"Gentleman Jack" -- lesbians in 1830s Yorkshire
Almost exactly two months ago, I alerted you lovely readers to an HBO series about a swashbuckling lady from Yorkshire who dashed about, seducing girls hither and thither. (After my post, I was especially happy that a sweet lezzie coven from the west of the UK scribbled to say they had seen and liked it there a year ago.)
Well, tonight we saw the 8th episode (recorded on our cable thingie on Tuesday), which was said to be the finale for the FIRST season. (Reviews here didn't say there was to be more than one season -- perhaps you UK Ponygirls can tell me if the second one ever materialized.)
It REALLY is a terrific show -- wonderful authentic locations (including Copenhagan tonight, where our heartbroken gay friend Anne went on one of her European escapes, having broken with her wealthy lover, Ann), great characters -- oh, and it's largely true, based on Anne's diaries.
Anyway, provincial Yorkshire gives the story real panache; the pubs, carriages, country homes, coal mines (big sub-plot concerning Anne's inherited property and then-current booming demand for coal), market towns, etc.
In this episode, Ann -- thought by her family to have mental problems (WHY was she so taken by this wild woman about whom the rumors positively FLEW?) -- had been spirited off to relatives near Edinburgh. Her fucking Anne (GREAT love-scenes!) in the first few episodes was utter bliss -- but it was hard for Ann to "sin" and actually marry the bold Anne.
Spoiler alert! Anne is forced to abandon her Danish sojourn, thinking her beloved aunt was dying. Ann, meanwhile, was being urged to marry a questionable guy up in Scotland, but she resisted.
The poor comunications of the epoch caused complications; first, the slow mails for a couple of months, and then it took Anne two weeks by boat (via London) and carriage in winter storms to travel the 300 or so miles from Copenhagan, and it took Ann four days to go 150 miles by road -- fetched back home by worried relatives. And they both got back to their Yorkshire digs on the same day. Big reunion -- all is forgiven!
I had googled 6-7 weeks ago, finding out that the real Anne and Ann did marry (not clear exactly HOW) after these initial travails, and they traveled widely in Europe. The ultimate spoiler: Anne died in Germany of siphilis (sic!) a decade later...
Well, tonight we saw the 8th episode (recorded on our cable thingie on Tuesday), which was said to be the finale for the FIRST season. (Reviews here didn't say there was to be more than one season -- perhaps you UK Ponygirls can tell me if the second one ever materialized.)
It REALLY is a terrific show -- wonderful authentic locations (including Copenhagan tonight, where our heartbroken gay friend Anne went on one of her European escapes, having broken with her wealthy lover, Ann), great characters -- oh, and it's largely true, based on Anne's diaries.
Anyway, provincial Yorkshire gives the story real panache; the pubs, carriages, country homes, coal mines (big sub-plot concerning Anne's inherited property and then-current booming demand for coal), market towns, etc.
In this episode, Ann -- thought by her family to have mental problems (WHY was she so taken by this wild woman about whom the rumors positively FLEW?) -- had been spirited off to relatives near Edinburgh. Her fucking Anne (GREAT love-scenes!) in the first few episodes was utter bliss -- but it was hard for Ann to "sin" and actually marry the bold Anne.
Spoiler alert! Anne is forced to abandon her Danish sojourn, thinking her beloved aunt was dying. Ann, meanwhile, was being urged to marry a questionable guy up in Scotland, but she resisted.
The poor comunications of the epoch caused complications; first, the slow mails for a couple of months, and then it took Anne two weeks by boat (via London) and carriage in winter storms to travel the 300 or so miles from Copenhagan, and it took Ann four days to go 150 miles by road -- fetched back home by worried relatives. And they both got back to their Yorkshire digs on the same day. Big reunion -- all is forgiven!
I had googled 6-7 weeks ago, finding out that the real Anne and Ann did marry (not clear exactly HOW) after these initial travails, and they traveled widely in Europe. The ultimate spoiler: Anne died in Germany of siphilis (sic!) a decade later...