I had the recent pleasure of meeting a bookclub at Belmont Mansion (the setting of my Belmont Mansion novels) for a delicious luncheon, wonderful sharing time, and then a tour of the mansion. I never tire of being in Adelicia Acklen's beautiful home.
Pay no attention to that woman in the background flashing us. Those Victorians and their naked statues… Sheesh!
A luncheon and tour package featuring Jerry Trescott (Belmont's curator and architectural historian extraordinaire) and moi was auctioned off in a fundraiser for Belmont Mansion, and the very generous Shirley Reynolds (seated third back on the right) won the bid! (Thank you, Shirley! What a pleasure to meet you and the other ladies yesterday.)
These gals were such fun! And I always enjoy providing color commentary to Jerry's marvelous "A Lasting Impression novel" tour he gives readers touring the antebellum mansion.
Here we are on the steps of the dual cantilevered spiral staircase.
I also got my first look at the beautifully reproduced detailed miniature of The Sleeping Children (by artist William Henry Rinehart), one of the statues Adelicia purchased on her grand tour of Europe in 1865—and a statue that's prominently featured in A Lasting Impression (Sutton and Claire's story).
The Sleeping Children in Belmont Mansion's front hall
Adelicia Acklen ordered this piece in Rome on February 27, 1866 and instructed that the names “Laura & Corinne” be carved on the front left, and “Twin Sisters” be carved on the back. This was a type of memorial to two of her ten children. Laura and Corinne Acklen died at the age of two of scarlet fever. Adelicia placed this piece in the Front Hall—in the same location where it is today.
And here's the detailed replica that's now available, and that I brought home with me yesterday!
Isn't it lovely?
Want your own? Contact Belmont Mansion at mansioneducation@belmont.edu and ask them about the replica of The Sleeping Children
I'm currently working with the mansion on a Christmas gift package which will contain this replica of The Sleeping Children, along with autographed copies of A Lasting Impression and A Beauty So Rare, and a choice of a Belmont Mansion coaster.
I'm so grateful for the many ways the folks with Belmont Mansion (and Belle Meade Plantation) partner with me in writing these stories and keeping history alive.
What's the last historical site you've visited? And by chance, did you bring home a souvenir of some sort, too?
Tammy
A Lasting Impression and A Beauty So Rare available now
A Note Yet Unsung releases February 2017
A Note Yet Unsung releases February 2017