Well, today is your chance:
Welcome everyone to an interview with Katy Dubois, the protagonist in The Spice Merchant’s Daughter
Author: Hello, everyone, I am Fran Orenstein, author of The Spice Merchant’s Daughter, a young adult historical romance, suitable for ages twelve through adult. Today I am meeting with Katerina Marie Dubois, the heroine of the book. Hello, Katy. I’m so pleased to have you join me.
Katy: Merci, thank you, Madame. I am happy to be here.
Author: Tell us about life for girls at the turn of the eighteenth century.
Katy: It was a difficult time for girls and women. We were at the mercy of our fathers, brothers, and husbands. You could not make choices about the kind of life you would live.
Author: Your father figured greatly in your life. Tell us about him.
Katy: He was a loving father to all of us. He loved my mother dearly. But he was master of the home and family as it should be. I think that his heart was hard and angry. He had suffered greatly as the child because of his family’s religion. At sixteen, he had to leave his father and his life behind, and flee to a strange land. He suddenly had to become a man and look after his younger brothers.
Author: He met your mother on this journey.
Katy (smiling): Oh yes, and that was what saved him. She was so beautiful. Her family was on the same Dutch ship also running away. They fell in love the first time they saw each other.
Author: That is so romantic.
Katy (giggling): We French are romantics at heart, don’t you know?
Author: You grew up in Konigsberg, Prussia, though.
Katy: Yes, for that is where my parents settled. But we retained our French language and manners.
Author: Your father sent you away at thirteen to become the companion of the Margrave’s daughter and teach her French before her marriage to a French count. How did you feel about that?
Katy: I was very angry and very sad, but there was nothing I could do, except run away…and where would I go? I was a girl and I had to obey. It did change how I felt about my father, for I believed he had betrayed me.
Author: In the end it worked out well for you, though.
Katy: Oh yes! Although she was very spoiled and sometimes mean, Charlotte became my best friend. I learned so much living in the Margrave’s castle that I would never have known as a spice merchant’s daughter. I lived a fairytale life I could never have dreamed of having.
Author: Tell us about your journey to France.
Katy: I was terrified and enthralled at the same time. It was so exciting to be sailing away on a ship, something that I had dreamed of doing most of my life. I was very frightened of traveling to France where my parents had suffered, for I knew it had not changed since they had left. I felt sad leaving my parents and the children, for I knew I would never see them again, especially baby Charles.
Author: So your feelings were mixed. Tell us about Franz.
Katy (shuddering): He was truly a monster. I was petrified of him. He was always drunk and trying to touch me and kiss me. I hated him, but he was the Margrave’s son and heir and there was nothing I could do to help myself, except never be alone if he was around.
Author: Then you met Gilles. Was it also love at first sight?
Katy: I don’t think so. By then, I acted like I was royalty, too, even though as a companion to Charlotte, I was something between a servant and a governess. I thought he was an ignorant stable boy who was rude. I imagine I was the one who was rude.
Author: He didn’t give up though, did he?
Katy (giggles): Of course not. He saw right through me. He had a wonderful sense of humor and he was so handsome. (sighs)
Author: So you fell in love.
Katy: Absolutely! I adored my blacksmith’s apprentice.
Author: How did you feel about moving to Versailles for Charlotte’s wedding?
Katy: I was so upset. All my life I had been taught that King Louis the Fourteenth was a devil who persecuted us as Huguenots and murdered my grandfather. Now I would be living in the same castle as the King and have to see him nearly every day.
I worried that I would be separated from Gilles and that he would stop loving me and perhaps fall into the arms of Rose, the kitchen maid. Then I still had Franz’s evil intentions to contend with. It was not the best of times for me. I was very lonely and sad.
Author: There is so much more Katy can tell us, but we don’t want to give away any more of the story and spoil it for the readers. Thank you, Katy for this interview.
Katy: You are very welcome, Madame. I hope everyone reads the book so they can share the adventure, and learn what happens to Gilles and me. A’bientot!
Author: Good bye, Katy, and good fortune to you. Katy and I both hope you will get a copy of The Spice Merchant’s Daughter on ebook or hard copy from Whiskey Creek Press, amazon.com or on order from bookstores everywhere. Go to www.whiskeycreekpress.com to find out more about the book and read an excerpt from Chapter 1.
And Sunday we will take another look at another person--
Stefanie Mandelbaum, the woman who was instrumental in Ms. Orenstein's writing The Spice Merchant’s Daughter.
Come back - and come back again for another on Monday...This one from a different book/series his name is Tyler Trent and you are sure to love him.
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