The Trick to Time is a poignant story of love and loss. Mona, an Irishwoman nearing 60, lives in a coastal town in England where she makes dolls for a living that she sells in her shop and online. The dolls' bodies are of wood, beautifully carved and finished by an almost reclusive carpenter who … Continue reading Book Review – The Trick to Time by Kit de Waal
marriage
One Minute Book Review – When a Marquis Chooses a Bride by Ella Quinn
This delightful Regency romance is part of a series called The Worthingtons but can be read as a standalone novel. Dorothea 'Dotty' Stern has come down from the country to stay with her friend Lady Charlotte Carpenter for the Season with no immediate thought of marriage. When she meets the the dour and reputedly heartless … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – When a Marquis Chooses a Bride by Ella Quinn
One Minute Book Review – Tomaree by Debbie Robson
Tomaree begins in 1972 with Peggy Lockwood returning to Nelson Bay, a coastal town in New South Wales where she had grown up. In 1943 Peggy had married an American naval Lieutenant, Tom Lockwood, who was stationed at Nelson Bay and, as a war bride, Peggy had moved to the United States following the war. … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Tomaree by Debbie Robson
Early Modern Women – Margaret, Lady Hoby (1571-1633)
Margaret, Lady Hoby, is best known as the author of the earliest known diary written by a woman in English. While her diary began as a religious exercise and includes details of her religious practices, prayer and reading, it is also a window through which we can glimpse the busy domestic life of a woman … Continue reading Early Modern Women – Margaret, Lady Hoby (1571-1633)
One Minute Book Review – Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore
Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore begins and ends with short chapters set in the present. The story proper commences in 1789 with a man burying a woman’s body in an isolated glade in the fading darkness before sunrise. Three years on Lizzie Fawkes begins her story - she is newly married to widower, John Diner … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Birdcage Walk by Helen Dunmore
One Minute Book Review – Miss Nobody by Ethel Carnie
The 19th century produced a great many female novelists from Jane Austen at the beginning of the century through the Brontes and Elizabeth Gaskell to Ellen Woods to name some of the most famous. Writing at the same time as Ethel Carnie at the start of the 20th century were, among others, Virginia Woolf, Dorothy … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Miss Nobody by Ethel Carnie
Elizabethan sources – Sex, Marriage and Family Life
Continuing my list of sources used in researching the background from my novel, Forsaking All Others, to be released as an ebook at then end of 2017. Primary Davis, Norman (Ed.) The Paston letters. A selection in modern spelling Oxford : OUP, 1963. Houlbrooke, Ralph A. (ed.) English family life 1576-1716: an anthology from dairies … Continue reading Elizabethan sources – Sex, Marriage and Family Life
One Minute Book Review – The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells
The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells is a novel with dual intertwining timelines. The modern strand involves Australian lawyer Liz Jones who, under the pretence of writing a novel about the 18th century Lady Nash, goes to the Isle of Wight to discretely investigate her employer’s claim to descent from Delaney Nash. As she delves … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – The Wife’s Tale by Christine Wells
Marriage amongst the Middling Sort
A very interesting article from Pen and Pension on the making of marriage. In many ways the approach was similar in the 16th century and even into the 20th. Marriage was a significant part of life for the majority in 18th century England as it still is today. Not everyone married, of course, but most … Continue reading Marriage amongst the Middling Sort
One Minute Book Review – Wedlock by Wendy Moore
A compelling non-fiction read which traces the marital fortunes of Mary Eleanor Bowes, Lady Strathmore (a forebear of the late Queen Mother). The book details her marriages, and her separation and ultimate divorce from the charismatic and viciously cruel Andrew Stoney as well as the nail biting tale of her abduction and escape. The book … Continue reading One Minute Book Review – Wedlock by Wendy Moore
