Do you even know what a Dower House is?

DOWER HOUSES IN LITERATURE Sometimes when I do a theme post, I think 'will anyone else care?' But - I can’t be the only person who is intrigued by the idea of Dower Houses, and the role they play in fiction. There’s something about the name that implies off-beat glamour, louche poshos, beautiful architecture, mysteries & secrets. Roughly speaking, the Dower House is where the widow of a titled gent goes, when her son takes over the title and the big house. She will have brought her dowry (the two words are related) to the marriage, and there will have been a settlement at the time of her wedding. Her father’s lawyers and her husband’s (or her father-in-law’s) lawyers will have reached an agreement as to how she will live if widowed: an income, and a place to live, which would normally be the Dower House – a separate much smaller house on the edge of the estate is the ideal. If there is no widow, the house can be used for other purposes (smuggling, crime – we’ll be coming to that)…