Bovingdon used as setting for Amazon chart-topping 19th century romance novel
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A Dacorum village is the setting for a 19th century romance novel which is selling quickly on Amazon.
Lady Dixon’s Niece by Irish author, Chele Crawley is currently the best-selling book on the online platform in Ireland.
Described as a regency romance novel, it follows Annaliese Schmidt on her visit to her well-to-do, estranged aunt’s home in Bovingdon in the summer of 1812. Annaliese, who is described as a naive 18-year-old, happily trades her agrarian life on the wild moors of Devon for the sophistication of high society on the assumption that it will be her ticket to social mobility. However, she soon learns that the path to society comes at the cost of her moral compass.
Chele said: "Bovingdon, with its historic charm, is the ideal location for a regency romance. I was instantly drawn to its undulating terrain, which makes for the perfect secret escape from the hustle and bustle of London and the pomp and ceremony of the Ton.
"The location needed to be within a reasonable distance by carriage of the Ton in Mayfair; it also needed to be near a river and have a church. As it's fiction, I deliberated whether I should make up a place entirely, but once I had Bovingdon, Lye Green and Orchard Leigh in my head, I couldn’t give it up, and so the River Bulbourne and St Lawrence’s Church stayed too.”
The book’s blurb continues, masquerading under a cloak of deception at the behest of her aunt, Annaliese must navigate challenging social conventions, fend off the unwanted advances of a saccharine-tongued neighbourhood creep, and quell the whims of a cunning blackmailer who threatens to expose her secret.
Chele adds: “And of course, it wouldn’t be a Regency Romance without a love triangle involving the devilishly handsome sons of Lord Bovingdon.”
It is said that beyond romance readers can enjoy social commentary, and rich historical detail. It has also been revealed that the novel is planned to be the first in a ‘Of Social Standing’ book series which is being developed by the Irish author. Work is underway on the second novel and Chele has promised to return to Bovingdon in the sequel.
Ordering details for Lady Dixon’s Niece can be found online here.