Y S Lee

Author of Young Adult, Historical and Mystery Novels

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    • A Spy in the House
      • Excerpt: A Spy in the House
      • Deleted scene: A Spy in the House
    • The Body at the Tower
      • Excerpt: The Body at the Tower
      • Deleted scene: The Body at the Tower
    • The Traitor in the Tunnel
      • Excerpt: The Traitor in the Tunnel
      • Deleted scene: The Traitor in the Tunnel
    • Rivals in the City
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You are here: Home / Archives for Victoriana

Inventing traditions

December 21, 2016 By Ying 4 Comments

Hello, friends, and Happy Hanukkah, Happy Solstice, Happy Kwanzaa and Happy Christmas! Here's an essay I wrote a few years ago about the surprisingly recent roots of three Christmas traditions. Hope you have a splendid week. I'll be back on December 28 with my final blog post. Quick: name three Christmas symbols. If you’re like me, the first things you picture are Christmas trees, a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Things I Write Tagged With: Christmas, holidays, Things I Write, tradition, Victoriana

Past lives

October 28, 2015 By Ying 8 Comments

A few days ago, I opened a box and one of my past lives fell out. Specifically, I found the papers related to my comprehensive exams, way back in the second year of my Ph.D. Without question, the seven months I spent studying for the comps was the most stressful period of my life. And long after it was over, some of those papers held an eerie, residual power over me. They were like voodoo dolls of … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Things I Do Tagged With: academia, English literature, exams, life stuff, PhD, Things I Do, Victoriana

Llandudno

August 5, 2015 By Ying Leave a Comment

Hello, friends! I am not presently in North Wales, but our holiday was too lovely not to share with you. This week's photos are from the Victorian seaside town of Llandudno. We took an Edwardian tram car up the very steep side of a cliff called the Great Orme (Pen y Gogarth, in Welsh). Here's the view from the midpoint: And from the top of the Great Orme: And then we descended to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Things I Do Tagged With: Llandudno, Punch and Judy, The History Girls, Things I Do, travels, Victoriana, Wales

A History of Violence

May 6, 2015 By Ying Leave a Comment

A couple of months ago at the launch party for Rivals in the City, I read aloud a scene that takes place in front of Newgate Prison. The year is 1860. A wooden scaffold has been built outside the prison gates, as it was before each public execution. The hangman, William Calcraft, is testing the gallows and trapdoor to ensure that they work. And the crowd is eagerly, boisterously, anticipating the … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Things I Write Tagged With: children's literature, ethics, historical fiction, Rivals in the City, The History Girls, Things I Write, Victoriana, violence

We are still the Victorians

April 22, 2015 By Ying Leave a Comment

Hello, friends. Today is Earth Day - a useful time to reflect upon what our environment is like, what might happen to our world in the future, and how things used to be. As you know, I think we're a lot more like the Victorians than we'd prefer to believe. It's so comforting to view them as boring, prudish, ignorant dinosaurs. It's so flattering to congratulate ourselves upon how much we've … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Things I Write Tagged With: A Spy in the House, Earth Day, Great Stink of 1858, Industrial Revolution, John Ruskin, pollution, Victoriana

The Victorian tattoo

April 1, 2015 By Ying 2 Comments

Hello, friends. Today is April Fool's Day and I feel a certain amount of not-so-subtle cultural pressure to write a gag post. I believe I ought to document a Shocking Truth about the Victorians, or similar, which I later reveal as - surprise! - a prank. Joke's on you, sssssuckers. However, I've always felt a strange resentment of April Fool's jokes and, for that matter, practical jokes in … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Things I Read, Things I Write Tagged With: April Fool's Day, body art, history, Rivals in the City, tattoos, Things I Read, Things I Write, Victorian history, Victoriana

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