Patsy Trench has been an actress, scriptwriter, theatre tour organiser and theatre teacher and lecturer. She now writes books about her family history in colonial Australia and novels featuring enterprising women breaking boundaries in Edwardian and 1920s England. She lives in London.

Latest Posts By Patsy Trench

2 weeks ago

The (Humorous) Hazards of Poor Elderly Eyesight

Author James Thurber, who had very poor eyesight, once wrote a hilarious story called “The Admiral on the Wheel” about a time when he was forced to spend a few days without his glasses after his maid stepped on them and broke them…

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3 months ago

To Airbnb or Not to Airbnb?

I first heard about Airbnb back in 2011. “Do you have a spare room to let for the Royal wedding?” The question popped up on Facebook. Interesting, I thought, but who are Airbnb? My friends in the U.S. seemed to think it was a legit platform…

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4 months ago

Giving Your Money Away (To Your Kids)

I have just handed a small fortune to my offspring to help them to buy properties and, in one case, to contribute towards IVF treatment. We all do it, if we are in a position to, of course. My mother was the same: she was generous to me…

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5 months ago

Rediscovering the Joy of Dance

We all know how important it is to keep active in our later years. It’s the catch-all remedy for any ailment you can think of, along with quitting smoking and eating healthily. And, of course, it is true: the older you get the more the muscles are prone…

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6 months ago

On Book and Film Endings: The Neat Bow and the Ellipsis

Endings are fiendish things. In the old days, fictional endings were clearly defined, wrapped up, tied with ribbon and fastened in a neat bow. Shakespeare’s endings were unambiguous: tragedies ended in mass death, comedies ended…

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7 months ago

Two Nations Divided by the Same Language (Attributed to Bernard Shaw)

Back in 2010, the British Guardian newspaper published a selection of angry letters from readers complaining about the increasing use of what they called ‘American slang’ in its articles. As one of them wrote…

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8 months ago

Getting to Know the Place Where You Live

I have always had a love-hate relationship with London. It’s the city I have lived in (almost) all my life. As a child, I found it horribly restrictive; I was never allowed beyond the front door on my own. When I went to stay with friends in the country…

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10 months ago

What You Should Know About Self-Publishing a Book

Back in 2010 or so, having finally finished my first book (nonfiction about my family history in Australia) and knowing traditional publishers would be unlikely to take it on, I decided to self-publish it…

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10 months ago

Education Is Wasted on the Young

Although the original thought is “Youth is wasted on the young,” in my case, this was certainly true for education. I went to an all-girls private boarding school in rural Sussex in England, which even then – back in the late 50s/early 60s – was old-fashioned…

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11 months ago

The Art of Turning Trauma into Comedy

My annus horribilis began some time ago, right at the beginning of the year when I told my husband of 28 years that I wanted to separate. It was not a sudden decision on my part, but what surprised me, amazed me, was that it came as a total shock to my…

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