Lady of Fortune:
Anne Gracie interviews Mary Jo Putney
Anne: Mary Jo, I've just finished reading Lady of Fortune, and I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed it. And I'm not the only one. Here's a snippet of a current review: "A story which captivated me from the first page and I devoured in no time, eager to see how everything will come to its end."
Here's the set-up for Lady Of Fortune: Christa, the young half-French half-English Comtesse D'Estelle, narrowly escapes execution in the French revolution, but during her escape her English half-brother, Charles, Lord Radcliffe and her mother are attacked and presumed dead. Orphaned and grieving, Christa lives in the country with her step-uncle and guardian, the new Lord Radcliffe, but when she reaches the end of her year of mourning, to her shock, her guardian informs her that she is, in fact penniless. He proposes a solution to her situation that prompts Christa to run away to London, where she seeks work.
This is a reissue of a much earlier book of yours. There's a dramatic difference in the style of the covers, for instance, reflecting quite different times. How did the reissue come about? Did you rework the novel at all?
MJP: It's a long story, Anne! Kensington has always been interested in reissuing earlier books of mine, and had already had reissued The Bargain, The Rake, and Dearly Beloved. and done a good job with them. First published in 1988, Lady of Fortune is the second book I ever wrote and has a lighter tone than my historical romances. I'd planned to release it as my third Putney Classic after The Diabolical Baron and Carousel of Hearts.
Yet somehow when talking with my (most excellent and patient) editor, Alicia, interest was expressed in what else I might have in the closet. I rather doubtfully sent her Lady with the caveat that it was written when I was a very new writer. Apart from a high drama beginning, it's more traditional Regency in tone than my historical romance.
To my shock, Alicia loved it and since the book is standalone, not part of a series, I knew that Kensington could do a better job of publishing than I could.
Actually, the book had always been something of a hybrid because the original publisher, Signet, had decided to experiment with "SuperRegencys," books that had historical romance length (over 100K rather than 75K) and with more sensuality. Lady was handed in way too long, a problem I had more than once when writing traditional Regencies. My editor liked it and it was somewhat more sensual, so it was put in the new SuperRegency line.
With that background, it does make a reasonable historical romance. I edited the book to tighten the language. (Another writer once told me that I wasn't afraid of long sentences, and it wasn't a complement. <G>) Besides polishing the manuscript, I removed some of the Regency-isms that were very Georgette Heyer-like.
The characterizations, plotline, and almost all of the dialogue are exactly the same. I wanted it to be the same book but better. So while the beginning is dramatic, the last part of the book moves into French farce territory. The covers of the old and new book are very different, though! I really disliked the original, which was done by a well known cover artist who was having a bad day. Alex looks like a hunchbacked vampire going for Christa's throat. The new cover gives a better sense of the story, I think.
Anne: Your heroine, Christa, is wonderful — intelligent and resourceful. Again, here's a snippet from a review: "She has all the weapons to create her own path, resilience, benevolence and a strong will." She's lost everything, including her family, her fortune, and her exalted social position, but refusing to indulge in self-pity, she gets on with earning a living. Too young and pretty to make a governess, she takes a position as a lady's maid. Though half-English, London is, for her, a foreign country, as is the life of a servant "below stairs".
MJP: Christa is possibly the Mayhem Consultant's favorite heroine of mine. She was raised in a loving French home with wealth, education, and privilege. Her father was a count, so in the French title system, Christa is a countess in her own right. Her family was liberal and supported the early reforms, but when the French Revolution turned bloodthirsty and aristocrats became targets for the guillotine, Christa and her mother had to flee France.
Christa is very bright and adaptable and when she realizes her circumstances have changed, she almost welcomes the opportunity to prove to herself that she can survive without the wealth and status she was born with. This proves to be harder than she expected, but her natural warmth and buoyancy serve her well.
Anne: I also loved your hero, Alex. Tell us about him.
MJP: Alex is just a really nice guy. Heir to a viscountcy, as a youth he'd fled into the Royal Navy to escape his viciously abusive mother. He did well and rose to the captaincy of a frigate, but he's invalided out after injuries suffered in a sea battle. It's time to return home to take up his responsibilities as a viscount and guardian of his younger brother and sister. He and his siblings quickly reconnect, but he is deeply wary of going into society. Because he's rich, titled, and good looking, he's a target for scheming husband hunters and his years at sea haven't given him a lot of experience in society.
Worse, he's dyslexic, a term hadn't been invented at the time but which modern readers will recognize. He generally functions very well, but he has some trouble with reading and writing as well as telling right and left. A good friend of mine had a dyslexic husband, and something she told me about him became a key element for Alex's interactions with society: when shocked and surprised, he can't find the words to talk his way out of an unwanted situation. This gets Alex into a lot of trouble! At the same time, he's discovering that being guardian to a younger brother and a shy debutante sister is much more complicated than he expected!
Anne: Lady of Fortune is not typical of most of your other stories in that it mostly takes place indoors. Apart from the very adventurous prologue, the "adventures" that your heroine has are more in the nature of social adventures, especially, but not only, in her new "below stairs" life.
MJP: Very true--the book is in the drawing room comedy mode of traditional Regencies. The more I wrote, the more interested I became in adventure and life outside of London society.
Anne: When Christa and Alex finally meet, it's a classic "meet cute". Would you care to share a snippet of that meeting?
MJP: Here's an excerpt of when they meet. Christa has just been thrown out of her first employer's house for resisting the unwanted attentions of her mistress's husband.
Bellowing with the pain of his cracked jaw, James dragged open the heavy front door. As Christa darted outside, he placed his hand between her shoulder blades and, with vicious strength, shoved her down the high stone steps.
Alex had decided to dismiss his carriage since the pleasant May morning was best enjoyed on foot. He had been in London for only a week and still reveled in the fact that he could walk more than a hundred paces in any direction. So far he hadn't missed the Navy at all, though he had not yet become accustomed to being "Lord Kingsley" rather than "Captain Kingsley."
He was admiring the houses in Portman Square when he heard a woman cry out, looking up just in time to avoid being bowled over by a falling female. Shifting his weight with the quickness of a man who has climbed a ship's rigging in a hurricane, Alex was able to catch her in his arms while maintaining his own balance.
Christa was not given to strong hysterics but the events of the last quarter‑hour had swept her up in a turmoil of anger and fear. She had been mauled by two men and had just escaped a potentially lethal fall. When her tear‑filled eyes registered that a tall blond man had saved her, reason and memory disappeared in a flood of chaotic emotion.
"Charles!" she cried as she wrapped her arms around the strong male body that held her and she succumbed to shuddering sobs.
Alex blinked in confusion. As a seaman he had always been known for his quick grasp of a situation, but having a delightfully soft female in his arms played havoc with his judgment. She had called him "Charles" with a wild, questioning note in her voice, then buried her head against his waistcoat. The girl's sobs started to abate, but a torrent of French words poured from her.
Alex found himself envying the absent Charles who should have been holding this delicious armful. He listened for a few moments, then said, "Sorry, but I'm not Charles. You must speak more slowly. I understand some French, but not at this speed."
She froze in his arms, then raised her head to took at him. He gave a gasp of pure shock.
Later-much, much later-Alex would realize that she wasn't really beautiful, but now the impact of her enchanting face hit him like a nine‑pound cannonball. Wondrous gray eyes had the clarity of smoky quartz, with dark flecks that flashed silver when her gaze shifted. The longest, blackest lashes he had ever seen set off a flawless complexion and an irresistible pixie face that seemed to be laughing even through her tears.
When she abruptly released him and stepped back, Alex calculated that the top of her head would just fit under his chin. Her agitation vanished and she said with quiet dignity, "Forgive me, monsieur. Of course you are not Charles for he is dead. I did not mean to cast my distress on you. Thank you for your most timely intervention "
Alex thought the girl had an indefinable air of quality to her, and a quiet elegance of dress that would have marked her as a Frenchwoman even if he hadn't heard her speak. He realized that she was inspecting him as carefully as he was studying her. Did they raise bolder women on the other side of the Channel?
Then he revised his thought as he realized that her gaze was not so much bold as disarmingly frank. Smiling a little, he asked, "Do I pass inspection?"
Anne: I was very interested in the progress of Alex's wound, as my father had a similar experience.
MJP: Then you probably know more about the subject than I do! Fragments of metal shrapnel can migrate in the body and cause continuing problems. They're a useful plot device because we can make the shrapnel go where we want. <G>
Anne: A reviewer also said this: "Yet this story is more than only Alex and Christa’s romance, it is a tale of friendship and family love, with many possible romances, some as second chances, and about the friends life throws on your path."
MJP: How nice! Thanks for quoting that.
Anne: So what's next for you (and your readers), Mary Jo?
MJP: I have a new book, Silver Lady, which will be first in my new Dangerous Gifts series. It will be released in December of this year and I'm now starting work on the second in the series. Between now and Silver Lady, I hope to release several backlist novellas.
Giveaway! I'll send a free copy of Lady of Fortune to one person who comments between now and midnight Saturday. Thanks for interviewing me, Anne!
Mary Jo