Book Review: Fall of Poppies

This series of short stories set during World War I, Fall of Poppies: Stories of Love and the Great War was bound to be right up my alley. I love short stories and I love historical fiction, and I have a particular weakness for stories set during this time period, an era of marked upheaval as…

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Favorite reads so far for 2016

I’m always pleased to get a good reading start to the new year. Luckily, despite a few duds, 2016 has started out quite well for me as a reading year. Here are my favorites so far (and I’m hoping there will be many more): The Last Summer Judith Kinghorn I enjoyed this atmospheric story, a…

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More summer favorite reading … That Summer

After reading and enjoying Lauren Willig’s The Ashford Affair, I was happy to pick up That Summer.  Willig’s new novel is a dual narrative following both modern Julia Conley, a victim of New York’s financial crisis who finds herself out of a job, but inheriting a house – Herne House – from a mysterious aunt…

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More fun with historical research: Ball gowns!

And here’s where most men will stop reading… As Mr. Bennet himself put it so elegantly when his wife attempted to describe ball gowns to him in the BBC film version of  Pride and Prejudice: “No lace. No lace, Mrs. Bennet, I beg you!” Chapter three of  Pride and Prejudice expresses Mr. Bennet’s disdain for discussions…

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Why writers should love Downton Abbey

Well, perhaps in all honesty, I should entitle this post: Why this writer loves Downton Abbey. Still, I see it’s become something of a trend recently. The Writer this month features the British period miniseries Downton Abbey on its cover, entitled “True to the Period” and the excellent Nathan Bransford blog had a recent post…

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