Classic Book Echoes

Classic Book Echoes ✒ Writer ↠ Historical Romances
✒ Reader ↠ Classic literature & 19th century
✒ Light & dark academia ‣ Historian ‣ Nature

Historian writing Regency & Victorian romances inspired by 19th-century classic literature, with historical detail, themes of Romance, and a sprinkle of psychological realism in style. Lover of art and literature, journaling across this world while writing for old souls.

I am now officially reaching halfway through Virginia Woolf's 'Orlando'. It is perhaps redundant to call it a fruit of i...
11/09/2024

I am now officially reaching halfway through Virginia Woolf's 'Orlando'. It is perhaps redundant to call it a fruit of its time. The marks of the dawning 20th century are strongly visible, with only the finest veneer of the 19th century coming across. In terms of style, she strikes me as someone who fretfully seeks forgotten, resounding words, masterfully enriching the text in manners I have not often found in earlier authors. The rhythm is more familiar, more of colloquial storytelling, rather than an obvious attempt at classical erudite narrative structures. As others have said, it is highly experimental, just as the 20th century is, too, highly experimental.

One of my (remote) dreams is to one day see my books on the bookshelves of physical stores. It is not something I am act...
09/09/2024

One of my (remote) dreams is to one day see my books on the bookshelves of physical stores. It is not something I am actively working towards, just now. I'm comfortable as an independent writer, and the platform I use suits my time availability for this writing project which coincidesnwith other duties.

Nevertheless, it is a dream. Perhaps it will come true one day. Perhaps I will remain an independent author all my life, and always publish through platforms that do not comprise physical bookshops. Who knows? If that is so, I will be happy just the same, for that system is what allowed me to share my books with the world. For that, I am grateful. Yet while I live, the lingering 'maybe' will remain, and the empty pages of tomorrow sometimes bring interesting twists..

In other observations, I am consistently surprised by the decline in availability of classics in physical bookshops. I remember days when you could find endless, varied classics for extremely affordable prices, something between 3 and 5 euros - the old days of Penguin yellow covers. As a long time classics reader, it saddens me (also because I loved the design of those covers). I often order Wordsworth, because I find they're the current affordable vein of classic literature; yet I seldom find them in physical shops nearby. Many of these books are classics because they have resonated with thousands across time and space. I'd feel sad to see the loss of that part of Human memory. Memory is what defines identity, and acts as a guiding light and a teacher.

No books today. Only thoughts. August and September have been chaotic (and we are only 3 days into September). I'm expec...
03/09/2024

No books today. Only thoughts. August and September have been chaotic (and we are only 3 days into September). I'm expecting an equally chaotic second half of the year, and a chaotic 2025. Not in a bad way. Only in a transformative way. I am reaching a time of metamorphosis and, as said by Fernando Pessoa, I know not what tomorrow will bring.

When life gets too chaotic, I like to go sit next to the river. I'm a sea and mountain person, because I grew up under the mountain's shadow and within the ocean breeze. The estuary of the Tagus lets you glimpse into the ocean, with confederations of seagulls trying to escape the agitation of the waves, the tall ship masts oscillating in the horizon and the flat line of the horizon, behind which lies the great unknown.


Writing is often a (self) exercise in philosophy. There is the story, and then there are ideas, facts and curiosities th...
21/08/2024

Writing is often a (self) exercise in philosophy. There is the story, and then there are ideas, facts and curiosities that you have learned about, that make you question. You attack even yourself by positing characters who are your absolute opposite, and yet develop empathy because you learn how it's like in their place. You roam the meanderings of your own mind, and find things about yourself you never knew, at times.

Jane Austen was challenged by James Clarke, the Prince Regent's librarian, to write a story about the Saxe-Coburg and Gotha family, and this was her response. In other letters, she advised one to write about what one is most familiar with. She had her thing going on, and developed it as she found fit - though she strove for success, she felt it was more truthfully attained if she followed her instinct and indulged her mind. I find it most interesting, perhaps because I also feel that I am most comfortable in my current set-up with historical pieces. I have also developed pre-writing rituals, and they've been the same for three years. I always, always read a page of Jane Austen's before I open the file.


Moving past my usual realms and now that I've begun to process Brothers Karamazov, I'm going to read my first Virginia W...
10/08/2024

Moving past my usual realms and now that I've begun to process Brothers Karamazov, I'm going to read my first Virginia Woolfe. I'm not entirely sure what to expect here, although I know it's a little out of my usual realm, both chronologically and thematically - it will be a much necessary and hopefully enriching experience, following the weight in my heart left by Dostoevsky.

I've finally begun the edits on my own book, which is mercilessly late (according to myself and my chronograms), hoping to get it out either late this year or early next year. I feel my Writing Voice has shifted between the first draft and now, and there are some notes of (sardonic?) humour that weren't there when I wrote it.

There is a lot happening in this late summer, and alongside these reads, I'll also be dipping my toes into mythology. It's a place I have only gone for leisure, but now I might approach it more for work, too...


Come with me on a journey across the late Victorian period (and also on a research tour for my next book. No, not the on...
06/08/2024

Come with me on a journey across the late Victorian period (and also on a research tour for my next book. No, not the one I should be working on. The one after that...).

I had never visited the Biester Palace. It was closed to the public for many years, and only after renovation works did it open for public visitors, a few years ago. I am extremely glad that it did, and that I had the chance to visit. Although it is probably one of the least visited places in Sintra, I sense it's only a matter of time before it becomes crowded. It's a charming countryside abode, of the sort that became popular with aristocracy in the Victorian period. Everyone would come to Sintra to escape the heat.

Inside, you will find plenty of Art Nouveau inspirations, a lot of beautiful wooden details, and access to the upper room will give you a glimpse of the bedrooms. The main bedroom is decorated with lovely frescoes (I'll share in another post). If you're in Portugal and have the chance to go to Sintra, definitely check the Biester Palace.

To be controversial, I enjoyed the visit more than that to Regaleira, which is the most popular tour right next to the Pena Palace - perhaps it was a mixture of the quiet, the beautiful interiors and the lovely patisserie in the gardens... 😃

📖 (Bookish) Dating Night ChallengeThanks for tagging me 😃📚 Who is it with? The Count of Monte Cristo📚 How did we meet? ...
02/08/2024

📖 (Bookish) Dating Night Challenge

Thanks for tagging me 😃

📚 Who is it with? The Count of Monte Cristo

📚 How did we meet? Far from the Madding Crowd

📚 When are we going? A Midsummer Night's Dream

📚 Where are we going? East of Eden

📚 What we talked about: Pride & Prejudice

📚 Second date: Wuthering Heights

I'm curious to see everyone else's combinations 🤔

I like to dress in historical clothing. Modern-day clothes are indubitably more practical, but historical clothing is mo...
01/08/2024

I like to dress in historical clothing. Modern-day clothes are indubitably more practical, but historical clothing is more fun. Of course, if we were living in the Regency era, I wouldn't be wearing fancy gowns - of that, I am accutely and ever aware. I'd be wearing the clothes of those who laboured, day after day. I would not have received the same education (or any at all). The opportunities I have now are made possible by the march of History.

Yet there is History and there is Art. To my heart, these gowns of yore have plenty of art in them. They had a certain elegance to them. In wearing them, one can pretend to be a part of history - not the actual history, not the real history of the people who lived and breathed and struggled, but a history romanticised. We become, therefore, characters in novels. It is a journey to the world of the books I read, the paintings I appreciate, it is a reenactment of an artistic legacy. As a historian, I am mindful of politics, society and economy. Yet at times I am no longer the historian - I am but a character in a book, in my own form of escapism.

There is a before and an after reading 'The Brothers Karamazov'. Sounds dramatic, but it's true. Of course, like anythin...
31/07/2024

There is a before and an after reading 'The Brothers Karamazov'. Sounds dramatic, but it's true. Of course, like anything else in life, this is highly subjective - I'm sure you'll find the people who don't like the book, people who find flaws in it, and many of them will have perfectly valid reasons to do so.

I am not one of those people. I believe Brothers Karamazov has been the most impactful work I've read in adulthood, just like Les Miserables was the most impactful work I read in my teens. In ten years, I'll probably find another that resonates as much as BK did - one that touches my existential doubts in similar ways, one that torments me and makes me think. The ending, of course, is all but pleasant, beginning with the fact it ever had to end. Dostoevsky wished to write a sequel for which he had no time, in which we would have seen a transformed Alyosha. And though the Revolutionary Alyosha appears impossible to believe from reading just this, I think that if we play very close attention we can already see the germs of revolution, and of his deeper connection with Grushenka.

Ivan was my favourite brother, and for his torment I felt the most. The other two had certainties for comfort; he had only his conscience. He is, to me, the most complex, interesting and elaborate of the three, though Alyosha was also interesting, in his own way. It is Ivan who represents the ever-encompassing doubt that stirs, boundless, in every direction, a doubt that will consume you, if you give it too much of your time.

Now I depart towards lighter reads, and it is with a heavy heart I do so. This has been a defining year, and to have read this book exactly at this time was a most important coincidence.


Books, bringers of light.A fragment of memory of mankind. Voices long gone, reaching us through the complex codes of let...
27/07/2024

Books, bringers of light.
A fragment of memory of mankind. Voices long gone, reaching us through the complex codes of letters or characters invented by our ancestors, thousands of years ago.

The reflections of those long gone, which we have the privilege of sharing. I read many classics, I spend my time with ghosts. I know their names and often their lives, I know their thoughts, I know them without knowing them, and I shall never know them. They reach me only through Gutenberg's magical invention.

Companions of darkest hours, of joyful holidays. Words reverberating in my heart find a surprising resonance within those of people whose lives were so fundamentally different from mine. A reminder of the shared aspects of humanity. Some of them were, by our morals and standards, bizarre or even condemnable. We are surprised, therefore, to see the light which can emanate from them - to see that within one whom we would condemn we find a piece of ourselves.

It is the neverending complexity of mankind expressed within paper and ink, the physical demonstration of human thought. The perpetual vibration of the past, the freedom to express the fundamental pieces, the quest to understand the chief questions to which we may perhaps never find an answer. What is it to be a human? Where did I come from, and where am I going?


I read Kafka's Metamorphosis over a train journey.It's a tiny, tiny book with a strong message. There are one thousand w...
22/07/2024

I read Kafka's Metamorphosis over a train journey.

It's a tiny, tiny book with a strong message. There are one thousand ways in which you can look at it. To me, it spoke of the dangers of falling into a rut, of the impact of self-imposed expectations, of a sort that we don't quite know where they started. It seemed as a metaphor for a deep depression, already delving into a point of apathy towards the world. It was Gregor's slow path towards giving up an existence that became a monotonous burden, and it was also how society forces us so often into becoming cogs of hierarchical machinery, slowly dimming the light within for the sake of surviving and turning into insects in our own eyes.

To keep the creative spark alive, to keep joy for life, to keep motivation and find balance in a world where one must survive but wishes to thrive - to never lose the power of internal voice, which Gregor, even as an insect (or especially as one) seems to recover.

But this is my interpretation, and there are many others. What is yours?

Today, on the 207th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death, I wish to celebrate the life of a woman whose stories have stood...
18/07/2024

Today, on the 207th anniversary of Jane Austen’s death, I wish to celebrate the life of a woman whose stories have stood the test of time for these two centuries, continuing to find echoes in the hearts of thousands of readers worldwide. She has been with me through good and bad times, and is the one author which I will always carry with me.

Illustration:

Today I bring something that is definitely not classic literature, but has inspired many writers: the History of Warship...
16/07/2024

Today I bring something that is definitely not classic literature, but has inspired many writers: the History of Warships. As someone who has been working Roman warships for over ten years, I can tell you that there has been a lot of misrepresenting in the media, partly due to old preconceptions and misunderstands that have now been corrected by new archaeological data.

These are four of the many books I own on the subject, and some of the most influential ones as well. Lionel Casson's work, especially, is practically a mandatory introduction to dive into the world of ancient warships, which are, in the end, the largest and most complex machines produced by the ancient world. 🙂

A non-bookish but author-related post today, so I can take advantage and announce all the updates:As you noticed, I've b...
13/07/2024

A non-bookish but author-related post today, so I can take advantage and announce all the updates:

As you noticed, I've been messing around with Art Nouveau pieces just for the fun of it. I'm definitely the sort of person who gets so encompassed by work that she entirely forgets to stop, relax, and do something that won't drive the brain to mental collapse 😅 what to be done, I love my work. But is important (reminder to self and to the many others like me) to find balance, and one of the things that helps me is painting, drawing and music. Especially all three at once.

On bookish updates, I have finally finished the first draft of Book 4 in the Regency series (I won't reveal the title yet because I'm indecisive between three different ones). I have also begun work on a Victorian series (yay!) and have another one planned for after Book 5 (Book 1 of the Victorian series) is out, sometime next year. In any luck, I'll be able to release Regency IV until the end of 2024, too.

I have also re-opened my blog (you can check it on my website), so if there's any Regency, History or Bookish themes you'd like me to cover, let me know - I've been noting down all your suggestions.

Valete, amici.

Who am I, as a writer?Like with any other artistic expression, I am ever-evolving and ever-changing in my writing. Howev...
09/07/2024

Who am I, as a writer?
Like with any other artistic expression, I am ever-evolving and ever-changing in my writing. However, here are a few of the guidelines that I believe won't change so soon:

• I write historical fiction guided by romance. Romantic love is a core element, but in my books it develops through interactions between characters, their social sphere, their context, and their internal development. I write about how love, friendship and society affect the inner world, the psyche, of the main character within a book. This is what resonates with me, in terms of what I want to write at this point of my journey.

• I write for people who like a traditional style of romance novels: people who like classic literature, descriptive styles and elaborate dialogues. I write for old souls, people into dark & light academia, the smell of petricor, and lost moments next to a window while it rains. If that's you, I think you'll like my books.

• I am currently working on my first series, 'Episodes of Regency Romance', and am projecting at least a second series set in the Victorian era. There are other writing projects in my head - one step at a time.

• As I'm a historian, I enjoy diving into old documents, and my books very often include mentions to real people, places, events, names of books and furniture, pieces of clothing - you name it.

• I'm also into photography, travelling and art, so I often post about my visits here and there, this pretty flower I saw on a walk, a sunset that impressed me, or my amateur attempts at watercolour.

I find social media can be a great tool to find people with similar interests, so if you're into this realm of Pre-Raphaelite and Art Nouveau, say hello in the comments!




🗝️ Historical romance, regency romance, Victorian romance, regency era, 19th century, 1800s, Jane Austen lover, bibliophile, dark academia, light academia, literature, classic literature lover, classic books lover, reader, bookstagram, Alfonse Mucha, John William Waterhouse, Evelyn de Morgan, Edmund Leighton, Art Nouveau, Pre-Raphaelites, Jane Austen, Tolstoy, Dumas, Victor Hugo

Brothers Karamazov is THE book for me this year. As I throw myself into the final chapters (and prepare to get started o...
09/07/2024

Brothers Karamazov is THE book for me this year. As I throw myself into the final chapters (and prepare to get started on Virgina Woolfe's Orlando, which I've had a sudden urge to read and moved up in my TBR 😅), and having just finished Kafka's Metamorphosis, I keep thinking about these three brothers and their moments of crisis.

My favourite remains Ivan by a mile - I find him fascinating, and the way he conceals himself from the world and deceives his true thoughts from even the most attentive (but not Madam Hohlakov!). Yet Alyosha also occupies a place in my heart, for the candour he presents throughout the major part of the book. It is a candour accompanied by wisdom, and he is in no way less reasonable and worldly than his brothers - he just chooses to be as he is, though he, too, bears the burden of the Karamazov passions.

Dostoevsky's writing makes me feel as though he is a close acquaintance telling me a real story. All characters appear remarkably real and vivid to me. Today, I bring some afterthoughts regarding Father Zossima's passing, and next week there will be a little something more about Ivan, just as he enters his own crisis.

Brothers Karamazov is the book that made me love Dostoevsky as a long lost friend. That being said, I need a break from this friendship, and will be sinking into Virginia Woolfe, Trollope, Ovid and Joseph Campbell for the foreseeable future (whilst still in some expectation for my reintroduction to Charles Dickens).

What of you? What has been the most fascinating read of the year?

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My second book, 'The Rose of Lisbon', is almost entirely set in Portugal. As it is set in the Regency era, some of these buildings did not yet exist; but the natural landscapes, the charm, the vibe, the nature, give you a good idea of the worlds my characters would walk through. #bookstagram #writers #portugal #romancewriter #aestheticbookstagram

A walk in nature allows for moments of blissful quietude. Those are rare, these days, when all the world is so fast, when cities are loud and energetic and filled with vibrant life. While I love life in the city, with all the charms it has to offer, I feel this need to, every once in a while, walk through a place where the trees, the wind and the sky will be my companions. Jane Austen felt the same way, and expressed this view through Fanny's voice in Mansfield Park - the bliss one finds in nature, and how it allows the mind to challenge itself into poetries. Also, notice this wonderful blue sky in Portugal - I've been making my friends in colder climates very jealous 😂 . . #janeausten #classicbookstagram #bibliophile #bookquotes 🗝️ Jane Austen, austenite, classic book, classic literature, bibliophile, book reader, dark academia, light academia, book quotes, quotes, famous authors, Mansfield park, pride and prejudice

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