You did it! We figured this one out! It is a truth universally acknowledged (by me for certain) that the Bitchery pretty much knows everything, and really, it's true. Scroll down to see the solution for this HaBO - and many thanks!
This HaBO is from Omphale, who wants to find this historical romance:
So I was googling about the safety of leaded crystal (basically, I can use my grandfather’s leaded Edinburgh tot glasses so long as I drink quickly!) and it reminded me of this short Regency I read back in the mid-2000s (so it might have been Signet or Zebra) where all I can recall is an extremely suspect mental health “solution.”
I have no memory of the hero or heroine or the plot EXCEPT that there was a feckless cousin/brother who f**ked off to the Continent which probably led to plot shenanigans? I just remember that he comes back at the end of the book and is much more settled and it turns out it’s because {deep breath} he started drinking water from a lithium-glazed pitcher and now he’s not bipolar anymore?
[I am 95% certain there was an author’s note about this which maybe referenced 7-UP?]
I have faith in the Bitchery!
Sound familiar?
A Man of Affairs
by
Anne Barbour
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Wow. I wouldn’t call it “highly suspect”, just “This delivery method may or may not actually work.” (And how long will it take for the lithium glaze to wear away?)
What 7-Up has to do with it is anyone’s guess, though.
Don’t know the book. But here is a thread containing comments from expert potters about the possibility of lithium leaching out of glaze, and a comment from someone who “spent 20 years working in psychiatric hospitals” about the possibility of such leaching having a therapeutic effect — the OP is right to be skeptical. The latter commenter explains the OP’s memory about 7-Up: “As lithium is a naturally occurring compound we will also find it in many mineral waters (check the labels as it should be listed).” If there was enough lithium in mineral water to be therapeutic it would also be enough to be toxic.
Searching Google Books for “author’s note” and “lithium”, I found A Man of Affairs by Anne Barbour which seems to be the one.
I read this book! And yes it was a brother or a cousin, and he became more settled once they were able to drink out of the lithium vessel – pretty much the only detail I can remember too. But I am sorry OP, I cannot recall the title either (I am relatively sure it was the zebra imprint though… I’ve read it recently enough to think that Signet regencies were no more).
Becca FTW!
https://www.amazon.com/Man-Affairs-Anne-Barbour-ebook/dp/B0047DX1B6/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=a+man+of+affairs&qid=1682444117&sprefix=a+man+of+affa%2Caps%2C67&sr=8-9
I apparently bought it in my KINDLE HAS EVERYTHING stage about 10 years ago, and while there is no 7-Up mentioned in the author’s note (sorry for the red herring), 7-Up the soda did have lithium until the 40’s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/7_Up, so I’m guessing that’s where my wires got crossed.
And Louise, apologies if I implied that lithium was not an appropriate treatment for (certain kinds of) mental illness. I was indeed referring to the suspectness of the delivery method and the longevity of such a ‘solution’ (because it very much was an “all fixed now” authorial handwaving) even if it did have an effect.
Thanks again, Becca!
Veering off topic, who are the best /favored authors of Signet and Zebra Regencies?
@LML Great question! For Signets, I think Barbara Metzger stands up well (Lord Heartless and Luck of the Devil are two especial standouts) and A Garden Folly by Candice Hern is a real sparkler.
For Zebra, I have very fond memories of Judith A. Lansdowne, although it’s my understanding that she isn’t planning to release her old titles as eBooks. But, Joy Reed did recently rerelease The Duke and Miss Denny which is %100 keeper for me, so I hope folks check it out, as Reed didn’t end up publishing very many trad Regencies.
@LML – For Signet, Carla Kelly and Edith Layton are both really good.
I also really loved Signet’s Christmas anthologies.
Completely random but I somehow read @LML asking about the best “flavored“ authors and with all the 7-up talk I’m now mentally assigning pop flavors to romance authors.
Who is a Coke, a Sprite, a Dr.Pepper? 🙂
@LML Mary Balogh also started out at Signet and some of her old Regencies still hold up (and are slowly being re-released); Anthea Malcolm (Tracy Grant & her mother) for Zebra; Jo Beverly for Zebra; Laura Matthews for Signet…
(And as previously mentioned Carla Kelly & Edith Layton).
Fun fact (actually not so fun, I have a son who is bipolar): it’s easy to cross the line between a therapeutic dose of lithium and a toxic level, which is why docs monitor blood levels very closely. So I think it highly unlikely that drinking out of a glazed pitcher could deliver enough to affect someone’s disease.
Wow if we can trust the prestigious Wikipedia, both Coke and 7-Up had lithium substances in them at one time! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium_citrate
Mary Jo Putney also had some great Signets back in the day. She is re-releasing many of them and some she expanded into novels. I read a lot of Signets and that line had a many great writers. I got turned off by the rapey-ness of the old skool romances and took refuge in Signet Regencies. Gr
@omphale, @cleo, @KarenF, and @PatriciaM: Thank you for all the author recommendations! I’ve made a list. It is only within the last couple of years that I learned of Barbara Metzger’s books (and read them all, thank you Scribd). I had no idea that there were category Regencies.
@KarenF thank you on my mom’s and my behalf!