http://goddessfishpromotions.blogspot.com/2015/05/vbt-lady-of-good-family-by-jeanne-mackin.html
Jeanne will be awarding a $25 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
A Lady of Good Family
by Jeanne Mackin
Blurb:
Raised among wealth and privilege during America’s fabled Gilded Age, a niece of famous novelist Edith Wharton and a friend to literary great Henry James, Beatrix Farrand is expected to marry, and to marry well. But as a young woman traveling through Europe, she already knows that gardens are her true passion. How she becomes a woman for whom work and love, the earthly and the mysterious, are held in delicate balance is the story of her unique determination to create beauty while remaining true to herself.
Excerpt:
“There is a man involved,” he deduced.
“Yes. An Italian. Beatrix has been walking with him. They visited the Colosseum in the evening.”
“And she was kissed?”
“She was.”
“She’ll have to marry the fellow. Is he presentable?”
“Good looking, but poor as a church mouse, I suspect, and in the process of selling off the family heirlooms, or trying to.”
“Uh-oh,” said my husband. He grew thoughtful and looked out the window.
“Remember that evening?” he asked as the carriage bounced us down the Champs-Elysees. There was romance in his eye. I knew the hotel suite would be filled with roses, and in our bedroom, on my pillow, there would be a little red jeweler’s box. The size of the pearls would suggest how much he had lost. And soon he would have to pawn that bracelet or collar to pay off a debt. I had tried to explain to him that he lost considerable sums on these transactions – the pawnshops never paid the full value – but he had lifted his well-bred chin and refused to discuss the matter with me.
“Do I remember the evening in the Colosseum?” I said. “Of course I remember.” He had arrived unexpectedly, he had thought, though I had planted several clues in his path, should he choose to follow. Hansel and Gretel could not have asked for a better bread-crumb trail leading to the Colosseum, to me, walking in the moonlight with the beautiful Giovanelli.
Author Bio and Links:
Jeanne Mackin ‘s latest novel, A Lady of Good Family, explores the secret life of gilded age Beatrix Jones Farrand, niece of Edith Wharton and the first woman professional landscape design in America. Her previous novel, The Beautiful American, based on the life of model turned war correspondent and photographer, Lee Miller won the CNY 2015 prize for fiction. She has published in American Letters and Commentary and SNReview and other publications and is the author of the Cornell Book of Herbs and Edible Flowers. She was the recipient of a creative writing fellowship from the American Antiquarian Society and her journalism has won awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education. She lives with her husband, Steve Poleskie, in Ithaca.
A Lady of Good Family is available at Barnes and Nobles, Amazon, and other bookstores.
Links:
https://twitter.com/jeannemackin1
https://www.facebook.com/JeanneMackinAuthor
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/36613.Jeanne_MacKin
http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Good-Family-Novel-ebook/dp/B00OQRL57U
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-lady-of-good-family-jeanne-mackin/1120624847
Thanks for hosting!
Good to be with you today. Hope you and your readers are having a great summer so far, and am wondering how much detail you can remember about that first time you look at someone and thought “this one!”
Wondering how much detail you and your readers can remember about that first time you looked at someone and thought ‘this is the one!’ Was it while sitting on a mossy bench, sipping wine in a bistro, catching a bus?
I enjoyed the excerpt..thanks for sharing!
Sounds like a great read. I love the cover.
Sounds like a really good book, thanks for sharing!
I really enjoyed the excerpt! Thank you for sharing!
It’s a pleasure to have you here Jeanne!
When I thought ‘this is the one’? I was on a New York City subway, exhausted from work – but I perked up after that. 🙂
Good luck with your new book!
A subway. Great setting! I was walking through the doorway of his house, on my way to do an interview. It was winter and I was broke, with holes in my boots, but I didn’t notice the cold, after that shock of awareness. Thanks for sharing!
I’ve thought about that a bit. I worked as a journalist,and then as a teacher, and liked both professions. I’ve always thought it would be interesting to go into a health field…but my passion has always been writing. I do think it’s important for writers to do as much ‘in the world’ as possible, but it’s also important to find that quiet time and space to work alone, with words and your imagination. Great question!
Really enjoyed reading the excerpt, thank you!
I enjoyed learning more about the book and the author! Thank you for sharing!
I enjoyed learning about the book, and thank you for the awesome giveaway!
I have enjoyed learning about the book. Thanks for sharing it.
Terrific excerpt! The cover and title are awesome! Thank you for the great post and contest!