"I prefer liberty to the chains of diamonds..." Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, 1689-1762
Cover image ©iStockphoto.com/manley099
|
When her husband's Great Aunt Beth dies, Ellie is shocked to have been bequeathed a significant amount of valuable jewellery. But before she can receive it, she must solve the challenge set by the old lady: to find out what scandal was in her husband’s family in Victorian times. Ellie is not the only one who is on a genealogy trail: at the funeral, she and husband Ivan meet Canadian Jack Berenson, an unlikely and unknown friend of Beth's. Jack charms Ellie, sharing his own family history research and connections. But Ellie and Ivan's marriage is already showing cracks, and Jack quickly steps in to the gap... What is the connection with a wealthy woman brought low in 1844? Why did Beth set this challenge for Ellie? The two women’s lives are tangled together, in this family-history thriller. Available on Kindle and other readers via smashwords.com; a free copy is available via smashwords.com using the coupon TT74R |
In The Chains of Diamonds there are two entwined stories, alternating between modern day and the 1840s: present-day Eleanor (Ellie) Jones wants more from her marriage than it is currently providing.
And in Victorian times, Marianne's story shows the effects of a very public ‘crim.con.’ trial.
And in Victorian times, Marianne's story shows the effects of a very public ‘crim.con.’ trial.
|
|
Interview with the author, M J Tyler
What made you write this book?
So is this story based on your own family history? Why was it so hard to get a divorce? So how much of this is real, about your family? You said you were wanting to find out about your natural mum - what happened...? |
From the time I had daughters of my own, I wanted to find out more about my natural mother, but back then it was tortuous and difficult process. In 2000, I’d got together some basic research, and left a message on a ‘surname forum’ to see if anyone had more information. Eight years later, and when the big websites had made research so much easier, I could trace my family back to the early 1100s: they’d been crooks, pirates, married for money many times, fought bravely in the Civil War, received honours and rewards, and maintained a grand family ‘seat’. Yes! The basic story of Marianne
Fraser and the ‘crim.con.’ trial is a true one: Marianne was my five-times
great aunt, and I discovered her story while searching the net in the early
hours of the morning. The scandalous trial featured as a front-page story of The Times for all four days of the case
– when I read it, I knew I’d found a story I wanted to develop.
Going through a 'crim.con' was the only way to get a divorce until the second half of the 19th century, and it was only the husband who could allege 'trespass' on his property, i.e. his wife's body! Many scandals were heard by the Court of Common Pleas. There was the famous case of Mrs Caroline Norton, for example, who was cited by her husband for an alleged affair with Lord Melbourne, the Prime Minister. When she turned to writing as a way to earn a living, her husband successfully claimed possession of her earnings. Well, this is a work of fiction that simply draws on reality. The Victorian characters are based on how I imagine the real players in this drama might have behaved; there is no connection that I know of to a Canadian hotelier, and Ivan, Ellie and Great Aunt Beth are entirely fictional. But Marianne and her sisters were left a great deal of money by their father, and wonderful jewellery by their mother... I discovered with delight that I have two half-sisters, who found me through complete serendipity and that surname forum. But that’s another story…
|
The Chains of Diamonds is published by The Hackington Press
Copyright © M J Tyler, December 2011
All rights reserved.
Copyright © M J Tyler, December 2011
All rights reserved.