Blink Publishing has signed journalist Felicity Day’s debut book The Game of Hearts: The Lives and Loves of Regency Women.
Ellie Carr, editor at the Bonnier Books UK non-fiction imprint, acquired world rights, excluding Canada and the US, for Day’s “glimpse behind the drawing room doors of high society” from Ella Kahn at DKW Agency. It will be published on 29th September.
Described by the publisher as going beyond the “blur of glitz and glamour” to chart the “true tales of rakish husbands, runaway lovers and rich heiresses”, the non-fiction debut promises to offer “candid insights into the competitive world of the so-called marriage mart and the pitfalls of pursuing a brilliant match”, revealing what courtship and married life was really like for Regency women.
Carr said: “Felicity’s meticulous research and effortless prose brings the lives and loves of Regency women off the page. Amongst the vivacity of these characters and intricacies of their lives is a carefully pieced together social history, showcasing a classical period of history through a contemporary lens. I can’t wait to share it with the world.”
Day qualified as a solicitor before quitting her job to find “the kind of work that would make her jump out of bed on a Monday morning”. She found it when she began to write magazine features, particularly about history and the Regency period.
Her first piece appeared in Jane Austen’s Regency World in 2017, and since then she has written about British history and heritage for a host of publications, from the Telegraph, to the Mail on Sunday YOU Magazine.
She said: “I’m thrilled to be working with Bonnier on The Game of Hearts. For an avid reader of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer, digging into Regency diaries and memoirs, gossipy letters and salacious newspaper reports to write this book has been great fun, and I can’t wait to share the stories of these fascinating women and their real-life romances with my fellow fans.”