An Interview with Alyssa Maxwell by E. B. Davis

 

April 1903: Emma and Derrick Andrews have been invited to the wedding of her cousin Reggie Vanderbilt and heiress Cathleen Neilson at the Bellevue Avenue Mansion, Arleigh. Their hosts are a popular young couple who are leasing the home for the summer—Harry and Elizabeth “Bessie” Lehr. Known for his practical jokes, Harry is the toast of parties, earning a reputation as the court jester of the Gilded Age. However, as Emma soon learns, behind closed doors he is dead serious.

Following the wedding, Bessie comes to Emma for help, insisting that her husband is cruel to her in private, telling her outright he married her only for her money and finds her repulsive. Divorce is unthinkable. Now she believes he is plotting to murder her and make it look like an accident: a broken balcony railing she might have leaned on, a loose stair runner that could have sent her tumbling down a staircase, faulty brakes in the car she uses . . .

Some would say being trapped in a loveless marriage is a fate worse than death. Not Bessie—she wants to live! Unsure if these situations are mere coincidences or add up to premeditated sabotage, Emma agrees to investigate and determine if Newport’s merry prankster is engaged in a cold-blooded game of life or death. . .

Amazon.com

 

I can’t believe Murder At Arleigh is Alyssa Maxwell’s thirteenth book in the Gilded Newport Mystery series. In this book, Alyssa explores the changing ideas concerning women’s legal rights and the social stigmas that still dominated at the time, 1903, the year her story takes place. Although I loved the story, it is Alyssa’s historian notes at the end that really fascinated me. I’ll get to that later.

 

Bessie Lehr (who really existed), one of The Four Hundred—a social standing still prevailing at the turn of the century—comes to Emma for her investigative prowess. She claims her husband is trying to kill her and there are past incidents that seem to substantiate her claim. Having witnessed a conversation that proved Bessie and Harry Lehr’s fairy-tale marriage a falsehood and since Bessie doesn’t want the police involved, Emma agrees to investigate.

 

Please welcome Alyssa Maxwell back to WWK!                       E. B. Davis

 

The automobile is taking over in 1903, and opening up whole new industries. Why does Emma have a problem with cars? Will she get a driver’s license?

 

While Emma accepts that automobiles are here to stay, she would prefer not to have them overrun Aquidneck Island. Life there, in her view, has always been influenced by the tides, with a certain rhythm and a methodic ebb and flow. Cars were noisy and smelly. Rules of the road were still being established, and fast, reckless driving wasn’t uncommon. Her own cousin, Reggie, exemplifies the problems cars brought to the island. It’s said pedestrians and livestock alike were in danger whenever he got behind the wheel. Emma would like to preserve the tranquility of island life – that is, when murders aren’t being committed!

 

Because of automation, mankind’s relationship with animals also changed. (I always feel sorry for horses and donkeys.) Automation usurped their function in our society. Did Emma feel indulgent keeping her horses when she no longer had to rely on them?

 

In 1903 we’re still a couple of decades away from automobiles completely replacing horses. There were basically three types of cars at the time – electric, gas-powered, and steam-powered. None of them were particularly reliable, were prone to breaking down, and most people considered them a luxury, not a necessity. So no, Emma doesn’t at all feel frivolous about keeping her horses or continuing to use her carriage. One of the horses, Barney, is too old now to pull a gig, so keeping him might be somewhat indulgent, but she feels she owes her old carriage horse a happy retirement.

 

Emma and Derrick attend the wedding of her cousin Reginald (Reggie) Vanderbilt that was weirdly located at Arleigh House, which was being rented that summer by Bessie and Harry Lehr. Reggie was on the outs with his family, although he had already inherited. So, it seems plausible to have the wedding at Arleigh House rather than at The Breakers. They later find out the why, but how did the Lehrs come to lend their albeit temporary home to Reggie?

 

Actually, Reggie was his mother’s favorite – and always would be – so it’s entirely plausible they could have held the wedding at The Breakers. But traditionally it’s the bride’s family who makes the wedding arrangements, and apparently Cathleen’s mother accepted the Lehrs’ offer. Why the Lehr’s specifically? For whatever reason, they were able to be in Newport for the April wedding, when most other members of the Four Hundred wouldn’t have opened up their summer cottages yet. Most weddings of the Four Hundred would have taken place in New York City, but as I’ll discuss farther on, Reggie had reasons to avoid being in New York at this time.

 

Bessie has what today would be called a teacup dog. Did tiny dogs exist at this time? Most dogs were “working” dogs. Why would they name their dog Hippodale? 

 

I don’t know the exact story behind the name Hippodale, other than Harry Lehr named him, and that wealthy dog owners at the time often chose fancy, unique-sounding names to lend their pets a certain cachet. It’s true that so far in history most animals worked to earn their keep, especially in rural areas. But with industrialization and automation, fewer working animals were needed and the idea of keeping pets became ever more popular. However, lapdogs have existed for centuries – we see them in portraits ranging from the Middle Ages through the present day. Papillons are an old breed, as are Pekinese, Pugs, and even Chihuahuas. Most small dogs weren’t bred for work, but rather to be cuddly companions, as they are today. I was glad Bessie Lehr had such a companion; Hippodale must have brought her comfort when she needed it. But since Harry named the pooch and did take part in caring for the animal (as I read in Elizabeth Lehr’s book, King Lehr), I surmised the two of them must have had an affinity for each other.

 

Whereas Emma thought long and hard about marrying Derrick, Bessie wasn’t a widow long before she married again. Why would she do that, especially considering that she was in control of her own fortune? And in real life, as per your author’s notes, after Harry dies, she marries again, and again the marriage isn’t a joyful one. Did Bessie never learn?

 

Although Emma isn’t alone in her hesitation to marry (the daughters of Senator George Wetmore of Chateau-sur-Mer, for example, never married by choice), her attitude certainly wasn’t the norm at the time. Most women were raised to be wives and mothers, and Elizabeth Lehr might simply have felt at a loss as a single woman. She might also have been an optimist, especially after her first, and quite happy marriage. Certainly she was encouraged by Harry’s female friends, the very formidable Alva Belmont, Tessie Oelrichs, and Mamie Fish, to marry him, and until their wedding night she had no reason to expect their life together to be anything but happy. As for her third marriage, she never consented to the divorce her husband, Lord Decies, petitioned for, and died only months after he did.

Unlike England, in the US women had the legal right to have their own money. Harry didn’t have any legal or ethical way to take Bessie’s ownership away. Why did Alva Vanderbilt, Tessie Oelrichs and Mamie Fish (all real people) encourage the match?

 

Those three ladies, as well as others, adored him. He was a charmer, a flatterer, and the life of every party – a grifter by today’s standards, actually – but Harry barely had a cent to his name and they were determined to remedy that. They wanted the best for him, wanted to see him maintain the extravagant lifestyle he had come to enjoy. Hence their enthusiasm to see him married to a wealthy woman. Did they know Harry was gay? That’s hard to say. It would never have been openly acknowledged, but it’s possible they suspected and wanted to help him conceal the truth by seeing him safely married.

 

When Emma asks Bessie why she won’t divorce Harry, Bessie says her mother would be heartbroken. But when we meet Bessie’s mom, it seems she is more about power and control than religious beliefs. Why did Victorian parents get so overly involved in their children’s lives?

 

In the story, Bessie’s mother declares that her daughter would never find salvation if she divorced her husband. I have no doubt the real Lucy Wharton Drexel, a staunch Catholic, firmly believed this to be true. But parenting was different in those days. There was no democracy within the family structure: parents commanded, and children, even adult children, were expected to obey. So yes, power struggles did play into parent-child relationships, sometimes to the point of nearly obscuring the true issue, in this case that of religious conviction.

 

Did men still have the right to incarcerate their wives in insane asylums? More than one woman says to Emma that Bessie is a “flibbertigibbet.” Is this a code word for mentally unstable? Would this give Harry the right to commandeer Bessie’s fortune?

 

By flibbertigibbet, Bessie’s friends were merely implying she could at times be fretful and a bit flighty. But they would have gained this impression from Harry himself, wouldn’t they? As for her fortune, the fact that Bessie remained in control of the finances after remarrying suggests her husband’s and father’s wills were written in such a way as to protect her interests, along with those of her son by her first marriage. Having Bessie committed would probably have left Harry worse off, because the money would have gone into a trust for her son.

 

You mentioned that the city of Newport played a role in slavery. Were slaves brought into the country via Newport? Was it an open practice or were they smuggled in? Are there tunnels under other cottages?

 

First let me say the tunnel depicted beneath Arleigh is entirely fictional. As for slavery, yes, Newport played a large role in slavery during colonial times. Slaves were brought to the city and sold from there. Some remained in Newport and the surrounding area, working on farms and in households, while others were transported south. This was done openly, as at the time slavery was legal and generally accepted. Many Newport sea merchants made their fortunes in the Triangle Trade where slaves were transported from Africa to the Caribbean to work on the sugar plantations and in the production of molasses. The molasses was then distilled into rum and sold throughout the colonies. There was an old rumor that tunnels existed below Touro Synagogue, used to smuggled enslaved people out of Newport and to freedom, but it’s been proven that no such tunnels ever existed there. Other tunnels may have been used to elude the British tax collectors before and during the Revolution.

 

Was the Canfield case real? Was Reggie involved?

 

Yes, the Canfield Case involved illegal gambling practices and the swindling of patrons at a casino in Saratoga Springs, NY, in 1903. Reggie was involved and was subpoenaed to testify for the prosecution, but as a witness and a victim, not as a culprit. Not wishing to become any more involved than he already was and wanting to avoid the publicity of what was a very public trial, he fled New York to avoid the summons. This is why he and his young bride, Cathleen, married in Newport and not in New York City, as would have been more fashionable.

 

There were two facts you presented in your notes that brought this story full circle. The first was that Reggie was Gloria Vanderbilt’s father, but the woman he marries in this book isn’t Gloria’s mother. What happened?

Reggie and Cathleen, his first wife, divorced in 1919. Apparently, in 1912 Reggie abandoned Cathleen and their daughter in Paris without leaving them a dime to get by on. By then it would have been quite clear to Cathleen that Reggie was a hopeless gambler and alcoholic. That the couple had only one child is perhaps a hint that their relationship had essentially fallen apart years earlier, and one can only assume the lingering stigma over divorce is all that prevented Cathleen from suing Reggie for divorce sooner than she did. It was four years after the divorce, in 1923, that Reggie married the beautiful socialite, Gloria Morgan, who was eighteen at the time, just as Cathleen had been at her wedding. Reggie and Gloria would also have only one child, Gloria Vanderbilt. But their marriage was short-lived. Reggie died in 1925 from advanced cirrhosis of the liver, leaving his wife to battle the Vanderbilt family, and specifically Reggie’s sister, Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney, over custody of Little Gloria.

 

The other fact, which I looked up in Kindle—Bessie eventually wrote a book about Harry after he died in 1929. It also must have been after her mother died, wasn’t it? I can’t imagine her outing so much publicly, and yet she did. The book is titled, “King Lehr” and the Gilded Age. Did she pose that Harry was homosexual? Do you know the public reaction to the book?

 

King Lehr and the Gilded Age was published long after Bessie’s mother had died. In it she implies that her husband was gay, but only in so many words. But while it’s never clearly stated, the reader is left in little doubt. I’ve read that at the time, the book was termed “devastating” in the press, and that it “depicted the extravagances of a society which can now seem only empty and a little vulgar.” But WWI and the Depression had changed society drastically, chipping away the gilded veneer to show the scars and warts beneath. Twenty or thirty years earlier, this book undoubtedly would have shocked, scandalized, and enraged members of society. But by 1935, the year of publication, people had become pretty disillusioned and world-weary.

 

The real Arleigh House no longer exists. Who was it owned by and what happened to it? Are you running out of “cottages?”

 

Although Arleigh is a lesser known Newport Cottage, it has an interesting history. Originally, a different house stood there and was known as Parker Cottage. A Mrs. Mary Matthews (the longtime mistress of Isaac Singer of the Singer Sewing Company) bought the property in 1893 and replaced the old house with Arleigh, designed in the Queen Anne style. Unfortunately, she died before the house was completed and her daughter, Florence Ruthven-Pratt, inherited. She and her husband didn’t care for Newport society, however, and so the house began a long history of being leased by a series of illustrious tenants, including the Lehrs, until the early 1930s. At that time Mrs. Ruthven-Pratt simply stopped paying the taxes on the property. The house was sold at auction and almost immediately – and suspiciously – burned to the ground. Today, a nursing home occupies the property. You ask if I’m running out of cottages. Not yet!

 

What’s next for Emma and Derrick?

 

Their adventures continue only several weeks later, in the summer of 1903. Silver heiress Theresa Fair Oelrichs, or Tessie as she was known to her friends (yes, there’s Bessie and Tessie), holds her glorious “White Ball,” where not only are the elaborate floral decorations pure white, but the gowns worn by the women guests as well, with most men sporting white vests and bowties. This all-white theme – thought up by none other than Harry Lehr – included swans in the fountain and white yachts floating offshore beyond the cliffs. The evening is magical, until an uninvited guest makes an outrageous claim about Tessie and threatens to topple her well-ordered world. Did I mention there’s a fountain on the property? By the end of the evening, there’s more than swans floating in its bubbling water.

 

As Emma investigates to find the culprit, she finds herself struggling with the wealth she now enjoys as the result of an inheritance from her Uncle Cornelius and her marrying Derrick. The events at Rosecliff lead her to question whether wealth will change her values as it has for so many members of the Four Hundred, who often seem shallow and insincere to her. It forces her to look deeper at her own life and theirs, and perhaps draw some new conclusions. She’s also running into resistance when it comes to the new school for girls she and husband Derrick wish to build. Many in town oppose the idea of teaching girls the same curriculum as boys; they also resist the idea of Emma, a woman, taking the reins on the project rather than allowing Derrick to handle things. How will she find an architect willing to work with her? Emma is nothing if not resourceful, and she certainly never takes no for an answer!

 

  

Bio:

Alyssa Maxwell is the author of The Gilded Newport Mysteries and A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mysteries, with over twenty books in print. The Gilded Newport series was inspired by her husband’s deep Newport roots, which go back numerous generations. Murder at The Breakers, the first book in that series and a USA Bestseller, has been adapted for television by the Hallmark Mystery Channel. Maxwell and her husband recently moved across the country from Florida to California, where they continue to enjoy their favorite activities: antiquing, bike riding, and hiking (sort of) in nature preserves. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. For more about Alyssa and her books, please visit http://alyssamaxwell.com and the following links:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaMaxwellauthor 

Instagram: http://instagram.com/alyssamaxwellauthor  

Bookbub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/alyssa-maxwell

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Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7163135.Alyssa_Maxwell

 

An Interview with Alyssa Maxwell by E. B. Davis

 

Following the death of her uncle, Cornelius Vanderbilt, in September 1899, a somber Emma is in no mood for one of Newport’s extravagant parties. But to keep Vanderbilt’s reckless son Neily out of trouble, she agrees to accompany him to an Elizabethan fete on the lavish grounds of Wakehurst, the Ochre Point “cottage” modeled after an English palace, owned by Anglophile James Van Alen.
 
Held in Wakehurst’s English-style gardens, the festivities will include a swordplay demonstration, an archery competition, scenes from Shakespeare’s plays, and even a joust. As Emma wanders the grounds distracted by grief, she overhears a fierce argument between a man and a woman behind a tall hedge. As the joust begins, she’s drawn by the barking of Van Alen’s dogs and finds a man on the ground, an arrow through his chest.
 
The victim is one of the 400’s most influential members, Judge Clayton Schuyler. Could one of the countless criminals he’d imprisoned over the years have returned to seek revenge—or could one of his own family members have targeted him? With the help of her beau Derrick Andrews and Detective Jesse Whyte, Emma begins to learn the judge was not the straight arrow he appeared to be. As their investigation leads them in ever-widening circles, Emma will have to score a bull’s eye to stop the killer from taking another life . . .

Amazon.com

 

The death of Cornelius Vanderbilt II changes the Vanderbilt family including main character Emmaline Cross, who was his niece. The aftermath of that death sets the stage for Murder at Wakehurst, the ninth book in the Gilded Newport Mystery series. It will be released on August 31^st.

 

Please welcome Alyssa Maxwell back to WWK.                                                 E. B. Davis

 

Thank you, Elaine. I’m delighted to be back talking to you and your readers. Thanks so much for having me!

 

You use real characters in your fiction, but you have kept their stories true to life. Just as you portray in your books, Cornelius Vanderbilt II and his wife Alice almost disowned their son Neily when he married Grace Wilson, a woman he loved, who is the daughter of a banker. What was so bad about Grace? Wasn’t her family wealthy enough? Were families different at the turn of the 20^th century—were parents total dictators?

 

The Wilson family originally hailed from the south, and stories have it that Grace’s father, Richard Wilson, made his fortune initially as a blockade runner bringing supplies into the South. In fact, I’ve read that Rhett Butler might have been modeled after Richard Wilson. This alone would have set the family in a less than favorable light in the eyes of the 400, who considered them of questionable origins and character. But once established financially in New York, the Wilson siblings began marrying up into society—brother Orme into the Astor family, sister May into the Goelets—and they became known as The Marrying Wilsons, meaning, essentially, they were climbers and fortune hunters. Cornelius and Alice Vanderbilt simply didn’t trust Grace’s motives for marrying their son, but I believe that as Neily dug in and resisted their wishes, it became more a war of wills than anything else. Do bear in mind that the Vanderbilts themselves were considered upstarts of vulgar origins until only a decade earlier, when Mrs. Astor had to bite the bullet and recognize Alva Vanderbilt socially so that her daughter, Carrie, could attend the Vanderbilts’ fancy dress ball. All of Carrie’s friends were invited and she very much wanted to go!

 

In answer to that last question, yes, parents and families were different at that time. A parent’s word was seen as law, and defiance came with steep consequences. Most parents believed they knew what was best for even their adult children and often planned their lives for them accordingly. For example, Consuelo Vanderbilt had no wish to marry the Duke of Marlborough, with whom she had nothing in common. Alva, determined to have a title of nobility for her daughter, made her life miserable until Consuelo agreed to the marriage, but it’s said she walked down the aisle with tears in her eyes—and not happy ones.

 

I’m a bit incensed on behalf of Neily (ridiculous, but true even if 100+ years after the fact). From what I’ve read of Neily’s life, his parents had plenty to be proud of. He was awarded a Master’s degree in Engineering from Yale, which he earned because of the family’s interest in the railroads, and was made Brigadier General in 1918 by the US Army and received a Distinguished Service Metal from Congress. Ironically, Neily and Grace disinherited their son, Cornelius Vanderbilt IV due to his career in journalism. Did Neily III ever get his due?

 

Yes, this is all true. Perhaps surprisingly, Neily was a man much like his father. He was studious, hardworking, dedicated, responsible, and inventive. Cornelius was all of those things. He had few vices, taught Sunday school, never put a sportsman’s pursuits ahead of running the family business (as so many other men of the 400 did), and was a dedicated family man. But father and son also possessed pride in spades, and this is where the problem lay. Neily inherited $500,000 in outright cash and the interest on a million-dollar trust account upon his father’s death. While to most of us this might seem an exorbitant sum, to a Vanderbilt it was a pittance, especially when you consider the lifestyles they were used to leading: multiple mansions, frequent and extravagant entertaining, yachts, trips back and forth to Europe every year, not to mention wives’ and adult daughters’ wardrobes, which ran upwards of tens of thousands each year. Neily’s inheritance was Cornelius’s way of having the last word, essentially saying, “Now you’ll have to live off your wife’s dowry.” Neily was, for all practical purposes, disinherited, while his younger brother, Alfred, inherited the bulk of the fortune and business interests. But Alfred did transfer $6 million to Neily soon after taking the reins as head of the family.

 

Sadly, Neily and Grace turned out to be of very different natures. Grace loved to entertain and often threw lavish parties; Neily preferred quiet time with his books. They grew apart fairly quickly. But yes, how ironic that they would inflict upon their son the very fate they’d had to contend with, merely because Corneil, as they called him, chose to follow his heart and enter the field of journalism as a profession.

 

What was/is Macassar oil?

 

Ah, yes, the Macassar oil. It was made from oil of the ylang-ylang tree and used as a hair dressing for men. Another type of dressing was called pomade (usually a fatty or lard like substance) and later, in the 20^th century, Brylcreem, which I think I remember my brother using in the early sixties. All of these products tamed the hair and allowed it to be combed back into a slick style. Macassar oil was also reputed to promote healthy hair growth. Remember the term anti-macassar? Those were the squares of fabric people used to throw over the backs of their furniture to protect the fabric and came about precisely men’s oiled hair tended to stain anything it came in contact with.

 

I checked and you can actually still buy types of macassar oil, and it’s still marketed as a way to keep hair healthy.

 

Although Emma gets a few things like her buggy repaired, she ends up deciding to fund a scholarship with the funds she inherits. Admirable, but what about funding her old age, a new horse, a trip or gifts for her staff?

 

Emma is fine with making any necessary repairs to the house and seeing to it that Nanny and her maid, Katie, have all they need and then some. She will increase her donations to the St. Nicholas Orphanage in Providence, which she has been helping to support for years now. As for old age, she would have no reason to believe those railroad stocks wouldn’t continue to pay dividends long into the future. What she decides she cannot do is spend frivolously. She won’t redecorate the house or buy the types of things her relatives might have run out to buy, merely to show off her newfound wealth. Not only does she feel that she hasn’t earned this money, but, as much as she loved her Uncle Cornelius, she is also aware that some of his business practices were to the detriment of many of his common workers. She has always been grateful for what she has and doesn’t dwell on what she could have, which is a quality that stood out about my mother-in-law, who was also a Newporter born and raised, and who lived there all her life. I like to think I endowed Emma with some of her traits—a deep sense of social responsibility, a strong work ethic, and a depth of compassion.

 

Why did Emma step down from managing the Newport Messenger?

 

While the position of editor-in-chief is nothing to sneeze at, especially for a woman in 1899, it once again sidetracked Emma from her goal of being a hard news reporter. Being consigned to the society column at the Newport Observer chafed at her ambitions, and she relocated to New York for a year in hopes of realizing her dreams. Not only did writing for the New York Herald turn out to be a disappointment, she realized she missed her home in Newport too much to stay away. She took a chance in leaving the Herald and returning to Newport, and considered it quite a boon when Derrick asked her to head up his newly-purchased, fledgling newspaper. Unfortunately, they both came to realize Emma’s talents lay in investigating, in following trails of evidence, not managing others and tending to the daily desk work of running a newspaper. Sometimes greater prestige and even a high salary don’t equal happiness in one’s career.

 

What does nocking mean?

 

In archery, when you nock your arrow, it means positioning the shaft of the arrow on the bow’s rest (part of the handgrip), and engaging the arrow’s notched end with the bowstring. This ensures the arrow remains stable as you take aim, pull back the string, and release. My husband and I have bows – his is a lefthanded one – and enjoy taking our target to a park where there’s lots of space and we can’t inadvertently shoot anyone. We’re not particularly skilled archers (not nearly as skilled as Emma!), but it’s all in good fun and allows us to indulge in a historical-style sport. Important tip: if you take up archery, invest in a forearm guard and a finger tab. Your skin will thank you, because the bowstring can raise painful welts. We found that out the hard way!

 

Emma doesn’t like jousting because it can hurt the horses. Aren’t the horses covered in armor?

 

Armor wasn’t foolproof, neither for man nor beast, even in the Middle Ages when life depended on it.
Lances could still make their way between the plates, and not all parts of a horse could be covered and still allow freedom of movement. Then there were falls, which could result in any number of injuries. Emma simply sees this as an unnecessary risk to an innocent animal, for no better purpose than for the entertainment of people with too much money on their hands. Also, her uncle has recently died, and she’s really in no mood for festivities. The only reason she attended the fete at all was to appease her friend Grace and make sure her cousin Neily didn’t get into trouble. The joust is, for her, the last straw in an interminable evening, when all she truly wants to do is go home and grieve her uncle Cornelius properly.

 

The host’s mastiffs find the body of Judge Schuyler. Due to the keening sound of the dogs, Emma knows from her own dog, Patch, that they are troubled. She reports the murder. When the police come to investigate, Emma finds that her friend Jesse Whyte has been demoted from large crimes due to his association with Emma. Why?

 

During the course of the series, Emma and her lifelong friend, Jesse, have fallen into a comfortable pattern discussing cases and sharing in the investigation. Jesse has gone from ordering her not to interfere to admiring her analytical skills and seeking out her assistance. This is partly because when a crime involves members of the wealthy set, the police often find their hands tied in the interest of preserving reputations and making sure certain individuals aren’t inconvenienced. Men like Cornelius Vanderbilt invested in the careers of politicians and authorities whom they believed would support their business interests, just like corporations continue to do today. So there are many times when word reaches Jesse, from on high down to his police chief, to either leave matters alone or accept the easiest and quickest solution—even if the wrong person is charged. Rather than acquiesce, Jesse secretly continues the investigation with Emma, who isn’t constrained by the same rules he is within the police force. But word of her involvement has gotten around, and the higher ups don’t like it. After all, she’s a mere woman--how dare she interfere in affairs the of men! They penalize Jesse by taking him off the important cases and replacing him with a man who refuses to listen to anything Emma has to say. This does not, however, thwart her in any way!

What is a Boston marriage? Why is it called that?

 

A Boston Marriage was initially when two single women of means—perhaps aging, unmarried heiresses or widows—lived together to pool their resources and stave off loneliness. However, it also came to be whispered that some of these arrangements concealed what then would have been considered an illicit relationship between them, i.e., a lesbian romance. Apparently, the term came into being after Henry James’s novel, The Bostonians, was published. He didn’t use the term in the book, but it featured two women who shared a residence long-term. It was whispered in the 1890s that Gertrude Vanderbilt and Esther Hunt, daughter of famed architect Richard Morris Hunt, might have engaged in just such a relationship, although they never lived together. They were very close friends, and their correspondence suggests strong feelings of affection. Although such expression was not unusual for female friends at the time, Alice Vanderbilt responded by discouraging the friendship (she didn’t believe Esther’s social standing made her a good friend for her daughter, anyway) and urging Gertrude to find a husband. In 1896, Gertrude married Harry Payne Whitney, with whom she was very much in love at the time, silencing the rumors.

 

Mrs. Andrews, Emma’s beau Derrick’s mother, is hostile and tries to get Emma arrested. Mrs. Andrews calls Emma a “doxy.” That’s a real cut to her character, isn’t it? Is she another dictatorial parent? Why doesn’t she like Emma?

 

Although Emma is a Vanderbilt cousin, she is a poor relation and, like Cornelius and Alice Vanderbilt, Lavinia Andrews doesn’t trust Emma’s motives for marrying her son. She believes Derrick can do much better, in the form of an heiress who will bring her own money and prestige to the family. But it goes beyond that. Emma works for a living—something no well-bred young lady would ever consider, much less act on. Her behavior, in Mrs. Andrews’s eyes, is unladylike and scandalous, and such a wife will do nothing to further her son’s fortune and social standing. She does begin to warm to Emma at one point, until Emma once again sullies her reputation by not only going to a brothel to question a young prostitute, but she also brazenly knocks at the front door of the Newport Reading Room. This was Newport’s most exclusive gentleman’s club and women were strictly forbidden to enter. It was so much a man’s haven that women sometimes crossed the street to avoid walking too closely to the property, in fear of being taunted by the men sitting on the front porch or by open windows. 

 

Mrs. Andrews tries to dictate, but Derrick frustrates her every attempt to control his life. Even the threat of being disinherited doesn’t faze him, and his purchasing the Newport Messenger and growing it into a successful newspaper shows his willingness to work and depend on his own devices rather than live under his parents’ thumb.

 

When people were in mourning, life didn’t carry on as usual? No one got engaged, married, or celebrated in any way? How long did mourning last?

 

Mourning customs at the time were laid out according to some fairly strict rules, especially for women—in fact, women bore the brunt of it. A wife typically was in deep mourning for a year, during which she wore all black, usually dull fabrics that had no sheen such as crepe, veils that covered her face, and little or no jewelry. During this time, she would not take part in any society events or receive visitors other than close family or friends. Emma would not want to announce her engagement during this time as it would seem like flaunting her happiness in the face of her aunt Alice, who could not take part in the celebration while she was in deep mourning, and could be seen as insensitive by the rest of the family. Cornelius was no ordinary patriarch, after all. As Emma says, the world changed because of his death.

 

After a year a widow entered second mourning, when she might begin to wear silks and taffetas again, with a bit more jewelry, although this usually consisted of jet beads and “mourning jewelry” which often incorporated woven bits of the loved one’s hair. This went on for a few months or another year. Finally, a widow entered half mourning, where she could begin wearing subdued colors such as grays or purples and venture out among people again. 

 

Bear in mind, though, that these rules applied mostly to the wealthy, who could afford a whole new wardrobe and could alter their lifestyle for the time dictated. The poor, on the other hand, could neither afford new clothing nor leave their employment, (and many poor women did work, in some way or another). Even Emma wouldn’t have been expected to incur the expense of wearing mourning for Cornelius, not only because of her modest means but because she was not an immediate family member. But she commemorates his death by wearing a black armband.

 

What’s next for Emma?

 

I’m finishing up another of Emma’s adventures right now. In Murder at Beacon Rock, members of the New York Yacht Club, Derrick included, gather to begin strategizing for the America’s Cup Challenge that will take place the following year. In the midst of their planning at the Acropolis-like Beacon Rock, a young woman is found drowned in the cove below the house. While evidence found on her person leads the police to conclude it was suicide due to a broken heart, that same evidence convinces Emma, Derrick, and Jesse that there is much more to the tragedy, and leads directly back to those at Beacon Rock. Meanwhile, Emma is sorting out her feelings about marriage. That she’s in love with Derrick never comes into question, but the disparity in their backgrounds and her fears about losing her independence continue to plague her.

  

Bio:

Alyssa Maxwell, author of The Gilded Newport Mysteries and A Lady and Lady's Maid Mysteries, knew from an early age that she wanted to be a writer. Growing up in New England and traveling to Great Britain fueled a passion for history, while a love of puzzles of all kinds drew her to the mystery genre. She and her husband reside in Florida, where they love to, ride their bikes, and shop at farmer’s markets and go antiquing. Alyssa also loves to watch BBC productions, sip tea in the afternoons, and delve into the past. She is a member of her local chapter of the Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Florida Romance Writers. You can learn more about Alyssa and her books at www.alyssamaxwell.com, and connect with her at:

 

https://www.facebook.com/gildednewport

https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaMaxwellauthor/

https://twitter.com/Alyssa__Maxwell

https://www.pinterest.com/alymaxauthor/

https://www.instagram.com/alyssamaxwellauthor/

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7163135.Alyssa_Maxwell

 

 

 

 

Alyssa Maxwell Interview By E. B. Davis

In post–World War I England, Lady Phoebe Renshaw and her lady’s maid,

Eva Huntford, step outside of their social roles and put their lives at risk

to apprehend a vicious killer… 

http://www.alyssamaxwell.com/#!ladys-maid-books/c1dlr

I interviewed Alyssa Maxwell last year after reading her Gilded Newport Mysteries, set in the Rhode Island town at the beginning of the twentieth century. Her main character in this series was a likable young woman possessing pluck. When I heard Alyssa was starting a new “A Lady and Lady’s Maid Mystery” series I wasn’t sure what to expect.

I’m not a big historical reader, but I liked Alyssa’s writing and was curious. The first book in the series, Murder Most Malicious, trashed my notion of a dry manor-house mystery. Once you read the interview, you’ll understand. I hope you’ll read the book. Move over Maisie Dobbs!

Welcome back to WWK, Alyssa!         E. B. Davis

Thank you so much, I’m honored to be back!

Your new series is set in the years following the First World War. What drew you to write about that time?

In a word, CHANGE. WWI clearly marks the end of the old, traditional world and the beginning of the modern era. As they say about the war itself, “They rode in on horses and left in aeroplanes.” But it wasn’t only about modern inventions and conveniences. English society itself changed dramatically by the end of the war and kept on changing throughout the twentieth century. Prior to the war, class divisions were rigidly defined, with the notion ingrained in all that some people were simply born better than others. But in the trenches, aristocratic officers died just as horrifically as common-born foot soldiers. And while the men were fighting, young women, heretofore restricted to the home unless suitably chaperoned, were needed to fill the labor gap in occupations never before considered proper for “the weaker sex”. This led to women earning their own money and getting their first true taste of independence. For many there was no going back, partly by choice, but also because “a generation of men were lost to the war,” and for many young women, there would be no husbands. All of this created a climate of progress and change that makes the post war years both exciting and challenging – because people had to relearn their roles in society and change their thinking and ways of living.

The Gilded Newport series is set in the US. This one is set in England, where the social status and stratum were more defined. How did WWI change social conduct?

As I mentioned above, for the first time in history, really, women were free to move about in society independently. Suddenly women were going to the picture shows, restaurants, and dance halls and meeting men without prior introductions, and without the supervision of their families. Women over thirty who were married and/or owned property won the right to vote in 1918. Working outside the home brought about a rise in hem lengths to enable women to move about more freely. Steel was needed for the war effort in munitions factories, so it was no longer as readily available for use in corsets (yes, true!), and this gave rise to the modern brassiere. Finally, women were no longer caged within their own attire. Class distinctions still existed, as did different standards for men vs. women, but the lines became more blurred and society a tad more forgiving.

The English suffragette movement led the American rally. Normally, Americans initiate change more readily. Why do you think English women initiated this fight?

Honestly, I can’t answer that question. But remember, in 1918 only women over thirty who were married and/or owned property could vote. It would take another 10 years for women’s Suffrage to include all women over 21. In America, on the other hand, all women won the right to vote in 1920.

Each woman has lost male family members. Did the high casualties of the male soldiers help the women’s cause?

Yes and no. The war created huge gaps in the labor force which opened up opportunities for women. But after the war, many of these women were expected to relinquish their jobs to returning soldiers and return home. A traditionalist segment of English society still considered the working woman an anomaly, and believed no woman could truly be happy without a husband and children to take care of. Never mind that the number of men who died meant that many women would never find husbands. The media cruelly dubbed them “surplus women” and treated them with very little sympathy. Some women were able to find meaning in their single lives, but others, affected by the biases, were never truly happy.

You’ve created two delightful, hardworking, and complex main characters. I can see parallels between the women, but you’ve also balanced them. Were there any historical figures you used as character prototypes?

No, I can’t say that I based them on any historical figures, but rather on what I read about the class system and the “line” that was never supposed to be crossed between employer and servant. Eva truly does believe she can never be Phoebe’s equal. This class distinction has been ingrained in her, and she doesn’t necessarily see it as a bad thing. It’s just life, and she’s grateful for her position and the advantages it brings her. We have to leave behind our modern sensibilities and view it from her perspective. She’s the daughter of poor farmers, so her situation could have been much worse. Phoebe, on the other hand, sees people in much more equal terms, but it makes sense for her to do so. Motherless from a young age, and then suffering the loss of her father during the war, she’s had to grow up quickly and adapt to changing circumstances. Being young, only 19 in the first book, allows her the flexibility to view the world from different perspectives, and the one that pleases her most is one in which people are allowed to achieve according to their abilities and goals, rather than birthright.

Phoebe and Eva’s behavior patterns were very different. Was it a challenge writing an upstairs versus a downstairs character?

It was actually a lot of fun, and I can’t decide which I enjoyed more, writing the family upstairs with their petty dramas and problems, or the servants below, who led much tougher lives but possessed the resiliency to perservere.

Even though Phoebe and Eva have an employer/employee relationship, they seem the best of friends—but society won’t stand for it. Does the distinction help or hinder their investigation?

What it does is allows them to be in two places at once. Phoebe can’t very well start hanging around downstairs asking questions. Servants are always supposed to be on their best behavior around the family, and that isn’t conducive to opening up and confiding in her. But with Eva, they’re much more relaxed and willing to chat. Likewise, Eva could never question the “toffs” upstairs. Such impertinence would cost her her job. As far as their friendship goes, Phoebe is much more accepting of the idea. It’s Eva who has trouble crossing that invisible line and overstepping her bounds. She’s all about respect and loyalty. She feels an almost motherly devotion to Phoebe, but doesn’t see herself as Phoebe’s social equal.

Of all the characters, I found Phoebe’s little brother, Fox, the most irritating. Is he just a pesky little brother?

Let’s not mince words. Fox is a brat! As Viscount Foxwood and his grandfather’s heir, he’s full of himself and thinks he can do no wrong. Despite his youth, Fox has bought into the old ways of doing things, including marrying his sisters off so he won’t have to support them once he inherits. Phoebe thinks he needs taking down a peg or two, and I agree.

Phoebe has an older sister, Julia, with whom she isn’t close. Julia is an intriguing enigma. Are the two sisters different or is it just their methods that are different? Is age order a factor?

Poor Julia is caught between the old world and the new. She should have been married by now, but the war interrupted such things, and now she’s more or less adrift. She knows what she wants in a man—she just can’t find him. That, and the losses she has suffered, i.e., her parents, have made her extremely defensive and closed off from others. She’s not all bad, but she sometimes appears to be, especially when Phoebe tries to get close to her. But Julia is her own worst enemy. I occasionally allow her to soften, but only slightly, and before she becomes truly vulnerable, she ices over again.

How did the new series come about? Did you propose it to Kensington?

I knew my editor was hoping to see something along the lines of Downton Abbey with a mystery twist. And I thought, why not? I’m a huge fan of that series, and also the original Upstairs Downstairs, so this was pure fun to develop.

Did you travel to England for research?

I visited England years ago but not again since, although I have made trips to Scotland and Ireland as well. I would love nothing more than to go back for some first-hand research. We’ll see.

What’s next for Eva and Phoebe?

Phoebe and Eva will be teaming up again in the spring of 1919 to discover who murdered the headmistress of the nearby Haverleigh School for Young Ladies, where the youngest Renshaw sister, Amelia, attends. The book is called A PINCH OF POISON. Can you guess how the victim dies? We’ll also be seeing more of Owen Seabright and Constable Miles Brannock, along with the Renshaw family, in that story.