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About the Book
Book: Miss Blaire in Blackwell’s Island (Heiresses of Adventure Book One)
Author: Grace Hitchcock
Genre: Historical Romance True Crime
Release date: July 31, 2024
Will Edyth prove her sanity before it is too late?
On Blackwell’s Island, New York, a hospital was built to keep its patients from ever leaving.
With her late parents’ fortune under her uncle’s care until her twenty-fifth birthday in the year 1887, Edyth Blaire does not feel pressured to marry or to bow to society’s demands. She freely indulges in eccentric hobbies like fencing and riding her velocipede in her cycling costume about the city for all to see. Finding a loophole in the will, though, her uncle whisks Edyth off to the women’s lunatic asylum just weeks before her birthday. And Edyth fears she will never be found.
At the asylum she meets another inmate, who upon discovering Edyth’s plight, confesses that she is Nellie Bly, an undercover journalist for The World. Will either woman find a way to leave the terrifying island and reclaim her true self?
Click here to get your copy!
About the Author
Grace Hitchcock is the award-winning author of multiple historical novels and novellas, including the American Royalty, Best Laid Plans, and Aprons & Veils series. She holds a Master’s in Creative Writing and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History. Grace lives on the Northshore of New Orleans, with her husband, Dakota, sons, and daughter in a cottage that is always filled with the sounds of sweet little footsteps running at full speed. When not writing, or chasing babies, she’s baking something delightful and can usually be found with a book clutched in her fist.
More from Grace
I am thrilled to share with you my FIRST novel in the HEIRESSES OF ADVENTURE series, MISS BLAIRE IN BLACKWELL’S ISLAND, which is set in New York City in 1887. I loved writing about Edyth Blaire, our cat-rescuing, spunky heroine who spends her days painting, fencing with her dreamy instructor, and avoiding society at all costs, which as you can imagine, comes back to haunt her before the end. I’ve never written about a character who despised reading, so that was a new one for me. Edyth just doesn’t like to sit still long enough to finish a book, but you’ll find out why later.
While writing this book, I am pretty certain the librarians at my local branch were wondering what in the world my hobbies are, judging from the stacks of fencing books for beginners, histories of New York crime in the 19th century, and Nellie Bly’s Ten Days in a Mad-House, and more.
The inspiration for this book came from Nellie Bly’s scandalous exposé for Joseph Pulitzer’s newspaper, The World. In reading Nellie’s articles, I was shocked at the grounds by which the asylum would commit women and that’s when I discovered a tiny mention about an heiress with family members who had her tucked away so they could have her fortune. . . and Edyth Blaire was born.
I hope you will enjoy reading about our eccentric leading lady and her fencing master hero, Raoul “Bane” Banebridge in this friends-to-lovers romance. If you are interested in seeing pictures of the asylum and to see what I pictured the characters looking like, check out my Pinterest board here.
Are you part of a book club? I have discussion questions here!
Blog Stops
Allyson Jamison, February 21
Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, February 22
Devoted To Hope, February 22
Texas Book-aholic, February 23
Happily Managing a Household of Boys, February 23
Babbling Becky L’s Book Impressions, February 24
Locks, Hooks and Books, February 25
Maureen’s Musings, February 25
Melissa’s Bookshelf, February 26
Books You Can Feel Good About, February 26
Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, February 27
Vicky Sluiter, February 27
Betti Mace, February 28
Cover Lover Book Review, February 28
Blogging With Carol, March 1
Connie’s History Classroom, March 1
lakesidelivingsite, March 2
For Him and My Family, March 3
Mary Hake, March 3
Labor Not in Vain, March 4
Holly’s Book Corner, March 4
Leslie’s Library Escape, March 5
Inspired by Fiction, March 5
Pause for Tales, March 6
Lights in a Dark World, March 6
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Grace is giving away the grand prize of a $20 gift card with FREE SHIPPING to Grace’s Autographed Bookshop!!
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/00adcf54161
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