Character Interview Day! Today's guest is Lena Frost from inside the pages of RECKLESS IN RED by Rachael Miles. It is a pleasure to have her with us at The Literary Nook!
What do you look like? Ah, never ask an artist that. An artist can’t simply say ‘my hair is brown’: it’s too imprecise. No, I’d have to pick exactly the right tint: perhaps Egyptian brown (though that’s made of ground up mummies, so I’d hate to think of that in my hair!) or Cologne Earth. I’m too short to be elegant and too tall to be refined.
Where are you today and what are you doing? I’m an artist—and in two weeks or so, I’ll open the most important exhibition of my career: a giant panoramic painting, rising two stories tall and hung in the round. It will make my fame! But today, I’ve just come to the office I share with my business partner Horatio, and I discover that he’s disappeared with the money I need to open the exhibition.
Describe the outside of your home. I don’t have a home, just places I live. For respectability’s sake, I rent a room in a wretched boarding house, whose proprietor routinely steals from the residents. Whenever I can, I stay at my studio, but it’s too close to a cemetery to be entirely safe—the fumes from the decaying bodies have been known to kill, so I have to be careful when I work there. Most of the time, I stay at the Rotunda, the building that houses the monumental history painting I’ve been working on for the past two years.
You come face to face with your worse enemy. How do you react? I hide—he thinks I’m dead, and I can’t afford for him to find out otherwise.
You keep a photo album of memories from your lifetime. If you could only keep one photo, which one would that be? When I first met Lord Clive Somerville, I imagined him as one of the statues from the Loggia dei Lanzi come to life. I’ve drawn him in that pose a hundred times, his black hair curling in thick waves like Benvenuto Cellini’s David. It’s the one image of him I can never escape.
Are you a morning person or a night owl? Left to my own devices, I would sleep till noon. But I can’t sleep until the exhibition is opened, and that requires me to arrive at the Rotunda at the very rising of the sun to supervise the carpenters and other workmen.
A police officer stops you for a minor violation. What violation is that and how do you react? I lead a careful life. Until the exhibition opens, I can’t afford to be noticed, and certainly not by the police. After that, I’ll have to take my chances, but for now, I keep to myself, going only from my boarding house to the Rotunda. If I see a police officer, I blend into the crowd or duck into a shop or an alley. I know a dozen ways to disappear.
What is your favorite piece of clothing? While I lived abroad, I adopted the wide-bottomed pants cuffed at the ankles like those you see in engravings of Turkish women’s costume. I wear them under my skirts so that I can climb the scaffolds in front of the painting or the ladder next to my observation platform without trouble.
Do you have any phobias? What are they and how intense are they? How have they impacted your life? I don’t like being locked in dark rooms. When I find myself alone in the dark, I keep from panicking by imagining a scene then mentally painting it in the style of a famous painter. When I’m not in a panic, I use the technique to remember a scene in meticulous detail, but it’s most useful when I’m afraid.
Open your wallet, purse, or briefcase. What do you find? Horatio’s note—I really need to read that again, to see if there’s any more information I can garner about where he might be.
You move into a new home. What’s the first thing you buy for it? An easel and a box of Ackermann’s pigments.
How do you feel about mortality? We all die. I watched as the party in power rounded up men and women who opposed them and led them to the guillotine. Life is fleeting. Do good while you can.
What scares you? Having to admit that I don’t have the funds to open the exhibition.
How would your parents describe you? My mother died when I was young, and my father rejected me soon after. But my mentor would say that I have a warm spirit and generous affections.
What’s the last thing you do before you go to bed at night? Lately I’m so tired by the time I reach my flat that I don’t even remember going to bed.
Who is your best friend? I can’t afford to have friends. I had thought Horatio was my friend, and I’m afraid to count Clive as more than an acquaintance.
Who is your worse enemy? Ah, I don’t speak his name.
Are you faith-oriented? I believe in the resilience of the human spirit.
Are you married or in a relationship? I have learned not to long for something I can’t have.
Do you have children? Ah, no.
Where is your favorite hangout? My studio.
You are at the zoo. What is your favorite animal? I rode an elephant once when I was a child. His skin was the most interesting texture. So, I suppose an elephant.
You just woke up to find that war has been declared. What’s the first thing you would do? Flee. I have known the terrors of war already, where neighbor turns all to quickly against neighbor. I would rather be a refugee than live through the destruction of my home once more.
When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? I wanted to be able to draw like the artists I saw in the museums.
If there was one thing you could change about yourself, what would that be? My past.
Lena Frost is a force to be reckoned with. A woman who has made her way in society without family or fortune, she’s about to realize her first big success as an artist. . . . Until her business partner makes off with her money, leaving her with little more than her hopes—and a dead body in her studio. Now Lena is at the mercy of a strikingly handsome stranger demanding answers she dare not reveal . . .
Is it her seductive eyes, or his suspicion that she’s up to no good that have Clive Somerville shadowing Lena’s every move? Either way, his secret investigation for the Home Office has him determined to uncover Lena’s hidden agenda. But the closer he gets to her, the more he longs to be her protector. Is she a victim of circumstance? Or a dark force in a conspiracy that could destroy everything Clive holds dear? Discovering the truth could have dire consequences, not only for Lena, but for his heart . . .
Reckless in Red was a 2019 finalist for the Holt Medallion in Historical Fiction and a first-place winner in the 2020 National Federation of Press Women’s communications contests in the category Fiction for Adult Readers: Novels.
Praise for Reckless in Red
An artist preparing a huge exhibition is disheartened when her business partner absconds with her money, but the event introduces her to an aristocrat who ultimately becomes her greatest ally against a shadowy enemy.
Artist Lena Frost is a survivor. She’s survived a weak father and a difficult stepmother. She survived in France during Napoleon’s war. She’s even rebounded from her lost career when she finally had to flee France after having been betrayed. Now she’s spent three years preparing a huge exhibition, which is the talk of London. So when her trusted business partner disappears with all her funds just two weeks before the gala opening, she’s nearly defeated. Especially when he leaves her an enigmatic message implying she’s in danger. But she can’t give up: “She would have to reinvent herself again. The very thought of it made her almost weak with despair.” Fearing she’s being followed, she winds up at The African’s Daughter, a bookshop owned by her Anglo African friend Constance Equiano, who introduces her to the Muses, a group of aristocratic ladies who meet monthly at the shop. Through them, she meets Lord Clive Somerville, brother of the Duke of Forster and the Regency equivalent of a forensic pathologist. When it becomes clear that someone is trying to kill Lena and more than one of her exhibition artists has disappeared mysteriously, Clive vows to keep her safe, help her open the exhibition, and discover who’s behind the threats. Author Miles continues her smart, intriguing Muses Salon series (Jilting the Duke, 2016, etc.) with another bright, accomplished heroine who fights for her happiness with an unexpected perfect match.
A unique storyline, a dose of suspense, and a circle of intelligent female friends enhance a successful romance.
Kirkus Reviews
The suspenseful fourth in Miles’s Muses’ Salon series (after
Tempting the Earl) captivates with clever prose and an unconventional
heroine. In 1820 London, painter Lena
Frost drifts on the fringes of society due to her checkered past, but
she hopes that her upcoming exhibition will catapult her into artistic
fame. Her hopes are dashed when her business partner disappears with all
of their money. Then several people, all with some connection to Lena,
are murdered. Enter Clive Somerville, who is the younger brother of a
duke and is a surgeon who serves among the Home Office’s investigative
ranks. His inquiries into the rash of killings lead him straight to Lena’s doorstep. His fascination with Lena
blurs the lines between suspicion and desire, and his urge to question
her quickly transforms into a need to protect her. The only flaw in this
intricately crafted historical romance is the unbelievable speed at
which the connection between the protagonists develops. Readers looking
for a change from Regencies will find this witty Victorian tale
refreshing.
Publishers Weekly
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Rachael Miles writes ‘cozily scrumptious’ historical romances set in the British Regency. Her books have been positively reviewed by Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Booklist, which praised her ‘impeccably researched and beautifully crafted’ novels, comparing her works to those of Jo Beverly and Mary Jo Putney. Her novel, Reckless in Red, won first place in adult fiction: novels in the National Federation of Press Women’s writing contest. A native Texan, Miles is a former professor of book history and nineteenth-century literature. She lives in upstate New York with her indulgent husband, three rescued dogs, and all the squirrels, chipmunks, and deer who eat at her bird feeders.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
Website: rachaelmiles.com
Twitter Address: http://www.twitter.com/rachael_miles1
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