Scheherazade of the 20th Century: Barbara Cartland

02/02/24 • 71 min

A little romance?

What began as a fluff piece about an eccentric romance novelist turned into a snapshot of a century through the eyes of someone who lived it to the fullest.

Meet Barbara Cartland: extravagant, exaggerated, and ... pink. As author of 723 books, she remains the most prolific romance novelist of all time. If you’ve ever seen her, you won’t likely forget her, dripping in jewels, layered in make up, clad in fuchsia, and riding in her classic white Rolls Royce.

We’ll follow Barbara through the Great War, to 1920’s London with the Bright Young Things, to writing, motherhood, political involvement, and World War II. And she’s just getting started, hitting the peak of her career in the 1980s, in her eighties.

Along the way, we’ll rub elbows, (well, maybe more than elbows) with movers and shakers of many decades. For example, have you ever heard of Lord Beaverbrook? Also, you won’t believe who joins the family in the 1970s!

We wrap up with a game you can join in at home. It’s called Oh, Barbara.

While we have little in common with Barbara, and share few of her opinions, we have to respect someone who called her own shots and refused to be sidelined as an octogenarian.
See our SHOW NOTES for photos, some quite rare, sources, and such.

A little romance?

What began as a fluff piece about an eccentric romance novelist turned into a snapshot of a century through the eyes of someone who lived it to the fullest.

We wrap up with a game you can join in at home. It’s called Oh, Barbara.

Previous Episode

Please Look After These Bears: Pooh, Paddington, and More Bears of London

Bears. Cute. Cuddly.

But when we looked at them through the long lens of London history, it got complicated pretty quickly.

Join us as we take the ursine plunge, and think about....

the bears that roamed Britain 7000 years ago
the Tower menagerie,
blood sports such a bearbaiting, especially popular during the Elizabethan period,
the invention of the stuffed bear and its significance in the Great War,
Pooh and Paddington, two special bears with London ties, and share unexpected commonalities

Plus, to kick off our exploration of underground and rail stations this year, we’re going to Paddington!

Our SHOW NOTES round out your listening experience, with photos, drawings, clips, links, sources, and more.

Next Episode

Roll Up, Roll Up! It’s the 2024 YLT Underground Mystery Tour!

At Yesterday’s London Times, we are all about inquiry, questions and stories, particularly stories that are new to us or that we just want to know on a deeper level. We seek out people, places, and facets of history that are lesser known, quirkier, or even downright strange. We also like to shine a spotlight on those who really do - or have done - amazing things, but perhaps have been forgotten over time, or lost in the shuffle of a typical news cycle or history text. We especially love discovering stories about people who contribute to the collective good of humanity in some way.
Early on in our partnership, we (Jen and Mares) immediately recognized our common love and admiration for the London Underground, or Tube, for the Tube is something more than just the transportation system beneath our feet. It supplies life to the city of London, and with up to 5 million passenger journeys on any given day, it is the veins and arteries that allow all of the movement that keeps the city going and makes it such a special place.
Join us throughout the following year as we randomly choose destinations across the city to “visit”. We will virtually hop on the Tube and bring the city to your ears as we search for adventures around the stations of the iconic Underground map. We will ask ourselves:

Who lives here now?
Who has lived here in the past?
What are the stories that live within the streets of this area?
What do the people - or perhaps the ghosts of former inhabitants - of this area want to teach us?
What are some places to visit, what might I eat?
What is quirky or unique about this part of London? What can I learn from this area?

The journey begins today. Where do you think the Tube will take us today?
As you listen, we invite you to follow along in our show notes to enhance your experience with us.