I write romantic historical fiction and am a lifelong lover of the works of Jane Austen. I am English, love historical novels but dislike books that give you “great lumps of facts” that slow up the storyline. I like stories and characters that capture your attention and your heart. Plots and backgrounds that make you think about what it might really have been like to live in those times.
Many years have passed since I first read of the Bennet sisters in Pride and Prejudice and marvelled at Jane Austen’s fabulous portrayal of life in Regency England. And I am certain that like me, many of you have asked the question, “But what happened next?”
Now a new generation of heroines awaits your approval. This is Cassandra’s story—daughter of flighty Lydia Wickham—a girl very different from her mother. It is 1832 and the world is changing, but young ladies still need to marry and Lydia is determined that Cassandra will do just that!
This wonderful novel looks at the whole affair from the servants’ points of view. “If Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, Sarah often thought, she’d most likely be a sight more careful with them.” I love this book.
Love the way the historical domestic details are covered so effortlessly and the emotions explored of those silent characters who watch their “betters”, take messages, serve meals, and endlessly wash clothes!
THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER A RICHARD AND JUDY BOOKCLUB PICK 'Utterly engrossing' Guardian
It is wash-day for the housemaids at Longbourn House, and Sarah's hands are chapped and raw. Domestic life below stairs, ruled with a tender heart and an iron will by Mrs Hill the housekeeper, is about to be disturbed by the arrival of a new footman, bearing secrets and the scent of the sea.
What readers are saying:
'A novel to be savoured' 'Highly recommended' 'Very enjoyable exploration of the background to Pride and Prejudice'
A glimpse into medieval times. It’s a sumptuous tale of passion and danger.
Katherine comes to the court of Edward III aged fifteen and turns the head of the King’s favourite son, John of Gaunt. But their paths in life pull them apart until their love forces them back together. This is a wonderful book by a writer who manages to make you experience life as it was then, but without trying to teach you, and asks, ‘how much would you give up for love?’
"Exhilarating, exuberant, and rich," Katherine is an epic novel of a love affair that changed history—that of Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the ancestors of most of the British royal family (Austin Chronicle).
Set in the vibrant fourteenth century of Chaucer and the Black Death, the story features knights fighting in battle, serfs struggling in poverty, and the magnificent Plantagenets—Edward III, the Black Prince, and Richard II—who rule despotically over a court rotten with intrigue. Within this era of danger and romance, John of Gaunt, the king’s son, falls passionately in love with the already-married Katherine.…
I am cheating! A Horseman Riding By is the collected title of three novels set from 1902 to 1965.
They are long books and perhaps a little ‘wordy’ for the modern-day reader, but they are so evocative, absorbing and have that magic ingredient ‘readability’.
If you are interested in England during that time span, then read about Paul Craddock’s life, loves, and family.
As Paul Craddock recovers from his Boer War injuries, he starts to plan a new life. As soon as he is able he invests all he has in a remote but beautiful estate in Devon, determined to make something wonderful of the place and to be at the heart of what is most real and most important.
Then he meets Grace, beautiful and passionate, and mistress of the land he has so quickly grown to love. They are equals in determination, honour and vision but their…
Elizabeth Goudge’s novels have a touch of magic about them.
Set in the 1870s, in an English town, dominated by a great cathedral, it's the story of an unlikely friendship between an obscure watchmaker and the mighty but shy Dean Ayscough which touches and shapes the lives of many people. A novel peopled by characters that are hard to forget.
Well, I couldn’t leave out one of the greatest historical romances ever written!
Yes, the book does have battles and American politics but they are part of the storyline and only enhance the conflicted relationship between Scarlett and Rhett. In no way do they overpower the romance.
On the expertise I claim only a deep interest in history, leadership, and social history. After some thirty-six years in the fire and emergency services I can, I think, claim to have seen the best and the worst of human behaviour and condition. History, particularly naval history, has always been one of my interests and the Battle of Jutland is a truly fascinating study in the importance of communication between the leader and every level between him/her and the people performing whatever task is required. In my own career, on a very much smaller scale, this is a lesson every officer learns very quickly.
Captain Heron finds himself embroiled in a conflict that threatens to bring down the world order he is sworn to defend when a secretive Consortium seeks to undermine the World Treaty Organisation and the democracies it represents as he oversees the building and commissioning of a new starship.
When the Consortium employs an assassin from the Pantheon, it becomes personal.
Captain James Heron First Into the Fray: Prequel to Harry Heron Into the Unknown of the Harry Heron Series
The year is 2202, and the recently widowed Captain James Heron is appointed to stand by his next command, the starship NECS Vanguard, while she is being built. He and his team soon discover that they are battling the Consortium, a shadowy corporate group that seeks to steal the specs for the ship’s new super weapon. The Consortium hires the Pantheon, a mysterious espionage agency, to do their dirty work as they lay plans to take down the Fleet and gain supreme power on an intergalactic scale. When Pantheon Agent Bast and her team kidnap Felicity Rowanberg, a Fleet agent…
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