Good Morning from New York!
My friend Nona and I flew up on Tuesday and we have a fun-filled day with Penny & Keuka Roots™ so I'm going to turn the blog over to Dianan - who has visited numerous times before. Take it away, Diana and tell us all about your new release, Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne: Our Destined Bond...
Thanks, Pam, I'm happy to share my new book with your viewers!
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s courtship of Sophia Peabody lasted for three years, because he insisted on keeping it secret. He had his reasons, none of which Sophia agreed with.
After Nathaniel met Sophia Peabody, an artist in her own right, she changed his life forever. Sparks flew. Knowing the shame and guilt of the past that haunted him, she made it her quest to save him.
Even though they faced many complications from both sides of their families, Sophia and Nathaniel triumphed - and triumphed well.
Diana Rubino's NATHANIEL AND SOPHIA HAWTHORNE: OUR DESTINED BOND is an intimate look into Sophia and Nathaniel Hawthorne's love story.
Why I wrote Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne: Our Destined Bond...
I live near Salem and have been to all the Hawthorne landmarks there, and in Concord. The House of the Seven Gables has been my favorite house in the world since I'm a kid. I've always felt a strong spiritual connection to Salem, and always wanted to write one of my books set there, including the witch trials. I read several of his books and stories, to get a better background on him. Nathaniel wrote from the heart, about his true beliefs, and his loathing of how the witch victims were treated. He did consider it disgraceful, and it certainly was. He added the 'w' to his last name to distance himself from the judge. That tormented him and his family all his life. It must have been cathartic to him to have his writing as his outlet.
I was fortunate to get a private tour of the House of the Seven Gables when I was writing the book; two of the guides, Ryan Conary and David Moffat, showed me around, and it was fabulous.
An excerpt from NATHANIEL AND SOPHIA HAWTHORNE (their visit to his cousin Susan Ingersoll at The House of the Seven Gables):
I went over to a curio cabinet and swept my eyes over the items on the shelves—a china doll wearing a calico dress, a stack of gold cups and saucers, a red and blue glass checkerboard propped up to display its surface…and a wooden hammer on the top shelf. Upon closer inspection, I saw it was a gavel that judges use in trials. Out of curiosity I picked it up and a shock ran through me as if electrified. Dear God, was it that gavel?
I dropped it to the rug. It landed with a thump. I bent to retrieve it. Somehow I knew it wouldn’t shock me this time—that was only an initial warning. “Something about it made me want to touch it, to pick it up and hold it.”
Nathaniel approached me. He stared at the gavel in my hand, horror darkening his eyes. His lips parted but no words emerged. I knew what he was thinking—the curse. He turned to his cousin, pointing at the gavel, his arm trembling.
Susan hurried over to us, took it from me and placed it back on the shelf. “Yes, it’s Judge Hathorne’s. What happened, Sophie? Are you all right?”
I looked down at my open hands, palms up. They burned as if I’d touched a hot poker. “That gavel—it carries something evil. Has anything happened to you with this, Susie?”
Nathaniel backed away and before Susan could answer me, he grasped her arm. “I begged you to get rid of that accursed thing! You know it shouldn’t be here!”
She looked from him to me, heaving a deep sigh. “I’m not inclined to dispose of it, Natty. It’s a family heirloom, notwithstanding its past.”
He gripped the chair, his face drained of color. “It’s downright evil. You know what he used that thing for.”
She held her hands up in surrender. “Very well, I’ll conceal it.” She took it off the shelf and slid it behind the checkerboard.
“That should not be in this house!” He stood his ground, his eyes fixed on the checkerboard as if it would melt in such close proximity to that horrid object.
“It’s fine there, Natty. It’s concealed from sight now.” She looked at me and gestured for me to sit again. I sat and gulped my sherry.
“Nathaniel’s always overcome with distress at the witch trials.” Susan explained what I already knew.
“And so should you be,” he cut in.
“If I must speak for Judge Hathorne, I heard stories of him from my grandfather.” Susan looked from Nathaniel to me. “The whole hysteria that caught up the judge was started by unscrupulous men to further their own riches. But spectral evidence was still admissible. No sane person could believe that blithery.”
Check out my previous visits to Pam's blog HERE.
Get your copy of Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne at Amazon and Other Online Retailers.
THANKS, Diana! We wish you the best of luck and God's blessings with this and your other books.
Hope you enjoyed Diana's post today, Friends and that you'll check back every week for another episode of Saturday Spotlight.
Until next time, take care and God bless.
PamT