I’ve decided my trip yesterday to one of my “bucket-list-places” was worthy of a blog post. I know I’ve been mostly absent on here for a while, and I do apologize, but circumstances have pretty much taken my wishes out of the equation.
The important thing to take from this is how I made my way over to London for a slew of book signings plus The London Book Fair this month, and I think the trip will go down in history as one of the best I’ve ever had in jolly ole England. First off, I hit the super lottery on weather when I experienced warm-and-sunny for 14 out of the 17 days I was there. *this never happens* For April it’s an anomaly to experience anything other than cold-and-wet per the Brits who live there. Global warming anyone?
So, on one of those beautiful and rare sunshine-filled April days of my trip, I made my way to a place I’ve dreamed of visiting for more than a decade–> Chatsworth. The ancestral country estate of the Dukes and Duchesses of Devonshire situated in the Derbyshire countryside. But Chatsworth is more than just an estate though, much, much more. In fact, if you’re a fan of my books and a lover of romance, you’ve probably SEEN this famous house in a movie before…because Mr. Darcy lives there.
I’m not kidding!
In the film Pride and Prejudice, 2005, Elizabeth Bennett travels with her aunt and uncle to the Peak District of England on a sightseeing holiday and runs into Mr. Darcy when they take a tour of “Pemberly” as played magnificently by Chatsworth House.
Mister. Darcy.
Yes, people, I love him. I fully planned on seeing him coming out of the fountain with a soaking wet shirt. Ahhh, the joys of an active imagination, true?
I took some pictures of my experience but they will never be able to do justice to what is there…house and gardens left me speechless for the most part. I just stared wide eyed and sighed a lot. This huge estate has just about everything from stunning paintings, to soulful sculpture, to country vistas of rolling hills of green, to flowers blooming beside a koi pond with friendly fat fishes in it. I just can’t even…
Let’s just leave it right here: I’m very confident you’ll see aspects of Chatsworth appear on the pages of my future books, both those set in the past as well as the present.
Happy trails,
That is fabulous, Raine! I’m so happy you got to check off a bucket list item! It looks gorgeous and I’m so jealous you got to see “Mr. Darcy” or at least a likeness of him! The whole trip looks like it has been wonderful!!
Thanks for sharing!! I so hope all that inspiration leads to yet another fantastic book for us readers!!! You are still my favorite!!!
This is STUNNING . WOW, the Chatsworth breathtaking , what a view , you left me open month. Raine this is awesome and i am so happy for you , i can only imagine how this view influenced you, can’t wait for the future book to come.
With great Love
Ilana
I’m visiting Chatsworth in September and I can’t wait to see!!
Thanks for the pictures and your take on such an exquisite home!
Donna
The Chatsworth house is beautiful I would love to see the. Place for myself I’m waiting patiently for your new book
Beautiful. I absolutely love this book and movie.