia for the nuptials, her sister Alix meets and enchants Nicholas, heir to the Russian throne. Naive about the absolutism of Russian politics, the feelings of its people and the difficulties of reconciling Protestant and Russian Orthodox religions, the girls will find themselves catapulted into the midst of the Russian revolution, where their choices and their destinies will take a tragic turn.
Most of us are completely happy to live our “ordinary” lives, content to simply read about the tumultuous times endured by those richer and more famous. As this month’s stories illustrate, being caught up in grand historic events provides both the richest—and the most bitter—experiences life can offer. Enjoy the armchair view!
Real, intense, passionate historical romance
Award-winning romance author Julia Justiss, who has written more than thirty historical novels and novellas set in the English Regency and the American West, just completed her first contemporary series set in the fictional Hill Country town of Whiskey River, Texas.
A voracious reader who began jotting down plot ideas for Nancy Drew novels in her third grade spiral, Julia has published poetry and worked as a business journalist.
She and her husband live in East Texas, where she continues to craft the stories she loves. Check her website for details about her books, chat with her on social media, and follow her on Bookbub and Amazon to receive notices about her latest releases.
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