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Alena Kate Pettitt

It's ok to be a housewife. Chasing a career isn't for every woman. Feminism is about choice, and this one is just as valid, and valued!

Welcome to The Darling Academy, a lifestyle website for housewives, homemakers, traditionalists & anglophiles. A place to embrace your love for home, and your role in it.

My name is Alena Kate Pettitt, I am an English author who is passionate about family values, keeping traditions alive, and good old fashioned manners. Not to mention this green and pleasant land!

After some exhausting adventures during my twenties, in particular working in London in the cut-throat and fast paced beauty industry, I finally came home to the Cotswolds, got married and started a family.

An early mid-life crisis of confidence left me shattered emotionally and wondering why the world, despite all its opportunity made me feel so unsatisfied with my life, and how my supposed “modern and empowering” choices had destroyed my self-esteem.

My first book, Ladies Like Us documents my rise to grace, and how I learned to love myself and my feminine identity - I wanted to share this journey in order to help other women experiencing the same feelings.

After requests for more on the subject of a return to (or learning to live by) traditional values, my second book English Etiquette was released in the Spring of 2019, which is a modern field guide to good manners, and family life with a time-honoured spin.

In January 2020 I made worldwide news as a “Traditional Wife”, a curious individual who chooses to take care of her family over having a “career”, and this raised the #ApronCladArmy. You can see more about that here.

When I’m not doing the laundry, drinking tea, battling the school run, or cooking something delicious, you’ll likely find me here writing about traditional living, weeding the vegetable patch, or stalking the royal family.

I’d love to invite you to join our community. It’ll help you stay up to date with my articles, it’s easy, completely free, and simple to do, just subscribe here. Our encouraging, uplifting, and practical advice articles will be sent directly to your inbox as soon as they’re published!

As Seen On

  • Independent
  • The Sun
  • BBC
  • ITV's This Morning
  • The Daily Mail

What is The Darling Academy?

The Darling Academy is a destination website and community for those who enjoy traditional family-centred living, and making the best out of their lives at home. Support for the homemaker, good manners, respect for self and others, slow living, and acceptance is at the very heart of our mission.

The Darling Academy is very proud to support a wholesome way of life, among the outspoken modern narrative.

Our articles explore and feature the best of traditional living, homemaking, and the daily life of a housewife.

Etiquette Books

Now you know our story, click below to find out more about our books; English Etiquette & Ladies Like Us.

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