A Mad, Wicked Folly Three-Blog Hop

A Mad, Wicked Folly
by Sharon Biggs Waller
Genre: Young Adult Historical Fiction
Published: January 23rd 2014 by Viking Juvenile
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Book Depository

Welcome to the world of the fabulously wealthy in London, 1909, where dresses and houses are overwhelmingly opulent, social class means everything, and women are taught to be nothing more than wives and mothers. Into this world comes seventeen-year-old Victoria Darling, who wants only to be an artist—a nearly impossible dream for a girl.

         

After Vicky poses nude for her illicit art class, she is expelled from her French finishing school. Shamed and scandalized, her parents try to marry her off to the wealthy Edmund Carrick-Humphrey. But Vicky has other things on her mind: her clandestine application to the Royal College of Art; her participation in the suffragette movement; and her growing attraction to a working-class boy who may be her muse—or may be the love of her life. As the world of debutante balls, corsets, and high society obligations closes in around her, Vicky must figure out: just how much is she willing to sacrifice to pursue her dreams?

We asked Sharon what the research process was like for A Mad, Wicked Folly and this is what she had to say about it...

I don’t research on the Internet necessarily, although I will use it to help me find resources and to look at photographs. I bought lots of books about women’s suffrage, fashion, art, the Edwardian period, social etiquette, music, dancing, and society. I have over 30 books on my shelves. I like to have my own copies because I highlight passages and jot notes in margins. I put lots of stickies on as page markers, which helps when I go back to double check things. I also interviewed several people including Sylvia Pankhurst’s granddaughter, Dr. Helen Pankhurst, the curator of suffrage at the Museum of London, and several artists.  I really love those spiral bound journals with the hard covers and I jot down notes in those—ideas, maps, things like that.  It’s really an organized chaos, if there is such a thing.  I used to feel bad about my lack of formal organization until I saw an interview with J.K. Rowling and she held up a paper grocery bag crammed with papers from her research, and I didn’t feel so bad!

Follow the blog hop schedule for plenty more awesomeness! I'll be updating the links once Jess and Christine's posts go live. 

February 3rd: Sab The Book Eater - hello! :D

February 4th: Christine @ Bookish Daydreamer

February 5th: Jess @ The Reading Nook Reviews

February 6th: Q&A on all three blogs

February 7th: Our reviews + GIVEAWAY!!! 

Here's a sneak peek of what will be given away:

(I know, right?)