In My Mailbox This Week!

This week I received the US edition of Folly by Marthe Jocelyn. Tundra is publishing this book in Canada although they don't have any cover art information on their website. I assume it'll be the same looking, but who knows? The US cover art is very attractive. The back cover has this ornate brownish-purple embossed flowers look. Marthe lives like half an hour away from me and she is up for doing author events. So we'll see where that takes us.

Another cool author, R.J. Anderson, author of Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter, also lives in Stratford....hmmm.... :)

I also received a note with the book, just describing what I could look forward to. I love little extras like this. They get me so excited about the book. Our publishing representative mentions that Folly is a very sexy story for a younger (12) age group, although not inappropriate. The premise has totally piqued my interest.

When you open the ARC there's this note written by Marthe kind of telling you how she came about the story in Folly. The whole thing is very interesting. When Marthe's father was 80, they found out that his father wasn't an orphan, like they thought. They learned that he was born "out of wedlock" and left at a hospital in London. His name, Arthur Jocelyn, was "chosen from the street directory" by the reception committee.

Marthe dug to find out the real story of her grandfather and his mother:

"I learned the name of my great-grandmother, something her son has never known. I was able to trace her path from a village in Lincolnshire to her first job at Castle Belvoir in Rutland, and then to her position as domestic for a Mrs. Reed in London. I discovered the name of the man who had seduced her, and her version of the story--of his initial kindness and subsequent disappearance. I learned that she had struggled for nine months to keep her baby before giving him up"

And:

"Throughout my research, I carried a sentimental yearning to believe that love and romance had been part of my grandfather's conception. Whether or not this is true, I have written Folly in homage to my ancestors"

What an introduction. I have to admit that period novels don't initially appeal to me unless there is something very special-seeming about them. After reading this note I bumped Folly way up my to-be-read pile (which is huge right now. Like I feel I'm going to have more time at Christmas or something? Pssshh). I hope they print it in the published book.

Marthe is also the author of Mable Riley, which is on our shelves. I've always seen it around and love the design.

Mandy