I'm happy to welcome back Diana Rubino. She writes great historical fiction. Here's Diana.
On New Year’s Day 2008, I sat
on the couch trying to figure out who to write about next, and decided on
Hamilton (this was WAY pre-Hamilton, the musical). The story centers on
Hamilton, his wife and mistress—the love triangle that became the nation's
first sex scandal, The Reynolds Affair, in 1791.
My agent said the story
needed a bit more ‘oomph’ and I thought: how about a Jack the Ripper-type
serial killer stalking the dark streets? That genre isn’t my forte, so I asked
my friend, best selling thriller writer Brian Porter, to help out. I’ve known
Brian for many years; he was my editor on A NECESSARY END, my Civil War romance
centering on John Wilkes Booth’s insane plot to assassinate President Lincoln,
and I knew about his success with his Jack the Ripper novels and Mersey Mystery
series. So he was my very first choice as a collaborator. He graciously obliged
and wrote a chilling subplot about a serial killer on the dark Philadelphia
streets, Severus Black. Severus seems to have gathered a following already!
SHARING HAMILTON is based on
the historical record. I read many Hamilton biographies and his brilliant
essays titled “The Federalist Papers” to better understand his philosophy on
the new government and the direction he wanted to bring the nation.
As the United States struggled in 1791, James and Maria
Reynolds also struggled, flat broke. James, well aware of the strong attraction
between his wife and Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, hatched a plan to
blackmail Hamilton
SHARING HAMILTON is a novel, but some facts can’t be
ignored.
In 1791, Alexander Hamilton, married with five children,
began an affair with the beautiful 23-year-old Maria Reynolds of Philadelphia Hamilton Hamilton
under threat of ruining his reputation as Treasury Secretary, Hamilton
The affair ended two years later when Hamilton, after a
Congressional investigation, published The Reynolds Pamphlet, admitting that
his dishonesty was “an amorous entanglement”, not embezzlement from the United
States treasury. His wife Eliza, pregnant with their sixth child, forgave him,
and his sterling reputation emerged untarnished. But it forever ruined his
chances of the presidency.
Meanwhile, behind the romantic and political machinations,
a vicious serial killer stalked the city by night. Having arrived in the New
World from London, Dr. Severus Black, specialist in ‘women’s medicine’ and
friend of the Hamiltons, had a penchant for the darker side of life. He managed
to combine tending to Mrs. Hamilton during her pregnancies with a series of
vicious murders of young women. One hundred years later these scenes were
echoed on the streets of London by another killer who was never caught—Jack the
Ripper. Mrs. Hamilton grew very fond of the handsome debonair young doctor, who
in turn, returned an affinity for his patient. Blissfully unaware of his
nocturnal activities, she continued her friendship with Dr. Black, but she
sensed a secret grief, a bitter repentance, under his outward displays of charm
and cordiality.
After a few run-ins with the law, Dr. Black made good his escape from Philadelphia
when the police investigation drew too close for comfort. He settled in South
Africa under a new name, where he found more than one use for his medical
skills.
Apart from Dr. Black’s scenes, the story is told from the
alternating viewpoints of the aristocratic Eliza Schuyler Hamilton and the
lower-born but wily Maria Reynolds. It will tell the reader, in these women’s
own words and intimate detail, about being in love with the same man during a
critical period for the young nation.
While researching this book, I became fascinated with Aaron Burr, who
makes a cameo appearance in the story as Maria Reynolds's divorce lawyer. I
found the Aaron Burr Association on the internet, and have been a member ever
since.
Visit their website at http://www.aaronburrassociation.org/
And on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AaronBurrAssociation/
My fascination with Aaron led to my next bio novel, about his last wife Eliza Jumel, which was released on November 24.
An excerpt from SHARING
HAMILTON
“You
love me, Alex? You truly love me? Are you sure?” My breath caught in my throat.
My heart danced. His admission rendered me breathless. I melted into a puddle
in his lap.
“Maria,
I’ve been awaiting you all my life.” He stroked my cheek. “You’re everything
I’ve wanted in a woman—allure, intelligence, talent, fun—I’ve never met a woman
who was all those things wrapped in one beautiful package.”
I
gazed into his eyes, knowing our souls had entwined before this, ages before.
“I
wanted you so badly from the moment we first met, at Aaron’s soirée,” I
divulged the risky admission. “Though I knew you were already taken, and your
course already laid out for you, I craved your attention, not to simply revere
you from afar. I wanted to know you personally, even if only to spend one visit
together. Just to be close to you. But I knew it was a fantasy. I was
distraught when you left New York to live here. Then, when James made us move
here, I knew our paths were destined to meet. It could not have happened any
other way.”
“Then
your initial letter to me had subtext I missed?” His lips curved with mirth.
“Oh,
no, not at all,” I murmured between kisses on his face, his ears, his lips.
“We—I was destitute. James had—” About to blurt it out, I stopped myself. I
couldn’t bring myself to admit I’d lied to him; I’d been a pawn in James’s
plot. “All I wanted was to meet you, to be alone with you, for a few stolen
moments. That was all I deserved. After all, you are—who you are! I’m—no one.”
“Ah,
you’re far from no one. A pity James doesn’t realize that. But I do. I will
come clean with you, Maria. I love my wife, but I am not in love with her. As I
am with you.”
He
ran a fingertip over my lips and I tingled all over. I wanted to climb to the
roof and sing to the entire world, “The great Alexander Hamilton, my new love,
is in love with me!” How could I ever keep this a secret? The best part of
being in love was sharing it with others. Oh, how I wanted to tell someone! But
who could I trust?
“I
am all talked out. Come upstairs.” His voice caressed my ears. “Take this
candle, for my hands will be busy.”
Purchase SHARING HAMILTON
About Diana:
Diana Rubino writes about folks who shook things up. Her passion for history and travel has taken her to every locale of her stories, set in Medieval and Renaissance England, Egypt, the Mediterranean, colonial Virginia, New England, and New York. Her urban fantasy romance FAKIN’ IT won a Top Pick award from Romantic Times. She is a member of Romance Writers of America, the Richard III Society and the Aaron Burr Association. When not writing, she runs CostPro, Inc., an engineering business, with her husband Chris. In her spare time, Diana bicycles, golfs, plays her piano and devours books of any genre. She spends as much time as possible just livin' the dream on her beloved Cape Cod.
Contact Diana
