Heather Moll's Blog 
Excessively Diverted 

I’ve been meaning to make this recipe since I first saw it in Jane Austen's Cookbook, especially since it was from Martha Lloyd’s...

Loving Miss Tilney is about Eleanor Tilney, a secondary character in Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey , which itself is a parody of the...

In Without Undue Pride , recently widowed Elizabeth Fitzwilliam learns her husband’s life savings is gone because the country bank he...

Jane Austen's Bookshelf: A Rare Book Collector's Quest to Find the Women Writers Who Shaped a Legend by Rebecca Romney. Published by...

Adventures in regency cooking continue as I tackle more recipes from the Jane Austen Cookbook. I chose this one because it sounded...

Jane Austen’s letters are filled with her observations on fashion, and this includes jewelry. In her letter to Cassandra from May 26-27,...

We all know that by whatever metric or conversion calculator you use, Austen’s Mr. Darcy is rich. He owns a lot of land, supports his local community, and has ready cash to pay off scoundrels. He’s a member of the gentry, meaning a portion of his income comes from rent. He likely has other investments because there would likely be non-inheriting children that would need some source of income after his death. (He’s not Mr. Bennet, after all). But most of that ten thousand a y

Stage Coach and Riders in the Yard of an Inn Preparing to Depart 1789-95 What was it like to travel and stop at a coaching inn in Regency England? Inns for travelers existed for centuries before the Georgian era, but it was the Royal Mail’s development in the 17th century that necessitated the improved roads, faster coaches, and affordable fares that allowed more people to travel throughout Great Britain. Turnpike trusts, consistent coach schedules, and a proliferation of gui

A challenge with writing historical fiction is getting the word usage right. I like putting in as many regency era details as...

Nikki Payne has a follow-up to Pride and Protest with a modern adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. I am SO glad I was asked to read an...

In January 1817, Jane Austen wrote to her niece Caroline Austen: 'Your Anne is dreadful - . But nothing offends me so much as the...

Michaelmas Day is September 29, and it’s one of Britain’s four quarter days. Traditionally, quarter days were when servants were hired,...

I wrote an article for the Jane Austen Literacy Foundation about women’s education in Austen’s works. I was curious about what different...

There are plenty of clergymen in Austen's novels, but what was a "living" and how did one get one? What's the difference between a rector...

…and the only literary pursuit which engaged Harriet at present…was the collecting and transcribing all the riddles of every sort that...

When my son asked me if people in Jane Austen's time kept cats as pets, I had to think about it. I knew dogs were mostly working animals, especially in the country—herding, guarding, hunting, pulling carts, and even turnspits in the kitchens—but there were also companion dogs. Pekingese and pugs were kept as exotic lap dogs and seen as a status symbol. I'm looking you, Lady Bertram In this zoomed in image of Hogarth's Portrait of a Family, we see a relaxed home scene with bot

Surely the idea of an evening out watching a fireworks display, possibly one set to music, is a modern notion, right? There is to be a...

After my young helper didn't care for the last regency thing we baked (Georgian Chocolate Tart) because it wasn't sweet enough, I thought...

Jane Austen always informs us about the financial status of her characters. It wasn't a taboo topic like it often is today. James Morland...

Jane Austen's letters to her sister Cassandra are filled with irreverent humor. In December 1798, Cassandra was visiting family in...