When I stumbled upon Caroline Linden’s novel ‘The Way to a Duke’s Heart’, I was bemused by the appearance of a one Maria Gronow, a coquettish, “ethereally beautiful” woman whose family is “a bit dodgy, if you believe the gossip.” It would have been easy to take offence at her mother, the crowing Mrs Gronow, or indeed the “damned wrong” Mr Gronow, if it were not for the inimitable decency of their fair daughter. When I messaged Caroline Linden about her inspiration for the name Gronow, she explained that during her research (take note writers of historical fiction), she chanced upon the reminiscences of our very own Captain Rees Gronow, the Welsh Grenadier Guards officer, and took a fancy to the name. The Gronows in ‘The Way to a Duke’s Heart’ are entirely fictional, but it is nonetheless entertaining to discover that your surname has found its way into the pages of a bestselling book!
Find the novel at Caroline Linden’s site: http://www.carolinelinden.com
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