It's no surprise that the inspiration for The
Mistress of Pennington’s came from my obsession with the TV series
The Paradise and Mr Selfridge. I adored these shows, but something was missing
for me. I soon realised I wanted more focus on the female issues of the time.
Women in business, the suffrage movement, laws against
women’s freedom with regards to property and money…the taboo of divorce. As soon
as I had pinpointed the theme of what I wanted to write, ‘Female Empowerment’,
I knew a single book wasn’t going to cut it and I’d found my next
historical series. I was so excited to get started!
And so, came the research…always a pleasure to a
history addict like me.
I started my research by
re-watching the TV series I loved, Titanic and A Room With A View – all
fantastic fodder for a feel of the Edwardian period and the frustrations of
women living at the time.
Then came the books - Good lord, did I read a LOT of
non-fiction books covering the era – in fact, I was so inspired by several
real-life stories of the period that I made another file of facts and dates around
another theme set in the Edwardian period, but I won’t be sharing that scoop today
in case my idea never comes to fruition!
By the time I came to plotting and finally
writing the first draft of The Mistress of Pennington’s, I knew the heroine,
Elizabeth Pennington, would be a strong, forward-thinking woman determined to
be recognised by her father as the rightful heiress of Pennington’s Department
Store. Not only is Elizabeth determined to inherit the mammoth store, but also
run it as she fits, ensuring all classes, genders and backgrounds are welcome
in the store as customers or
employees.
This book was an absolute joy to write and the reviews
so far have been fantastic. The next book, A Rebel At Pennington will be released in February and I'm just coming to the end of the first draft of book 3.
Welcome to Pennington’s! I hope you’ll stay and watch
some amazing women grow and start to make some changes to their worlds…
Happy Reading!
Rachel x
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