I have a new book out! Another Austen-inspired novel, like my last, The Making of Margaret Dashwood.  Now available on Amazon.

Miss Jane Fairfax possesses all the beauty and accomplishments that British society admires in a young woman. But, alas, she is an orphan without fortune and unlikely to receive any offers of marriage. She has now come of age, and must leave the care of her guardians, and make her own way in life. She must contract herself out as a governess, a day she hopes will never come.

The unexpected happens when wealthy, charismatic Frank Churchill enters her world, asking her to make him the happiest of men, offering the love and security she desires more than anything. But no one can learn of their engagement, for Mr. Churchill’s aunt will hear of it and surely oppose the match. It must remain a great secret.

But secrets, as readers of Austen novels know, have consequences.

Readers of Emma know some of Jane Fairfax’s story, but she is seen only through the eyes of other characters. How would her story read if the events were told from her perspective?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSMPZB83/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title

Who will she meet, besides the Wilberforce’s, of course. Why, the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, and Clarkson’s dear friends in the Lake Country, William Wordsworth, his wife Mary, and his sister Dorothy. What will the events of the turbulent early years of the 19th century bring to our dear heroine and her family and friends?

WRITTEN BY CAROL PRATT BRADLEY
REVIEW BY SUSAN MCDUFFIE

Boston, 1650: Susanna Hutchison, daughter of the heretic Anne Hutchison, and the only survivor of the Indian attack that killed her mother and siblings, has been ransomed from the Siwanoy tribe and returned to Boston, to the care of her eldest surviving brother, Edward. Susanna barely remembers her first language, English. She had accepted her adoption into the Siwanoy and had grown to love her foster family. Now, after seven years among the “savages,” Susannah is uprooted again and sent to the unforgiving Massachusetts Colony where her mother is remembered as a rebellious woman who needed to be reduced and eventually expelled from the colony. Can Susannah find a place among these strangers, her own family? Does she even want to?

https://historicalnovelsociety.org/reviews/daughter-of-anne-hoeck/

Daughter of Anne-Hoeck tells a fascinating tale well. In choosing to recount Anne Hutchison’s story from the viewpoint of her outcast daughter, Carol Pratt Bradley creates a novel that will appeal to the young adult audience, as well as to older readers. Bradley’s research into the different cultures portrayed informs the story, and her sympathy for Susanna rings true. The questions of individual conscience versus conforming to the dictates of society, and the urge to find one’s own place and roots within that society, will surely resonate with many readers. Recommended.

This novel was published in 2016. During my MFA studies in 2008 I stumbled across the account of a 16th century Englishwoman. It became my thesis novel. Writing about Anne Askew was painful but I’m glad that I did. She was a woman of deep conviction who valued scripture more than her own life. She became caught in the middle of political factions who used people’s religious ideals for their own power and gain. Her story changed how I view history and also my own time. Human nature does not change.

Link

In the afterword of “Daughter of Anne-Hoeck,” I reflected on what I learned from studying the unusual life of Susanna Hutchinson. It seems particularly applicable to the time in which I find my own self living. It is too easy to feel the angst over circumstances I cannot control: the day to day grinding of political upheaval and warring of opinions, injustice and suffering, and now a world pandemic. How much the sun shines and how much it rains. Any yet I must remember:

“Men and women live inside a social and political world which affects their circumstances. But our lives are much more than world events, social mores, or the interpretations of current government and religious authorities. We choose our own beliefs and opinions and actions, deciding for ourselves the truths we will follow. In doing so, we build a world of our own creation inside of our larger world. Isn’t that what the designer of earth and mankind desires for each of us? Like Susanna, we choose and shape our own “space between.”

Biblical fiction draws me. That must be why I write it. Lloyd C. Douglas published The Robe in 1942, a story of a Roman soldier who found Christ. The book in the library had an inscription dated 1945, given as a gift to a loved one. On the back cover, Douglas wrote about his interest in biblical novels: “My father was a country parson….Father loved to tell stories….they were the old Bible stories, but Father thought of every one in the Bible as alive, and he made them seem alive…..Well, I grew up and became a preacher and told stories, but I wanted to write….” I’m so glad he did. My life is enriched because of his stories.

One the front cover of the book was a small square message, written in red: “War has made people eager for books. It has also created a scarcity of paper. Books must be smaller now and thinner than the ones you have been used to. However, on the average such books are not shorter and your dollar buys as much reading matter as it ever has.” The Robe was published during the second world war, described as “a distinguished, disturbing, and exciting novel about another terrible era in history not unlike our own.” Douglas and his readers found perspective on the troubling time they lived in by searching the past. We can do the same. That must be one of many reasons why historical novels are valued.

With a title change, which I like much better, my fourth historical novel will be released on February 25, 2020. It is up on Goodreads and available for pre-sale on WiDo Publishing’s website.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/49329260-daughter-of-anne-hoeck

“Uplifting and powerful. I could not put this book down. I felt uplifted and encouraged with the powerful message of hope. This was a love story I didn’t know I needed.”

Amazing Book “This is one that I am sure I will re-read many times. Excellent work by an amazing author. Kudos Carol Pratt Bradley!”

In 2016, when my historical novel, Fire of the Word, was released, I wrote a post about writing it for Colleen Story’s blog, Writing and Wellness. She retweeted it today, so I reread it. Interesting how our own words return to us, reminding us of what we reflected on in the past:

“Is writing a spiritual practice for me? Yes.

There are many terms associated with the word spiritual: sacred, inner dimension, bliss, search for meaning, supernatural, the soul, sense of self, to name a few. For me, spirituality is searching for something larger and wiser and better than myself, to be able to comprehend with more than my own limited ability.

I want to combine the physical and spiritual to enable me to reach higher, dig deeper in my search for understanding.

To write with power and wisdom, I must search deep inside myself, reaching for a place not seen but only felt.”

That is still my goal….

The whole blog post is here: http://www.writingandwellness.com/2016/09/13/writing-to-find-the-hero-in-ourselves/