Help me welcome Dienece Darling today as she shares about a recent release.

There’s a running joke in my family which comes from the 1995 Sense and Sensibility movie starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. The youngest daughter, Margaret had a habit of always saying the wrong thing when guests came to visit. After several ‘mistakes,’ her mother and sisters inform Margaret that one should speak of the weather if they don’t know what to say.

Lo and behold, there’s a very awkward scene at the end of the movie. No one has any idea what to say, and Margaret—finally remembering her etiquette lessons—pipes up, ‘We’ve been enjoying very fine weather.’

And what does Margaret get for all her troubles? Her mother and sisters shush her.

Poor Margaret, she’d done what they told her to do! Talk about the weather to fill an awkward pause. And somehow it still wasn’t right.

My family loved this quote back when I was a teenager. We probably wore it out, but years later, it still makes me smile. And occasionally, I dare to tell my family that the weather has been ‘very fine’ lately.

But weather isn’t always a safe topic. In fact, weather can be devastating. Floods, snowstorms, drought, and dare I mention hurricanes? There are times when speaking of the weather is the last thing anyone wants.

Just such an occasion happens in my book Hearts Unknown.

In 1763, London suffered one of the worst winters anyone could remember. It was so bad that not only did the Thames freeze over, but the very ground itself. Gardeners were unable to work and took to the streets dressed in mourning clothes. Can you imagine what it would look like to see gardeners marching through the streets like a funeral procession because they couldn’t work?

Things got so bad the East India Company gave 10 guineas to several parishes for the relief of the poor. In today’s terms, this is roughly worth around $1,400. Not exactly a drop in the bucket. According to https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/currency-converter/ 10 guineas equalled around 100 days of wages.

On top of that, a poor lady got lost on her way home from buying bread, wandered into a fen, and froze to death.

All these distressing scenes pile up on my heroine Edith Howard in Hearts Unknown. She wants to do something for the poor. She wants to help, but it’s not like she’s got $1,000 dollars lying around. What can one lady do in the face of such great need?

Have you ever felt overwhelmed? Like there wasn’t anything you could do to fix things, to help?

In Hearts Unknown Edith learns the value of two mites given to God. And of course, since this is a romance, she manages to fall in love while she’s at it! 😉

Buy link: https://www.books2read.com/heartsunknown 

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About Dienece:
Inspirational historical romance author Dienece Darling was born in American but now calls Australia home. Her stories find love and faith in history, and her first name is a variant spelling of Denise.