Why do some American writers and authors refer to their novels as being set in the ‘Victorian’ age, meaning the reign of Queen Victoria, the late queen of Great Britain? After all, America has never had a queen, because it has always been a republic, with various elected presidents.

This being the case, why don’t they say that their novels are set in the ‘Age Of Our Various Elected Presidents?’

Or, if they absolutely insist on referring to the Victorian age, how about the ‘Age Of Our Various Elected Presidents Who Happened To Be Elected During The Reign Of Queen Victoria?’

This way, everyone is happy.

The British can’t complain that American authors are setting their novels in an age – the Victorian age, which doesn’t belong to them, because they aren’t claiming that it belongs to them, they are just saying that it’s a strange coincidence that some of their presidents were elected during her reign.

Did you ever see a British novel that is set during the presidential term of office of an American president?

Let’s take a look at this idea.

How about this for a book blurb?

‘Pride and Prejudice, a Victorian novel that also happens to be set during the presidency of Abraham Lincoln!’

American readers might not be very interested if they thought that it was just about a couple of boring spinsters who are twittering about love, because they don’t get out enough and don’t have any kind of social life.

But they might at least be slightly interested if they thought that it was about a couple of boring spinsters who are twittering about love because they don’t get out enough and don’t have any kind of social life during the American presidency of Abraham Lincoln.

*Let’s be fair about this; the characters in Pride and Prejudice didn’t get out enough because they lived in great isolation.