Jane Eyre

Carol Goodman: Return to Wyldcliffe Heights

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Carol Goodman’s latest standalone novel, Return to Wyldcliffe Heights, takes the reader into a modern day gothic. Our heroine Agnes Corey works at a small failing publishing company, and is naturally all alone in the world. Knowing she will be let go first, as she was the last hired on as an assistant, Agnes makes a desperate bid to keep her job by writing to the publisher’s most famous author. To the surprise of everyone, perhaps most of all Agnes herself, the author writes back.

Years ago, enigmatic and reclusive Veronica St. Clair wrote a generation defining gothic novel of her own. It launched the publisher and ensnared the hearts of countless teenage girls, but Veronica never wrote anything again. Agnes’ plea for a sequel to The Secret of Wyldcliffe Heights is one of hundreds, if not thousands. But Veronica, who was blinded in a mysterious fire on her massive estate, needs someone to transcribe it for her. read more

Stacey Halls: Mrs. England

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If a publisher is going to send an anglophile like myself a book titled “Mrs. England,” well, I’m going to read it.  I was not disappointed, and I was instantly immersed in the story of Norland nanny Ruby May, a 1904 graduate of the now famous school (the nannies trained there are hired by royal families today).  In 1904 the school was new, and the idea of any training or learning about childcare was a novelty, as were the distinctive uniforms the Norland nannies wore (and still wear to this day.) read more