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Tuesday, 10 July 2018

Exciting News About Sanditon!

Andrew Davies, the screenwriter behind the famous 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth as Mr Darcy, is to create a new version of Jane Austen's last, unfinished novel Sanditon for ITV and PBS Masterpiece.
This will be very interesting to watch as Davies will be able to make up his own ending! Filming is expected to begin some time next year.
Even though Jane was writing Sanditon when she was extremely poorly, there are some wonderful touches of humour in her novel set in the seaside. We can only imagine what the final novel would have looked like - what an immense loss. You can see facsimiles of Jane Austen's original manuscript of Sanditon here.
Illustration courtesy the Library of Congress.

Wednesday, 4 July 2018

Regency Cheshire on Kindle!

Eaton Hall, Cheshire.
I'm very pleased to announce that my book Regency Cheshire is now available here on Amazon Kindle!

My book explores the scandals, sports and pastimes of the great county families such as the Grosvenors of Eaton Hall. Their glittering lifestyle is contrasted with conditions for humble farmers and factory workers. The gentry and mill owners created elegant new villas and beautiful gardens while workers huddled together in slums with inadequate sanitation. The Prince Regent and his cronies danced and feasted while cotton and silk workers starved.


In Regency Cheshire, I explore the county’s transport system and main industries: silk, cotton, salt and cheese. Stage coaches rattled through the streets, and packet boats and barges sailed down the canals.

Reform and revolution threatened the old social order. Blood was spilt on city streets during election fever and in the struggle for democracy. Balls and bear-baiting; highwaymen and hangings; riots and reform: Regency Cheshire tells the story of everyday life during the age of Beau Brummell, Walter Scott and Jane Austen.

You can read a free sample of Regency Cheshire here.