13th April 2026
Hi my Lords and Ladies,
I just wanted to thank you for being there for me to just sound off to in tricky times. There has been a lot going on for my health recently but being able to talk to you has kept me grounded. I don’t feel lonely. What’s going on with my hip is very scary but when I am here, I forget that. Thank you for standing by me.
We are coming to a new Chapter in my life as well that involves some change. I have been on the look out to meet some lovely new people to join growing team of Personal Assistants. I think it is really important to embrace changing times, they are what help us to grow and learn. I can’t wait to welcome new PA’s to my strong team of wonderful angels.
11th May 2026
Welcome to the house of fun Tia. It’s lovely to introduce you to my life. It’s beautiful to have you on the team.
Whilst I’m on the subject of saying hi to gorgeous new arrivals, I would love to welcome baby Penny to the Hatty’s Angels clan. Congrats to Bernie and Jordan for introducing Penelope to the family. She is a smasher. I can’t believe she is growing so fast!
16th October 2025
I met Penny for the first time after an amazing trip to see TINA! The Musical with some of my fab Personal Assistants. That musical. One. Word. Wow. A great day, made even more memorable by saying hello to this beautiful girl.
Mum and I with Penelope. Welcome sweetheart
Speaking of searching for something, let’s dive straight into today’s read. Buckle up it takes us back to the adjoining world to Outlander in the form of Lord John Grey. We will take a look at the second major novel in his series.
Author: Diana Gabaldon
Book title: Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade (Lord John Grey 2)
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Imprint: Arrow Books Ltd
Audiobook narrator: Jeff Woodman
Audiobook case
Ways of reading: Audiobook/Paperback
Genre: Historical fiction
First published: 4th September 2008
Original language: English
Number of pages: 628
Audiobook length: 15 hours, 31 minutes (unabridged)
Started reading: 8th November 2025
Finished reading: 22nd November 2025
Dedication
Aunty Barbara, thank you for introducing me to the written world of Outlander, without which we wouldn’t have Lord John Grey.
Thank you to Dad, Mum and Bernie for watching him with me in the TV series. He is played so well by David Berry in Outlander isn’t he? In his books we get to see him even more coloured in.
Dictionary Nook:
Chisping – a light snow that could turn into a drizzle.
Lord John Grey
I need Lord John Grey to have his own spin-off television series because Diana Gabaldon packs so much into his books.
The glimpses into the Seven Years War in 1758 sound like a blood bath. No wonder Lord John clings on to everything else around him, until a family secret rears its head. He must hunt for the truth and finds out more than he bargained for…
Gabaldon has done it again. The use of colour is what makes the Lord John books so vivid; that and her development of character. I am particularly thinking of John’s relationship with Percy and the fact that he keeps thinking of the differences between Percy and the love he can’t have with Jamie Fraser.
‘He could so vividly recall his first sight of Jamie Fraser, and the fierce rush of emotions involved – alarm, panic, dizzying excitement. The hair, of course, first of all, the hair. Bound loosely, not ginger but a deep red, a red like a stag coat. But a red that glittered in the firelight as the man bent to push another stick into the fire. The size of the man, and the sense of power in him. Plainly a Scot, by his dress and his speech. He’d heard stories of Red Jamie Fraser- surely there couldn’t be two of him.’
John still values his friendship with Jamie and knows he can’t express his love because of Jamie’s undying devotion to Claire and Jamie’s painful memories. This doesn’t stop him looking for parallels between Jamie and future lovers, like Percy. John places Jamie on his own personal pedestal.
Thank you Gabaldon so much for creating characters and reimaging history in a way that jumps off the page.
I hope you guys enjoyed reading that as much as I enjoyed wring it. Next time I see you in here we will be heading back to see Kate Mosse and Joubert family. I hope that is okay with you. I just had to put the breaks on the Lord John and Outlander universes as I appreciate there is a lot to get through but dinna fash (don’t worry!) they will be back. Lord John will reappear before Jamie and Claire.
See you soon my Lords and Ladies
Yours,
Hatty
Hatty’s Reading Corner 
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