I finished reviewing the galley proofs for Imperial Scandal last week and received a box of gorgeous ARCs. To celebrate the book’s upcoming publications (March 27, 2012), I’ll be giving away an ARC to one commenter each week through the end of the year.
For this week’s post, another teaser from Imperial Scandal, a glimpse of Mélanie/Suzanne with her maid and companion Blanca.
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“I swear it’s as though mysterious deaths follow the two of you about.” Blanca Mendoza, Mélanie’s confidante, maid, and friend, added a yellow block to the gatehouse she, Mélanie, and Colin were building on the salon carpet in the Rue Ducale out of the blocks that had been among Colin’s birthday presents.
“I’d say that’s a function of our work.” Mélanie cupped her hand round Colin’s own and carefully helped him put a red block atop the yellow one, completing the tower over the archway.
Blanca shot a sharp look at her. “You can’t go on like this forever.”
“Who said anything about forever?” Mélanie watched her son pick up one of his new wooden horses and gallop it through the archway. The weight of the future pressed against her, as it had more and more of late. An iron band round her temples drawn ever tighter. “I’m just trying to get through one day at a time.”
“That’s what worries me,” Blanca said.
“No sense fussing. We’ve come this far. Careful, darling.” Mélanie stopped Colin before he could plow the horse into the blocks. “I don’t think the gatehouse could stand up to Mercury’s hooves.”
“You always say that,” Blanca said, “but this time–“
A rap sounded on the door. “Forgive me, madame.” Valentin, the footman they’d engaged when they came to Brussels (how odd to have a footman), stepped into the room. “You have a caller. A Lady Cordelia Davenport.”
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How is Mélanie/Suzanne’s relationship with Blanca different from Charles/Malcolm’s relationship with his valet Addison? What do you think are the challenges of writing valet and ladies maid characters? Any other questions about Imperial Scandal?
This week’s Fraser Correspondence letter is from Raoul to Mélanie/Suzanne.
November 21, 2011 at 1:10 pm
So glad I visited this site today! I’ve been very absent-minded lately and meant to respond to last week’s theater-related post but then completely forgot to look up the names of the books (which was “Interred with their Bones” and “Haunt Me Still” by Jennifer Lee Carrell).
I personally like it when valets and maids are a little sassy, though it seems that it’s more often the maids. A lot of times, the “hired help” is just background noise so it’s great when they have a lot of personality and aren’t afraid to show it. Perhaps that’s why I liked “Downton Abbey” so much.
November 21, 2011 at 2:39 pm
I just finished Vienna Waltz and enjoyed it very much. For me, Blanca had more substance than Addison. It may be that female characters can be more inventive when it comes to gatherinig information and can encourage closer relationships than male characters.
Joanne
November 21, 2011 at 7:59 pm
I loved Downton Abbey for the the same reason, Christine. I’d like to do more with the staff in my books. I’ve even thought about having a mystery that centers around one of them (with Charles/Malcolm and Mel/Suzette still drawn in to investigate it).
Thanks for the titles of the theatrical books!
November 21, 2011 at 8:06 pm
So glad you enjoyed Vienna Waltz, Joanne! I do think female characters can interact in a more inventive and informal way than male characters often especially when it comes to information gathering. Also, Blanca has a less conventional servant/employer relationship with Mel/Suzette than Addison does with Charles/Malcolm, so I think their interactions (such as in the excerpt above) are less constrained. They really are friends. Actually in a sense Malcolm/Charles and Addison are friends as well, but their relationship is more constrained by the roles they’ve both been bred up to play.
November 21, 2011 at 8:23 pm
Great excerpt. I am new to this author and look forward to reading her books. Congrats on the release.
November 21, 2011 at 8:37 pm
I am always intrigued in a novel when a valet or ladies maid make “read between the lines” remarks that tend to go over the heads of the main characters but are easily caught by the reader. This makes for a bit of humor in a book which is what I love.
November 21, 2011 at 9:04 pm
Thanks, Christine A.! Glad you enjoyed the excerpt!
November 21, 2011 at 9:07 pm
That’s a great point, Connie. I think ladies maids and valets can often be used to comment on the main characters. They often have insights into the characters and situations which their employers miss. Ladies maids and valets are close to the situation and characters yet to a certain extent observers.
November 21, 2011 at 11:37 pm
Melanie & Blanca’s relationship has some similarities to Mel & Charles. They follow the rules of their position in society in order to fit in and do their jobs, but behind closed doors it is very different. Mel & Blanca are friends. They have been through many toils, and they watch each other’s back. They respect each other, and the roles each are playing in society. Blanca is not a traditional servant, and of course Mel is not a traditional lady. But both play those parts when necessary.
November 22, 2011 at 3:34 am
That’s really interesting comparison of Mélanie and Blanca with Mel and Charles, Susan. It is very similar in that they conform to certain roles in public and drop the mask in private as you say. Blanca even calls Mel “Mélanie” (or “Suzanne” as the case may be) when they’re alone (meaning when not even Charles is there). Both women can be honest with each other in ways they can’t even with the men in their lives.
November 22, 2011 at 4:52 pm
Hi Tracey,
I cannot wait to read “Imperial Scandal!” My birthday is around the same time it will be released, so I can’t help but think that its like a birthday present
I hope you have a lovely Thanksgiving holiday!
Because women are known as more “communicative” than men, women need to be able to talk to each other (hence why coffee houses are more filled with women) and Blanca and Melanie’s relationship provides the outlet for this need. I think that Blanca and Melanie realize their relationship is more of a deep friendship than that of an employer/employee.
Charles and Addison’s relationship is based on experience and respect (as is Blanca’s and Melanie’s), but they don’t need the same level of communication to maintain this. Their relationship based more on action than words, and is more of an employee/employer kind. The friendship between the two isn’t acknowledged as much.
November 22, 2011 at 5:09 pm
Happy almost birthday, Tiffany! That’s a good point that Charles and Addison (though deeply fond of each other) talk less and base their relationship “more on action than words.” Because they don’t put things into words and because they are both more conscious of the roles they were born to (even though Charles in many ways disagrees with those roles) they don’t tend to acknowledge the bond between them. And then there’s the fact that Charles isn’t good at putting his feelings for *anyone* into words – neither is Addison.
November 22, 2011 at 7:56 pm
Another new to me author which i love finding!! Love it when the servants are more like friends than servants. This looks like a really great book, that i’d like to read. Please enter me.
November 23, 2011 at 7:48 am
Glad you found my website, Martha! I like it when servants are more like friends as well, though it can bet tricky to write while staying true to period mores. I like writing Mel and Blanca because their history lets them believably step outside their roles.
November 24, 2011 at 3:59 am
I seem to recall at least a few historical romances where the hero was good friends with his valet, but I’m having a senior moment here, so I can’t come up with any titles, except for To Seduce a Sinner by Elizabeth Hoyt. I hope some fellow historical romance junkies can help me out here! But I recall the plot situation being that the valet used to be the hero’s batman during wartime, so they’ve been through a lot together. Of course being men, they don’t verbalize it the way a pair of women friends would. As Tiffany says, friendships between men are based more on action that words, and I think this holds true regardless of whether they are employer/employee and no matter what time period.
November 24, 2011 at 7:54 am
My mom and I had a hero and his valet (his former batman) with a similar sort of relationship in one of Anthea Malcolm Regencies, “A Touch of Scandal”, Karin. As you say, having been through a lot together during the war can break down class boundaries. Damerel and his valet Marsden also have that sort of relationship in Georgette Heyer’s “Venetia.” Neither has been in the military, but they have had a lot of adventures together all over the Continent. I love the scene at the end where Marsden congratulates Damerel and Venetia on their betrothal. Marsden is one of my favorite valet characters.
November 25, 2011 at 5:58 pm
Just picked up “Vienna Waltz” from the library and plan to start reading it later today. Just from the excerpts here and the first chapter I’m hooked on this couple and their adventures. Would *love* to win an ARC!
November 25, 2011 at 6:38 pm
So glad you found Vienna Waltz, Larisa, and are liking it so far! Do let me know how you enjoy it!
November 27, 2011 at 4:48 am
I am so looking forward to this release! And I loved Downton Abbey, great comparison.
November 27, 2011 at 6:15 am
Thanks, Alycia! Wasn’t Downton Abbey wonderful? So looking forward to the next installment!
November 27, 2011 at 4:38 pm
I finally found a local store that will bring in your books for me, I’m looking forward to another great read. Just from the excerpt I read the book will be just as good if not better than the ones I have already read.
November 27, 2011 at 6:03 pm
That’s great to know, Tim – so glad you’re able to order the books locally! Definitely let me know what you think. Happy Holidays!!
November 27, 2011 at 6:43 pm
Peter Wimsey and Bunter. I think Sayers did the “friendship vs. class” issues rather well. Of course I really don’t know how it was in those days.
Personally, I think too many historical authors try to be Politically Correct by making the heroine (sometimes the hero) and the servants BFFs.
Or, conversely, the servants have no real personality other than adoring their noble masters.
I can buy Melanie and Bianca being friends due to their situation (neither one of them is who they say they are. Frankly, I don’t buy daughters of the nobility worrying about their servants straining themselves doing their jobs.
November 27, 2011 at 6:52 pm
Peter Wimsey and Bunter are a great example, JMM! As an historical novelist I find it a difficult relationship to juggle. One wants to be true to the period. On the other hand, there’s a wide range of behaviors in any era and people are people with the same emotions and compassion. It’s hard to believe there wouldn’t, at least in some cases, be a strong emotional bond between two people who spent as much time together as valets and ladies’ maids and their employers.
I think Downton Abbey handles this really well. You see the intolerable natures of the whole system and yet the earl and countess are decent people who genuinely care about their staff. Which makes the fact that it’s an intolerable situation all the more interesting.
November 27, 2011 at 8:06 pm
Ah, Bunter, the perfect manservant. He really shines in Busman’s Honeymoon. He also served with Lord Peter in the war.
I have “A Touch of Scandal”, but I haven’t read it yet.
November 28, 2011 at 1:33 am
Bunter’s role in Busman’s Honeymoon is great, isn’t it, Karin? One of my favorite books. And one definitely has the sense that their shared experiences in the war have created an extra bond between him and Peter. In Thrones. Dominations, the book begun by Sayers and finished by Jill Paton Walsh, there’s a nice subplot about a girl Bunter has fallen in love with. Harriet intervenes because Bunter is uncomfortable with what the possibility of marriage would do to his role as Peter’s valet.
December 2, 2011 at 1:27 am
Oh, I have sneaking suspicion I’ve just fallen into & in love with a new series….
December 2, 2011 at 10:12 am
Thanks, Larisa – that’s great to hear!
December 4, 2011 at 8:07 pm
So sorry to be posting the winner so late – last week got away from me. A lot going on right now (I’ll explain more in my next blog post).
The winner of the first week of the IMPERIAL SCANDAL giveaway is Christine. Christine, if you email me your snail mail address through the link on the About Tracy page on my site, I’ll get the ARC out to you.
The second week of the contest is still open, and I’ll be posting week 3′s contest early next week.
December 5, 2011 at 3:32 am
[...] today I posted the winner of the first week of the Imperial Scandal ARC contest. My apologies for being so late with this. As I mentioned when I posted the winner, this past week [...]