Crookhill Abbey

Anne Harlowe was brought up in York, and was lucky enough to go to St Peter's School. The city, with its rich history and magnificent cathedral, has been an important influence in her life, and has inspired some of her best work. She read English at Leeds University, and did a master's degree dissertation entitled Jane Austen's Heroines. Her first attempt at writing for publication was to produce a study guide for Pride and Prejudice, but after about 20 pages she got distracted by writing a short story entitled A Night at Pemberley. This was submitted to a Fan Fiction website and was well-received, encouraging her to attempt further flights of Jane Austen-related fantasy, the most popular of which are Darcy's Dark Secret and Poet of Pemberley. Not content to hang on to the bonnet-strings of her favourite author, she began writing original works of Regency and Victorian romance, the most recent of which are Captain Cardew's Conquests and The Romantic Adventures of a Between Maid. The study guide is still unfinished.

Lord Lacy's daughter, Emily, is persuaded by her parents to marry the ageing Lord Dalrymple. After all, he has a title, Earl of Morpeth, and a mansion, Crookhill Abbey, that is even more extensive than Lord Lacy's mansion in Buxton. However, when Emily gets to Northumberland, she finds that Crookhill Abbey is little better than a crumbling mausoleum. Crookhill Abbey is not quite a Jane Austen sequel - but there are echoes of Jane Austen's, Pride and Prejudice - also Eliza Parsons', The Castle of Wolfenbach, and Ann Radcliffe's, The Mysteries of Udolpho. However, there are also many new characters, including the heroine, Emily, the anti-hero, Lord Dalrymple, Thomas, a struggling artist, and his aristocratic lover, Catherine, all tangled up in an original plot that leads them to - the horrors of Crookhill Abbey.