A Real Castle and a Better Kingdom

Hi, all. I’ve love to introduce you to Ann Swindell, author of the In the Castle Library series. Who doesn’t love castles and libraries, right? Put them together and good things are bound to happen. You’re in for a treat!

When I was nineteen years old, I had the opportunity to spend the summer after my freshman year studying abroad in the United Kingdom. It was an enchanting time; I lived in the halls of Oxford University and punted down the River Cherwell. I learned to eat scones with clotted cream and saw Shakespeare performed at the Globe Theatre in London. And for a few glorious days that summer, our entire college cohort was allowed to live in a real castle.

Set in the countryside of Herefordshire in England, the lesser-known Hampton Castle became our home base for three nights. One of our professors knew the owners and booked a stay for us where we slept in four-poster beds, walked past suits of armor, and ate warm pain au chocolat in the Orangery each morning. After literary conversations in the castle library, we explored the formal gardens and tried to find our way through the Yew tree maze. In the evenings, we met in the 600-year old chapel to read Scripture and sing hymns that echoed off of the ancient stone walls. I met the Lord in a beautifully powerful way in that castle all those years ago.

The dreamlike quality of those days has stayed with me for over two decades, and there have been many times since when a certain scent or a particular strain of music has reminded me of Hampton Castle. Those memories are almost always accompanied by a deep longing to return there—a homesickness, if you will, for those days that I can no longer return to.

I’ve had many readers tell me that they wish they could visit the fictional Kingdom of Lethersby, where the In the Castle Library stories take place; they’ve said that Lethersby feels like home, even though it’s not a real place. That homesickness that readers have felt for Lethersby and the homesickness I’ve felt over the years for Hampton Castle are, I think, both pointing at the same thing: the homesickness we feel for heaven.*

In many ways, the books in the In the Castle Library series have all stemmed from my time at Hampton Castle and the longing I have to return. I met the Lord in a special way in a royal setting, and I want to give my readers a similar experience of God’s beauty and truth through these novels. Adding in a century-old royal mystery, a couple royal balls, and sweet romance are all icing on the proverbial cake!

So I hope you’ll join me in Lethersby for the first time—or once again, if you’ve been there before. But even more than venturing to Lethersby, my hope and prayer is that your soul will be drawn to the perfect Kingdom and the King who reigns there—Christ himself, who is better than any fairy tale. One day, on that great day, He will fill every longing we have. In Him, all of our homesickness will finally be met and assuaged—and overwhelmed by his love.

About Secrets in the Castle Library:

The past year of Melanie Tallebois’s life has unraveled, both professionally and personally. Usually unflappable, she can’t understand why life isn’t going to plan. So when she’s offered a professorship at the University of Lethersby, she seizes it as her chance to find the happiness that has eluded her for as long as she can remember. The fact that her best friend is the nation’s princess and has invited her to live in the castle for the summer doesn’t hurt, either.

The only thing eluding Eddie Canon are answers. As director of the National Museum of Lethersby, he’s spent years chasing the truth behind Queen Alma’s disappearance over a century ago. Now, tasked by the royals to tie up the loose ends of the national mystery, he’s studying in the castle library and still coming up empty-handed.

The last person Eddie wants to work with is Melanie, who inserts herself into his research—and his life. She’s brash, annoying, forthright…and altogether brilliant. Eddie thinks it wise to push her away, but as the research continues to stall, he can’t ignore that their friendship has begun to blossom.

When the long-lost queen’s mysteries finally come to light, Melanie is plunged into darkness—and Eddie questions everything he thought he understood about faith and love. Together, they must uncover the secrets in the castle library and decide whether they’re willing to trust God with a story far greater than their own.

*C.S. Lewis writes about this longing in his essay “The Weight of Glory,” which had a deep impact on me when I read it that summer abroad. It is this essay that plays a pivotal role in the heroine’s journey in Secrets in the Castle Library.

You can find Christmas in the Castle Library and Love in the Castle Library for sale at many online retailers. Secrets in the Castle Library releases September 22, 2026!

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Ann Swindell is the author of the award-winning In the Castle Library novel series, as well as the nonfiction devotional The Path to Peace and the spiritual memoir Still Waiting. Her writing has been featured widely by The Gospel Coalition, Risen Motherhood, Well-Watered Women, Proverbs 31 Ministries, and many other publications. Ann is the owner of Writing with Grace, where she has been teaching Christ-centered writing courses for women around the world since 2015. Prior to that, she was a college instructor at Wheaton College (IL). She holds an MA in Writing from DePaul University and an MFA in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Seattle Pacific University, and lives in West Michigan with her church-planting husband and their children. Connect with her on Instagram or at www.AnnSwindell.com.