Turning tragedy into timeless romance.
Sarah MacFarlane, a widow, began an affair with her neighbor, Augustus Dalmas, months after his wife died. What followed were rumors, lies, and rambling letters filled with love and hate...and murder.
Before 1839, women had no rights to their children if their marriage failed and led to separation or divorce, nor could a wife own property or keep independent wages. Then came Caroline Norton, poet, author, and early women's rights advocate.
Eliza Fenning had the misfortune of being hired as a cook for the Turner family, and 7 weeks into her employment, she got entangled in a complex web of family tension and murder.
Mary Seacole was a nurse, hotelier, and traveler. She traveled across the globe learning nursing techniques, aiding soldiers and patients, and assisted during the Crimean War, even after the British government turned her away. This is the story of Mary Seacole, known to those she helped as "Mother Seacole."
Many of our treasured traditions, Christmas cards, Christmas trees, hanging stockings, and caroling, didn’t appear until the 1840s. This makes much of Christmas a Victorian invention., and like anything from the Victorian era, many of these beloved traditions have weird, wacky, and even sinister roots. Here's 7 weird Victorian Christmas traditions.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning were the literary power couple of the Victorian era, and their love story was just as entertaining as their poetry.
Drury Lane Theatre is home to a host of ghosts. There's so many lurking within the theatre's walls that its considered good luck for a play if an apparition is spotted before a production. But what sort of ghosts haunt Drury Lane?
In 1723, England introduced a criminal system that is called “The Bloody Code” by today’s historians. Although the name is not contemporary to the time, it captures the severity of the list of 220 offenses attached to capital punishment in Georgian & Regency England.
I'm beyond pleased to be the featured fiction contributor in New Reader Magazine's latest issue. I discuss my creative process and making historical fiction appealing to a modern day audience in my interview on pg. 20, and my latest short story, To Own Her Body, is on pg. 36.
Whew, the next few months will be busy! Check out these upcoming stories: a viscount hunts down his runaway bride, and this is anything but a love story; a lady's companion gets more than she bargained for while her eccentric employers plan for a party without guests; and a grieving daughter finds her departed father's twisted secret.
Kat Devitt 