Jane Austen | website

"Look here, I have bought this bonnet..."

Spent the morning trimming a bonnet, and feeling most Lydia Bennet-esque! Still one has to look one's best for one's nephew's wedding on...

Confessions of a word nerd

I’ve been reading the dictionary again! Checking the etymology of words that want to wander into my prose, set in Regency England. It is...

Bear essentials for the likes of Mr Darcy

One of the more intriguing things I discovered when researching What Kitty Did Next (published by Red Door Books on 28 June, in just...

If only Jane Austen had had a laptop!

As I sit tapping away on my keyboard, with the ability to save and delete, cut and paste, move paragraphs back and forth, I cannot...

Vamping up Northanger Abbey

Came across Val McDermid’s 2014 take on Northanger Abbey the other day, and thought I’d give it a go but was almost immediately...

Why is it called a wedding breakfast? Jane Austen knew...

With only six sleeps before the upwardly mobile Ms Meghan Markle marries Prince Harry, speculation about all things royal wedding grows...

If Meghan married Darcy

If Meghan Markle had married a “single man in possession of a good fortune” back in the early 19th century, she might have escaped a lot...

Doing battle with Jane Austen

In Australia last Wednesday, it was Anzac Day, when we commemorate those who served and died in all wars and conflicts. (For those of you...

Get over it, Miss Bingley - Cheapside was great for retail therapy

All kinds of fascinating pieces of information came to my notice when I was researching life in Regency England for What Kitty Did Next....

Novel adventures

Novel adventures Jane Austen tours attract visitors from all over the world, taking in the great houses, real and imagined, that come...

Blog: Blog