Ask Daisy Goodwin discussion

Welcome to the group! Daisy will start answering questions on May 31. In the meantime, feel free to introduce yourselves!

Hi everyone! My name is Chanpreet, I'm in Atlanta, GA, USA, and I really enjoyed this book! I've read my copy twice so far:)

My questions for Ms.Goodwin are, "Is there a work in progress? Is it historical fiction or will it belong to another genre?"

Hi I'm Trish and I read this book after falling in love with Downton Abbey. Then I fell into the world of Cora Cash and would love to read more. I have these questions for Daisy:

1. Did Cora and her peers really put titles ahead of love? Do you feel this was their choice or was it thrust upon them?

2. Do you think that Cora was truly happy in the end? Do you think that Cora even knew how to be happy and satisfied?

Daisy, this was a great book to read especially because the characters were real. They did things that were surprising, and no character was all good or all bad. I'm looking forward to your next book!

Hi, Friends! I'm Connie and I live in Fort Myers, Florida. I am also a huge fan of Downton Abbey and I think the late 1800's was such an exciting time full of change throughout the world.

I was so mesmerized the whole time I was reading "The American Heiress" and had looking forward to it for so long. After reading the book, I had a couple of questions that came to me. I would like to ask Ms. Goodwin the following:

1. Do you think that Cora was really in love with her husband and do you think she stayed with him because it was the thing to do?

2. I cannot help but feel that there might be a follow-on book to Cora's story. Please tell me that is the case.

3. What is next on your agenda for writing?

As an aside, please know how much I thoroughly enjoy reading "The American Heiress" and how much I am eagerly awaiting your next novel.

As one writer to another, how would you describe your writing process? Did you write an outline before commencing the first draft of The American Heiress or did you already have a first scene in mind and write by the seat of your pants? :) Also, will there be more to Cora's story? I loved reading about her and it feels like there is so much more to tell of her story. :)

Hi - I enjoyed the book a lot. I would like to know about your research process and how you take actual historical fact and blend it with your story.

Hello. Jeanne here, signing in from Manasota Key, FL. "The American Heiress" is everything I enjoy in a good book...clever plot, history made fun (I think I slept through those classes in school) and interesting characters. Question: I love the smart, sassy dialogue of Cora Cash. Somehow I have the feeling that you yourself may speak that way:)Do you?

Chanpreet wrote: "Hi everyone! My name is Chanpreet, I'm in Atlanta, GA, USA, and I really enjoyed this book! I've read my copy twice so far:)

My questions for Ms.Goodwin are, "Is there a work in progress? Is it ..."

Chanpreet wrote: "Hi everyone! My name is Chanpreet, I'm in Atlanta, GA, USA, and I really enjoyed this book! I've read my copy twice so far:)

My questions for Ms.Goodwin are, "Is there a work in progress? Is it ..."

I am working on another book at the moment. It is historical fiction and set in the 1870's. It is based on the life of Elizabeth of Austria who was the Princess Diana of her day, beautiful, famous and unhappy. I love writing about the past, it's a chance for me to enter a different world and to imagine what life must have been like a hundred and fifty years ago. But I must say having tried on a corset like the one that Cora wears in my book, I am quite thanful that I live now and not then!

Trish wrote: "Hi I'm Trish and I read this book after falling in love with Downton Abbey. Then I fell into the world of Cora Cash and would love to read more. I have these questions for Daisy:

1. Did Cora and..."

Hi Trish,
So glad that you enjoyed the book. I love Downton Abbey too, but i must say that my book came out in England before the tv show started airing, and I was amazed to see that there we both had American heiresses called Cora.

In answer to your question about the titles - I think that there were American girls who did marry for the status and the title - Consuelo Vanderbilt always claimed that she was forced to marry the Duke of Marlborough by her mother but I think she quite enjoyed being a Duchess. But Cora definitely married the Duke for love. I think she was quite annoyed by the fact that her mother would be so delighted by the match. But who is to say why people fall in love? It could be that Cora was attracted to the fact that Ivo, unlike her mother and her cronies, was completely secure socially.
I don't know if Cora lives happily ever after. She very nearly left with Teddy. I have to say that I wasn't sure how the novel was going to end until I got to the last few chapters. But I think her decision to stay was a positive one. She realises at the end that Ivo needs her, not just her money, and I think that is a turning point for her.

Connie wrote: "Hi, Friends! I'm Connie and I live in Fort Myers, Florida. I am also a huge fan of Downton Abbey and I think the late 1800's was such an exciting time full of change throughout the world.

I wa..."

Hi Connie,
so glad you liked the book. I had a lot of fun writing it.

In answer to your first question, I think that there was a strong physical attraction between Cora and Ivo. There is nothing more tantalising than a man who is both desirable and enigmatic. Cora is used to having her own way, but she can't manipulate Ivo. I think that adds to his attraction for her.
I think at the end of the book it would have been easier for Cora to have eloped with Teddy than to stay at Lulworth. I think her decision to stay was a sign of her growing maturity.

I have thought about writing about Cora and Ivo some more. It's not the book I am writing at the moment, but I had such fun with the all the characters in that book that it would be sad to say goodbye to them forever. I really want to write about Jim and Bertha again too.

My next book is also set in the nineteenth century and has another headstrong woman at its heart, Elizabeth the Empress of Austria,he most beautiful woman in Europe, but trapped in an unhappy marriage ( echoes of Diana here). In 1874 she comes to England to hunt and meets a certain Captain Bay Middleton ( his real name!) Bay is engaged to Charlotte Baird, but he can't resist the lonely empress. It is a true story and I am having a wonderful time writing it. I hope it will come out next year.

Lady wrote: "Hello, all. I'm a huge fan of historical fiction and dug into The American Heiress with gusto.

A question I have for the author is: Was Cora meant to be a sympathetic character?"

Hi lady,or should that be Lady,
I think Cora is a totally sympathetic character. But then I would, wouldn't I? because she has quite a lot in common with my eighteen year old self. Ok, I wasn't an heiress, and I didn't have a maid who taught me how to kiss, andf I never had a 19'' Inch waist, but otherwise we are identical.... Seriously, I think that a good character has to be good and bad. I think Cora is spoilt and occasionally insensitive but she does have a heart.

Kim wrote: "As one writer to another, how would you describe your writing process? Did you write an outline before commencing the first draft of The American Heiress or did you already have a first scene in mi..."

Hi Kim,
I wish I could tell that I sat down with a plan and followed it, but I am afraid that writing for me is a completely mysterious process. I don't really know what I am going to write until I sit down at my computer. With this book I had Cora Cash in my head and the ball, but after that it was all the work of my subconscious. I did have an ending in mind, but I found that when I started writing the book that the plot I had envisaged just didn't work for the characters that had emerged on the page. They just wouldn't do what I told them. I have heard writers complaining about this before, but I had never thought it was true. Now I know different....
Would love to write another story about Cora. She feels like my younger, thinner, richer alter ego....

Megan wrote: "Hi - I enjoyed the book a lot. I would like to know about your research process and how you take actual historical fact and blend it with your story."

Hi Megan, Very pleased you liked the book. I studied history at university and I love reading about the past. To researcfh this book I read everything I could that was written about the period. I also read a lot of novels written at the time my book is set to get the language right. whenever I got stuck with the writing I went to look at a house or a museum from the period. I even went to Kindsington Palace where someone showed me queen Victoria's underwear, so i could a real sense of how women were dressed in the nineteenth century.

Jeanne wrote: "Hello. Jeanne here, signing in from Manasota Key, FL. "The American Heiress" is everything I enjoy in a good book...clever plot, history made fun (I think I slept through those classes in school) a..."

Hi Jeanne,
Glad you think Cora's dialogue is smart and sassy. I would love to think that I speak like her, but the truth is that it is much easier to dream up witty banter on the page than it is to produce it on the spur of the moment. I always think of the killer remark on the way home, the French call that 'l'esprit de l'escalier'.

Hello, I'm Rhonda and I live in South Carolina. I would like to know what you are reading now (for fun!) and what some of your favorite books are. Thanks!

Rhonda wrote: "Hello, I'm Rhonda and I live in South Carolina. I would like to know what you are reading now (for fun!) and what some of your favorite books are. Thanks!"
Well right now I am reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller which has just won the Orange Prize for Fiction. It's a terrific read. Highly recommended.
My favourite books are Persuasion by Jane Austen, A Glass of Blessings by Barbara Pym, and I love Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding.

Lady wrote: "Daisy wrote: "Lady wrote: "Hello, all. I'm a huge fan of historical fiction and dug into The American Heiress with gusto.

A question I have for the author is: Was Cora meant to be a sympathetic ch..."
What is so interesting for an author is how books take on a life of their own. Your reactions to my characters are fascinating to me. Obviously I feel differently about them, but I think the encouraging thing is that they made you feel something. I suppose it is like real life, we all react to people in different ways.

Hello, My name is Melissa and I loved your book!

My question is this: How do you did the research for your book? How did you make sure what you wrote was accurate and then intertwine that into your story?

Thanks! Keep writing and I'll keep reading

I read a lot of books written about the era, and then I read a lot of books written in the era. I also looked at magazines and newspapers of the time, you get a real sense of how people lived from the small ads. I tried to check all my facts, I would say that I am about 95% accurate but there is always someone who knows more about Victorian lampposts than you do

Thanks!

I really enjoyed the book, but I have to admit I found myself pulled more to the story of Jim and Bertha as the book progressed. Did they get married? Were they given special permission to stay on at Lulworth? Did they in fact resign and move to town and find other occupations. These are the questions I found myself asking as the book came to end. I also wondered how Teddy's life turned out and often wondered if he and Charlotte ever connected through their similar experiences.....

Also, very excited to know you are working on a new book focusing on Elizabeth the Empress of Austria. Her life intrigues me greatly.

Nancy wrote: "I really enjoyed the book, but I have to admit I found myself pulled more to the story of Jim and Bertha as the book progressed. Did they get married? Were they given special permission to stay o..."
I love Jim and Bertha too. My guess is that they made it work. I hope Cora was decent enough to give them the money to start a hotel. Although it would have been a wrench for Cora to see Bertha go.