Stephanie Butland The Lost for Words Bookshop Loveday is more than just an introvert who loves books and works in a used books store. She’s hiding from a childhood tragedy that no one needs to know, and she doesn’t want to discuss, though her kind, portly boss knows enough about it to shelter her and…
Category: English setting
“Emma” Book Discussion and Easy Strawberry Vanilla “Cake Mix Cookies” Recipe
Emma Woodhouse has just lost her former governess and favorite friend to marriage, and she is now a bored, lonely matchmaker looking for her next project. Harriet Smith is an agreeable, obedient acquaintance attending the local boarding school, with no known family or influences—the perfect pliable pupil. Emma tries to set her up with a…
“Far From the Madding Crowd” Book Discussion and Bacon, Ham, and Cheddar Biscuit Recipe
Bathsheba Everdeen is a stubborn but hardworking young woman who inherits her grandfather’s farm just as her once-dear friend falls into personal tragedy. Independently making a living in a man’s world leads her to arrogance and in doubt of ever finding marriage. She thinks love to be a joke and plays a foolish trick on…
“Pride and Prejudice” Book Discussion and Peach Cupcake Recipe
“It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife” —such is the philosophy of Mrs. Bennet, mother to five daughters, including the opinionated, fond-of-walking Elizabeth Bennett, Lizzie to her sisters. When a wealthy, attractive young man by the name of Mr….
“The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” Book Discussion and Orange Marmalade Roll Recipe
Lucy is the youngest of four children who have been sent to the English countryside to live in a large, old manor house with an elderly gentleman until the bombings of London in WWII have ended. While exploring indoors on a rainy day, she crawls into a deep wardrobe, and out into the land of…
“Once Upon a River” Book Discussion and Easy Apple Cinnamon Buns Recipe
Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield At winter solstice in the Swan at Radcot, a weathered pub beside the Thames river, where stories are told and retold round the bar and a roaring fire, a man washes up, banged-up and nearly dead, with a very young girl, as lifeless as a mannequin. Until her…
“P.S. I Love You” Book Discussion and Strawberry Jam and Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting
Holly’s husband Gerry has just died of a brain tumor. She thought they would have the rest of their lives together, and instead she has to learn how to be a widow before she has even turned thirty. But Gerry didn’t leave her to fend for herself completely. He left a series of letters for…
“A Christmas Carol” Book Discussion and Citrus Spice Cupcakes Recipe
“Marley was dead: to begin with”—one of the greatest opening lines of a novel. Ebenezer Scrooge, money and mortgage lender, miserable miser, and wretched soul despises Christmas and anything to do with the happiness he has lost. Then the ghost of his former work partner, Jacob Marley, comes to warn him of the greater sorrows…
“Jane Eyre” Book Discussion and Orange Almond Cardamom Cupcakes Recipe
Jane Eyre is an orphaned governess who develops romantic feelings for her employer, Mr. Rochester, a man ensconced in tragedy. Sent away to an orphanage as a child by her cruel aunt, Jane’s attachments in life have been few. At Lowood, she gains a friend whose perspectives enable Jane to reign in her anger and…
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone Book Discussion” and Pumpkin Pasty Cupcakes
On 4 Privet Drive, Surrey, a baby was delivered to the most unmagical family that ever lived. He was famous in the wizarding world for being the only “boy who lived” after facing the most wicked wizard of all time. Harry Potter is raised by an unkind aunt and uncle who make him sleep in…