I am delighted to have a guest post from the author today ~ thanks to Rachel’s Random Resources for organizing.
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Books in my book
Maybe because I adore books, my heroine, Ginny Snow, has a bookcase in her isolated Missouri farm. In an early chapter my male protagonist, Lex, explores the books and I use this as a way of hinting to the reader the character of Ginny and her family.
The first books he takes down are three volumes of Democracy in America, by Alexis de Tocqueville and published in 1835. One of the volumes is in the original French and the ability to speak French is a theme through my story, right to the very end. Ginny quotes de Tocqueville’s words about women being the backbone of American democracy.
There are novels in the Snow family bookcase. A copy of Uncle Tom’s Cabin suggests the political leanings of the household. Lex is amused to find Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, a book with a scandalous reputation. He opens it and, again, finds it is in the original French.
Books are significant in other ways. “The Gilded Age” was coined in the 1920s as a term for this period of fabulous wealth for a small number of industrialists. It was taken from The Gilded Age, written in 1873 by Mark Twain and Charles Warner. I was interested to find that the first edition cover included an engagement ring in its design. This book is given to Ginny during the story.
There were books I considered including but could not for historical accuracy. I wanted to use Emile Zola’s Nana, a book even more scandalous than Madame Bovary, but it was published too late. I was going to give the family Melville’s Moby Dick. Although published in 1851 and therefore potentially in the bookcase, very few copies were sold during the 19th century, so it stretched credulity that the family might have bought it.
Under a Gilded Sky is a sweeping historical love story. The slow-burn romance between Ginny and Lex is what drives the tale. But I wanted to create a believable world for them. Whilst very few readers may pick up on what the books signify, each of the choices I made was meaningful.
Pre-order Links
Under a Gilded Sky multi retailer choice link – all retailer options : https://geni.us/176-al-aut-ch
Author Bio
Imogen writes sweeping, historical fiction. Her first two novels are set in nineteenth century America.
As a teenager, she took the Greyhound bus from San Francisco to New York. Over those three days of staring out of the window at the majestic mountains and endless flat plains, stories wound themselves into her head: tales of brooding, charismatic men captivated by independent women.
Since then, she has worked in a coffee-shop in Piccadilly, a famous bookstore, and a children’s home. She has run festivals, and turned a derelict housing block on one of the poorest estates in the UK into an award-winning arts centre.
During 2020 Imogen was selected by Kate Nash Literary Agency as one of their BookCamp mentees, a mentorship programme designed to accelerate the careers of promising new writers.
Married with two children, Imogen divides her time between Wales and Sardinia.
She hopes her books will bring you the tingle of a new love affair whilst immersed in a different time and place.
Social Media Links
Website: https://imogenmartinauthor.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ImogenMartin9
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ImogenMartin.Author/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imogenmartinauthor/?hl=en-gb
Blurb
In this epic and unforgettable love story, set in the wilds of Missouri and the glamour of high society Boston at the dawn of the Gilded Age, one woman’s life changes forever the day that a stranger turns up on her doorstep.
Missouri, February 1874: The last thing struggling homesteader Ginny needs is a scandal on her hands. But when a badly injured drifter arrives at Snow Farm in desperate need of medical attention, Ginny’s kind nature and good upbringing means she has no choice but to treat his wounds and care for him until he’s back on his feet, no matter the danger he might pose.
Ginny’s been running the farm and looking after her fourteen-year-old sister Mary-Lou since their papa died two years ago, each morning pulling on his old leather coat and pushing her feet into stout boots that come up to her knees, before heading out to tend to the cattle. She’s determined to hold onto the one thing that connects them to memories of their parents – whatever the cost. And when their uninvited guest – Lex – is well enough he offers his help, and she surprises herself by accepting it.
But not long after Lex moves on, Ginny realises that her heart has gone with him. And when the farm’s fortunes take a turn for the worse, she faces her hardest test yet. Can she save the only home she’s ever known, and everything she holds dear? And what if doing so means risking a chance at love and happiness she never expected to come her way?
An utterly spellbinding story perfect for fans of Amy Harmon, Olivia Hawker and Kristin Hannah. Readers will love this breathtaking and vivid historical novel of passion, destiny and divided family loyalties.
“Captivating…will leave an indelible mark on your heart.” Rachel Wesson
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