Actor Ellen Terry’s reputation was not “soiled” when she married a forty-six-year-old painter, the famous G.F. Watts, when she was only sixteen. It was soiled when that marriage collapsed after ten months and she went to live with her lover out of wedlock for six years. Later, when she was the highest paid woman in England, her sinful past was referenced by critic Charles Reade in a stage review as: “Grace pervades the hussy.” 

Ellen Terry in “Choosing,” painted by her husband, George Frederick Watts, 1864

After ten months of a stultifying marriage, the “hussy” lived for six years out of wedlock with architect Edward William Godwin and sired two illegitimate children with him. Goodwin eventually left her for nineteen-year-old student, deserting her and her children. Despite this ill-treatment, Ellen was still known for her “grace of spirit as well as of body, it is the essence of her irresistible loveliness.” Minx. Hussy. Actress.

Ellen Terry as Beatrice in “Much Ado About Nothing” with the Lyceum Theatre

The first actor to be knighted, Sir Henry Irving, also had a bad first marriage. In a carriage with his wife coming home from his first real stage success, she asked him when he was going to grow up and give up the theatre. He got out of the cab and never talked to her again. But they didn’t divorce. Divorced men aren’t knighted. In person this artistic visionary had the vibe of a dour deacon. Irving was passionate, articulate, charming, brilliant but frosty. His speciality was either demon or angel.

Henry Irving as Hamlet, caricatured by W.G. Baxter

And while Irving had a strange speech pattern, skinny legs and a declamatory manner to his acting, he was charismatic and won over the critics. Most of the time.

The London newspaper reviewers loved to dig at Henry Irving’s skinny legs. In this caricature, artist Kyd wrote: “Irving’s legs have always been a knotty problem with the critics.”

Irving’s story interested me but it was the chemistry with his onstage partner of twenty-seven years, Ellen Terry, that captivated me. For over a decade, I have been researching Henry and Ellen for my Arcana Oracle Series. I studied both actors’ lives, the celebrity superstars Actor/Producers of the Late Victorian/early Edwardian Age with a fevered following.

When it was announced that Ralph Fiennes would be playing Henry Irving in a new play by David Hare at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, I bought tickets for the show months ahead of time, even though I had no plane tickets to fly to London.

Miranda Raison as Ellen Terry and Ralph Fiennes as Henry Irving in Grace Pervades at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, June 2026

As the first celebrity super-couple, endless images of Ellen and Henry appeared in newspapers, photographs, portraits, drawings, and adverts for cigarettes, face cream and tea. Biographies by Bram Stoker, Jeffrey Richards and Laurence Irving, along with the definitive life stories by Michael Holroyd, made me familiar with most of the lore of the beginnings of the Lyceum Theatre. Patronage by Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, Oscar Wilde and the who’s who of society put the theatre’s reputation on the map.

A NYC illustration of Henry Irving and Ellen Terry taking a curtain call before the limelight

Grace Pervades takes on the story of Henry starting the Lyceum Theatre in 1878 and hiring Ellen to come on board as his leading lady. She had already been forgiven by the theatre public (“only 16 when she was married to the ancient mariner”) and her acceptance as a single mother was tolerated because she was graceful. Light. Articulate. As a NY Times article describer her: “her Portia, “illustrating every mood with an irresistible grace and a most spontaneous ease.” Grace, spontaneity, ease they are one and inseparable in Ellen Terry. The first is the greatest because it is the sum of all three.”

The play shows the flaws in the people behind the fame, the missed connections and self motives when people are let down. Several of the scenes I knew exactly what happened in real life, or in the time line of what happened and it was initially jarring as my writer brain went, “No, the dog was in the drawing room the whole time,” or “wait, Ellen’s daughter, Edy, wasn’t at that performance” but soon I was able to shush my busy brain.

David Hare brought up the idea of grace. In theological terms, "grace" means that someone (typically God) gives some person some the benefit which he or she didn't deserve. So Christian forgiveness is grace, a “not quite hitting the mark” Victorian definition of Grace Pervades. Or, it could be that the lightness and non-judgment is grace.

For all of the fame, money, titles and grace that both Henry Irving and Ellen Terry experienced, they are mostly forgotten nowadays. Modern audiences, and certainly younger audiences, have no idea who they were, even with Sir Henry Irving’s statue outside the National Portrait Gallery in London. I was very touched by the play and was very effected by the ideas of sacrifice, selfishness and grace as love. I would love to see it again.

I was gifted a portrait of Ellen Terry by Pamela Colman Smith by Nikki Sanders. Nikki’s grandmother, Rosalie Baillie, was good friends with Pamela and inherited some of Pamela’s artwork. Not any of the tarot templates from the Waite Smith tarot deck she co-created but, theatre renderings.

Ellen Terry as Madame San Gêne in the Lyceum Theatre production by Pamela Colman Smith

This artwork of Ellen from a production of Madame Sans-Gêne is inscribed with dancing instructions in the script. Playing a former washer woman who is now a duchess, Ellen’s character takes dancing lessons so she might be prepared to entertain Napoleon.

The dancing instructions from the play are as follows: ‘Dip, Dwell, Swan Like - So!’

In this play that Ellen commissioned and produced through the Lyceum Theatre, the NY Times wrote: ““Madame Sans-Gêne” remains one of the delightful and blooming pieces of the theatre. It has verve and a hearty spirit; it has wits about it and a breeze of inexhaustible life.”

The dancing lesson instructions were quoted several times in reviews of the show and point out that even in this comedy, the aspect Madam Sans-Gêne was striving for was one of grace.

Grace truly did pervade.

Thank you for supporting my work and if you are interested in the relationship of Dame Ellen Terry, Sir Henry Irving and Pamela Colman Smith, the second book in my Arcana Oracle Series, High Priestess and Empress, follows their adventures.

High Priestess and Empress, Book Two, Arcana Oracle Series

My latest indulgence has been watching Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius, a 72 Films production for BBC Arts, currently on Brit Box. The series is part of the 250th celebration of Jane Austen’s birth. Narrated by Juliet Stevenson, this series follows the development of Jane Austen’s six novels and how they came to published (or not!) during the course of her lifetime.

As a reader/researcher/adopter on Jane Austen’s materials and life for many decades, I know the basics of her life like the back of my hand: grew up with six brothers, devoted to sister Cassandra, sent off to boarding school, read to entertain her family and was a genius writer. She created a new kind of narrative voice, where the reader is “in on the joke,” known as third-person narrative or free indirect discourse, especially prevalent in her novel Emma.

James Andrews, “Jane Austen” (1869), watercolor Private collection, courtesy of the 19th Century Rare Book and Photograph Shop, Stevenson, Maryland

So what could a three-part series on Jane Austen: Life of a Genius tell me that was new? This series was shot in Hungary, with non-speaking actors from the Hungarian theater community miming the day-to-day life. The beginning establishing shots of no dialogue and staged scenes threw me. How many times were we going to see Jane’s inked-stained fingers clutching a feather quill pen? During the late 80’s here in NYC, there were a lot of bad crime re-enactor shows where you could get work as an actor going through the motions re-enacting a crime scene. Was Jane’s life story about to be bludgeoned?

But, I have to say, the autobiographical narrative overlaying the scenes in this series was delightful. For one thing, it was seasoned with observations and readings from actors Charity Wakefield, (Marianne in 2008 Sense & Sensibility), Greta Scacchi (1996 Miss Austen Regrets), Samuel West (1995 Persuasion), Tamsin Greig (Miss Bates in 2009 Emma), Tom Bennett (2016 Love and Friendship), and Greg Wise, (1995 Sense & Sensibility.) All accomplished, emotional in their telling and articulate.

Contributors on Jane Austen: Life of a Genius, available on Brit Box

There were also experts and historians: Dr Paula Byrne, Admiral Lord West, Dr Priya Atwal, Dr Louise Curran and Dr Paddy Bullard, and film maker Ken Loach. They brought to life the timeline of Pamela’s upbringing, relative support and publishing path.

But it was the details of a terrible gamble in Jane Austen’s publishing life that left me suckered punched. I knew that her name never appeared on or in any of her novels published in her lifetime. That the rights to her book, Northanger Abbey, had to be bought back since the publisher never did anything with it (it was eventually published posthumously in December 1817.) And that another non-starter novel, Lady Susan, never had its rights sold in her lifetime.

But it was Jane’s decision to reprint 750 copies Mansfield Park after several of her literary successes that surprised me. The subject of slavery is brought up by Mansfield Park’s Fanny. She asks her uncle, Sir Thomas, 'about the slave trade' in Antigua. The next day with Edmund, when Fanny says that after she asked the question, “'there was such a dead silence! shows the family response to the subject of slavery.

How did the reading public respond to Jane’s Mansfield Park?

She lost almost all her profits by investing in this reprint.

The TV series really set out how devastating it was for Jane to lose most of her financial gains by having Northanger Abbey not only sell badly but remaindered. An author does not earn royalties on remaindered book sales. Usually the unsold books are given away, recycled into other paper products, composted or burned.

Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

“I have something in hand – which I hope on the credit of P. & P. will sell well, tho’ not half so entertaining.” (Ltr. 86: 3 – 6 July 1813, to Capt. Francis Austen)

Author Deborah Barnum breaks down what happened when Jane gambled to reprint Mansfield Park, starting with the first printing:

“(Mansfield Park)…came into the world in a run of about only 1250 copies, in 3-volumes, and sold for 18 shillings in boards. And it sells well – Austen writes in November of 1814 “You will be glad to hear that the first Edit. of M.P. is all sold.”"

Then the reprinting:

“750 copies were printed, published also on commission, Austen paying costs up front…It was advertised in The Morning Post on February 19, 1816 and sold for 18 shillings. It did not sell well and most copies were remaindered; her costs were set against her profit on Emma, which as a result made little for her.” - “Jane Austen in Vermont Blog” written by Deborah Barnum, Jane Austen Scholar, book collector, co-founder of the JASNA-Vermont region and owner of Bygone Books.

The TV series really set out how devastating it was for Jane to lose most of her publishing profits by having her copies of Northanger Abbey remaindered. A year after the book was published, Jane died in 1817.

I also recently watched, Miss Austen: a Life in Letters which featured author Gill Hornby during the Queen’s Reading Room at Chatsworth. Queen Camilla opened the proceedings which featured Hornby. She is the author of Godmersham Park and Miss Austen: A Novel of the Austen Sisters, and Miss Austen (the fictional novel centered on Jane Austen’s sister, Cassandra.) It was a breath of fresh air to hear Queen Camilla championing not only Jane Austen but reading in general, and the good effects that reading can create. It makes me pine for a reading room here in the states. Regardless, this interview on Jane Austen’s story was as British as it can get, so that in itself is entertaining. You can’t go wrong with The Queen, Chatsworth, and Plummy Accents.

Queen Camilla introducing the Miss Austen: a Life in Letters presentation at Chatsworth

In this interview, Gyles Brandreth, writer, broadcaster, actor, former MP and Lord Commissioner of the Treasury, asks Gill Hornby questions about Jane’s life and lore. Was she pursued by Tom Lefroy before he left and become a judge in Ireland?

Tom Lefroy and Jane Austen edited together from from separate portraits by AI

Hornby’s response to the questions about Jane’s love life and subsequent romantic relationships were as dismissive as one can be as the annoyance of finding an AI generated “portrait” of Tom and Jane above.

Brandreth spent a lot of time asking about Jane’s love life, rather than the ground breaking POV that Jane wrote in, or her determination to be published in her lifetime. Hornby was good at swatting away the intrusive questions about what is considered fiction about her life, but it was puzzling why so many letters that Jane wrote confirming incidents were dismissed.

But it was an entertaining and very quick refresher on all the fan fiction that Jane Austen’s works have generated. You can watch it here:

Miss Austen: A Life in Letters

Like Jane Austen, tracking down portraits of people who I thought might people my writings one day was a great chase. There will be more inspiration and lessons in store about how the greats before us lead their artistic lives.

There will be time spent in the National Portrait Gallery, and taking in the play Grace Pervades at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. A couple of decades ago, I spent as much time as I could at the National Portrait Gallery while my husband was acting in The Royal Family at the Haymarket. It will be interesting for both of us to be back on these hunting grounds and find new inspiration.

You can catch up on all three of my books written about Pamela Colman Smith, co-creator of the Smith Waite Tarot deck. This magical realism series was researched during our time living in London and had the magical experience of researching history you love.

Susan Wands books on Bookshop.org

Thank you for supporting my work!

Read more

Mrs Mary Robinson ( as the character Perdita in The Winter’s Tale) by Thomas Gainsborough

This past week, I was lucky enough to go with friends to two museum exhibits here in NYC. First, Gwen Sarnoff and I went to the Frick Museum to see Gainsborough: The Fashion of Portraiture. The portrait of Mrs. Mary Robinson above is not in the collection but wa…

Read more

This past week, I spent time in the Alps and Jura mountains, places of incredible beauty and the setting for many gothic tales.

The Jura Mountains, 225-mile-long sub-alpine mountain r…

Read more

Portrait of Isabella Gardner by John Singer Sargent, 1888

Read more

Edward Gorey Tarot cards, “The Fantod Pack,” with an Introduction by Madame Groeda Weyrd explaining her Interpretation of the cards, 1966 reissued by Pomegranate

Read more

The Card Sharps (c. 1594-1595) by Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, depicting a backup Spades card held by one of the card sharps

Playing cards

Regular playing cards have been …

Read more

Read more

Walking down Eighth Avenue, my head filled with replays …

Read more

Emily Palmer's Instagram on Pamela's article

Happy New Year!

This January 2, 2026, Pamela Colman Smith received an obituary in the New York Times. She passed away in 1951 on September 18th at the age of 73 in ab…

Read more

This week Elizabeth Kerri Mahon and I took in the “Paper Jane” exhibit at the Grolier Club in NYC. Elizabeth is an excellent literary companion as she is knowledgeable in many eras, especially in the Regency and Victorian eras.

Read more

Read more

Read more

Le Clanche du Rand, Susan Wands, David Manis in Camille Actors Theater of Louisville

The production photo is so old that it is in black and white, back in the days when theaters couldn’t afford color…

Read more

In one of my earlier careers, I was hired on a soap opera to jump out of a cake during a bachelor party scene. As Loretta on As The World Turns, I found the aspect of being dressed in hot pants, a halter and a tie daunting. But more daunting for me was the fact that I was to perform some sort of dance routine in front of Kelly Bishop. THE Kelly Bishop, …

Read more

Read more

During last night’s full moon ritual, our lunatic gathering was able to watch the moon rise through the watery threads of Bethesda Fountain in Central Park. While we mulled over our intentions and objectives walking around the trickling water, the Summer Stage pulsed the music of Celia Cruz.

Read more

Four different printings of the Waite Smith Tarot Deck

I know the path by heart. Take the two elevators in the subway stations to Penn Station. From there, you can catch the Long Island Railroad to JFK airport or take the NJ Transit trains to Newark. Yes, there was that one time that I took a train out to JFK instead of New…

Read more

Read more