Hallo, Hallo dear hearts!
I have a lovely surprise for you! I had the chance to converse with Ms Fordham about her latest Historical Romance “A Lady in Attendance” – which as you know, I’ve recently have read and shared a review of during the blog tour happily hosted by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours! I have missed hosting guest features this year on Jorie Loves A Story and I am hopeful I’ll be able to host a few more before the close of 2021. Interviews and guest posts give me the chance to dig a bit deeper into the stories which either interest me to read or have left me musefully happy to contemplate the meanings behind the stories I’ve read.
Today’s featured author is one I was quite anxious to read for the past few years and I am wicked grateful I was able to become introduced to her style for this tour. She happily answered my questions and gave keen insight into how she approached writing the story – both for the historical accuracy and backdrop of inserting dentistry and the women who were hired by them in the context of the storyline. I also found it quite interesting how this slow brewing romance dipped into the waters of Romantic Suspense and how that turn in the text was influenced by early readers who helped guide her towards the conclusion we all have today.
There is a quiet resonance of life and friendship in how Fordham approached writing about Hazel and Gilbert. Theirs isn’t a traditional friendship in the sense they had sought out each other and/or were willing to develop a relationship – platonic, romantic or otherwise – as theirs was a working relationship which seemed to bridge itself into a friendship whilst the two of them hadn’t quite noticed it happening. Fordham changes the lens of the story from Hazel to Gilbert – shifting our perspectives and giving us a more insightful pause on how each of her characters are observing each other. In that way, Fordham has found a lovely way to pace this story – as given Hazel’s determined choice not to reveal her past and Gilbert’s insecurity with being around a woman whose confident in her own right – it allowed for a story to find its own voice and cadence in the simpler moments which so oft go overlooked.
Fordham allowed Gilbert, Hazel and dear lovely Ina to guide us into their story bit by bit. They were each trying to find a way to walk into a future on their own terms but with the fears everyone has at some point in their lives. About what kind of future was waiting for them – if they would find someone to walk through life with and if they had, would that person see them and accept just as they are without putting a condition on that acceptance? Fordham knitted into the background of the story a pulse of faith and fortitude for her characters; as she gently lets them mention their walk in faith as much as how they leant on their faith to move forward in life. None more than Hazel though of whom was battling through the regret and judgements which she herself had cast against her own character.
This was unexpectedly both a Historical Romance and a Historical Romantic Suspense novel – wherein, towards the final quarter of the novel, Fordham shifted the main focus from a #HistRom to a Historical Suspense novel which took root out of Hazel’s past and led us into a complicated web which was quite the arduous task to unravel. It was how she choose to use certain characters to become the truth-tellers in this story and how unexpected characters you hadn’t put too much weight on to do the right thing – were the ones who championed justice in the end. It just proved that all the characters you are introduced too in the story have more than one purpose and reiterated the messages of faith and a fortitude of forgiveness throughout the story.
-quoted from my review of A Lady in Attendance
I am hopeful those who are following the tour will enjoy this conversation as much as others who regularly read my blog and visit with me as I share my readerly life. Now, without further adieu – let’s get into the conversation, shall we!?
A Lady in Attendance
by Rachel Fordham
Source: Author via Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours
Five years in a New York state reformatory have left a blemish on Hazel’s real name. So when she takes a job as Doctor Gilbert Watts’s lady in attendance in 1898, she does so under an alias. In the presence of her quiet and pious employer, Hazel finds more than an income. She finds a friend and a hope that if she can set her tarnished past in order, she might have a future after all.
As Gilbert becomes accustomed to the pleasant chatter of his new dental assistant, he can’t help but sense something secretive about her. Perhaps there is more to this woman than meets the eye. Can the questions that loom between them ever be answered? Or will the deeds of days gone by forever rob the future of its possibilities?
Rachel Fordham pens a tender tale of a soft-spoken man, a hardened woman, and the friends that stand by them as they work toward a common purpose–to expunge the record of someone society deemed beyond saving–and perhaps find love along the way.
Places to find the book:
ISBN: 978-0800739737
Also by this author: A Lady in Attendance
Published by Revell
on 1st June, 2021
Format: Trade Paperback
Pages: 352
The novels of Rachel Fordham:
The Hope of Azure Springs (2018)
Yours, Truly Thomas *I won a copy! (2019)
A Life Once Dreamed (2020)
A Lady in Attendance (2021)
Published by: Revell (@RevellBooks)
an imprint of Baker Publishing Group
Converse via: #INSPY, #HistFic or #HistoricalFiction and #HistRom/#HistoricalRomance,
and/or #ChristianFiction, #INSPYRomance and #INSPYbooks,
+ #RachelFordham and #HFVBT
Available Formats: Hardcover, Trade Paperback, Audiobook and Ebook
There is a tenderness of sweet romance bubbling through A Lady in Attendance as this is a gently told Historical Romance with incredible characters at the helm of it. How did you approach telling their story at the pace in which you explored it as you allowed them both to come to terms with their relationship was far more than a professional one?
Fordham responds: I tried to put myself in the characters position. Neither is looking for a relationship, but both have a loneliness that is naturally filled by the other. They aren’t in a hurry to acknowledge it because they need each other for practical reasons too. I thoroughly enjoyed writing this slow blossoming romance and letting their feelings seep to the surface in natural ways.
Your focus on historical practices of dentistry is explored in the novel and I loved how you approached showcasing the artistry behind bridges and dentures. How did you approach the research for those scenes and what did you enjoy most out of that research?
Fordham responds: The idea of a dentist seeing himself as an artist is a nod to my husband, who like Gilbert is a dentist. When he was picking careers he thought dentistry would be boring until he shadowed a dentist and realized there was an artistic angle to dentistry.
As far as research, he helped me with some of the terms and I was also able to visit a small historic dental museum (so fascinating).
I never knew prior to dental hygienists and receptionists we had ladies in attendance – what I liked about this particular vocation for a woman is that it allowed her a bit more freedom in the office and it presented a lovely open door into a career. In your research, how long did the ladies in attendance work and when were their roles replaced by women who had more background and training to do more than they could have in this role?
Fordham responds: The time line for this would have varied greatly by where you lived. An area with more upper class would have seen the demand for chaperones at the office as more important that people in another area with a different demographic would have. The career was motivated by the need for a woman’s presence in the office, but depending on the dentist they would have given her more freedom to use and develop her skills. The evolution from ladies in attendance to future careers such as hygiene and assisting isn’t something I researched for this book, but something that would be fun to explore if I wrote another dental story that took place later in the historical timeline.
I admit, I wasn’t quite prepared for the suspenseful threads of the novel – as they arrived nearly at the final quarter of the story itself. How did you approach setting up the reader to accept that part of the story whilst giving the illusion that all the details needed to be withheld until certain aspects of the case were revealled through investigation? In other words, was it hard to focus more on the romance than the suspense or did the suspense naturally evolve at a time which fitted the storyline?
Fordham responds: Balancing the romance and suspense was really tricky for me. I actually didn’t see it as a suspense novel until my early readers pointed it out and let me know the suspense thread needed a little more. Originally it was more of piecing the past together without any real “danger”, but after several readers told me that part of the story needed more of a climax, I decided to let the villain have a bit more of a role and our hero to have more of a moment! I worried that the romance was neglected in all of that, but with enough editing, I feel like the balance was reached and in the end love that mashup of historical romance and suspense.
Is the red ear tradition at the festival a real event or one you imagined? I liked it because it gave men a chance to let their feelings be known to a girl but I wasn’t sure if that was a factual event or one that was placed into the story.
Fordham responds: It was a real tradition! I knew I wanted a small town event and had heard of corn husking parties and remembered hearing something about a red ear of corn tradition. I was thrilled to discover that it was a real thing. That was one of my favorite scenes to write. I loved showcasing how much a small romantic gesture had the power to convey.
The separation of family is a mainstay in the storyline as well – how did you want both of your characters to experience the same feelings of abandonment and separation but approach it differently at the same time? I liked how you reflected two different reactions to their lives and how they each in turn bettered the other for the lessons they had each learnt over the years.
Fordham responds: Loss is something that everyone feels at some point in time, in so many ways. Sometimes we feel lonely because people leave us out or reject us and other times simply because the person is gone. In my personal life I have felt the loss of foster children that I loved deeply and the loss of friends when I moved (among other losses). Those losses as hard as they were to accept, all left a mark on me.
Hazel’s entire world turned their backs on her. Gilbert lost his parents to death. They both know loneliness, he’s turned himself into a recluse, she’s discovered a deep gratitude for any relationships she is able to have. Letting them both know loss, but have unique experiences set the stage for growth in them both.
At the heart of the story though is personal redemption and a freeing sense of self – I loved how the ending is different than people might expect especially about how your character resolves her years imprisoned and how her life led her into her future. What main takeaway were you hoping readers would gather by the conclusion?
Fordham responds: It’s always my goal at the end of the book to leave my readers satisfied. It’s a bonus if they pause and think about what they read and how it relates to them. With this particular story, I hope readers will be slower to write off people who’ve made mistakes. I hope they will think about forgiveness of self and of others, about change and growth and of course, love.
My gratitude to Ms Fordham for answering my questions and giving all of us a bit of behind-the-book glimpses into how you’ve approached writing this lovely slow brewing historical romance! I enjoyed getting to know a bit more about your own writerly style and approach to creating your stories whilst finding out a few interesting tidbits and trivia behind some of the scenes and moments of “A Lady in Attendance”. Thank you for being my guest today!!
This blog tour is courtesy of:
Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours!
Follow the Virtual Road Map
as you visit others participating: along the route
& learn about the bookaway attached to the tour:
Remember to visit my thoughts and reactions to the story before moving on
to another stop along the tour route: my review of A Lady in Attendance.
NOTE: Similar to blog tours wherein I feature book reviews, book spotlights (with or without extracts), book announcements (or Cover Reveals) – I may elect to feature an author, editor, narrator, publisher or other creative person connected to the book, audiobook, Indie film project or otherwise creative publishing medium being featured wherein the supplemental content on my blog is never compensated monetarily nor am I ever obligated to feature this kind of content. I provide (98.5%) of all questions and guest topics regularly featured on Jorie Loves A Story. I receive direct responses back to those enquiries by publicists, literary agents, authors, blog tour companies, etc of whom I am working with to bring these supplemental features and showcases to my blog. I am naturally curious about the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of stories and the writers who pen them: I have a heap of joy bringing this content to my readers. Whenever there is a conflict of connection I do disclose those connections per post and disclose the connection as it applies.
{SOURCES: Book cover for “A Lady in Attendance”, book synopsis, author biography, author photograph of Rachel Fordham the tour host badge and HFVBTs badge were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. Book covers for “The Hope of Azure Springs”, “Yours truly, Thomas” and “A Life Once Dreamed” are being used with permission by Baker Publishing. Post dividers by Fun Stuff for Your Blog via Pure Imagination. Tweets were embedded due to codes provided by Twitter. Blog graphics created by Jorie via Canva: Conversations with the Bookish banner and the Comment Box Banner.}
Copyright © Jorie Loves A Story, 2021.
I’m a social reader | I tweet my reading life
.@joriestory NEW Interview via #JLASblog!
Today I'm happily sharing a convo with #INSPY #HistRom writer Rachel Fordham wherein we're conversing about "A Lady in Attendance"!!
🙌📖https://t.co/mP7lZq6vSF pic.twitter.com/1C5PfKYfXr
— Spooktastically Jorie 👻🎃 (@joriestory) November 2, 2021
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2021 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge
This was a great interview! Thank you for hosting today, Jorie!
Amy
HF Virtual Book Tours