Category: Travel

Finspång Castle, childhood home of Jacquette Gyldenstolpe, heroine of the historical novel Butterfly Games by Kelly Scarborough

Finspång Castle: Inside Jacquette Gyldenstolpe’s Childhood Home

Posted on August 5, 2026 in Butterfly Games, Characters, Jacquette, Newsletter, Travel

Finspång Castle was more than Jacquette Gyldenstolpe’s childhood home. It was a noble estate, an industrial center, and a place that shaped the heroine of Butterfly Games.

Color Map Sweden 1815-44 showing sites in historical novel Butterfly Games by Kelly Scarborough

A Summer in Sweden (No Passport Required)

Posted on April 30, 2026 in Butterfly Games, Travel

You don’t actually have to travel to Sweden to wander its royal parks, step inside its palaces, or follow in Jacquette’s footsteps. Every summer, I start to feel it—that familiar pull toward travel. Longer days. Lighter evenings. The sense that somew…

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Me: I’m going to work all afternoon.

Shih Tzu: That’s adorable.

Apparently my role in this household is less “novelist” and more “personal assistant to a very small, very demanding gentleman.”

Shih Tzu moms… if you know, you know. 😂

#ShihTzu #ShihTzuMom #WriterLife #AuthorLife #DogMom

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Me: I’m going to work all afternoon.

Shih Tzu: That’s adorable.

Apparently my role in this household is less “novelist” and more “personal assistant to a very small, very demanding gentleman.”

Shih Tzu moms… if you know, you know. 😂

#ShihTzu #ShihTzuMom #WriterLife #AuthorLife #DogMom

Larry and I are out to see #goldentempo run at Saratoga. I looked at a horse named Oscar, but kind of like in my historical novel, Oscar didn’t exactly cover himself in glory. #traversstakes

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Larry and I are out to see #goldentempo run at Saratoga. I looked at a horse named Oscar, but kind of like in my historical novel, Oscar didn’t exactly cover himself in glory. #traversstakes

She goes to the ball, and her worst suspicions are confirmed. Read Butterfly Games. It`s Jacquette`s story, based on a real countess who lived in early 1800s Sweden.

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She goes to the ball, and her worst suspicions are confirmed. Read Butterfly Games. It's Jacquette's story, based on a real countess who lived in early 1800s Sweden.

Did you know that Butterfly Games is out in audiobook? And it`s for sale right now on Audible. Get it now and enjoy hearing Jacquette and Oscar`s story narrated by audiobook queen @estherwane. Esther has performed many great historicals, both fiction and nonfiction, including by two of my favorite authors, @TracyBorman and @AlisonWeirBooks. Check it out here. Only $6.10 today if you buy from the Audible phone app.
https://www.audible.com/pd/B0GHSM4QBV?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=pdp

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Did you know that Butterfly Games is out in audiobook? And it's for sale right now on Audible. Get it now and enjoy hearing Jacquette and Oscar's story narrated by audiobook queen @estherwane. Esther has performed many great historicals, both fiction and nonfiction, including by two of my favorite authors, @TracyBorman and @AlisonWeirBooks. Check it out here. Only $6.10 today if you buy from the Audible phone app.
https://www.audible.com/pd/B0GHSM4QBV?source_code=ASSORAP0511160006&share_location=pdp

Was the Butterfly Game real?

Yes—and no. 🦋

While researching the Swedish royal court for Butterfly Games, I came across the word fjärilsleken—literally, “the butterfly game.”

It was used in connection with fleeting affairs and lovers who moved frivolously from one object of affection to another.

I knew almost immediately that I had my title.

But the Butterfly Game in the novel became something larger: a game of love, marriage, gossip, information, family connections, ambition, and power.

And Jacquette discovers that useful information can be turned against anyone.

Even her.

I tell the story behind the title in my new Literary Titan interview.

🦋 Read the full Q&A at the link in my bio.

#ButterflyGames #HistoricalFiction #JacquetteGyldenstolpe #SwedishHistory #HistoricalFictionBooks #Bookstagram #RoyalHistory

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Was the Butterfly Game real?

Yes—and no. 🦋

While researching the Swedish royal court for Butterfly Games, I came across the word fjärilsleken—literally, “the butterfly game.”

It was used in connection with fleeting affairs and lovers who moved frivolously from one object of affection to another.

I knew almost immediately that I had my title.

But the Butterfly Game in the novel became something larger: a game of love, marriage, gossip, information, family connections, ambition, and power.

And Jacquette discovers that useful information can be turned against anyone.

Even her.

I tell the story behind the title in my new Literary Titan interview.

🦋 Read the full Q&A at the link in my bio.

#ButterflyGames #HistoricalFiction #JacquetteGyldenstolpe #SwedishHistory #HistoricalFictionBooks #Bookstagram #RoyalHistory

I did. I wrote Butterfly Games, Book 1.

Historical fiction set in late-Napoleonic Sweden, with royal scandal, forbidden love, dangerous gossip, and real people making seriously bad decisions.

A Swedish countess. A French-born prince. A palace full of enemies.

Read Butterfly Games. Link in bio.

#ButterflyGames #KellyScarborough #historicalfiction #bookreels #booktok bookstagram royalhistoricalfiction swedishhistory historicalfictionbooks napoleonicera

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I did. I wrote Butterfly Games, Book 1.

Historical fiction set in late-Napoleonic Sweden, with royal scandal, forbidden love, dangerous gossip, and real people making seriously bad decisions.

A Swedish countess. A French-born prince. A palace full of enemies.

Read Butterfly Games. Link in bio.

#ButterflyGames #KellyScarborough #historicalfiction #bookreels #booktok bookstagram royalhistoricalfiction swedishhistory historicalfictionbooks napoleonicera

Butterfly Games, Book 1.

A Swedish countess. A French-born prince. A royal court where no one escapes without a little damage.

For readers who like their historical fiction with scandal, politics, forbidden love, and real people behaving badly in beautiful ballrooms.

Read it now. Link in bio.

#ButterflyGames #historicalfiction #bookstagram #KindleScreenshots kindlereads royalhistoricalfiction swedishhistory

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Butterfly Games, Book 1.

A Swedish countess. A French-born prince. A royal court where no one escapes without a little damage.

For readers who like their historical fiction with scandal, politics, forbidden love, and real people behaving badly in beautiful ballrooms.

Read it now. Link in bio.

#ButterflyGames #historicalfiction #bookstagram #KindleScreenshots kindlereads royalhistoricalfiction swedishhistory

I love reading novels about real women in history who did amazing things. This Wednesday, join four of my favorite authors discussing their recent works. These are all great books for your historical fiction TBR. Register and get a chance to win a book bundle with all four signed books! Scan the QR code to register for the Zoom and giveaway.

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Happy 250th birthday, America. 🇺🇸

And in the world of Butterfly Games, July 4 belongs to Jacquette and Oscar, too. It`s their shared birthday.

They met when they were quite young, and in the summer of 1811, both stayed at Drottningholm Palace, that glittering royal world of impossible futures.

For Jacquette, one look was enough.

She never looked back.

What began as a summer encounter became the kind of love people talk about for centuries.

Read Butterfly Games and discover how Jacquette and Oscar’s story began. Link in bio.

#ButterflyGames #historicalfiction #books #bookish #royalty #DrottningholmPalace #NapoleonicEra #romantichistoricalfiction

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Finspång Castle: Inside Jacquette Gyldenstolpe’s Childhood Home

A Summer in Sweden (No Passport Required)

Kelly Scarborough

Kelly Scarborough

Kelly Scarborough

Kelly Scarborough

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