I don't know for sure, but I've got a theory that
somebody at Victoria
Magazine is an EP fan. On each of their 1998 issues,
on the cover of the magazine, their logo appeared
as the large word "Victoria" with the small word "Bliss"
above it (as in the picture below). Alas, they have
since replaced that logo with one of more modern style.
A reference which is obvious in the Bliss books
is when Smythe sends Vicky a yearly rose. That's straight
from Flavia and Rudi's relationship in The Prisoner
of Zenda.
Peters once said that the character of Sir John
is directly based on Francis Crawford of Lymond in
the Lymond Chronicles books by Dorothy Dunnett (the
first one is the Game of Kings).
The title for the first Vicky novel is an allusion
to one of Banquo's lines in Macbeth, (3.1.29), "Go
not my horse the better,/ I must become a borrower
of the night/ For a dark hour or twain."
In Night Train to Memphis, Vicky is held
captive with nothing to read but a novel by (fictional)
Valerie Vandine, whose books she despises. "Don't
you have any Barbara Michaels or Charlotte MacLeod?"
she asks. Not only are they both real authors, but
Barbara Michaels is Elizabeth Peters other nom-de-plume,
and one of her novels is dedicated to Charlotte MacLeod.
Charlotte MacLeod makes a reference to Elizabeth Peters
in one of her novels - The Odd Job - on page
70. CM's writing, in fact, reminds one a great deal
of certain passages of EP's books (or the other way
around!). I've only read two of Charlotte MacLeod's
novels; they were all I could find, but some of the
dialogue is wonderfully witty.
In addition, Valerie seems to be a name Elizabeth
Peters associates with writers of less-than-desirable
fiction. The aforementioned Valerie Vandine, aka Louisa
Ferncliffe, appears in person in Night Train to
Memphis; in Die for Love (Jacqueline Kirby
#3), which takes place at a romance writers' convention,
we meet Valeries Valentine, Vanderbilt, and Gitgerald.
JK decides to become an author and use the pen name
"Valerie von Hentzau" for her own romance novel (Rupert
von Hentzau being a novel by Anthony Hope, author
of The Prisoner of Zenda, available for free
download at Project
Gutenberg).
The name Vicky makes people think of someone "Very
sexy, exceedingly well-liked and frisky." The meaning
of the name is: "short form of Victoria." The meaning
of Victoria is: "(Latin) 'victory.' A feminine form
of Victor." The meaning of Victor: "(Latin) 'conqueror'."
-from The Best Baby Name Book in
the Whole Wide World by Bruce Lansky, 1984 edition
Blue M&M's are made from water from the Fountain
of Youth. Pass it on.
Smythe quotes from some John Donne poems, namely
"Break of Day" and "Elegy."
There is a direct reference to the Emersons (EP's
Amelia Peabody mystery series) in Night Train to
Memphis on page 42. There are also indirect references
to them on pages 274 and 281.
In Trojan Gold, cherchez l'homme:
"there's a man at the root of this." , spoken by Schmidt,
is alluding to "cherchez la femme", which is derived
from a novel by Alexandre Dumas.
John & Vicky's conversation on NT-334 alludes to
Lord Peter Wimsey, which hearkens back to Vicki's
very first impression of John in Street of Five
Moons. Other uncanny resemblances between Smythe
and Wimsey include above-average keyboard skills,
fleeting urges to show off over bodies of water (Peter
does so in Murder Must Advertise and John in
Memphis), a propensity both to piffle and to
quote John Donne.
Vicky seems to prefer her alcohol on the sweetish
side--Piesporters also tend to be sweet (she and John
share a bottle in TG (p.230), as are the mimosas she
chokes down in NT).
You're wondering where the title for these pages
came from, aren't you? It's a common saying, but as
far as it relates to these pages, the idea for the
name came specifically from the song This Kiss
by Faith Hill.
"It's the way you love me
It's a feeling like this--
It's centrifugal motion
It's perpetual bliss."
In Night Train to Memphis, Peters refers
to the (imaginary) tomb of the (historic) Egyptian
queen Tetisheri, which "had been discovered around
the turn of the century by a famous husband-and-wife
team of Egyptologists." [page 113] This husband-and-wife
team were two of Peters' other fictional detectives,
Amelia Peabody and Radcliffe Emerson, and the story
of the discovery of the tomb was told in Peters' book
The Hippopotamus Pool.
Vicky has two pets: Caesar, a dog (whom she acquires
at the end of FM-2) and Clara, a cat (from
TG-4.) Elizabeth Peters herself currently (as
of June 2003) owns five felines: Dorothy, Nefret,
Emerson, Ellery, and Sethos. (From "Mystery
Tours," an article in the June 2003 Bonus Section
of Time Magazine.)
Vicky is writing a book of her own - a romance novel
about a heroine named Rosanna. It began as a serious
effort to get published, but became more of a hobby
as time went on. We never get to read excerpts, but
from time to time Peters gives glimpses of the (often
acknowledgedly implausible) plots - for example, Rosanna
evading the pursuit of an amorous sultan by hiding
in a broom closet...
The quote Vicky applies to John Smythe, "he hath
no drowning mark upon him; his complexion is perfect
gallows," is Shakespeare; it is spoken by Gonzalo
in Act I, Scene I of The Tempest, regarding
a Boatswain. Gonzalo does not want to drown, and takes
comfort from the fact that the Boatswain does not
appear the sort of man to be drowned; rather, to be
hanged. The full quote is:
Gonzalo: "I have great comfort
from this fellow: methinks he hath no drowning mark
upon him; his complexion is perfect gallows. Stand
fast, good Fate, to his hanging: make the rope of
his destiny our cable, for our own doth little advantage.
If he be not born to be hanged, our case is miserable."
There is some speculation about the relationship
of Vicky to Amelia and Radcliffe Emerson. Elizabeth
Peters says that there *is* a relationship there,
but she has not as yet revealed what it is. One current
theory posits a love match between Ramses' granddaughter
and a son of Sethos. Maybe, who knows?
*Heavy spoiler alert!!* My favorite idea is
that John is the son of the daughter of Sethos, and
that Vicky is the great-granddaughter of Walter &
Evelyn, by way of Lia & David. My theory is illustrated
in the family tree below. If you haven't read the
books and want to be surprised, don't look at the
chart. (On the other hand, you could look at the
chart and still be surprised in the quite-possible
event that I've got the whole thing wrong.) I've formed
these theories based on clues found mainly in the
following books, although there are bits and pieces
in other books in both series: The Camelot Caper,
He Shall Thunder In the Sky, and Night Train
to Memphis. The picture has been shrunken slightly
due to page layout considerations. If you are having
trouble reading the family tree, click on it to see
the full-size version.
