In our pursuit of happiness here in America, sometimes I wonder if we’ve forgotten what true happiness is. Could it be something simpler? What would we give to attain it?
This question drove me as I researched the extravagance of the Gilded Age of America. During a time when most workers averaged five hundred dollars a year in salary, there thrived a portion of society—the elite Mrs. Astor’s 400—who had such breathtaking wealth that they would have dinner parties costing in excess of $250,000 (and employ half the city doing so.) This elite set—the Carnegies and Astors and Vanderbilts and Rockerfellers and Roosevelts and JP Morgans—ran our economy and adhered to a set of society rules that rivaled that of the royal courts of England.
But under all the glitter and gold simmered stories of adultery, murder, embezzlement and unrest. People who weren’t satisfied. People who thirsted for more out of a life that had already given them “everything.”
I believe it’s because they—like all of us—were searching for love. They simply didn’t realize they couldn’t buy it.
Into this backdrop, to explore this world, I set Jinx and Esme. Patterned after the story of Jacob and Esau, I wanted to create two daughters of wealth and power and portray the way each handled the deep longings of her heart. I also wanted to explore what it meant to be truly blessed. It is possible to be blessed in poverty? In wealth?
I believe it is. It’s just a matter of stepping back and understanding the security, the belonging, the richness of being a child of God. Of being an Heiress of the Kingdom.
My life is deeply enriched—blessed!—by those who believed in me and helped me write this story. My deepest gratitude goes to Carlton Garborg, who believed in me enough to challenge me to write an “epic series.” This is for you, big C. And Jason Rovenstine, whose enthusiasm is absolutely catchy. I am so blessed to work with Susan Downs on these novels—my former writing partner, dear friend, wise acquisitions editor. And of course, this book would have never been written without my writing therapist Rachel Hauck on the other end of the phone. (She always has the answer to: “What do I write next?”) Ellen Tarver smoothed out the story so that it flowed, and Nancy Toback made this manuscript shine. What a team!
My gratitude also goes out to Bill and Lisa Pomroy, for their willingness to sit for hours as I drilled them with questions about copper mining. What a gift to me they were (I mean, really, I wasn’t actually expecting an answer when I asked, “Do you know anyone who has been inside a mine?” It’s just like God to provide someone nearby who answers, “I’ve worked in mines for 25 years.” Wow.)
To my children David, Sarah, Peter and Noah who make me rich every day—even when we lived in a garage without heat or running water. You bless me when you call me Mom.
And finally, I’m so grateful to be married to a man who always makes me feel that indeed, I am an heiress. I love you, Andrew.
Thank you again for reading! I welcome your thoughts on this story at www.SusanMayWarren.com. And look for the continuing adventures of the Price and Worth families in the next installment: Baroness.
Susie May
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