Sara,

It looks great. What a teaser. I am so lookinf forward to reading it. Keep us posted about your contest. Count me in.

cynthia in Florida

Woo hoo! I can't wait for August 31st:)

Very cool. Been thinking whether I like cover or not, since you brought it up. Still not sure. But wouldn't have thought of it if it wasn't mentioned.

Can't wait myself. Hoping I can win the advance copy--cause that would be super cool. Otherwise, will be purchasing the book in August myself...

I like it.

Who ever says that patience is a virtue....is an idiot.

First, I wish you luck with FAS.
Second, the Raritan, a quarterly journal published by Rutgers University, has an article about historical novels in its Winter 2004 issue.
The author, P.N. Furbank, argues that historical fiction fails as a genre. He sees logical flaws in a writer's attempt to inhabit and portray individuals in whose minds and perspectives most of what comprises the contemporary world were nonexistant. And if a writer were to try to focus only on those things about life that are timeless, Furbank says, that writer would be left with nothing but platitudes.
Ultimately, he concludes, historical fiction is successful at enlightening us about our present, "for it is from our sense of the past that our sense of the present is constructed."
I pass this along not to comment on what you do, but merely to let you know it exists.

Terence, I'll have to go have a look at the article. Off the top of my head, a few thoughts: f

First, after twenty years in academia -- and all but two of those years at very high powered research schools -- I've got enough perspective to not be immediately awed by an article appearing in any scholarly journal.

Second, I think any writer of historical fiction who is honest knows that there's a gap between what the author would like to achieve and what's possible, in terms of understand and projecting into earlier times. On the other hand, I think it's also true that there are universals about the human condition which change not at all over time or space.

Finally, it seems pretty nonsensical to me to set up a trial of a particular genre to decide if it succeeds or fails. First you'd have to agree on what constitutes success. I have my own criteria. So does every other reader. Are PN Furbank's criteria more valid because they have been published in a scholarly journal? This brings me back to my first point, above.

Sara, Point taken about academic journals. The Raritan is even less awe inspiring than most.

Seems to me Furbank is hamstrung by the logician's flaw: all forest, no trees. He would rather think about the larger "argument" of historical fiction than engage it author by author, work by work.

That said, I thought the article worth pointing out to you, since it does have to do with your genre.

I am so looking forward to your new book. I have read and thoroughly enjoyed the first two books and am about to read the third. Seems I can't get enough of Elizabeth and Nathanial. Actually I started with the second (listened to it on tape) then had to back up and read the first. Elizabeth and Nathanial are both wonderful people and I just wish there were more real people like them. Yes, I do think they are pretty much idealistic, but maybe we should all be.

Thank you for the entertainment/knowledge you have given me.