Hi Everyone!
I am excited to be here with a guest post from Rebecca Rosenberg today! Please help me give her a warm welcome and be sure to read all the way to the end for something extra! :)
4/12 Note: GIVEAWAY CLOSED!
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THE
SECRET LIFE OF MRS. LONDON, by Rebecca Rosenberg
San Francisco, 1915. As
America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed
novelist Jack London, wrestle with genius and desire, politics and marital
competitiveness. Charmian longs to be viewed as an equal partner who put her
own career on hold to support her husband, but Jack doesn’t see it that
way…until Charmian is pulled from the audience during a magic show by escape
artist Harry Houdini, a man enmeshed in his own complicated marriage. Suddenly,
charmed by the attention Houdini pays her and entranced by his sexual
magnetism, Charmian’s eyes open to a world of possibilities that could be her escape.
As
Charmian grapples with her urge to explore the forbidden, Jack’s increasingly
reckless behavior threatens her dedication. Now torn between two of history’s
most mysterious and charismatic figures, she must find the courage to forge her
own path, even as she fears the loss of everything she holds dear.
How do two of the most iconic men in America in the early 1900’s, Houdini and Jack London, fall in love with the same woman, Charmian Kittredge London?
The Great Harry Houdini had transformed himself from a poor magician in Coney Island, to a world-renown escape artist who challenged police chiefs and prison wardens around the world to lock him in their strongest jails, safes, handcuffs and locks—Houdini would always escape their strongest shackles.
And Jack London was the most popular, well paid author in
America, writing fifty books in twenty years. Adventure novels such as Call of
the Wild and White Fang, to scathing political novels such as People of the
Abyss and Iron Heel, to socialist statement novels, The Valley of the Moon and
Martin Eden.
Yet Charmian London captured both men’s passion. Charmian
was a modern, adventurous woman. She was college educated and worked as a
writer, editor and typist when she met budding novelist, Jack London. She read
and reviewed his first novel, and their partnership was born. Jack would tell
his stories, and Charmian would type them up at 100 words per minute, later
editing for him. Their equal working relationship was extraordinarily
productive, producing 1000 words a day. Their marriage was a modern model of
equality, so much so, they called each other “Mate”, instead of darling or
sweetheart.
The Londons met the Houdinis at Houdini’s Chinese Water
Torture Chamber Escape at the Orpheum Theater in both San Francisco and
Oakland, 1916. The couples hit it off, and Charmian wrote in her diary, “Charming
Houdini, I shall never forget him.” A hint of things to come.
So what monumental event pried Charmian from Jack’s arms to
take the train from California to New York City to meet Houdini? Houdini had
New Yorkers astounded at his impossible disappearing act with Jenny, the 5 ton
elephant. The ecstatic crowd jumped to their feet, but Houdini had spied
Charmian sitting in the front row, and was mesmerized. Charmian wore a white
fur jacket and he was stunned. Charmian wrote in her diary. He swept me still.
What happened between them? And how did it affect Houdini’s
wife Bess, and Jack London? I hope you’ll want to find out!
AND NOW...A Giveaway: Enter to win an autographed copy of THE SECRET
LIFE OF MRS. LONDON, by Rebecca Rosenberg! All you have to do is leave a comment below! :)
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More Information
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THE SECRET LIFE OF MRS. LONDON
ONLINE
Rebecca Rosenberg
A California native, Rebecca Rosenberg lives on a lavender farm
with her family in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, where Jack London wrote from
his Beauty Ranch. Rebecca is a long-time student of Jack London’s works and an
avid fan of his daring wife, Charmian London. The Secret Life of Mrs. London is
her debut novel, following her non-fiction, Lavender
Fields of America.
Happy Reading!
