Published - Lady Rosamund's Recluse

Kothgorr Castle

 

Lady Rosamund's Recluse is now live on Amazon. I've dragged myself away from constantly tweaking it here and there, as the next book in the series 'Lord Felix and Miss Fraser' is pestering me to get started on it.

 

The novel's cover

 

 

 

 

I'm sure I've written an outline of Rosamund's and Petroc's story previously, but here is what I've put on Facebook about the novel:

    " ....I have to say that writing this book has been a wonderful experience - Rosamund and Petroc are the perfect protagonists, and the grim granite Kothgorr castle is ideal for a gothic romance. The story is set in Cornwall, where Lady Rosamund arrives incognito, as Mr. Ross Fothergill, to act as temporary secretary and amanuensis to Petroc Tregannon, Viscount Kothgorr. Petroc has been a recluse since Waterloo having suffered disfiguring and disabling injuries. Rosamund has dubbed him 'the rudest man on the planet' but is willing to put up with him to get access to the family records and continue her research into her colourful ancestor, Lady Thomasina. As they learn to work and live together, Petroc is intrigued by his clever assistant, and Rosamund finds herself relaxing with this surprisingly interesting man. However, servants notice everything, and ..... Well that's enough spoilers for now!"

Lady Thomasina - Rosamund's ancestor and role model!

 

 

 It is my favourite book in the series - I just love Rosamund and Petroc, they are funny, clever and endearing (without being mawkish). John says the book is spooky, especially near to the end (which is good because it is supposed to be a 'Gothic' Romance, but we are not talking anything that will keep you awake at night!)

 So, a couple of days rest and then serious writing starts on Felix. It's a tale of a very bored Felix accidently getting involved in bringing justice to Catriona Fraser, who has been robbed of her brithright by unscrupulous relatives. However, Catriona wants nothing of it - pursuing justice may cost her her life, so she sets about thwarting the plan hatched by her Grandmother, Lady Diane de Hauteville Vaisey and Felix. Mayhem ensues! I'm not saying much more as plots invariably change as you write them, and in the numerous revisions made later. I think it should be good, and hope to publish by Christmas.

 

Propinquity and Historical Romance

Propinquity - it's a good word, though don't try to say it if you've had one glass of wine too many! It is defined by Oxford Languages as 'the state of being close to someone or something; proximity.

And Lady Rosamund incognito! 

  It's also a very relevant word when it comes to personal relationships, and writing romance novels in particular. If your protagonists never meet, then how are they going to form any relationship? I've read a couple of novels, where they meet via correspondence initially, but even then there had to be some connection initiated by some sort of third-party agency, e.g. they have a common interest in say growing orchids, or Greek History. Even these circumstances require that both parties have the education and the leisure time to pursue such common interests.

So when one reads of Lady or Lord somebody having connections, (or few as in the case of the errant Lydia in Pride and Prejudice), it was no light matter. Making connections by marriage, common business of social interests, was a very serious business. And your ability to make connections via marriage was heavily dictated by your status (tilte or family history important here), your wealth, your respectability and finally your connections. 

So, your likelihood of meeting that Duke (why are American writers obsessed with Dukes - one would think they were scattered like confetti throughout the British Isles, while the truth is and always was, that they are nearly as rare as hen's teeth in reality?) was dictated by your ability to be accepted into the highest echelons of Society. Now, there was always the possibility (the odds were about as high as winning the lottery, I suppose) that you might stumble across the noble love of your life in the country, but it was highly unlikely. The more likely way was to take part in the London Season, and hope to be accepted and invited to attend the social functions governed by the elites.

Almack's by George Cruikshank (Wikimedia Commons)

And that's why getting vouchers for 'Almacks' was considered crucial for aspiring debutantes, and a reasonably safe, if chilling, place to look over prospective brides, if a gentleman was in the market for a wife.

No one was admitted to Almack's unless they had been vetted by the Patronesses of that Institution. If you were admitted, you were considered to be respectable enough to enter into the hallowed halls of the highest echelons of Polite Society. The system wasn't infallible, of course, but it worked for most. Here, debutantes could meet gentlemen who were looking for a wife, in a relatively safe, if slightly boring environment. 

And whilst the young people were tripping the light fantastic, the chaperones would be discussing all the other important stuff: dowries, annual incomes, lands, property, connections, gossip, scandal and worst of all: rumours!

And so we authors of historical romances spend a lot of time working on how our heroes and heroines meet, and continue to be able to meet in a reasonably open manner. They have to get to know each other and have sufficient opportunity to fall in love, tackle some obstacles that threaten their happiness, and finally overcome all other obstacles (competition from other ladies or gents, fortune hunters etc) thrown in their way, and live happily ever after.

So, in the famous words of the old song "Getting to know you", it requires quite a lot of thought to make a love story both entertaining and believable! So dances, house-parties, and riding in public places such as Hyde Park, were incorporated into the rituals of the Season, or just following it, to ensure everybody had the opportunity to meet a suitable parti, with some time, almost alone together; and therefore these situational tropes will be found in many historical romances! Putting an original spin on these rituals is the hard bit!

A young lady riding in Hyde Park, pursued by intrigued gentleman?

I hope to publish 'Lady Rosamund's Recluse' in the next few weeks. As might be expected with Rosamund, the whole doing 'The Season' does not go down well with her - she has resigned herself to luxurious spinsterhood, and goes off to find adventure instead! Which is when things get interesting! Look out for news here and on Facebook.

Enjoy the joys of Spring! 

Detta

Lady Rosamund's Recluse

Well, we've got to the editing and proof-reading stages - hoorah! As you probably know, I wrote the first draft of Lady Rosamund whilst I was grappling with the storyline of Lord Nathaniel - Rosamund's storyline was just there, ready to go, fully formed in my head. 

However, the downside of such a situation is that though it appears to be a more than satisfactory story to oneself, it may not be crystal clear to a reader. This means that the editing process can be a little more painful, as you realise that though your main characters are fine, the backstory and the heft of the plot may need a little filling out.

But I'm getting there, and I have to say that I love the two main protagonists in this story - Rosamund and Petroc. They are the most 'real' to me of all my characters. Yes, my friends will realise that there is quite a lot of the young me in Rosamund, but she is cleverer and far braver than I ever was.

Those of you who have read the first three books of the 'The Brockworth Chronicles' series will know that amongst Rosamund's many interests, she has developed a bit of an obsession about one of her ancestors, Lady Thomasina Brockworth (nee Tregannon). However, she has reached the limit of what information she can source at home or in London (see the Chronicle), and her attempts to elicit some information from the current Keeper of Kothgorr Castle (the Tregannon's ancestral home), Petroc Tregannon, has met with absolutely no success.

Petroc Tregannon on the beach below Kothgorr castle.

But then, whilst enduring 'The Season' she comes across an advert in the Times inviting
applications for the post of temporary assistant over the summer season at Kothgorr Castle, acting as assistant to the Viscount and helping sort documents in the muniments room. Despite the fact that Rosamund has labelled Petroc Tregannon 'the rudest man in the world', she knows that this is the perfect, and perhaps only opportunity that she will get to riffle through the Tregannon's records at her leisure!

The fly in the ointment is, of course, that they will be expecting applications from males only, and how on earth could she persuade her family to allow her to work in a single gentleman's home? Mmm - a conundrum.

But Rosamund isn't going to allow such trifling considerations get in her way, is she? Certainly, her feisty ancestress, Lady Thomasina, would not! So Rosamund sends off her application, posing as Mr Ross Fothergill, never for one moment anticipating all the scrapes and dangers she might encounter in the rather forbidding granite pile of Kothgorr Castle.

A vague idea of how imagine Kothgorr Castle to look on a stormy day.

Hopefully 'Lady Rosamund's Recluse will be published sometime in May. Of all the four books, I've written about the Brockworth family so far, this is, by far, my favourite. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  Detta