Читать книгу A Stranger at Castonbury - Amanda McCabe, Amanda McCabe - Страница 6

When I was first asked to take part in this project I was so excited! I loved the one collaborative project I’d done before (The Diamonds of Welbourne Manor with Diane Gaston and Deb Marlowe) and this one was even more extensive and involved. I would get to try a new writing method, as well as work with authors I’ve admired for a long time. Also, I am a huge Downton Abbey and Upstairs, Downstairs fan! The challenge and fun of creating a similar world in the Regency—a family and a house caught up in the tides of enormous change and scandal—was too much to resist. It was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve found in writing to help build such a world.

I got the job of wrapping up the series with the last book: the tale of Jamie, Marquess of Hatherton, whose reappearance in his home after a mysterious absence of years throws Castonbury into chaos once again. I was worried about doing justice to the other characters, but I loved working with everyone else to bring their characters into my story and making them a part of Jamie’s tale. And I have to admit I adored Jamie! I have always had a weakness for dark, tormented, complicated heroes who carry secrets in their hearts and when I found out that one of his secrets was a lost love—well, I just felt for him all the more. I loved seeing him find his way back to his family and his home and discovering how his experiences in wartime had changed him.

I was very inspired by diaries and letters from the time of the Peninsula campaign, where many British soldiers found romance with Spanish ladies. It was a turbulent, passionate time and Catalina was very much a part of all that. She was also more than a match for Jamie! It was the hardest thing I’ve ever written to tear them apart—but that just made it more fun to bring them back together again at Castonbury …