The Return of Victoria

The magazine, that is. I don't know how I missed this, except that I seldom visit the magazine section of the bookstore these days, but one of my favorite magazines from back in the day -- Victoria -- has returned. Returned last November, evidently. A reference to it on the blog The Earthly Paradise sent me scurrying to the magazine's website then to Amazon to buy a subscription.

I was a loyal reader of Victoria from the year it first appeared (1987) until about the mid-1990s or so, when, steeped in graduate-school angst, I grew a little tired of it. I kept every issue I had, and I guess they're still in my parents' basement. Oh, I loved that magazine! In 1987, I was a high-school senior, loving the Brontës, loving my British lit course, loving European history, eager to eat up a pretty publication that spirited me to a gracious world of afternoon tea and blissful gardens. I'm so excited that it's back! In a world that seems more and more stressful and ugly, it's nice to think a little bit of bliss can be bought for $19.99 a year.