Regency London … but not as you think you know it
Author J.A. Stevens has recreated Regency London – with a Bridgerton-esque twist – in her debut novel, A Change of Pace.
The debut novel from Brisbane author Jess Stevens brings to life an alternate romantic reality of Regency London – one that reimagines the time as more accepting and open-minded, merging the author’s real-life beliefs with history.
In doing so she has most audaciously re-written the rules of society, recasting historical narratives through a modern lens of inclusion. (This might sound a tad familiar to fans of hit Netflix TV series Bridgerton.)
Using the pen name J.A. Stevens, her novel A Change of Pace was five years in the making before being picked up by Echo Publishing. What marks this novel as being so different is that while it is meticulously researched and written with the phrasing of the time, it dances around many of the predictable tropes.
“I very much believe that women should have control of their own bodies, their sex lives, their destinies,” Stevens says. “I really wanted to stand up against those sort of patriarchal judgments and stigmas that go along with women having sex before marriage or all of that, because for so many Regency romances – almost all of them – it’s all about the virginity or the big moment where she loses it to the man, finally. And it is just so outdated.”
Stevens has long inhabited this universe before writing about it, so vividly has she drawn the streets and cobblestone alleyways that seem familiar as you wander alongside in your mind.
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In doing so she brings together a refreshing assembly of London characters, of the time, whose voices have largely not been heard in the romance genre.
From the first line of the novel, London socialite Georgina Pace sets the tone by running half-naked through the streets of London after being caught in a liaison with one of the many married women she seduces.
“She’s the equivalent of the guy on the front of the romance books who doesn’t have a shirt on,” Stevens says. “I found that whole thing super liberating just to write a character who was like, ‘No, I’m doing my own thing. I’m proud of who I am. I don’t need to explain the way that I’ve got desires. I want pleasure. I’m going to do it my own way’. And that’s Georgina.”
The feisty and strikingly beautiful Georgina is the protagonist rather than the patient woman waiting to be wooed in this world, a deliberate move by Stevens to write an historical romance where women are the navigators of their own destiny.
But while Georgina is cavalier in love, when she learns that her dear acquaintance, the innocent and vulnerable Arthur Coombes has been swindled by a corrupt gaming house, her sense of justice takes her on a wild journey of villains and secrets to bring his tormentors to account. In doing so she puts those she loves at risk and has to decide if she will keep herself safe or surrender to her feelings.
Stevens says it was freeing to show a diverse universe of characters expressing their agency when so often that has been denied.
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“Why can’t I write a book that has these people, all these communities, whether they’re people of colour, whether they’ve got disabilities, whether they are queer? Why have we always made the assumption that we must adhere to these old-fashioned patriarchal systems?”
Stevens draws heavily on her own experiences – living with autism (ASD), as a devoted mother to her daughter Lily (who has Down syndrome) and as the partner of a transgender woman – to invite us all into this world she’s created where love, acceptance and belonging take precedence in a more inclusive Regency London.
“You can be historically accurate and challenge those outdated mindsets at the same time,” she says. “I want other authors to get on board with this and to start doing it.”
As Stevens describes, she “inhaled” Regency romances as a girl, creating her own takes on the genre, with her sister, while riding horses and dreaming of who their prince could be.
“We used to write Regency romances together when I was a teenager,” she says. “We would schmooze up together late at night and scribble these little love stories together. We would actually go horse riding together … and we would pretend we would be riding out in green British fields.
“And we were so romantic believing these things would happen. We’d get swept off our feet by some duke or someone, maybe Prince William for me. (The female character) has always been so strong. She’s brave, fearless, creative.”
But now Stevens has redrawn storylines to include a wider scope of experiences and people, giving marginalised groups the opportunity to be reflected in the mirror of history.
“It’s not perfect. I am hoping this is just another something that might help make people’s lives a little bit better,” she says. “And if it helps my partner and my daughter see themselves represented in a book, I’ve done my job. That’s all I really wanted to achieve.”
A Change of Pace by J.A. Stevens, Echo Publishing, $34.99.
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