It is often said many readers dislike introductions to books
by way of minor characters whose part is solely given to that of introducing
the main protagonists. Thus, out of pure interest, does an opening to a novel
annoy you if minor characters gradually introduce the lead characters?
Ardent fans
of Jane Austen are no doubt conscious of Jane’s use of minor characters as
backdrops to the main story (Wickham), or as a means of secondary observant
viewpoint (Mary and Caroline in P&P). Georgette Heyer often used minor
character/s for the opening of novels and those characters proved vital to overall plots.
The portrait above inspired the creation of
Chastity and Honour, essentially two minor characters and truthfully I never saw
them as lead characters. Once I started writing the sisters materialised as very different in
outlook and temperament. Chastity is sweet, impressionable, and a little rotund
for her years. She suffers lack of breath when out walking. Whilst Honour (elder) being slim, she's obsessed with perfection all things, bitter of tongue, judgemental
of others, and is her mother’s favourite.
Subsequently, it is these two girls who
introduce the lead characters within A Sinful Countess. Whilst stories of
vampires thrill Chastity, prim Honour not only fears the storyteller, her
reaction fuels the plot, and fuels conflict between two households. Neither sister
could predict that of which will befall them all as time passes. And their individual
personalities result in very different lifestyles and opposing opinions, as revealed later. I did
wonder after having finished A Sinful Countess, whether to revisit Chastity and Honour at the point before they went their separate ways! Who knows, perhaps
they do indeed deserve a book of their own.
Back cover blurb:
...rekindling flames from smouldering embers of lustful
dreams is a risqué venture...
Whilst tales of Gothic horror deters
visitors to Titchley House, the publication of Byron’s Vampyre added to the rumour the Countess of Villach has returned to
her childhood home stirs untold curiosity at neighbouring Upton Park. Alas, fear
in one girl’s nightmare stirs her uncle and father to action, but neither man is
truly prepared when the past and present collide in a whirlwind of suppressed
love and desire. Whilst Bryony Stafford, novelist extraordinaire, wars with the
Earl of Wittlesea, his brother Captain Carleton is hell-bent on seducing the countess.
He’s no saint and well aware scandal can taint the innocent, but can he win the
woman he’s coveted for ten years or is she truly a Sinful Countess?
