Anne here, and today I'm interviewing Mary Jo Putney about her new book, ONCE DISHONORED which is OUT TOMORROW!
I've read it twice now and thoroughly enjoyed it both times. It's also garnered some lovely reviews. Library Journal gave it a coveted starred review, and gave it this verdict: "In her own signature style, paying impeccable attention to period details, Putney continues to vindicate the honor of scoundrels in this fifth entry of the stunning “Rogues Redeemed” series (after Once a Spy). Fans of historicals will root for our brave, intelligent heroine and the hero who stands beside her."
Publisher's Weekly called it: "a believable, sensuous romance built on true friendship. With this emotional romance, Putney again proves why she’s a star of the genre."
Early readers too, are enthusiastic. One said: "What a treat! Such beautifully drawn, richly nuanced characters—and happy endings for everyone, huzzah!"
Another said "Wow, I really love this hero! I can see why this book is getting rave reviews. I also like the theme of the wonderful heroine bonding with the other wonderful heroines from previous books in a supportive sisterhood. Mary Jo Putney's books are always wonderful, but this one is particularly moving to me."
Another said: "I decided to have a quick glance at the first chapter of this book at bedtime and I was still reading three hours later! Literally couldn’t put it down and I was instantly engaged in both the hero and heroine’s lives."
And here's one more: "I loved the parallel dishonor of the main characters and how they worked together to rehabilitate each other."
Anne again: The 5th book in the 'Rogues Redeemed' series, ONCE DISHONORED is about Lucas Mandeville, now Lord Foxton, whom we met in Once A Spy. Making a reluctant return to society, he sees a young woman in black being horribly insulted at a ball. Lucas being gallant to the fingertips, steps in and asks her to dance. She is Kendra, Lady Denshire, who he knew years before as Kendra Douglas.
Each of them is, in the eyes of society, disgraced, Lucas because in wartime he broke his parole — his word of honor as a gentleman — and escaped a French prison. Kendra's disgrace is one manufactured by her dastardly husband in order to get a divorce — and get his hands on her inheritance. He's also spirited away her young son. Lucas vows to help Kendra, and brings her into his circle of clever and influential friends.
Anne: Mary Jo, thank you for the opportunity of interviewing you about ONCE DISHONORED (and getting to read the book early!) Many of your books deal with healing, redemption and reconciliation, and this one is no exception.
When we first met Lucas in Once a Spy, he was a bit of a lost soul, feeling unworthy and trying to make up for it by becoming a healer in France, being trained by a monk. In Once Dishonored, he's back in England but still feeling the negative effects of his broken parole. Tell us about Lucas.
Mary Jo: You're exactly right about Lucas being something of a lost soul, Anne. We don't see him as a young man, but in his interactions with family, it's clear that he was a well-bred, easy going fellow who followed the path laid out for him. He and his cousin Simon, hero of Once a Spy, were close as brothers. They went to school together at Harrow, then Lucas followed his late father into the Royal Navy. So far so good.
But Lucas's experiences in prison broke him and when he escaped, he felt too dishonored to return to his former life and position in society. Instead, he became the apprentice and caregiver of a bonesetting Franciscan friar. He found he had a gift for healing, but not the calling to become a friar himself. So when his cousin Simon hunted him down, he eventually decided that it was time to go home. But apart from his family, where does he belong? Once Dishonored is the story of the new life he creates for himself.
Anne: If Lucas is a man in need of redemption and a good cause and Kendra's is a most worthy cause. Tell us about Kendra.
Mary Jo: Though an orphan and an heiress, Kendra Douglas was a normal young woman who just wanted a decent husband and a family. She thought she would have that when she married Lord Denshire, but over time she found he was much less decent than expected. Eventually, he became a nightmare. A new activity she takes up is fencing, which explains the dramatic cover of Kendra in fencing gear and carrying a foil. She can work off anger over her situation, and makes friends among the Wednesday Morning Fencing Ladies--which include heroines of earlier books in this series. They're a formidable lot! (The fencing salon she attends, Angelo's, was a real place that Word Wench Andrea Penrose blogged about. I jumped on it!)
Anne: In this day of easy, widespread and no-fault divorce, I think a lot of people will be surprised — and angered — by the repercussions of divorce for the woman in this era. What were some of the things that Kendra faced?
Mary Jo: English divorce law of the period was draconian, especially for women. The only ground for divorce was adultery by the wife. A husband could commit endless adulteries without consequences. Here is the brief summary of divorce I included in the Author's Note of the book — and even this isn't that brief!
The few divorces granted were almost invariably on the grounds of adultery by the wife and there were two phases, the civil and religious. The civil issue was a "CrimCon" trial, that is, the crime of adultery, usually meaning a lengthy, flagrant affair. It was considered a matter of property; that is, the wife was the property of her husband and having an affair diminished her property value. (Pause to insert an eye roll here.)
The wife was not allowed to attend the trial nor to testify because under Anglo-Saxon common law, the husband and wife are one, and the one is the husband. If the CrimCon suit was successful, the lover generally had to pay a large fine to the husband for alienation of affection.
Then the husband sued the wife for adultery and the trial was held in an ecclesiastical court. If successful, the result would be divortium a mensa et thoro, that is, a separation of bed and board, and neither party could remarry. For remarriage, a Parliamentary Private Bill of Divorcement had to be filed and a third trial was held. A successful result would be a divorce a vinculo matrimonii.
Pretty grim! Kendra's husband fabricated evidence to divorce her, and she's now a social pariah who is desperate to regain custody of her nine year old son. Her situation seems hopeless — until she and Lucas join forces.
Anne: Although all your books are stand-alones, they also often link up with characters from previous books and series. For instance, it was fun to meet up again with Lady Agnes Westerfield who founded the Westerfield Academy — the school for "boys of good birth and bad behavior."
Mary Jo: I like to write a community of friends, usually a group of men who have become virtually family for each other. As close friends, it's not surprising that different characters turn up in each other's stories, but only as needed. Note that last phrase: I never bring characters in just to make an appearance. They have to have a real purpose in the story. As it happens, Kendra and Lucas need a lot of support, so a lot of former characters, both male and female, are enlisted in the quest for justice. (As the writer, I like to have a good excuse to check in with them. *G*)
Anne: Could you give us a taste of Once Dishonored, please?
Mary Jo: The book begins with Lucas seeing Kendra being given the cut direct at a ball. He asks her to dance, and they realize they'd met many years before, when Kendra was being presented to society. They'd liked each other but they were going in different directions. Now their paths have crossed again. Lucas (ie. Foxton) offers to escort her home when they leave the ball and she accepts his offer.
Foxton accompanied her to the vestibule, where an efficient footman produced Kendra’s black cloak and Foxton’s hat. After she donned the cloak, she took her escort’s arm and they descended to street level. He asked, “Where do you live? You said it was nearby.”
“Thorsay House. It’s just off St. James, only three blocks away.” Kendra was surprised by how relaxed she felt on his arm. Was it because they had a prior acquaintance, or because he didn’t judge, leer, or despise her? Perhaps both.
Foxton walked like the military officer he’d been: upright, quietly alert to their surroundings, and clearly not an easy victim. She wasn’t afraid of a short walk at night in this part of London, but it was no bad thing to have a capable male escort.
"Thorsay," he said thoughtfully. "Named for the group of Scottish islands between Orkney and Shetland?"
"Yes, all three of the archipelagos are more Norse than Celtic, though they're part of Scotland now. Thorsay House belongs to the laird of the islands, and he allows Thorsayians to use it as a sort of boarding house when in London. My grandmother was from Thorsay, first cousin to the Laird. I spent summers there so I qualify as Thorsayian." The relaxed, accepting nature of Thorsay House had been a sanctuary in the hell her life had become. “I was grateful to be welcomed at the house when I needed a new home.
“You were forced out of your marital home?” Foxton asked quietly.
“Yes.” Her voice was stony. That had been the worst day of her life, a raging firestorm whose details blurred in her mind. What she remembered was pain and loss.
Neither of them spoke as they walked the short blocks to Thorsay House. At the bottom of the steps, she paused to pull her key from her reticule.
She was going to offer a polite thank-you for Foxton’s escort when he caught her gaze and said soberly, “Your life has been shattered, Kendra Douglas. Rage and grief are inevitable and likely necessary. But at some point you need to step beyond the anger toward your future. What is possible? What matters most to you, and how can you take the first steps toward achieving that?”
His words were a blade cutting through her inner turmoil. She drew a deep breath as she thought about what he’d said. Yes, it was time to move forward instead of standing still and burning. “That is the most useful advice I’ve yet received. You’ve implied that your life was also shattered. Did you learn wisdom by handling disaster well?”
He smiled with wry self-mockery. “No, I learned by handling it badly. I’m willing to tell you the whole disgraceful tale if you’re interested.”
Her eyes narrowed as she studied him, wanting to see beyond the handsome features to the man’s soul. Once she’d thought herself a good judge of people, but recent years had destroyed that belief.
Now she forced herself to lower her defenses and really look. Perhaps she was wrong, but she felt that Lucas Mandeville was a man she could trust, at least a little. “I’d like to hear that disgraceful tale, preferably over a brandy. Will you join me for talk? Only talk.”
“Only talk,” he agreed, looking mildly amused at her wariness.
She unlocked the door and stepped inside, leaving it open for Lord Foxton to follow. Thorsay House was quiet at this hour. There were no other guests at the moment, and Mr. and Mrs. Brown, the couple who maintained the house, were in bed by now.
A candle was burning on the narrow table in the vestibule. She lifted the candlestick and led the way into a small sitting room on the left. While she lit the lamps, Foxton knelt on the hearth and roused the embers of the coal fire to warmer life. Like a Scot, he didn’t stand on ceremony and wait for someone else to perform mundane tasks.
After the fire was burning easily, he stood and gazed around the sitting room. The walls were festooned with Scottish weaponry: arcs of swords and battle axes, daggers and shields, and a range of other implements of death. He moved to a wheel of dirks and traced his fingertips over the foot-and-a-half length of one.
“A Highland dirk,” she said. “Very good for close fighting.”
He smiled a little and turned back toward her. “Does Thorsay House expect to be invaded by the English?”
“If they come, we’re prepared.”
Anne: Lovely fighting words there. What are you working on next? Is there not one more hero-in-waiting, one of the "Rogues Redeemed" who escaped that cellar in Portugal?
Mary Jo: Indeed there is! Chantry was one of the five men in the Portuguese cellar. He turns up again in Once a Scoundrel, where he is working for the British Embassy in Constantinople under the name Ramsay. I'm working on his book now for next year. It's time for him to go home and take up his responsibilities--whether he wants to or not!
Anne: Oh good, I really liked him as Ramsay in Once a Scoundrel when he helped with the escape. He was definitely a hero-in-waiting.
Mary Jo: Thanks for interviewing me, Anne!
Anne: My absolute pleasure, Mary Jo, especially since I get to read the book early. *g*
Mary Jo will be giving a book away to someone who comments within the next two days. The question: Do you like seeing characters from early books, or do you find them tedious?