I’m not a camper, so the concept of doing more than roasting marshmallows over an open flame is too complicated for me to fathom. I am sure for many of my readers, rustic styles of cooking are not a mind-boggling challenge. Even so, could you bake a cake without the ability...
To fully comprehend the duties of the servants within the kitchen rooms of a Regency Era household, it is helpful to understand kitchen architecture and technology of the equipment available. It is a complex issue impossible to cover completely in one essay. Instead, I’ll give a nutshell synopsis with images for...
Continuing on with the series on Regency Era servants and staff — blogs can be found listed in the Pemberley Library or by a site search — it is time to move into the kitchen areas of a Regency house and meet the servants dwelling within. To fully understand the duties...
Here is the 4th installment in my Regency Servants series. So many servants… so many essays to write! I suspect another three posts on the folks who kept a country estate operating, with an additional two or three on related topics. I sure am having fun with this subject, and...
I’m back again with the third installment in my series on country estate servants during the Regency/Georgian eras. So far I’ve written an introductory post and covered the Land Steward, Valet, and Lady’s Maid. Links to those two posts are in the Pemberley Library or via a search. If you...
Continuing my series on servants during the Regency/Georgian eras, here is essay #2. If you missed the first blog, read it now since it gives an introduction that helps explain all the servants and the hierarchy. Servants at a Country Estate: An Overview & the Steward Today I will continue...
One of my greatest joys in writing The Darcy Saga novels is uncovering tidbits of history. As much as possible, I try to weave the facts into the story in a fun and informative way. For some readers, this is too much like a history lesson! I wish I could...
Several years ago I wrote a series on servants, both inside and outside, at a grand country estate. Recently on Austen Authors I dusted the series off, did a ton of fresh research, and rewrote everything for a ten-part blog series. I’ve decided to cross-post here on my blog, and...
One of my greatest joys in writing The Darcy Saga novels is uncovering tidbits of history. As much as possible, I try to weave the facts into the story in a fun and informative way. For some readers, this is too much like a history lesson! I wish I could...
Whether one has ever been in a fancy ballroom as an observer or participant, or tuned in for an episode of Dancing With the Stars, most have at least an idea of how a waltz is performed. Readers of Jane Austen and Regency romance surely have read hints of the...
In writing my Darcy Saga, and specifically my soon-to-be released Darcy and Elizabeth: Hope of the Future, bedroom wear has frequently contributed to the plot. Go figure! Long ago I researched, and am content with my conclusions and how I’ve chosen to describe the pretty underthings and nightgowns worn by...
Blogging this month will be inspired by a fact of some sort that I uncovered while writing Darcy and Elizabeth: Hope of the Future. Today, from a chapter where poor Mr. Darcy attempts to shop for Elizabeth. Lost amongst the vastness of Harding and Howell, he is assisted by three...
My upcoming novel, Darcy and Elizabeth: Hope of the Future, is the second volume of the “prequel duo” to my Darcy Saga sequel series to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Since the duo novels, including volume one Darcy and Elizabeth: A Season of Courtship, are set entirely during the betrothal...
Sea bathing has not always been a desirable activity, especially in the colder climes such as England. The wide open waters were frightening and strange debris washing onto the beaches raised alarm. Merely walking upon the sand was, in certain places and periods of time, considered a risky undertaking. By...
Titles of nobility are one of those areas Americans have particular trouble wrapping our minds around. It doesn’t help that the rules and application of British titles are extremely complex, and have changed in multiple ways over the centuries. In some respects, reading the various titles or hearing them uttered in a movie is akin to...
