“Dear Reader”: A new blog series on the epistolary novel
I’ve been immersed in 19th century Britain for much of the American 21st Century—researching my Regency-era novels, binge-watching BBC historical dramas, and analyzing the stories
Tag: 19th century
A Poignant Memorial to a Complex Past
On the second day of our Sister Trip, Jo and I found another memento of Charlottesville’s past, The Memorial to Enslaved Laborers (MEL). The University
Harpers Ferry– A Historical Hotspot
The final stop on our sisters’ trip was Harpers Ferry, up in the eastern corner of WVa, where the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers meet. It’s
June in the Shenandoah Valley!
My sister Jo and I had academic parents, and we grew up in college towns in Virginia. She now lives in Richmond, Virginia. Last year we
The Most Popular Word in the World
America has given the world many amazing inventions, good and bad—the lightbulb, the atomic bomb, the airplane, Kraft Mac & Cheese. But I’m going to
An Unlikely Event – Meteor Meets Cricket Match
For some reason I decided I had to have a story where my sleuthing couple are at a cricket match and the batter gets “beaned”
Roberts Chapel: A Historic Hoosier Settlement
My husband Jeff and I have spent the last few years travelling throughout Indiana, with plans to write a bestseller (just kidding) book describing the
Murder in My Front Yard
Like so many perfectly nice law-abiding people, I listen to a lot of true crime podcasts. I’ve learned about a newish tool in the toolkit
Temporary Utopia: The Lovely New Harmony commune
The Unique New Harmony In the beginning of the pandemic, my husband Jeff and I wanted to keep up our travelling hobby, but do it
BFFs—Best Friends 4-ever (literally)
Alicia’s Trollope Posts in Order Here The Palliser series by Anthony Trollope overflows with great characters and relationships, particularly the eponymous Pallisers– Plantagenet and Glencora,
Family Friendships with Trollope’s Women
Finally the Bechdel Test! The Bechdel test is the invention of cartoonist Allison Bechdel, who in the 1980s noticed how frequently Hollywood films diminish
Bad Women of Trollope
Trollope’s Bad Women As I’ve shown, Trollope clearly had no preference for the patriarchy. He presented the undoubted reality that men had more power, more
Research-reading Trollope: The Garden-Variety Bad Husband
The Garden-Variety Bad Husband Now, after the operatically self-destructive Kennedy and Trevelyan, we come to a more conventionally bad husband, Ferdinand Lopez. He was an