Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History, has written more than 50 books specializing in British Christianity. These books include: The Monastery Murders, clerical mysteries; Lord Danvers Investigates, Victorian true-crime; The Elizabeth and Richard series, literary suspense; and Glastonbury, The Novel of Christian England. She loves research and sharing you-are-there experiences with her readers.
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Donna Fletcher Crow, Novelist of British History
A traveling researcher engages people and places from Britain's past and present, drawing comparisons and contrasts between past and present for today's reader.
Finding Sanditon on the Map
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ May 6, 2022
Yes, we all know that Sanditon, Jane Austen’s fictional seaside resort in the novel fragment of the same name, which is currently a smash hit television series, is just that—fictional. Jane invented the location, just as she did her heroine Charlotte Heywood, the developer Tom Parker, wealthy Lady Dedham, and all the people she placed in it.
Home Again, Home Again; Jane Austen in Chawton
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ August 16, 2019
“Home is the sailor, home from sea”. Well, okay, we haven’t really been sailing—just contemplating the sea from the shore and sometimes thinking of Jane Austen’s sailor brothers. But we are concluding our journey today where Jane concluded her later seashore journeys—at her home in Chawton.Jane Austen and Margate
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ August 7, 2019
Margate is just five miles north, across the Isle of Thanet, fromJane Austen on Ramsgate
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ August 1, 2019
Ramsgate, like last week’sJane Austen and Brighton
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ July 24, 2019
It’s one of those ironies of history that even though Jane Austen apparently did not like Brighton—she never went there as far as we know, and only bad things happened to her characters who did go there—her writings have enhanced the fame and popularity of this seaside resort.Worthing as Jane Austen's Sanditon, Then and Now
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ July 11, 2019
Jane Austen’s connection with Worthing was completely unknown until late in the 20Bognor Regis: The "Real" Sanditon?
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ July 5, 2019
Unlike Lyme Regis, for whom its royal ascription was ancient but had simply fallen out of use in Jane Austen’s day, Bognor was just Bognor until King George V went to nearby Aldwick on the advice of his physician in 1929. Queen Mary accompanied him and shopped in Bognor. The monarch found his lodging uncomfortable and did not enjoy his time there. He did, however, recover from his lung infection, and so granted the town permission to append Regis, meaning “of the king,” to its name.Portsmouth: Reliving Jane Austen's Mansfield Park
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ June 27, 2019
In my series following in the footsteps of Jane Austen at the seashore I have presented the resorts as they are situated geographically from west to east. Actually, though, I started my adventure right in the middle, at Portsmouth. That’s appropriate because Portsmouth comes rather in the middle of Jane’s own story since she lived in nearby Southampton before moving to Chawton, and her novelOn the Jane Austen Trail in Southampton: Humor, Gardens and Balls
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ June 14, 2019
Jane Austen in Lyme Regis: Reliving Persuasion, Part 2
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ June 7, 2019
Because Lyme Regis was such a favorite seaside location for Jane Austen and because it offers such a pivotal location for her beloved novelJane Austen in Lyme Regis: Reliving Persuasion, Part 1
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ May 29, 2019
Of all the sites on our Jane-Austen-led itinerary, Lyme Regis is the one I have most looked forward to visiting. Probably becauseSidmouth: Jane Austen Romance and Queen Victoria Shoes
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ May 22, 2019
A lovely bus journey continues our Jane-Austen-led seashore tour to Sidmouth. Of course, Jane would have been in a carriage, but the views through the pleasant, rolling countryside must have been similar. And when rain splattered the windows I was glad for the comfort of my modern conveyance.Jane Austen Gives Literary Advice as her Seashore Tour Continues to Dawlish
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ May 17, 2019
Young (and experienced) writers are always advised to seek outside help for their work—join a writers’ group, find a good editor, acquire beta readers. But can you imagine a budding novelist being able to receive advice personally from Jane Austen?Jane Austen's Seashore Tour Begins at Teignmouth
By Donna Fletcher Crow ~ May 7, 2019
The explosion of popularity that gripped Georgian seashore resorts was perfectly timed for Teignmouth, whose fishing industry was declining. The first stirring of elegance came in 1787 when a tea house opened “amongst the local fishermen’s drying nets”. Tea rooms, which are not as thick on the ground today as they once were in England, continue to feature in Teignmouth.
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