I stumbled upon Jennifer Robson’s books with Somewhere in France and have read everything she’s written since, including her latest book, Our Darkest Night. Upon reading The Gown, I was delighted to see a chicken recipe in the book and thought I’d share my love of this author’s books with you.
Jennifer is a long time history buff and its reflected in her writing: her books revolve around both world wars and she takes one obscure character from her previous book and weaves a whole tale around that person. Some of the books have a time shift (like The Gown) with present day characters unravelling historical connections. I love learning while being entertained by a good story line.
I asked Jennifer if the pandemic has affected her life and career: “It has, but compared to so many other people who have seen their jobs vanish or their income diminish significantly, I can’t say that it has been difficult for me. In many ways my day-to-day life as a writer scarcely changed, since I work from home and am used to operating remotely in many respects. Before the pandemic I did much of my research online, though I usually tried to do at least some of the work in person at libraries and archives without digitized collections, and all my writing was done at my desk in my study at home. I would meet with my editorial team in New York about once a year, and I travelled a lot to publicize my books — for The Gown alone I did something like one hundred in-person speaking engagements over the course of a year and a half.
“Since the beginning of the pandemic everything I used to do in person has gone online: research, meetings, speaking engagements, even tv appearances. For my last book, Our Darkest Night, I set up a little studio at one end of my tiny office with a Zoom light and a curated bookshelf that in no way reflected the mess that was just out of camera range, and from there I was able to talk to readers as far away as Australia and the Philippines. It wasn’t ideal, and I badly miss the fun and excitement of in-person gatherings, but it also allowed me to speak with people who would never have otherwise been able to attend one of my events.”
Our attention then turned to food. In our Recipe section, Jennifer shares the chicken dish mentioned in The Gown and it was delicious. It has a Mediterranean flare to it so I paired it with roasted root vegetables and Greek salad. I asked Jennifer what her favourite dish she loves to make: “I love to cook, so it’s almost impossible for me to narrow down my favourite recipes to just one, but if I had to choose it would be my late mum’s recipe for stuffing to accompany roast turkey. I used to make it only at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but last year I had a small epiphany when I realized my children, now in their teens, would only be at home with me for a few more years. That’s when I decided it was time to relax and make it for them whenever they ask, since it is their favourite food. I now make it about once a month to accompany roast chicken, and I’ve even adapted the recipe to make meatballs!”
Check out Jennifer’s blog for her Chocolate and Salted Caramel Thumbprint Cookies recipe at https://jennifer-robson.com/blog/
I can’t wait to see what Jennifer has in store for her loyal readers. What’s keeping her busy these days? “In January, just after completing the first draft of my next book, Coronation Year, I packed up my house to empty it for the start of a large renovation. It had been in the works for years, and when it’s done I will have a beautiful new kitchen and — almost as exciting — a big new office filled with sunshine (it faces west) and bookcases (floor to ceiling on two walls). Whatever time I have that isn’t spent on edits to Coronation Year is now occupied with making decisions about all the little details for the renovation. It’s great fun and I can’t wait to see the results!” Good luck with the renos Jennifer and I look forward to reading Coronation Year!
https://www.instagram.com/authorjenniferrobson/?hl=en
Want to win an autographed copy of The Gown? Go to our Giveaway section. To order any of Jennifer’s books, head over to https://jennifer-robson.com/
Content and images used with permission by author, Jennifer Robson. https://jennifer-robson.com/
