[1] She submitted the manuscript for her first novel, The Lady of Milkweed Manor, under a pseudonym; only she and her boss knew the identity of the author.
She felt this was necessary in order to receive an honest opinion so her fellow editors would not feel obliged to accept it for publication.
She was inspired to write about wet nurses after seeing one in a small role in the film The Girl with a Pearl Earring.
While there, she stayed in a vicarage in Kent that was used as an inspiration for a location in The Lady of Milkweed Manor (it had been turned into a bed and breakfast).
Also on that trip, she visited the location of a lying-in hospital that was in The Lady of Milkweed Manor (it had burned down) and did research for her next book, The Apothecary's Daughter.