Welcome author Hannah Meredith to Historical Heartbeats as she introduces a new release. Did your ancestors arrive in this country as indentured servants? Mine did. Hannah tells the story of Indentured Hearts.
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Please tell us about your latest or upcoming release. Do you have a review you could share with us?
Thanks, Brenda, for asking me to drop by and tell you about my latest release, Indentured Hearts. In this story, Lady Cassandra Spathe, the darling of the London ballrooms, flees England and through a series of miscalculations, ends up being sold as an indentured servant in York, Virginia. Her buyer, Jason Anders, is a self-made man with political ambitions. He hopes his new purchase will help give him the polish he needs to hide his humble origins. Neither anticipates the powerful attraction that will foil both their plans.
RT Book Reviews gave Indentured Hearts 4 Stars. “Meredith’s latest is well researched and seductive. The romance between Cassy and Jason is honest and fresh…making this sizzling novel one not to miss out on.”
What inspired this story?
A hole in history. British history tells of vast numbers of people who immigrated to the American Colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries as either indentured servants or transported convicts. American history ignores these people, or, if they are mentioned, acts as if their numbers were insignificant. When have you ever heard an American of European descent say his many-times great grandparents arrived on these shores as indentured servants? This disconnect in history’s story piqued my interest.
What is the story behind the story?
I love putting competent characters in situations where they become incompetent. Imagine a pampered English aristocrat suddenly losing everything—her status and her identity—and then imagine what it would have been like for her to have four years of her life sold on the deck of a ship. Imagine a transported convict who endures years of harsh treatment to become a man of wealth, but who will always be judged by what he originally was. Both the aristocrat and the convict have preconceived notions that the other threatens. I imagined this, and saw it as a love story. 🙂
Excerpt:
Here’s a brief excerpt from Indentured Hearts showing the heroine’s arrival in the American Colonies.
The women pushed and shoved as they shuffled along the ship’s passageway. Some laughed and joked, but the majority were silent. The hideous voyage was finally over. The unknown lay beyond the bright square of light coming through the hatch.
Lady Cassandra Spathe was one of the silent ones. She held herself upright only by force of will. Dear God, could she finally be done with this nightmare? As she stepped onto the deck of the Agatha Jane, the sun blinded her. She unconsciously put a hand on the woman in front of her, following wherever she led.
“Women to the right,” a crewman yelled at the group emerging from the hold. “Form a single line.” A hand roughly grasped Cassy’s arm and shoved her back a few steps. She retained her balance only with difficulty. “Single line, ya stupid jade.”
The deck burned her bare feet, but she resisted the urge to move them around, not wanting to draw the crewman’s attention again. The past six weeks had taught her the wisdom of remaining as invisible as possible. She wiped her watering eyes and squinted around her.
The refuse from the holds had assembled on the deck. The men formed a line directly across from the women. Some stood proudly. Some appeared as beaten as Cassy felt. She had always thought of herself as a daring risk-taker. Now she was defeated.
She took a deep breath of untainted air. It smelled of salt and fish and rotting seaweed. After the stench of the dank hold where eighteen unwashed women had been closely confined for nearly two months, no perfume had ever been more alluring.
Why do you write romance (or other genre)?
I enjoy examining the magical “something” that allows two individuals to become one through love. And I’ll admit it. In a world that often seems to promote the negative, I really like writing a HEA ending.
What inspires you? What motivates you?
Gee, those are hard questions. I guess people, in all their guises, both good and bad, inspire and motivate me. Bits and pieces of these real people migrate to my mind and eventually coalesce into fictional characters who want their stories told. Then, some specific time in the past seems to illuminate these characters—and I start to write.
Please tell us about your other books (if you have others published).
My first book, Kestrel, a Regency novella, is a story of redemption and forgiveness, in which a husband and wife try to overcome their former mistakes and forge a solid, loving life together. A Dangerous Indiscretion, my second book, concerns a young, Victorian widow who has always led an exemplary life. When temptation arrives in the form of an alluring man from her past, she decides to indulge in a brief affair, never suspecting it will result in a flight across England pursued by both external enemies and their own personal demons. A word of warning—all of my stories are written for adults and contain explicit, sexual scenes.
Hannah Meredith
Hannah’s Bio:
Hannah Meredith is, above all, a storyteller. She’s long been fascinated by the dreams that haunt the human heart and has an abiding interest in English history. This combination led her to write historical romance. Under another name, she’s previously written sf&f short fiction. Her speculative stories have appeared in most of the major genre magazines. Hannah is a proud member of RWA and Heart of Carolina Romance Writers.
Buy Links for Indentured Hearts:
http://www.facebook.com/HannahMeredithAuthor
Thank you for visiting with us today, Hannah. Your novel will touch the hearts of all those whose forefathers came to this country as indentured servants.
I’m thrilled to be here. And I think it’s tremendously interesting that you were told that some of your ancestors arrived as indentured servants. Most family histories seem to have lost this information–or it has been replaced by a more exciting or socially important myth. If I were to believe all the people who have told me their family came to America on the Mayflower, that would have had to be a really big ship. 🙂
Those ancestors who came as indentured servants were brought to Virginia in 1713 from Germany to work in Governor Spotswood’s iron mines. They were indentured for seven years and then granted their own land.
Wow! I should have used you for research. 🙂 Indentured Hearts takes place in Virginia in 1755 on a Bloomery, which is where iron was smelted. This is really serendipitous.
I will certainly read your book. You could be describing my ancestors, except they came from Germany instead of England.
I am attaching the web address of the Germanna Memorial Foundation where you can find the history of the German indentured servants. Looking at the site, I discovered my ancestors came to Virginia in 1714, not 1713 as I first stated. http://www.germanna.org/about/history/
Isn’t it wonderful we have such wonderful resources online?
Great interview! I’ve read this book, and it’s wonderful. I know many will enjoy it.
Unfortunately, I have no idea how my ancestors came to America, but now, I’m more curious than ever!
Hi Lyla. Thanks for stopping by. I’m delighted you enjoyed Indentured Hearts–and I think curiosity about our forebears is a healthy thing. I’m not a genealogical junky, but it’s fun to know “where we came from.” 🙂
I’ve got the book in my queue to read. I don’t know how my ancestors came over. Wishing you much success with the book!
Thanks for your good wishes, Cynthia. I hope you enjoy the book.
Loved the book. One branch of my family came from Ireland to the Carolinas in the 1700s. When I tried to research them, I couldn’t find their names in the records at all, even though there are Revolutionary era tax records. After reading your book, it occurred to me they could have been indentured servants, especially given how many people coming from the British Isles were indentured servants.
Ladybeket – I’m excited that you loved Indentured Hearts. Like most writers, I love my own stories, and it’s great to know that others share my opinion. 🙂 As far as your missing early ancestors… a goodly portion of the indentured servants who came to the American colonies were also transported convicts, which would make them very difficult to track–and you know those Irish were always troublemakers. 🙂
I don’t know exactly what circumstances led my ancestors here, but I do know that a bunch of brothers arrived together. They were rather uneducated, so they all spelled their last names different ways.If you run into a Holladay or Holiday or Holliday, they are probably at least a distant relation to me. 🙂
Marie, sometimes the last names were spelled differently, because the immigrants could neither read nor write. The customs agent transcribed their names the way they sounded.
Your ancestors probably came here dreaming of a better life. That’s the most common motivation for immigrants at any point in history. Brenda is probably right about the reason for the different names, but sometimes it was the customs agent who couldn’t spell. I had an educated great-grandfather who left England with the last name of Willoughby and ended up in the states legally registered as Williby.:-)
Thanks for stopping by, Marie.
Also, spelling wasn’t standardized until some point in the 19th Century, and often, members of the same family spelled their last name differently. In some families, where there were members with the same first names, individuals would add a letter or change something minor to distinguish their name.
And sometimes, names were changed because those at the time thought the new name was simpler or “more American.” My late mother-in-law’s maiden name was Leffers (from NC) who, when the family was in NY, were Lefferts. and this actually came from a progenitor whose first name was Lefferts and whose last name was something long and Dutch. This changed when New Amsterdam became New York. I’m assuming the “t” disappeared when the family developed a southern accent. 🙂
Of course, time also tends to “upgrade” our ancestors. My m-i-l told me the early NC branch of the family were “pirates and wreckers,” but if you visit the Leffers Cottage in Beaufort, NC, the plaque will tell you they were whalers and educators. Actually, I’ve always thought my husband was more of a pirate…
Sometimes names were changed to protect the innocent or maybe the not-too-innocent.
Hannah,
I loved Indentured Hearts! It is such a different take on the history of that time. None of my ancestors settled originally in Virginia, so probably weren’t indentured servants. My husbands grandparents came from Italy around 1900 and settled in NYC as produce deliverers. Mine came over in the 1800’s from Denmark and England.
Back to the book – it was so believable that I googled Lady Casandra thinking maybe it was based on an actual person. Beautifully done. Thanks for the good read. I’ll be looking for more to come.
Barbara – Thinking that Cassy was “real” is one of the nicest compliments I’ve ever gotten. Thanks so much! I’m so glad you enjoyed Indentured Hearts.
What is your next project and when will I be able to get the next Hannah Meredith?
The next book up is Kaleidoscope, a novella about an Anglo-Indian woman finding her place – and love, of course 🙂 – in Regency England. It’s probably about 2 months from launch, but the cover can be seen at the top of my Facebook page. Thanks for asking.
Can’t wait.
Wow I am excited about the book! I cant wait to read it. No idea about my heritage:( I can say I am Irish, German, English and Indian. The stories I get from my mom about the Wine Dot Indians. Hummm. Sounds like I am a mess.
No, not a mess, Valerie, just a typical “American.” We tend to be an amalgamation of different heritages, which I think is one of the country’s strengths. I hope you enjoy Indentured Hearts and discover how Jason and Cassy discover their American Dream.
I loved Indentured Hearts. Some of my ancestors came from Germany before the Revolutionary War and settled in PA. Some came over in the 1890s while avoiding conscription into the German army.
Some of my ancestors also came from Germany in 1714. Other ancestors came from Acadia, Canada; France; Scotland; Ireland; and England. What would you call my heritage? A melting pot like most of us?
Thanks, Kate. I’m glad you liked Indentured Hearts – and I’m beginning to be sorry I didn’t make some of my characters German, since there seems to have been a lot of them present at the time.
Congrats on the new release. Sounds interesting.
Thanks for stopping by, Beth. Indentured Hearts is a departure for me since I took my characters out of England, but this particular story needed to be set across the Atlantic.