Category: Research
-
Two Women, A World Apart
Two books give me joy in the New Year. The first, by Sarah Emsley, is The Austens, a novel about Jane Austen’s relationship with her sister-in-law, Fanny Palmer Austen. The second, by Rebecca Romney, is Jane Austen’s Bookshelf, nonfiction about women writers who shaped the English author. Both works are part of the onslaught of…
-
New Year’s Celebration in the Regency Era
Celebrating New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day in the Regency was not as we picture the celebrations today. Those were two days of what was (and still is to a lesser extent) Twelfthnight. Twelfth Night is a Christian festival on the last night of the Twelve Days of Christmas, marking the coming of Epiphany on…
-
New Year’s Resolutions from Classic Literature Characters
New Year’s was not always celebrated on 1 January. Ancient cultures celebrated the New Year in mid-March with the planting of a new crop. It is said that the Babylonians were the first to make New Year’s resolutions. That would be more than 4000 years prior. They would hold a 12-day religious festival, which is…
-
On this day…1700-the Regency, England
Did you know some significant historical events happened before Christmas and the day after the holiday? On December 24, 1716: 24 December (4 January 1717 New Style) – Britain, France, and the Dutch Republic signed the Triple Alliance[3] in an attempt to maintain the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), Britain having signed a preliminary alliance with…
-
How Did Austen Feel About the Slave Trade?
Emma and Mansfield Park both mention the slave trade. What is Austen saying there?
-
Miss Austen—No Politician, She
On the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen’s birth, she remains a touchstone for politics for many people. We find that white supremacists are co-opting the English author in support of a racial dictatorship, shocked opponents are claiming that true readers are “rational, compassionate, liberal-minded people,” and conservatives are chiding Janeites for assuming that great literature…
-
London’s Slums in the Regency Era
Lyon’s Obsession was the second book in my Dragonblade romantic suspense/mystery series. Each of the heroes in the books are “adopted” sons of Lord Macdonald Duncan, a Scottish lord, who trains them to serve the United Kingdom’s interests. They were each in danger of being killed before they could claim their respective earldoms. [Book 3,…
-
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…
-
Crossing the Irish Sea in the Early 1800s, Not for the Faint of Heart
I have written several books of late that feature my characters traveling to Ireland from different points in England. One of the more recent ones was my Taming Lord Truist, the second book of the Strong Women Duo that accompanied Loving Lord Lindmore. In Taming Lord Truist, I had my main characters come into Ireland…
-
Pull Out Your Cloaks and Coats
The time of the year has come to pull out the cloak, coat, pelisse, wraps, and spencers. At least, it is for those of us who live in climates that have winter from November/December to March/April and have frosted fields, snow on the ground for months on end, and the weather can remain at freezing…