Ask the Author: Danielle Murray
Answered Questions (1)
Danielle Murray
I wrote TWO QUESTIONS because when I fell in love with a man who lived in another country and began to consider an overseas move, I could not find any literature on the subject. Sure, there were plenty of first-person accounts/memoirs about following your heart to another country but I didn’t want to know about individual stories - I wanted to know about the experience itself. When I became interested in World War II War Bride, I noticed that most books or news articles concentrate on the romance prior to marriage/migration and not the reality afterwards. Some War Brides never returned home, they never saw their family again. Surely, I thought, these women must have mixed feelings about their new lives and I wondered why there was no mention of this. So I decided to find out myself and what I learned was fascinating. I interviewed about 50 War Brides and many of those women regretted their decision to leave home and country for another – especially when the marriage fell apart (and many did – and then what?).
When the Internet made overseas research possible, I interviewed more modern foreign wives to learn their story. And then I began to delve into the lives of famous historical foreign wives and "evil foreign queens" like Marie Antoinette, Tsarina Alexandra, Wallis Simpson, Lady Randolph Churchill (Winston's mom), etc. And the American Dollar Princesses too - think Lady Cora from Downton Abby. About 300 American women married British nobility in the late 19th Century in an exchange of "cash for class" and many it seems, were mocked for it (just as Lady Mary mocked her own mother).
So... after years of research (and a back room full of notes!) and still nothing on bookstore bookshelves about the experience itself, I decided to write the book myself. Of course, my first few drafts were awful as I didn’t really know how to approach the topic but slowly the pieces started to come together and TWO QUESTIONS came into being.
But the book is more than just about changing countries for love - it's about relationships and family and the secrets we keep. And graveyards and shoes too! And how sometimes living farther apart can bring people closer together. I really could go on forever - so instead I leave you with the cast of characters... And thank you for reading me this far! Kia Ora, Danielle
Cast of Characters
Megan: Brooklyn Girl with no desire to leave home even though she does. Daughter to Lucie and Parker, sister to Ally. Granddaughter to Bubbe and Gramps (Fletcher) and Grand-maman in Montreal. USA to New Zealand.
Lucie: Megan’s mother. Married to Parker. Psychologist. Canada to USA.
Tish Louise/Patricia Louise Curtis Smith/Madame Smith: WW2 war bride married to Richard. England to USA.
Annie: WW2 war bride. Once married to Gramps/Fletcher. New Zealand to USA.
Bubbe: Megan’s Brooklyn grandmother. Married to Gramps/Fletcher.
Parker: Lucie’s husband and Megan’s father. Son of Gramps/Fletcher and Bubbe. Commercial pilot.
Grand-maman: Lucie’s mother and Megan’s French-Canadian grandmother who lives in Montreal. Related to Hermeline, Salome and also mother to Lucie’s sisters Gilberte, Babette and Mariette who makes a mean sugar pie. And tourtière. Engaged to Doré before she married Lucie’s father.
Gramps/Fletcher: Megan’s Brooklyn grandfather and Parker’s father. Big time writer. Once married to Annie, Kiwi war bride.
Ally: Megan’s younger sister. Mother to Salem. Loves New England history.
Salem: Megan’s niece and Ally’s daughter.
The Farmer/Blu/Harrison: He’s the man! But he hardly gets a mention in Two Questions because the book is about the experience, not the relationship. May get airplay if there’s a sequel.
Famous and/or Infamous Foreign Wives
Marie Antoinette: Last Queen of France. Beheaded in 1793, aged 37 years. Austria to France. Married to Louis XVI who was obsessed with padlocks. Child of Empress Maria Theresa who viewed all her daughters as sacrifices to politics and so married them off as she – not they – pleased. This did not always end well.
Tsarina Alexandra: Last Russian Empress. Executed aged 46 years old with her family in 1918. Germany to Russia. Married to Tsar Nicholas II (Nicky), son of Minnie who could have been a nicer mother-in-law. Granddaughter to Queen Victoria who also played the game of thrones with her children.
Consuelo Vanderbilt: American Dollar Princess. 9th Duchess of Marlborough. USA to UK. Returned to the US during WWII. She died in New York at age 87.
Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill: American Dollar Princess. Mother to Sir Winston Churchill. USA to UK. Died aged 67 years old from complications following a fall down the stairs. Shoe lover who did not live to see her son become prime minister.
Wallis Simpson: Twice divorced American for whom King Edward VIII gave up the British throne in 1936. Became Duchess of Windsor on their marriage in 1937. USA to UK. Worth noting – Wallis gets all credit for coining the statement, “You can't be too rich or too thin.”
And of course, Hepzibah. Because she was bad-ass…
Hepzibah Buell: Puritan ancestor to Megan killed by French and Native American forces in the Deerfield Massacre in 1704. Twice fined for wearing silk.
Miscellaneous
Sisi and Franz Josef: Maine Coon Cats named after Elizabeth of Bavaria and Franz Josef I, Emperor of Austria. Elizabeth of Bavaria was not a happy camper.
Empress Maria Theresa: Bulldozer Austrian mother to Marie Antoinette. Great-great-grandmother to Franz Josef I just mentioned. Did not leave home for love.
Queen Victoria: Grandmother to Alix of Hesse/Tsarina Alexandra. Mother to Princess Alice and Princess Victoria (Vicky) who both married German noblemen. Also grandmother to Kaiser Wilhem. Did not leave home for love.
Grace Kelly/Princess Grace: American actress. Wife of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. USA to Monaco.
Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington: Member of American Kennedy family. USA to UK.
Princess Victoria/Vicky: Daughter to Queen Victoria, aunt to Alix of Hesse/Tsarina Alexandra, mother to Kaiser Wilhelm, German Emperor during WWI. UK to Germany. Didn’t like it there.
Lucy Stone: Prominent 19th Century American suffragist. Did not believe women should give up surname after marriage as end result is legal annihilation of one’s identify.
Jemima Goldsmith and Imran Khan: Former English/Pakistani International couple. After their divorce, Jemima returned to live in England.
Mary and Frederik, Crown and Crown Princess of Denmark: Mary is Australian and one day Fred is going to be a Danish king so he couldn’t leave home for love even though he may have wanted to. Mary seems very happy in her adopted country. That’s probably because Denmark doesn’t have many snakes.
When the Internet made overseas research possible, I interviewed more modern foreign wives to learn their story. And then I began to delve into the lives of famous historical foreign wives and "evil foreign queens" like Marie Antoinette, Tsarina Alexandra, Wallis Simpson, Lady Randolph Churchill (Winston's mom), etc. And the American Dollar Princesses too - think Lady Cora from Downton Abby. About 300 American women married British nobility in the late 19th Century in an exchange of "cash for class" and many it seems, were mocked for it (just as Lady Mary mocked her own mother).
So... after years of research (and a back room full of notes!) and still nothing on bookstore bookshelves about the experience itself, I decided to write the book myself. Of course, my first few drafts were awful as I didn’t really know how to approach the topic but slowly the pieces started to come together and TWO QUESTIONS came into being.
But the book is more than just about changing countries for love - it's about relationships and family and the secrets we keep. And graveyards and shoes too! And how sometimes living farther apart can bring people closer together. I really could go on forever - so instead I leave you with the cast of characters... And thank you for reading me this far! Kia Ora, Danielle
Cast of Characters
Megan: Brooklyn Girl with no desire to leave home even though she does. Daughter to Lucie and Parker, sister to Ally. Granddaughter to Bubbe and Gramps (Fletcher) and Grand-maman in Montreal. USA to New Zealand.
Lucie: Megan’s mother. Married to Parker. Psychologist. Canada to USA.
Tish Louise/Patricia Louise Curtis Smith/Madame Smith: WW2 war bride married to Richard. England to USA.
Annie: WW2 war bride. Once married to Gramps/Fletcher. New Zealand to USA.
Bubbe: Megan’s Brooklyn grandmother. Married to Gramps/Fletcher.
Parker: Lucie’s husband and Megan’s father. Son of Gramps/Fletcher and Bubbe. Commercial pilot.
Grand-maman: Lucie’s mother and Megan’s French-Canadian grandmother who lives in Montreal. Related to Hermeline, Salome and also mother to Lucie’s sisters Gilberte, Babette and Mariette who makes a mean sugar pie. And tourtière. Engaged to Doré before she married Lucie’s father.
Gramps/Fletcher: Megan’s Brooklyn grandfather and Parker’s father. Big time writer. Once married to Annie, Kiwi war bride.
Ally: Megan’s younger sister. Mother to Salem. Loves New England history.
Salem: Megan’s niece and Ally’s daughter.
The Farmer/Blu/Harrison: He’s the man! But he hardly gets a mention in Two Questions because the book is about the experience, not the relationship. May get airplay if there’s a sequel.
Famous and/or Infamous Foreign Wives
Marie Antoinette: Last Queen of France. Beheaded in 1793, aged 37 years. Austria to France. Married to Louis XVI who was obsessed with padlocks. Child of Empress Maria Theresa who viewed all her daughters as sacrifices to politics and so married them off as she – not they – pleased. This did not always end well.
Tsarina Alexandra: Last Russian Empress. Executed aged 46 years old with her family in 1918. Germany to Russia. Married to Tsar Nicholas II (Nicky), son of Minnie who could have been a nicer mother-in-law. Granddaughter to Queen Victoria who also played the game of thrones with her children.
Consuelo Vanderbilt: American Dollar Princess. 9th Duchess of Marlborough. USA to UK. Returned to the US during WWII. She died in New York at age 87.
Jennie Jerome, Lady Randolph Churchill: American Dollar Princess. Mother to Sir Winston Churchill. USA to UK. Died aged 67 years old from complications following a fall down the stairs. Shoe lover who did not live to see her son become prime minister.
Wallis Simpson: Twice divorced American for whom King Edward VIII gave up the British throne in 1936. Became Duchess of Windsor on their marriage in 1937. USA to UK. Worth noting – Wallis gets all credit for coining the statement, “You can't be too rich or too thin.”
And of course, Hepzibah. Because she was bad-ass…
Hepzibah Buell: Puritan ancestor to Megan killed by French and Native American forces in the Deerfield Massacre in 1704. Twice fined for wearing silk.
Miscellaneous
Sisi and Franz Josef: Maine Coon Cats named after Elizabeth of Bavaria and Franz Josef I, Emperor of Austria. Elizabeth of Bavaria was not a happy camper.
Empress Maria Theresa: Bulldozer Austrian mother to Marie Antoinette. Great-great-grandmother to Franz Josef I just mentioned. Did not leave home for love.
Queen Victoria: Grandmother to Alix of Hesse/Tsarina Alexandra. Mother to Princess Alice and Princess Victoria (Vicky) who both married German noblemen. Also grandmother to Kaiser Wilhem. Did not leave home for love.
Grace Kelly/Princess Grace: American actress. Wife of Rainier III, Prince of Monaco. USA to Monaco.
Kathleen Kennedy Cavendish, Marchioness of Hartington: Member of American Kennedy family. USA to UK.
Princess Victoria/Vicky: Daughter to Queen Victoria, aunt to Alix of Hesse/Tsarina Alexandra, mother to Kaiser Wilhelm, German Emperor during WWI. UK to Germany. Didn’t like it there.
Lucy Stone: Prominent 19th Century American suffragist. Did not believe women should give up surname after marriage as end result is legal annihilation of one’s identify.
Jemima Goldsmith and Imran Khan: Former English/Pakistani International couple. After their divorce, Jemima returned to live in England.
Mary and Frederik, Crown and Crown Princess of Denmark: Mary is Australian and one day Fred is going to be a Danish king so he couldn’t leave home for love even though he may have wanted to. Mary seems very happy in her adopted country. That’s probably because Denmark doesn’t have many snakes.
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