I read somewhere that living in Restoration England after the restrictive reign of Cromwell was like taking off a tight corset. I love that image, and after seeing Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Neill in the movie Restoration, I wanted to write books set in that time. So I did -- three of them: A SCOUNDREL'S KISS, A ROGUE'S EMBRACE and HIS FORBIDDEN KISS. And without touching on either the plague or the Great Fire, because I figured everybody else did, so I wouldn't. I'm contrary that way.
That meant new research for me, and so new books! Here's my Restoration Collection:
RESTORATION LONDON: From Poverty to Pets, From Medicine to Magic, From Slang to Sex, from Wallpaper to Women's Rights by Liza Picard (If you want to write a book set in Restoration London, I'd highly recommend this one.)
THE OXFORD ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF TUDOR AND STUART BRITAIN, edited by John Morrill
WOMEN ACCORDING TO MEN: The World of Tudor-Stuart Women by Suzanne W. Hull
A CITY FULL OF PEOPLE: Men and Women of London 1650-1750 by Peter Earle (lots of post-it notes, so much used)
THE MISTRESSES OF CHARLES II by Brian Masters (with a portrait of a naked Nell Gwyn on the cover - an unfortunate choice when you've got young kids in the house)
STUART ENGLAND by J.P. Kenyon
WOMEN IN ENGLAND 1500-1760: A Social History by Anne Laurence
I also found another medieval research book:
THE MEDIEVAL SURGERY by Tony Hunt
And although I've never written about Elizabethan England, seeing that so many others tie that time with the Stuarts, here are some of the books I've bought just in case I decide to write in yet another less popular time period:
LIFE IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND by A.H. Dodd
WOMEN WAGING LAW IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND by Tim Stretton (there's some really good stuff in here -- talk about a wealth of potential characters and conflicts!)
WHAT LIFE WAS LIKE IN ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND, Time-Life Books
Coming tomorrow: Margaret Moore's Regency Library
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