Author Archives: dispatchesfromtheformernewworld

Regency Isn’t Just Romance

Posted on August 21, 2019

My latest blog for Montgomery County Public Libraries is about the Regency years in England, a decade that compares to the 1960’s, a time of radical politics, war, social change, and literary experimentation. In other parallels, the 1812 assassination of Prime … Continue reading →

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Water Water Everywhere

Posted on July 17, 2019

You could be forgiven for mistaking the network evening news for the Weather Channel these days. Night after night scenes of devastating flooding somewhere and everywhere. Hurricanes, cyclones, torrential rainfall, storm surges, rivers overflowing their banks, whole towns inundated, homes … Continue reading →

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A Mansion Fit for a King

Posted on June 17, 2019

There is always something new to discover in places you think you know well. I’ve been traveling to Crisfield in Somerset County on Maryland’s Eastern Shore for decades. My husband’s family were Chesapeake watermen and farmers for generations, going back … Continue reading →

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Tales of the Asylum

Posted on May 20, 2019

One day in the early 1960’s I came home to find that while I was in school my grandmother had been whisked away in an ambulance and taken to a mental hospital. The news followed several unsettling days, days of … Continue reading →

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Gardens of Mystery

Posted on May 4, 2019

“Ever since the first serpent slithered into the Garden of Eden writers have imagined the garden as the scene of temptation and evil.” In my latest blog for MCPL I recommend mysteries with a garden setting: Gardens of Mystery Incidentally, … Continue reading →

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On My Bookshelf – Witchfinders

Posted on April 29, 2019

Witchfinders – no, not characters in our contemporary political drama. But it could be that hearing cries of “Witch Hunt” almost every day for two years was what led me to this particular book on my shelf.  Witchfinders by Malcolm … Continue reading →

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Notre Dame

Posted on April 16, 2019

Like so many people across the world I watched with horror as Notre Dame Cathedral burned. I felt grateful that I had the opportunity to enjoy its beauty before this devastating fire. After my visit I wrote favorably about how … Continue reading →

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