La Salle Library hosts culinary travel guide program January 26

The La Salle Public Library will virtually host culinary travel guide and former United Kingdom resident Claire Evans when she presents “From Uptown Girls to Downton Abbey: How American Gilded-Age Heiresses Invaded the British Aristocracy” at 6 p.m. Jan. 26.

Long before the British Invasion, the cash-strapped lords, viscounts and dukes of Great Britain shifted their focus from hunting foxes and pheasants to more lucrative targets: cash-flush Gilded-Age American socialites who were willing to trade their family’s money for an ancient title and often a chilly reception in the British aristocracy. In this unique presentation, Claire Evans recounts the tales of some of the famously loaded young Americans who infused bank accounts of many stately homes, including close relatives of Winston Churchill and Princess Diana.

Claire Evans found her love of most things British as she and her mother watched countless episodes of “Are You Being Served,” “Fawlty Towers” and “The Vicar of Dibley” on PBS. She studied abroad in London, married a British man she met in Peoria and lived in England for several years, where she got an immersive education in modern English cooking, pub dining, tea shops and welly boots for every occasion.

This program is free and open to the public and will be presented via Zoom. Registration is required to receive the Zoom link. To register for this program, copy and paste the following link into your web browser: bit.ly/3s0KV3r. If you prefer to connect to this program using an iPad or smartphone rather than a computer, need more information or have questions, email Rachael Blomquist, digital content librarian, at rblomquist@lasalle.lib.il.us or call the library at 815-223-2341.