Category: British countryside
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Down Another Rabbit Hole
Hi there. Well, this is my last post here on Always Austen. Thanks for reading my goofy and off the wall posts. I know I am not everyone’s cup of tea. I have been doing some research again tonight, which means its rabbit hole time. If you have ever done research, you will understand what…
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Unexpected Moments of Reaching Out
One scene has kept me coming back to George Eliot’s Middlemarch for fifty years. Dorothea, a young and engaging woman, has married an older man, clergyman Mr. Casaubon, out of an intellectual and religious ardor for his scholarship. After just eighteen months, she realizes that she is trapped in a loveless marriage with a third-rate…
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My Husband, Mr. Darcy, and Me: An Anniversary Trip to England
This summer my husband and I are planning a trip to England to celebrate our 35th anniversary. Huzzah!!! Now, to be clear, my sweet husband is not a Jane Austen fan. I doubt he could name all six of her novels, or perhaps even two of them. But he knows the plot of Pride and…
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York Castle’s Role in the Final Chapter of “Lyon in Disguise” from Dragonblade Publishing (Arriving 17 December 2025)
The final chapter of Lyon in Disguise, which releases December 17 and is currently on preorder, is set around the York, England, and specifically York Castle. At the time the story is set, meaning late 1812 and early 1813, York Castle was used as a prison and a place for hanging of criminals. The last…
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Blessed Be this All Hallow’s Eve
Given that this is one of the few posts a year that can step beyond the boundaries of the Regency time, I took full advantage of it. The lore of witches, those with mystical learned skills or powers, are mentioned in tales of old, centuries before any sect of the Christian religion was formed. “In…
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Pride, Pursuit, and Pictures
It’s just over a year since I released Pride and Pursuit, my most recent Pride and Prejudice variation, a caper wherein Darcy steals a carriage… with Elizabeth Bennet inside! On the run for their lives, they need to put personal differences aside as they make all haste for the one place Darcy thinks they will…
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City Caro, Country Lizzy
Happy October, dear readers! In North America, autumn is upon us, and most of us associate this month with harvest time. It is likewise the month the Netherfield party arrives in Meryton. I feel like continuing one of my favourite themes: Bingley sister bashing! An aspect of the much be-hated Superior Sisters I failed to…
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Paths Retraced: Travels and an Anthology
As I write this post, I’m still dusting the final vestiges of jet lag from my shoulders, almost but not quite back into the routine and—yes—time zone of my normal, everyday life. We returned just a week ago from another visit to the United Kingdom. We were there to help my daughter settle into her…
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The Horses
Darcy stood silently, admiring the fearless way in which she approached the large, spirited animal. Many women were afraid of him, and indeed he seemed to tower over Miss Bennet. “Miss Bennet, I am glad we met this morning,” he began. Last May, I introduced you to two couples of deerhounds, one pair at Pemberley,…
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Another Stroll Through Bath’s Pleasure Gardens
In the middle of the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, many places in England—and especially Bath—have been awash in celebrations. I was unable to attend, but the busyness of the town, as related by residents and tourists, caused me to revisit and re-enjoy my own travels there a few years back.…