A Lady Unrivaled
Page 37
We get to see a bit more about the Ballet Russe in this one, as well. I, like Europe at the time, am a bit enthralled with all things Russian, and dove headlong into study of the culture so I could create Kira to be authentic. I hope you enjoyed the glimpses of Russian life, and if you want to know more, I can’t recommend enough the book Natasha’s Dance: A Cultural History of Russia by Orlando Figes. My ballerina would have been born into a free generation, but her grandparents would have been serfs—and the life they would have known was at once intriguing and often horrifying. We, as readers, know that even this Russian culture was marching toward change in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. But at the time of this story, it was still at its height.
I’d also been waiting not-so-patiently to take my stories into the Cotswolds, where I’d situated Ralin Castle among the picturesque countryside full of cottages of honeyed stone with thatched roofs. I hope you enjoyed the glimpse of this beautiful landscape. The descriptions of Anlic Manor are based on an actual manor house in the region, Temple Guiting Manor—which is now a vacation property available for rental. And yet no one volunteered to send me there to write this book! Shocking, I know. As always, you can see photos of the locations and characters on my Pinterest boards at www.Pinterest.com/RoseannaMWhite.
Finally, a word about my characters. While I realize that few gentlemen were involved with their children at this stage in history, I loved the idea of making Cayton an exception to that, proving himself so very different from the character who made brief appearances in the first two books. And I could think of no better foil to his personality than the optimistic Ella—who may (ahem) be more like me than any other character I’ve ever written. Not that I get lost quite so often (only about half as much . . .), but it’s well known in my house that putting something into my care will likely result in it disappearing into a vortex and never being seen again.
This time around, both of my characters had to struggle with trust: trusting that God had something good in store, and trusting their own ability to recognize it—and receive it. I hope and pray that you, too, will see that whatever path you’re on in life, God means it to enrich your heart and soul. And that no matter how many mistakes we make, in our actions or our judgment, we can always trust His voice to lead us . . . so long as we know how to hear Him.
Roseanna M. White pens her novels beneath her Betsy Ross flag, with her Jane Austen action figure watching over her. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two small children, editing and designing, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of over a dozen historical novels and novellas, ranging from biblical fiction to American-set romances to her new British series. She makes her home in the breathtaking mountains of West Virginia. You can learn more about her and her stories at www.RoseannaMWhite.com.
Books by Roseanna White
LADIES OF THE MANOR
The Lost Heiress
The Reluctant Duchess
A Lady Unrivaled
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