Bio: Laura Frantz is a Christy Award winner and the ECPA bestselling author of fifteen novels, including The Rose and the Thistle, The Frontiersman’s Daughter, Courting Morrow Little, The Lacemaker, and A Heart Adrift. She is the proud mom of an American soldier and a career firefighter. Though she will always call Kentucky home, Laura lives with her husband in Washington State.
She is well known for her meticulously researched novels. In her
newest work, The Seamstress of Acadie, Frantz spins a gripping
tale of an Acadian woman caught between the warring French and English during Le Grand Dérangement of 1755. Filled with history, intrigue,
and romance, The Seamstress of Acadie is sure to win the hearts
of historical romance fans.
About the
story: Gifted seamstress Sylvie Galant and her
Acadian family desire to live peacefully and remain neutral in the upcoming war
between the French and the English. But the proximity of their land on Acadie’s rugged shores makes them an easy target.
While tensions escalate, Sylvie encounters Major William Blackburn. Although he
is a British Army Ranger, Blackburn warns her that the British are poised to invade. But the
warning cannot counteract the plans or stop the tide of
English soldiers.
William Blackburn has seen firsthand the
atrocities that the British have done to the Acadian families and their villages.
Rather than participate in the heinous expulsion, Will resigns his commission
before a charge of treason is brought against him.
When Sylvie is forcibly
removed from her homeland, she finds herself on a ramshackle ship headed to
Virginia, where she crosses paths once again with Will. Together they must work
through the complex tangle of their shared, shattered past to navigate the
present and forge an enduring future.
Welcome
back to my blog, Laura. What was the inspiration for The Seamstress of Acadie? I’ve
always been fascinated by Acadian history, which is the most heartbreaking I’ve
ever researched. I was disappointed to find few novels that deal with Acadie,
which, aside from Longfellow’s poem Evangeline, seems to have been
buried since the eighteenth-century expulsion.
Your
two protagonists, Sylvie Galant and William Blackburn, are on opposing sides in
Le Grand Dérangement of
1755. How did they first meet? Sylvie and William have a
rather charming first meeting by a well in Acadie that is based on a bit of
subterfuge and secrecy. Their attraction is instant and mutual, as it so often is
inexplicably even in real life.
Sylvie and William later find themselves on ships
headed to Virginia. Can you provide a brief summary of the events leading up to
their departure from Acadie? Acadie, present-day Nova
Scotia, had long been a battleground between the French and English since its
founding in 1604. The conflict worsened in the eighteenth century as each nation
fought over contested territory. In 1755, the Acadians were deprived of their
weapons, detained as prisoners, and then forced onto ships to destinations
unknown. In the novel, William leaves Acadie first with his Rangers on a sloop
in late summer 1755 before the deportation of the Acadians begins. Sylvie
follows on a ramshackle transport ship in early fall.
What led to William’s decision to resign from the
British army? William has a profound change of heart and purpose. A
spiritual awakening as a prisoner of war among the French led to an about-face
in terms of his military career, culminating in his refusal to take part in the
Acadians’ deportation.
Can
you please describe the setting for your novel and why this is important in the
overall plot? If you visit Nova Scotia, you soon realize why the British
fought hard to win it and why the Acadians took strong measures to keep it.
Epic in scope and beauty with forests and fields and mountains, coastlines and
islands, it’s truly a one-of-a-kind place and makes the ideal novel setting. I
hope readers experience some of that beauty within the novel’s pages.
What
are some of the themes found within The Seamstress of Acadie? Love,
loss, trust, new beginnings. Life is one of continual change. How we navigate
those changes is a constant challenge both in fiction and in real life.
What
do you hope readers will experience when reading your novel? That
beauty can be seen amid the heartbreaking history and cause us to look at the
heartaches and hurdles we face today in a different light.
Where can readers purchase a copy of The
Seamstress of Acadie? The book is available in
paperback and e-reader on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and other book online retailers.
If your local bookstore doesn’t have it, you can ask them to order it for you.
How can readers connect with you? I’m
active on these social media channels and regularly post on my website’s
journal page:
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/laurafrantzauthor/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/LauraFrantzAuthor/
Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/laurafrantz/
Thank you for
sharing The Seamstress of Acadie with my blog readers and me. We love to learn about historical
events.
Readers, here’s a
link to the book.
Leave a comment
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Ooh, yes! I LOVE Laura Frantz’s novels!😍
ReplyDeleteElly -Indiana-
Thank you for being here! I’m blessed by it💛
DeleteFrom Mississippi:
ReplyDeleteI loved this book! If I win I would give it to my reading friend Marjorie.
Love your generous heart💛 -Laura
DeleteOne of my very favorite authors. Thank you for sharing. Blessings from Lucy in WV.
ReplyDeleteThrilled & thankful for you💛 -Laura
DeleteLaura Frantz always writes an epic novel! I know little about the Acadians of Nova Scotia, but as a native Louisianan I really should know what happened there. I expect that I really should have paid better attention in my history classes,
ReplyDeletePerrianne in central Texas
perrianne (DOT) askew (At) me (DOT) com
Amazing you have that Cajun history in your backyard❣️ -Laura
DeleteEnter me in your awesome giveaway!!
ReplyDeleteNichols SC.
Hope you enjoy if you win, thank you! -Laura
DeleteThis might just be my favorite of her covers. I love the setting too.
ReplyDeleteAbigail in OK
readrevierejoice AT gmail DOT com
I’m thrilled this cover pops for you - thank you! -Laura
DeleteCommenting from Southeastern Arizona. I love Laura’s books! 💗
ReplyDeleteBless you for being here!
DeleteI live in Oregon. Thanks for the fantastic giveaway!
ReplyDeleteWaving at you in Oregon! I’m in WA State tho traveling in TN at the moment.
DeleteHi from San Diego, CA! I just love reading historical fiction with a good dose of romance!
ReplyDeleteI missed this when it first came out. I've never seen a book of Laura's that I didn't totally enjoy.
ReplyDeleteI live in North Carolina.
A captivating and fascinating historical which interests me greatly. Pearl-NM.
ReplyDeleteThis wonderful novel would be enjoyed as the story and setting appeal to me. Historicals are my favorite. Anne in NM.
ReplyDelete