It’s so much fun to have Becky Lower visiting the Blue Rose Writing Room today.
Welcome Becky. I love that you’re talking about eyeglasses. As someone who’s suffered from nearsightedness my entire life, I understand your hero’s plight.
But, I’m having Lasik April 9th. Poor Halwyn doesn’t have that option. Let’s hear what you have to say…
My most recent hero, Halwyn Fitzpatrick, is a man who wears glasses. My vision (pardon the pun) for him didn’t begin with having a myopic hero. But halfway into my series about the nine Fitzpatrick children and their individual roads to romance and happy ever after, I realized the eldest in the family, Halwyn, was becoming well past the age when young men normally wed. There needed to be a reason why he hadn’t yet married at the advanced age of 27. Hence the eyeglass idea. He hadn’t found the woman of his dreams simply because he was unable to see her on the other side of the ballroom. But in order to portray Halwyn’s plight properly, I needed to do some research on the history of eyewear. And I found it fascinating.
More than 700 years ago, some unknown and unnamed person had the inspiration to invent eyeglasses. Before that time, people who had poor vision could do little to aid in their eyesight. Imagine heading out on a search for game and not being able to see more than five feet in front of you. Or trying to fashion a good arrowhead from flint and instead of chipping away at the stone, chop off a finger. Formerly productive members of society had to quit working, writing, and using their hands after the age of about forty, and rely on the younger members of the tribe for sustenance.
Newsweek Magazine referred to the invention of eyeglasses as one of the most important in the last 2000 years. During the 1200s, Italy became known as one of the most advanced places for the medieval glass industry. The widespread use of glasses didn’t happen until the 1500s, when the city of Florence, Italy, led the way in producing affordable eyewear. Early spectacles were associated with wisdom and learning. Glasses in the 17thcentury were single lenses, usually suspended from a neck-cord.
Perhaps the most useful tidbit of information about glasses, especially for those of us who write historical romances is this: Lenses, along with a pocket-sized telescope called a spyglass, were often used at the theater, to spy on others in attendance.
It was not until the middle of the 15th century that concave lens, to correct nearsightedness, came into being, in Florence. Oval and rectangular lens became fashionable at the end of the 18thcentury. Frames evolved along with the lens, the earliest being constructed of wood, bone and leather. The earliest eyewear was made to be held, rather than affixed in place in front of the eyes. The first eyewear with sidearms that hooked over the ears, came into existence in the early 1700s, in England. Today, eyeglasses are more popular then ever. Thomas Jefferson improved the bifocal lens, and now, trifocals are in existence. During the 1950s, with the use of plastic for the frames, eyewear began to become a fashion statement, a trend that continues to this day. But the true value of eyeglasses—that of providing clear vision—remains the true reason why glasses exist today.
Can you imagine life without glasses? A simple glance around any room will reveal that usually half the attendees have some sort of spectacles perched on their noses. And, if you are one of those wearing glasses and can glance around the room and see people, you can thank that nameless person who seven hundred years ago came up with a solution to faulty eyesight.
Here’s the blurb for Blinded By Grace:
Grace Wagner needs a husband by July, in order to inherit the trust her father has left for her. Her stepfather, though, has plans for the money that don’t include Grace, and the last thing he wants is for her to find a husband before she turns 21, thereby fulfilling the terms of the trust. She’s been in love with Halwyn since she was thirteen, but he hasn’t noticed her at any of the balls they’ve attended over the years. With the aid of his new eyeglasses, he spies Grace from across the room and they share a dance. Grace decides to present him with a business proposition that will satisfy them both. But, can a clueless knight in shining armor and a desperate damsel in distress find a way to turn a marriage of convenience into something more?
For more information, please visit my website, www.beckylowerauthor.com
Is your hero a man who wears glasses? Leave me a comment and you might win an e-copy of Blinded By Grace.
Author Bio:
Becky Lower has traveled the country looking for great settings for her novels. She loves to write about two people finding each other and falling in love, amid the backdrop of a great setting, be it present day middle America or on a covered wagon headed west in the 1850s. Contemporary and historical romances are her specialty. Becky is a PAN member of RWA and is a regular contributor to USA Today’s Happy Ever After column. She has a degree in English and Journalism from Bowling Green State University, and lives in an eclectic college town in Ohio with her puppy-mill rescue dog, Mary. She loves to hear from her readers at [email protected]. Visit her website at www.beckylowerauthor.com
