Why women are still swooning for Regency Romance
From 1.00pm until 2.00pm
Free
The Maria Edgeworth Centre, Edgeworthstown, Co. Longford, N39 E3C8
45 minutes – 1h
Join debut author Chele Crawley as she introduces her new novel Lady Dixon’s Niece, the first instalment in her Regency-set series Of Social Standing. Chele will begin with a reading from the novel before inviting the audience into conversation with a lively Q&A.
The session will also explore the enduring appeal of Regency romance—why this elegant yet constrained world continues to captivate modern readers, how the genre has evolved, and why themes of courtship, wit, social expectation and quiet rebellion still resonate today.
Lady Dixon’s Niece is the first instalment in my exciting new romance historical fiction series, Of Social Standing, set in England in 1812. It follows Lady Dixon’s duplicitous scheme to find her niece a rich husband – a scheme which is quickly derailed when the niece falls in love with one brother whilst simultaneously rumbled by the other. A game of cat and mouse ensues, leaving readers on the edge of their seats, waiting for the other characters to spot the elephant in the room and the niece’s façade to come tumbling down.
The book will be on sale — your chance to get a signed copy!
Chele Crawley
Chele Crawley is a teacher, a wife, a mother and writer based in the midlands of Ireland. With a background in journalism and print media, Chele has a nose for a story and likes a good yarn.
Chele is currently working on a romance historical fiction series, Of Social Standing, set during the regency era.
She is a member of Inklings writing group based in Mullingar, and regularly has her short stories printed in the local newspaper, Westmeath Examiner. In July 2025, Chele Crawley was double longlisted for the Writers By The Sea Literary Festival competition in both the memoir and short story category. Chele’s dystopian short story, Clean Cut, recently was published in the 2025 National Science Week publication, Experiment with Words.
Keen to hone the literary craft, Chele spends equally as much time reading as writing as she believes that reading for a writer is as essential as oxygen. Not surprising, Chele particularly enjoys reading romance historical fiction novels.
Chele has her own blog, https://www.chelecrawley.com and she is also a member of Writing.ie https://www.writing.ie/member-emerging-writers/chele-crawley/
You can find Chele on social media; Instagram, Twitter and Facebook, where she regularly posts about her writing journey.
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Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!
This project was assisted by Longford Local Community Development Committee, Longford Community Resources Clg. and Longford County Council through the LEADER Programme 2023 -2027 which is part-financed by the EU, “The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas” and the Department of Rural & Community Development
