Susan Anne Mason is our guest today.
She’s here to talk about her story “A Most Noble Heir”.
It’s a novel about nobility, servants, family ties and the tension between following your heart or your head.
Will Gaining the World Cost Him Everything He Holds Most Dear?
When stable hand Nolan Price learns from his dying mother that he is actually the son of the Earl of Stainsby, his plans for a future with kitchen maid Hannah Burnham are shattered. Once he is officially acknowledged as the earl’s heir, Nolan will be forbidden to marry beneath his station.
Unwilling to give up the girl he loves, he devises a plan to elope–believing once their marriage is sanctioned by God that Lord Stainsby will be forced to accept their union. However, as Nolan struggles to learn the ways of the aristocracy, he finds himself caught between his dreams for tomorrow and his father’s demanding expectations.
Forces work to keep the couple apart at every turn, and a solution to remain together seems farther and farther away. With Nolan’s new life pulling him irrevocably away from Hannah, it seems only a miracle will bring them back together.
Learn more and purchase a copy.
What inspired you to write this book, Susan?
During the 2006 Christmas holidays, my mother made a comment that sparked a journey I never could have anticipated—one that changed the course of my writing career. She said she wished she knew more about her mother’s side of the family and that she didn’t even know the names of her maternal grandparents. And so I took it upon myself to uncover the secrets of my ancestors.
Needless to say, I became fascinated with the questions that arose from my research. But the most intriguing story I uncovered was that of my great-great-grandfather, who I learned worked as a groomsman in 1881 at a great English estate called Stainsby Hall. He married a kitchen maid who worked at the same estate. I had great fun imagining how their romance had unfolded. Unfortunately, their real love story had a tragic end with his early death which left his wife a young widow with 2 babies.
Nevertheless, their tale sparked my imagination and became the seeds of my first historical romance, originally entitled “Heir of Stainsby Hall”. Of course, I couldn’t give my characters such a sad story, so I started imagining different scenarios. What if one of the stable hands at Stainsby Hall was actually the heir? What would happen to his love for the lowly kitchen maid then? That led me into the dizzying world of English aristocracy, (long before the recent Downtown Abby craze!) and once I started the research, I found it fascinating!
Nolan and Hannah’s story is a bit different from a typical romance. Nolan’s deep-seated need to form a relationship with his new-found father makes up a large part of the story and, in some ways, is a metaphor of our desire to develop a strong relationship with our Heavenly Father. It is my hope that Nolan’s journey will entertain my readers as well as enhance their own spiritual journey.
This book had many metamorphoses along the way. Now, after many twists, turns, and delays, “A Most Noble Heir” is being published by Bethany House. I can only marvel at God’s timing and how events unfolded to bring this about.
The dedication for this book is very special to me as I’ve dedicated it to a grandmother I never knew whose ancestors provided a spark of imagination which started my career as an Historical Romance writer. I hope I’ve done my ancestors proud.
Sounds intriguing! Thanks for joining us, Susan.
Susan Anne Mason’s debut historical novel, Irish Meadows, won the Fiction from the Heartland contest from the Mid-American Romance Authors Chapter of RWA.
Also a member of ACFW, Susan lives outside of Toronto, Ontario, with her husband and two children.
She can be found online at www.susanannemason.com.
Susan is giving away a copy of A Most Noble Heir. Follow the directions below to enter.
I think it’s easier to make decisions with your head because you have the facts but it is said ‘follow your heart’! Sounds like a good book, thanks for the opportunity to win!
Easier with the head and not the heart.
Probably the head, but I am a detail oriented accountant! Always enjoy Susan’s historical books and your WWII books.
I have a problem called Analysis Paralysis. I can’t give you an answer right now. I’ll think about it for a few days, table it, think about it again, then maybe I’ll have an answer for you.
Susan, I can’t wait to read your book!
I trust my head more than my heart! So, decisions are easiest based on what I know rather than what I feel.
Hmmm. I think it’d be easier to make a decision from the heart. You’d second-guess less with a decision from the heart, I think.
I think it’s easier to make a decision with your head because it’s more concrete and fact based.
I think it’s easier to follow your heart and then later on, after the emotions are gone or you’ve had time to think about it, you realize that if you had listened to your head, the decision would have been different.
This is a very interesting question…I’m a very emotional person, so very often decisions come from my heart but later on my head kicks in. It really depends on what it is we are talking about 🙂
That is a very thought-provoking question. As a Christian, I want to make decisions based not on head knowledge, but on heart knowledge, the difference of having Jesus in my heart (for out of the heart, the mouth speaks). I also want to make wise decisions and use my head, not just basing decisions on emotions. Some people consider emotions are based on coming from the heart (i.e. ‘wearing your heart on your sleeve’). So I guess it depends on the context of the way you view head and heart in this question. I am a very emotional person and so I have to be careful not to make decisions based on my emotions, but to make wise decisions. I hope that makes sense.