Happy Friday, friends! I’m so very excited to welcome back author Riana Everly to Austenesque Reviews today! As you probably already know Riana Everly has a fabulous-sounding new release that just came out – The Bennet Affair. I have love all I have read by Riana Everly – she comes up with some unique and intriguing premises! Today Riana is sharing a little bit about an interesting item that features in her new release, The Bennet Affair. We hope you enjoy! 🦜🎶

Regency-era Music Boxes and Singing Bird Boxes

In The Bennet Affair, Lizzy and Darcy are confronted with a complicated code machine that relied on clockwork and fancy gadgetry to produce an all-but-unbreakable cipher. They begged the help of a friend of the Gardiners to help them work the machine to break the code. This idea sent me down the rabbit hole of historical research, where I discovered (among other things) the fascinating world of music boxes and singing bird boxes in the early 19^th century.

Music boxes have their origins in the carillons of the Middle Ages, where a cylinder with pins regulated the ringing of bells. Eventually the size of the bells shrank to miniature size and the mechanism was worked by clockwork rather than by a person in the bell tower.

The earliest music boxes can be traced to the 1770s Switzerland. In these devices, a key winds the mechanism to turn the cylinder, which rotates and sounds the tiny bells in the box.

The first modern music box, or ‘musical comb’ replaced the bells with a comb with pitched prongs. The melody produced depends on the sequence of raised pins on the cylinder, making different prongs of the comb – which produce different tones – sound. This music box was invented by Swiss clockmaker Antoine Favre in 1796, and his creation was soon incorporated into watches, snuff boxes, and other gadgets.

Often you could replace the cylinder to expand the repertoire of the device. Here is a Key Wind music box from 1815.

Here is a video of an early music box with bells and a clockwork-driven slack-dancer. It dates from about 1785.

Related to music boxes were singing bird boxes, or boîte à oiseau chanteur. In these devices, a tiny automaton of a bird was housed in an elaborate case. When the gadget was wound and started, the bird appeared and moved about, while clockwork operated a motor. This motor drives the bellows that sound a whistle, whose pitch is controlled by a series of cams, as well as to move the bird.

Pierre Jaquet-Droz (1721-1790) is credited with inventing the singing bird box, and his are some of the most beautiful extant examples. By the 1770s, Jaquet-Droz and other makers such as his adopted son Jean-Frédéric Leschot (1746-1824) were making boxes where the bird song was produced by a miniature pipe organ with a separate pipe for each note.

Here is a bird box by Jaquet-Droz and Leschot from about 1785.

~ Excerpt from The Bennet Affair ~

Miss Elizabeth was all but bouncing in her chair in eager anticipation, before she tittered an apology and returned to a more sedate posture. Oh, what joy it would be for some fortunate man to have a lifetime with this animated young woman.

“What a splendid idea! My uncle Gardiner in London is acquainted with such a man, who worked for a while as a clockmaker, but who now makes a fine living building mechanical toys and automatons. He is known and respected in many circles and enjoys company far above his station on the merits of his work. His name is Mr. Jacob Mendel. Have you heard of him?”

Darcy had to shake his head, no, although now he felt a need to meet this man.

“My uncle sells some of his simpler creations like cuckoo clocks and music boxes with dancing figurines—the ones where his own craftsmen and apprentices can do much of the work—in his warehouse, and they command excellent prices. But his truly brilliant pieces are unique creations, made for chosen customers. He is the man who accompanied the Gardiners and me to the exhibition where we saw some automatons, and when he noted my interest, he obliged me with several hours of his time and let me pore through some of his books and diagrams.

“Is that so?” This was a remarkable twist of fate! “And he is an intimate of your family?”

“Indeed he is. He and his wife are frequent guests in my uncle’s house. He gave me the clock that sits upon my mantel, and only last year, he gave me a wonderful present for my birthday.”

She rose and walked to a cabinet along the wall by the window, from which she retrieved a small box that fit into the palm of her hand. She wound a key and handed it to him. “Open it,” she urged.

As he did so, music began to play, light and tinkling, like an orchestra of tiny tin bells. He had, of course, heard a music box before, and had even given one to his sister, in which a tiny carved butterfly on a thin rod circled around a glass flower in the centre of the display.

This miniature box, however, outshone his sister’s prized possession like a diamond outshines coal. An exquisite bird of bright enamel sat in the middle of the top plate, its wings separate pieces from its body, moving up and down in a perfect imitation of flight. At the same time, its head moved from side to side, and its tiny beak opened and closed. It was magical.

“He made this?” His voice was full of wonder.

She nodded. “It is one of his simpler pieces. He is a man of exceptional skill.”

First of all, I love the sounds of this story! Some drama, danger, and a new dynamic between Darcy and Elizabeth! Secondly, thank you so much for sharing about Regency music boxes and singing bird boxes, Riana! I’ve never seen a singing bird box before -they are exquisite and wonder to watch play! I am looking forward to seeing more about music boxes and other mechanical items featured in your story! Thank you for the lovely visit! 🦜🎶

~ Book Description ~

A tale of secrets, sweethearts, and spies!

Elizabeth Bennet’s bedroom in the ancient tower of Longbourn has always been her private haven. So what are those footsteps and shuffling noises she’s now hearing from the room above her head? Drawn from her bed one dark summer night, her clandestine investigations land her in the middle of what looks like a gang of French spies!

William Darcy’s summer has been awful so far, especially after barely rescuing his sister from a most injudicious elopement. Then he is attacked and almost killed nearly at his own front door in one of the best parts of London. Luckily his saviour and new friend, Lord Stanton, has a grand suggestion—recuperate in the countryside and help uncover the workings of a ring of French spies, rumoured to be led by none other than country squire Thomas Bennet!

Drawn together as they work to uncover the truth about the Frenchmen hiding in their midst, Elizabeth and Darcy must use all their intellect as they are confronted with an ingenious code machine, a variety of clockwork devices, ancient secrets and very modern traitors to the Crown. And somewhere along the line, they just might lose their hearts and discover true love—assuming they survive what they learn in the Bennet affair.

The Bennet Affair is a full-length JAFF novel of about 112,000 words.

~ Connect with Riana ~

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~ Author Riana ~

Riana Everly was born in South Africa, but has called Canada home since she was eight years old. She has a Master’s degree in Medieval Studies and is trained as a classical musician, specialising in Baroque and early Classical music. She first encountered Jane Austen when her father handed her a copy of Emma at age 11, and has never looked back.

Riana now lives in Toronto with her family. When she is not writing, she can often be found playing string quartets with friends, biking around the beautiful province of Ontario with her husband, trying to improve her photography, thinking about what to make for dinner, and, of course, reading!

Riana’s novels have received several awards and citations as favourite reads of the year, including two Jane Austen Awards and a Discovering Diamonds review.

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GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Today Riana brings with her ONE ebook of The Bennet Affair for me to give away to 1 lucky reader!!

 

To enter this giveaway leave a comment, question, or some love for Riana!

• This giveaway is open worldwide.  Thank you, Riana!
• This giveaway ends May 13th!
• Please enter this contest with just one name and one entry, multiple entries will be disqualified.