Author Archives: Tessa Arlen

Winston Churchill in Death Sits Down to Dinner

Posted on March 15, 2016 by Tessa Arlen

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” ~ Winston S. Churchill Winston Spencer Churchill was the son of Lord Randolph Churchill, the third son of John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough and Lady Randolph Churchill  (née … Continue reading →

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Sir Thomas Beecham and the Importance of Starting, and Finishing, Together

Posted on January 8, 2016 by Tessa Arlen

  April 29, 1879 – March 8, 1961 There are two golden rules for an orchestra: start together and finish together. The public doesn’t give a damn what goes on in between. —Sir Thomas Beecham Beecham’s grandfather, also Thomas Beecham, … Continue reading →

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Mrs. Jackson and the Lancashire Witches

Posted on October 12, 2015 by Tessa Arlen

On All Hallows’ Eve downstairs in the servants’ hall at Iyntwood the maids light their turnip jack o’ lanterns and settle down with their cider and toasted nuts casting hopeful looks at the housekeeper to see if she is in the … Continue reading →

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Maud, Lady Cunard and the Wounding Repartee

Posted on September 25, 2015 by Tessa Arlen

  ‘Let me introduce you to the man who killed Rasputin,’ Maud Cunard said to guests attending her large dinner party for the Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich. Pavlovich and his friend Prince Felix Yasupov were indeed the men who had … Continue reading →

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Daisy Brook and the Imprudent Letter

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Tessa Arlen

  Daisy Brook, who later became Daisy Greville, the Countess of Warwick, was one of the early Edwardian era’s great beauties and the center of it’s many scandals. She featured in DEATH OF A DISHONORABLE GENTLEMAN as an example of imprudence … Continue reading →

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Eric Horne and What the Butler Saw

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Tessa Arlen

Any novel, movie or TV series about the British aristocracy in the early 1900s never fails to emphasize the tremendous loyalty displayed by the servant classes for their masters.  And particularly the devotion of butlers and valets. For single men … Continue reading →

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Dame Nellie Melba and the Silver Voice with a Brass Tongue

Posted on November 25, 2014 by Tessa Arlen

At the name of Melba… crowned heads would nod respectful acknowledgment, noble lords and ladies would open their doors, newspaper editors would clear space for headlines, theatre managers would turn pale, and the house would be full.     Her … Continue reading →

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The Goddess of the Hunt and Riding Aside

Posted on September 29, 2014 by Tessa Arlen

  Fox-hunting – the great pastime of the English countryman, conjures up vivid images. But women riders –  sitting beautifully upright on their great glossy horses, flowing habits cascading, top hats fixed firmly over neatly coiled and netted hair, veils secured … Continue reading →

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Drinking Tea and the Rules of Engagement

Posted on September 16, 2014 by Tessa Arlen

The hedonistic age of Edwardian Britain for the idle rich and leisured classes abounded with every possible pastime, as it was out of the question to be of society and to work for a living. For men these interests varied from traditional roles … Continue reading →

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The Redoubtable Edwardian and the Institution of Marriage

Posted on September 15, 2014 by Tessa Arlen

Yes, of course Edwardians married for love, but the upper-classes usually fell in love among their own kind, shoring up their country estates from time to time with alliances to an American fortune or with the daughter of a wealthy … Continue reading →

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