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When I first began researching Lady of Milkweed Manor, I had never been to the UK. Through Web sites and old maps, I chose Doddington (Kent) as my character’s birthplace—charmed by what I’d read about the place and how relatively unchanged it seemed. The old vicarage, however, had fallen out of church use by then and into private ownership. Even if I visited Doddington someday, I reasoned, I could do no more than look upon its exterior and try to imagine its rooms and what it might have been like to live there.
Two years later, when the book was finished and I learned it would be published, I decided I could finally justify my long desire to travel to England to see the places I’d written about. How serendipitous to discover that the Old Vicarage had just become a bed and breakfast! I could barely believe I would be able to stay in “Charlotte’s childhood home.” Nick and Claire Finley were wonderful hosts, and our stay with them was a highlight of our trip.
Julie and hubby at Leeds Castle, Kent, England |
If you are interested in viewing photos of our research trip to England, grab a basket of fish and chips, sit back, and enjoy….
(click on titles to view photos)
When we were in London, I also did research for my second novel, The Apothecary’s Daughter. While other tourists visited the London Eye or Buckingham Palace, I dragged my long-suffering husband to less-visited places like the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and the Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. While others snapped pictures of the changing of the guard, he tirelessly photographed ancient mortars and leech jars. I am indebted to John Williams, Beadle of the Apothecaries’ Hall, for his gallant and informative tour and for sharing a history of which he is justifiably proud. He even donned his ceremonial gown covered with golden tassels, which represent the posies that beadles of old pinned on to ward off the odors of the plague years. I am also grateful to Julie Wakefield, Assistant Keeper of the Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, who gave us a detailed, fascinating tour through the changing medical treatments from early to modern times.
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