The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn - my review, AND an Interview with the author, Lori Benton

Please leave a comment and your email to win a SIGNED copy of this wonderful book from Lori! A name will be drawn on Thursday, April 24th. 

What a perfect name for this story! From the moment I began this book I was mesmerized. Tamsen is a study in the contrasts of a woman’s heart, for she is both vulnerable and strong as well as fearful yet courageous. There is a saying that I dearly love “A woman is like a tea-bag, you never know how strong she is until you get her into hot water” and Tamsen fits this description to a T.

As the plot opens up we see that Tamsen’s selfish and cruel step-father plans on taking advantage of Tamsen’s beauty to make a prosperous matrimonial match. He controls her and manipulates her but Tamsen’s fiery spirit urges her to flee…straight into the arms of Jesse Bird, who aids her in escaping her father’s tyranny.

Their escape spurs Tamsen’s father and Ambrose, the man intended for her to marry, to pursue her. Jesse Bird is a man who knows the terrain and how to keep them one step ahead of the chase. His heart is drawn to the beautiful, vulnerable woman, who entrusts herself into his care, but knows the depth of his feelings are not reciprocated. Tamsen simply doesn’t see any other option than to trust him for it would be far worse for her to fall back under her father’s control and be forced into a marriage that would imprison her soul.

Lori Benton weaves a beautiful tale of Tamsen’s journey of the heart under Jesse’s wing of protection. He loves her and desires to marry her, but only if Tamsen loves him in return.  Let me assure the potential reader that the author will draw you into their lives in such a way that you will be enthralled with their blossoming relationship. The characters took on flesh and blood for me.

                                         

The canvas of the story, the author paints, is vast, beautiful and dangerous. I was transported to a different time and place through this story. Ms. Benton does not write a fluffy, feel-good romance but instead she delves into the complexities of the human heart and spirit. The word “pursuit” in this title is revealed in several ways through the course of the book. After I finished I reflected on that word and how it pertained in multiple ways.  I loved this book and I give it my highest recommendation!

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AND NOW: THE INTERVIEW WITH AUTHOR LORI BENTON 

A heart-felt thank you to Lori Benton for visiting with us today at Nettie’s Book Nook. This is Lori’s second book, a historical romance that transports the reader to 1787, a time in our nation full of stark contrasts that are both dangerously beautiful and harsh. She gives us a glimpse, through her characters and through her story, into a time in history that make this novel a pleasure for her fans.

I read your first book, Burning Sky, which I absolutely loved so I was eager to read “The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn”. You delivered another amazing story! What inspired you to bring us the character of Tamsen Littlejohn? Could you describe for your readers how a character takes on life and urges you to write her story?

Thanks for hosting me today, Janette! I’m so glad you enjoyed Burning Sky, and I’m happy to share about the creation of The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn.

Usually with my novels it’s a character that makes himself or herself known to me first, though sometimes it’s a story situation—an inciting incident, it’s called. This time the initial inspiration for the story was taken out of history. While researching North Carolina history some years ago, I ran across mention of the State of Franklin, sometimes called the “Lost” State of Franklin, and was so startled and intrigued by this attempt of a group of frontier settlers to create what was almost the 14^th state, that I knew one day I had to write a story set during those years in the 1780s, west of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in what is today eastern Tennessee. The characters came along a bit later. Jesse Bird was first, leaping into my imagination quite out of the blue. Tamsen’s genesis was more purposeful. Since I knew my hero was a frontiersman with an uncivilized (by 18^th century standards) background, I wanted to create a heroine who, at first glance, would seem as different from Jesse as she could be.

Character creation is a process that happens in fits and starts, as I set my subconscious to work and spend time daydreaming and story-weaving. This process, which might take days or weeks, has me darting for paper and pen to scribble notes at all hours of the day and sometimes night, too, when I should be falling asleep. One aspect of character builds on another. Layers get peeled back. Character feeds plot (and vice versa). Research informs story and character. It’s an organic process, one that’s hard to describe, looking back. But there comes a moment when I realize what these characters want, what their hopes and dreams and goals are, what’s standing in their way, and I’m compelled to see them through to the end. That’s when I know beyond doubt that I have another story to tell.

What were some of your favorite things about Tamsen and her growth as a person through her adversities?

Her love of clothes! In this way Tamsen is very different from me (I’m happy in my jeans and flannel hoodie shirt). I used clothing in the story to show the stages of Tamsen’s growth, her rejection of the cage she feels caught in, her shedding of her old life, her attempts at “trying on” various aspects of frontier life, until we see her making a set of clothes unlike anything she’d ever imagined, for the sheer joy of discovery and creation.

I also loved showing through Tamsen’s journey that God knows every step of it before we take the first. That as we seek Him, He puts His desires for us in our hearts, so that there’s no telling them apart from our own desires. He literally gives us the desires of our hearts—plants them there as we walk with Him, then sets about fulfilling them. Not always on our time table, but if He begins a work, He is faithful to complete it.

Your cover is so beautiful and inviting to the reader. Did you have a say in the cover design and how Tamsen was portrayed?

Early on I was given a choice of models. I’m thankful the young woman I chose was available in the time frame we had for the cover shoot. She not only looked remarkably like the Tamsen I’d imagined, she embodied Tamsen’s spirit, her vulnerability, as well as the underlying strength and courage Tamsen grows into.

I worked with my cover designer, Kristopher Orr, talking back and forth about the setting and Tamsen’s clothing, but in the end the cover we’ve all seen is the first cover I was presented with, and I was very happy with it. I did request a small change on the back of the cover, which will appear on the final book released on April 15^th. Only readers who’ve seen an Advance Reading Copy and the final book both will know the difference, though at some point I plan to do a blog post about the cover creation.

Jesse Bird was handsome, smart, and a true hero. What was your inspiration for Jesse?

I’m drawn to characters whose lives in some way straddle the Middle Ground, that line between frontier cultures. So it’s no surprise characters of that sort drop in on me in moments of daydreaming, or during my research of the 18^th century frontier. As I mentioned, Jesse came leaping into one of those idle moments of daydreaming—out of the forest and into a mountain clearing, being chased by… I had no idea by who or what at the time. It’s a mysterious and wonderful thing, how characters show up. Sometimes you get an immediate sense of who they are, before you ever start figuring out their background, or what it is they want. I knew his name was Jesse, that he was a frontiersman, that he felt the urgency to find or protect someone. That’s where I started from, with Jesse.

Who was your favorite secondary character and why?

Cade, the half-Delaware man who raised Jesse. I’ve sometimes imagined this story told from his point of view. There’s a whole other novel in my head in which he’s hero. Cade intrigued me from the beginning, because he keeps so much to himself. He was like an onion; the more layers I peeled back the more interesting he became to me.

I’m also quite fond of trapper and confirmed bachelor Charlie Spencer, with his dogs and his mules, and his stubborn conscience.

Is there a particular lesson you can share with us that God taught you through your journey of writing The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn?

Nothing that I can recall (it’s been three years and a lot of writing under the bridge since), but isn’t He always reinforcing things in our lives, reminding us—as any good teacher does—of what we already know, until we can turn around and teach it ourselves?

While writing Tamsen’s journey I spent time meditating on particular themes from scripture: of being sheltered under the wing of the Almighty (Psalm 91); waiting on the Lord (Psalm 27); trusting in His long-range plans when I barely see the next step (Jeremiah 29:11), and taking my hands off certain situations and letting God work His own justice, in His time (Romans 12:19). As my pastor, who teaches straight through the Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, likes to say, “Wherever we are (in our through-the-Bible teaching), is where we are (as a congregation, or as a nation).” That’s no coincidence. God is speaking to us constantly in all our times and seasons, even through the writing of a novel.

You must do a tremendous amount of research in order to build your stories. Could you share with us something you learned that was especially interesting to you?

Yes, I do a lot of research, which doesn’t stop until I’ve sent in the final edits and there’s no more I can learn, nothing else to double check, nothing more to change.

In researching The Pursuit of Tamsen Littlejohn, I became intrigued with the some of the back story elements of Jesse and Cade’s lives. Particularly Governor Dunmore’s War, against the Shawnees in 1774, which had such an impact on Jesse’s life. I’d like to explore that event more, and the tragedies that led to it. I’m just sure there’s a novel to be found in it. That’s the joy of writing historical novels, and all the research they require. Along the way I invariably run across fascinating events of history that brush past the novel I’m presently writing, but are as interesting as the event or time period I’m focused on.

We would love to hear what a day in your life is like. Could you tell us how you make time for writing and do you write every day?

I treat writing like a full time job. I start around 9am after I see my husband off for work, get my morning housework finished, and see to things like email and social media. I break for lunch around noon, and usually ride the stationary bike. After lunch I get back to work and stay at it for as long as I can, until I either have to run errands or get dinner started. That’s usually between 4 and 5pm. Sometimes that afternoon work isn’t actual writing or editing. It might be researching or working on promotion (interviews, articles, blog posts, graphics). I work Saturdays too, when I’m under deadline. And everywhere I can, filling all the cracks, I’m toting around a research book and reading, reading, reading. Sundays after church I try to get out of the house and away from the computer, and go hiking with my husband and my dog, somewhere in the mountains. It’s part of my Sabbath, and helps me to be more productive the other 5-6 days of the week.

Thank you so much, Lori, for taking time to visit us today and all the best to you as your beautiful story releases. I know I represent your fans when I say: “May you be blessed beyond measure and we are grateful we can share in the fruits of your labor!”

Thank you, Janette, for that lovely blessing. I receive it. And this has been my pleasure. I pray readers are blessed and entertained by Tamsen and Jesse’s story.