Jolly Olde England

My friend Elizabeth is getting married back home in England in the fall and I plan to attend. I'm dragging one of my sisters with me too. Not that she's protesting very loudly. She did a semester there when she was in college and has been back once with my dad a few years ago. I'm looking forward to having someone along who's been there before as it will be my first time. I'm reading alot about England to prepare for my trip. I do love to plan so I'm starting to make a list of places of interest I want to see.

I've read numerous books that take place in England from Barbara Cartland romances in my youth to Elizabeth George mysteries to my current favorite, Robin Maxwell's historical fiction. Maxwell writes about Elizabeth I and the Tudor era, discovering holes or undetailed times in history and fills them in with possibilities of relationships, political intrigue and customs of the times. It's very fun. I'm currently reading The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn in which Elizabeth, newly crowned, discovers a diary her mother had written.

My favorite of hers so far has been The Queen's Bastard. It tells the story of Elizabeth and her lover Robin Dudley whose son was hidden from them. The son finds out his heritage at the side of his adopted father's deathbed and eventually contacts Robin and then Elizabeth, becomes a spy for England and is instrumental in the fall of the Spanish Armada.

Other historical fiction about England that I've enjoyed is Edward Rutherfurd's London and Sarum. In each of these books, Rutherfurd follows several fictional families through the ages. The same family names and characteristics show up in each period along with historical figures from that time. Sarum is the ancient name of Salisbury. I'm hoping to go there and see the cathedral and of course stop by Stonehenge.

To prepare for my England trip, I'm also reading A Traveller's History to England by Christopher Daniell. It's a history of England in short interesting pieces that make it easy to read and enjoy.

If you have any suggestions of things I should see, please let me know. I'm especially interested in ancient things, Avebury, for example.