Roseanna M. White -- Traveling Abroad

Author Roseanna M. White

Traveling Abroad -- by Roseanna M. White

In celebration of our 15^th anniversary, my husband and I took a trip to England and France with the kids, fulfilling a lifelong dream.

When we planned the trip, I purposefully chose some things that I knew would be similar to what my characters would experience in England. 

We visited the Cotswolds, which is where almost the entirety of A Lady Unrivaled is set, toured a few manor houses, wandered the woods and gardens on the estates. And I was thrilled to discover that my descriptions of the area, gleaned from watching videos and studying photographs, was spot on. 

As we walked the wooded paths and got turned around and had to choose between directions, I had to look over at my husband and say, “See? This is why Ella got lost so often!”

What I hadn’t realized was that when we went to Paris, we’d also be walking in the fictional footprints of my characters. In A Lady Unrivaled, there are a total of three scenes not in the Cotswolds, and they’re all in Paris. I’d done enough research (much of it via a friend who’d spent a lot of time there) to be able to describe the streets my characters were on. 

But it was unexpectedly great to walk those streets and see what they would have seen. See the signs for the museum I feature. Stroll along the Champs-Elysee as they did.

Traveling to another country is always interesting—and though my French is terrible (though sufficient for ordering in a restaurant, LOL), my characters wouldn’t have had that problem. They would have taken a boat to France where I took a train (then a train into Paris itself), there would have been more horses and fewer automobiles, but the feel of the old city would have been largely as it is today. 

The Eiffel Tower would still have towered. They would still have heard all the French rather than English and had to think about what they were hearing. It would still feel a bit foreign, a bit unreal, and completely lovely.

Though they wouldn’t have had jet lag to contend with once they got home again, I can imagine them all sinking into their own beds with the same contentment after their trip. There’s nothing like seeing someplace new and beautiful. And there’s also nothing like coming home again.

CFP: Welcome back, Ro!!! Congrats on your new release and on your 15 years of marriage! Looking forward to celebrating with you on the Colonial Quills blog new releases tea party this Friday. The Facebook portion of the party is Friday mid-day. (Click here to indicate you want to JOIN the party this Friday!)

GIVEAWAY: We're giving away a copy of Roseanna's new release this week. Leave a comment to enter. We'll also have reviews up of this brand new novel from Bethany House.