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Clip of the Week: January 12, 2022
On January 12, 2022 by ElyseToo old for dolls, too young for romance, but just the right age for some tough love: Cynthia Grey’s Advice to Jealous Miss. I am a girl of 13, and am in love with a young man of 18. He goes with another girl and I am very jealous. He does not seem to care
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Count Your Blessings
On November 24, 2021 by ElyseAfter a whirlwind year, we’re fast approaching yet another holiday season that’s not quite normal. But one thing that hasn’t changed? Documents from the 19th and 20th centuries continue to be a cornucopia of 21st-century Thanksgiving blog post fodder. (Most especially those from Chicago’s renowned Newberry Library, to which I’m exceedingly grateful for digitizing, transcribing
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Madame Palatine’s Burn Book, Part 2
On September 15, 2021 by ElyseBonjour! If you haven’t yet read Part 1, start there for the full scoop on Liselotte and her clique. Last time, we patiently listened, er, read as Madame Palatine, aka Liselotte, vented in her 18th-century correspondence about her daddy issues, disobedient son and cringeworthy views on women in power. With all those grudges, how did
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Madame Palatine’s Burn Book, Part 1
On September 1, 2021 by ElyseShe is a wicked devil; treacherous in every way, and of a very dangerous temper. Upon the whole, she is not good for much. – Elizabeth-Charlotte, Duchesse d’Orléans, Memoirs of the Court of Louis XIV and of the Regency, 1899 If you enjoyed the movie “Mean Girls” as much as teenage me did, allow me
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Snarky in Seattle
On May 26, 2021 by ElyseSome people say, “Take a trip and forget your unhappy love affair.” What! Forget it now, only to remember it all the more later on? Never! . . . Better let your heart bleed for several days in succession and then heal itself than to staunch it by a few weeks’ trip somewhere only to
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Letters from the Front Lines
On April 22, 2020 by ElyseWhen this you see, remember me, though many miles between us be. – George Deal to Sarah Cole Deal; Memphis, Tennessee; February 1863 It is a truth universally acknowledged. . . that most people’s letters are insufferably boring. Mine included: If rambling on about the weather was an Olympic sport, I’d have several gold medals,
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Bram’s Buddy
On February 26, 2020 by ElyseInspired by a recent weekend in Dublin, I’m digging deeper into the story of Bram Stoker. Get ready for vampires! Epic battles between good and evil! And copious amounts of garlic! Whoops, wrong book. Today, he’s renowned around the world as the author of the novel that spawned a thousand teenybopper vampire romances, but in
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5 Times Love Conquered All
On February 12, 2020 by ElyseHowever, by “love,” I mean practical jokes and boredom. And by “all,” I mean unpronounceable surnames and social awkwardness. You know, insurmountable obstacles. Regardless of your relationship status, take comfort in knowing that at least you (hopefully) haven’t had to beg a governor to release your significant other or had to scrounge up a date
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Lost and Found
On January 29, 2020 by ElyseMy terrible sense of direction reared its ugly head, and I got horribly lost. It’s hard to put into words how awful this makes me feel. It isn’t really that I’m afraid I’ll never find my way (although I suppose that’s a tiny, irrational part), but the sense of helplessness and frustration it evokes. I