Book Tour, Review, & Giveaway: "Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter" by Carrie Fancett Pagels

Even though they are nobility, Suzanne Richelieu and her family have long known they may have to make a hasty retreat if it is ever discovered that they are Huguenots. When their plans don't go as expected, Suzanne is forced to flee alone.

Johan Rousch is sent to help his uncle, Father Vincent, get French Huguenots gathered for leaving for the colonies. When he arrives, it is just Suzanne.  Dangers on the way back make them detour and they end up back at his family's home in the Palatine.

When the French army shows up to burn the land, Johan and Suzanne head for the colonies. When Suzanne gets gravely ill on the journey over, they get married on-board the ship. When they arrive, Suzanne doesn't remember the wedding and it appears the priest that married them might not actually be a priest. Will they be able to find their way through the trials to find their way in a new land?

I have read other books by Carrie Fancett Pagels and have enjoyed reading all of them and "Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter" was no exception. I liked Suzanne and especially Johan. He made me think of a big teddy bear. One who wasn't scared to roar a little to protect those he loved. There was a nice inclusion of God and the characters grew in their relationships with Him. I was a little confused during the dream portion on the ship, but it made sense later why it was so confusing! I was intrigued with the things I learned through the book about Huguenots and their persecution, the fact that people paid for their passages to the colonies by offering themselves for indentured service, and the customs of the day. It was also interesting to know that the story was inspired by ancestors of Carrie Fancett Pagels, who I found some information about here. 

About the Author

Carrie Fancett Pagels is a multi-published award-winning author of Christian historical romance.  Twenty-five years as a psychologist didn’t “cure” her overactive imagination! She resides with her family in the Historic Triangle of Virginia, which is perfect for her love of history. Carrie loves to read, bake, bead, and travel – but not all at the same time!

Guest Post from Carrie Fancett Pagels

Hi, I’m Carrie Fancett Pagels, so excited to see this particular book “baby”, Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter, finally being “born!” I started working on this over eight years ago!

Would you believe it was a genealogical search that began this story? We had a lot of research on my father’s side of the family but not on my mother’s. Sites like Ancestry.com were getting big. One of my mother’s cousins posted the genealogy that he’d found, on one of the genealogy sharing sites and I got that information but only back to where I found two Rousch cousins marrying. I honestly didn’t want to go on after that, as it appeared they were first cousins – yikes! But after praying about it, and knowing my mom was curious, too, I went forward.While I am interested in genealogy, as a former psychologist, I’m more interested in people’s stories.  So when I discovered that the two cousins were the grandchildren of Johan Adam Rousch, who had been acknowledged because nine of his ten sons had fought in the American Revolution, I wanted to know more about him and his family and ancestors.  Since there were books already written about him, I went up to the University of Virginia Rare Books Library and read what people had to say about the real life Johan. He sounded fascinating. He was an immigrant from the Palatinate of Germany and lived in the western part of Virginia, after immigrating via Pennsylvania.

I had joined the American Christian Fiction Writers (ACFW) group and had been working on a novel set in the Charleston, South Carolina area, where I’d previously lived. I got so interested in Johan and his story that I began to write. But I couldn’t wrap my mind around Susanna, his real life wife who likely also came from the Palatinate, possibly on the same ship. No matter how I tried to work on her, through various writing classes I took, I couldn’t make her “real” because she just wasn’t speaking to me. I tried and I have the old scenes to prove it!

When I write, I pray. I asked God to show me scriptures for each scene, which were included on my rough drafts (they are not there in the final novel.) I did some research, at the library, and a massive tome about the Hundred Years War was recommended to me and one on European History from that time frame. By learning of some of the reasons the Palatinate was persecuted, such as the French punishing them for taking in Protestants, I began to imagine a different sort of heroine for my story. Of course, although the story was inspired by Johan and Susanna, this book is fictional. That freed me up for God to inspire me to make this story about faith. A core tenet of the book is that we must find our own faith – we cannot “borrow” it from someone else!

Since I was still practicing as a psychologist, as I developed Suzanne’s character I included traits that would be common in someone is the situation she was in. She’s living in an aristocratic French family, with parents who are actually of the Huguenot faith. If they are discovered there can be drastic consequences, including death. So a young lady like that may become more obsessive and compulsive as a way of dealing with that anxiety.

I hope those who read this story will be inspired by the message of overcoming and of finding one’s own path to faith in the Lord!!!

Blog Stops

May 24:  D’S QUILTS & BOOKS

May 25: Blossoms and Blessings

May 26: The Power of Words

May 26: Just Commonly (Spotlight)

May 27: A Greater Yes

May 27: Cassandra M’s Place (spotlight)

May 28: Christian Bookaholic

May 29: Bigreadersite

May 29: Mary Hake

May 30: Reading Is My SuperPower

May 31: inklings and notions

June 1: Singing Librarian Books

June 2: Karen’s Krayons

June 3: Rhonda’s Doings

June 4: Southern Chelle

June 5: Debbie’s Dusty Deliberation

June 6: Simple Harvest Reads

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Carrie is giving away a Kindle Fire 7, one signed copy of Saving the Marquise’s Granddaughter along with Postcard & bookmark and Fleur de Lis Earrings. Click to enter: 

Carrie has also generously donated one ebook copy for one commentor on my blog, so be sure to comment so you can win this excellent book!


"Saving the Marquise's Granddaughter" is available in Kindle editon:

• File Size: 1535 KB
• Print Length: 346 pages
• Publisher: Pelican Book Group (July 1, 2016)
• Publication Date: June 3, 2016
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services LLC
• Language: English
• ASIN: B01AR4ZIDW

and in paperback:

• Paperback: 346 pages
• Publisher: Pelican Book Group (July 1, 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1611165547
• ISBN-13: 978-1611165548
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.9 x 8 inches

I received a pdf copy of this book in order for me to do my review. All thoughts and opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.