This month I had a mini writing retreat at home with my cousin. We took a couple of days off work to write, read and visit nearby places for inspiration.

I am lucky enough to live in Brontë country so a trip to the Brontë Parsonage Museum in Haworth was essential.

It’s a museum I have been to many times: as a child, a teenager and an adult but every time I go there is something new to see. At the moment (June 2024) there is an exhibition exploring the Brontë’s childhood and it was fascinating to see how their imagination fed into their later works.

Bronte Parsonage Museum

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte is one of my favourite books of all time, but it’s been a while since I read it. I bought this beautiful copy from the gift shop.

And I discovered a new shop in Haworth that combines my love of books with my love of stationery. Oh La La The Original Bronte Stationery Store is a treasure trove of book-related stationery and posters. I will definitely be coming back for birthday and Christmas presents.

We rounded off our trip at The Cloth Store café which serves delicious hot chocolate. It was fairly quiet, so we spent a happy hour there writing I was inspired by our trip to explore the sibling relationship between two of my characters, and also my main protagonist’s taste in men! I was trying to decide if she would be Team Rochester or Team Heathcliff.