Reading has always been my favorite entertainment, my preferred escape from whatever is crowding my mind. But during two decades as a lawyer and an autism mom, I had little time for myself and grew away from books. On vacations, in airplanes, yes, but reading wasn’t part of my everyday life. I missed it.
Life got in the way, as they say.
In 2014, I found myself writing a legal brief at 3:00 a.m. while my family slept. Exhausted, I took a break and one of my favorite historical novels popped into my mind. It was Désirée by Annemarie Selinko. As a teenager, I pulled it off my mother’s shelf and ended up reading the book again and again, fascinated by the story of the French silk merchant’s daughter who was jilted by Napoleon and ultimately became Queen of Sweden. It swept me away.
That night, I did some internet searches about Désirée’s family, the Bernadotte dynasty, which still occupies Sweden’s throne. I discovered epic stories of passion and tragic love. While Napoleon’s army marched across the Continent and young Englishwomen danced at lavish Regency balls, a lot was happening in Sweden. And I fell in love with a young Swedish countess named Jacquette. I knew hers was the story I had to tell.
I quit law and started to write my novel. But I had a lot to learn.
I had never been to Sweden, knew little about its history, and couldn’t speak the language. Now, ten years later, I am taking language classes, have a collection of antique Swedish books (my lovely Swedish antiquarian booksellers can’t understand why I buy so many), and have traveled to Sweden more than a few times. I’ve walked the same halls as my characters, read their letters, translated their heartaches word by word.
I did this with the hope that my book will transport you to a different place and free you from what is crowding your thoughts.
I hope you will enjoy it and will follow me on my socials, where I recount the never-dull life of a mom, wife, and Shih Tzu muse living on the Connecticut Shoreline and the Lowcountry of South Carolina.
