My girls and where they go

 When the author likes travelling, she takes her girls along

London

Kitty travels from Cheshire down to London most unwillingly. Who wants to stay with a great-aunt they've never met? But London turns out to be exciting and dangerous. And the great-aunt has a trick or two up her sleeve. And Grosvenor Square is an impressive place to stay in.

The Wild Card

Bath

Sarah stays in Bath with her friend Lizzie, whose uncle has gout. In fact most of the people in this story are invalids of various sorts, but all miraculously cured by the end of it [except for the evil villain, of course.]

                                                    

In All Honour

Brighton

Anna ends up in Brighton, finds a group of friends and enjoys all the pleasures of a seaside holiday. There are some rather unsavoury undercurrents but in the end all turns out splendidly. 

           The Rake's Challenge

SOME OF THE GIRLS GO FURTHER AFIELD

Constantinople [now Istanbul]

Olivia, too scandalous to remain in polite society, joins her brother in Constantinople. She falls in love with the place and the way of life there, but, as always, where Olivia goes, trouble soon follows.

    

Scandalous Lady

[There are similarities between Prinny's Brighton Pavilion and the Sultan's summer palace...]

   

   

Ax-les-Thermes - London - Hartwell House, Buckinghamshire

Louise gets drawn into a quest that takes her from London to the Pyrenees, back home then to the French King in exile at Hartwell House, and back to France, pursued all the way by Napoleon's ruthless agents.

The Rake and His Honour 

                                             

                                     Thermal Baths, Ax-les-Thermes

   London - Constantinople [now Istanbul]

Rose is NOT really keen on travel and adventure, but she makes the best of matters. Getting drawn into a highly dangerous plot is hard enough, but when the Sultan's powerful chief minister falls for her, however will she extricate herself from this oh so delicate situation....?

April and May         

                                           

                                            Toilette in the harem by Osman Hamdi Bey

Seeing HOW they do it

My current story, April and May, is the story of two sisters, Rose and Helena. The story begins in Constantinople [right] in 1804.

Starting a new story is splendid - new people and places to describe and a foolproof new plot. Only, it never is... the main characters quickly take over. By Chapter 9 or 10 they demonstrate their own particular interests. Now they go their own way and do quite different things from what was planned.

Keeping the main characters interacting can be a problem - especially when the heroine sails back to London, leaving the two male love interests in Constantinople. Fortunately they soon discover that they must come to London as well. And then the plot really thickens. Villains swarm all around but the real dangers are the emotions dominating the main characters' actions.

Love, rivalry, pride, fear, honour, determination, revenge and treachery, all have their part to play.



Rose is an artist. She visits the exhibition at Somerset House, but lingering too long in the empty gallery, she is almost caught by an assassin.