I was a serious bookworm starting in about third grade, speeding through series like Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys. Soon I started writing, giving my ever-patient fourth grade teacher story after story to read.
A month after college graduation I got married and became a navy wife during the Vietnam era, moving from one military base to the next. After that my husband and I both worked for the U.S. Foreign Service. We moved every few years, from Scandinavia to The Hague, London, and Istanbul. Our son attended one school after another.
From 1992 to 2013 I taught at the United Nations International School in New York City, where I wrote social studies curriculum. I have always been fascinated with how historical events shape the lives of individual people. I decided to try my hand at writing historical fiction.
From 2005 to 2012, I was editor-in-chief of the Fire Island Tide managing a staff of 20 writers to produce an 80-page bi-weekly magazine. I wrote editorials, contributed feature stories, and conducted interviews with celebrities and politicians. During my tenure, the paper won a number of Folio and Press Club of Long Island awards for editorials, features, trend of the year, and humor.
I currently live in Sayville, New York with my former navy officer husband, author Jack Whitehouse, and my always-understanding golden retriever, Blondie.
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In May 1911 Frances Furbisher leaves her home in London to live with her cousin, Psoline, at Elvira Manor, one of the great Long Island estates of the Gilded Age. She hopes to escape her depression and shame after a humiliating, failed engagement, but her problems only multiply when she falls in love with the estate’s arborist, Jack, whom she believes is married. Furthermore, Psoline and Jack are in the midst of a feud. Frances soon learns that Psoline is reckless and manipulative and will do anything it takes to get what she wants, including changing the course of Frances’ life.
Can Frances cope with raising a child that is not her own? Does Jack love her, or does he love another? What secrets does Elvira Manor hold? Frances must find answers to these questions as she learns that no one can control their destiny, and that falling in love is a trajectory that cannot be stopped. Things are happening today, perhaps at this very moment, that will determine our future, but we do not see them.