Interview With Mary Balogh

The Regency is clearly a time that intrigues and inspires you as a writer. What initially sparked your interest in that period?

Mary Balogh: I loved Jane Austen from girlhood on, particularly Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. But in my early thirties, when I was on maternity leave from my high school English teaching job, I was reading my way through a recommended reading list for Grade XI students when I discovered Georgette Heyer's Frederica. I went on to read everything she had written and particularly loved her Regency-set novels. I more than enjoyed them. I felt a huge sense of nostalgia when reading them, as if I must have lived very happily in Regency England and longed to go back there. I knew I wanted to write books of my own set in that era. I think it has something to do with the fashions, the carriages, the large country homes set in their spacious parks, the London social Season, the balls, the parties. I could go on and on.

What possibilities for drama and conflict does the Regency period offer you, or any writer, that might not be found in a contemporary setting?

MB: Regency England was a very ordered society as well as being a somewhat rebellious one—just consider how Regency ladies and gentlemen dressed in contrast with the Georgians before them and the Victorians after them. "Sexy" is one word that leaps to mind when trying to describe Regency fashions. The contrast between order and rebellion offers endless opportunities for conflict and character development. Gentlemen were governed very strongly by their notion of honor. Ladies had to move within the confines that society imposed upon them. Those facts for both sexes—and the desire for each to break free of constraint—provide an infinite variety of ideas for plot and conflict and drama. Contemporary society provides possibilities of its own, but they are all very different from the ones Regency England provides. As a writer, I am challenged far more by Regency England than by my own world.

Do you think you would have enjoyed living during the Regency period? If so, why? What would you have found most restrictive and/or disturbing?

MB: That's a good question! I adore writing about Regency England and dreaming up lives for my characters and wallowing in the romance of it all. But could I bear to live there myself? With no flush toilets or running water? With no freedom as a woman to come and go as I pleased? But with the chance to live in one of those stately homes and wander in one of those spacious parks? With no central heating? Could I bear to dance at all those glorious balls night after night? And wear a different one of those gorgeous ballgowns on each occasion? I suppose the best I can say is that I might enjoy being back there if (a) I were a member of the upper classes, and (b) had no "memory” of my 20th and 21st century life.