“It is not just a ruby, as you say. It is large as a quail’s egg, still untouched and unpolished. And it is rumored to either bless or curse whoever possesses it.” A visit with Sarah E. Ladd and her latest set of novels…
How would you describe your Treasures of Surrey series?
The series is based very loosely on a boy and girl school in the countryside. It kind of has that feel. It’s not the traditional regency where we’re dealing with the lords and ladies, it’s more of that emerging middle class.
Basically in the story, the heroine is going to be a governess but then gets contacted by a wealthy aunt that she didn’t know she had — so we’re taking this very modest governess-type and putting her in a world of opulence.
Does she go through a big transition?
Yes she does. But she’s coming from this very modest background where you survive with the basics, so she’s very hesitant when she enters this world.
It’s like she’s very grateful for this opportunity with her family, but she’s also a little bit leery because something’s not quite right.
You like to weave a little suspense in there?
There is a little bit of suspense in there. There are two gentlemen: the one is actually the gentleman who came to the school to collect her and bring her home; then we also have the local magistrate, which is like the police officer of the time. He helps find out what’s not going quite right.
All the heroines tie back to that school: either they were a student there, [or] they were a teacher there, so they all have that same frame of reference. That’s really what tied them together. But all the stories are really stand-alones.
Are both your series like that or is the other sequential?
They’re all essentially stand-alones. The Whispers on the Moors series are tied together by a town, so all their stories are very different and it actually goes away from the town but they’re all anchored in that one town.
In this one, they’re all anchored at the school, — but then they go out and do their own thing and come and go.
You’re currently editing the third book in the series?
Yes. It’s called A Stranger at Fellsworth.
That sounds a little more suspenseful.
What I like about this is it all ties back to the school. But in this particular story, a wealthy woman has fallen on hard times. [Her] uncle actually runs the school so she’s come to him out of desperation. We take this wealthy woman and all of a sudden we make her a teacher and it’s just great fun.
A riches-to-rags story almost?
It’s kind of like taking the story and going backward, and it has been such fun.
Are there only three books in this series? Do you know if there will be a fourth?
There are three books in this series but I am writing another one. I’m not sure when it’s coming out. It’s a stand-alone and it’s kind of a little bit different. It’s going to be … I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Luddite movement? It kind of ties back to the industrial revolution. It’s the whole idea of, in the weaving industry in England, where it kind of was transitioning [from] artisans doing it and the machines starting to do it, and it just happens to take place nestled right there in the regency [period] and I’m so excited to explore it and tell that story.
That’s your first stand-alone?
Yes,
yes, it will be all by itself. It’s really interesting because I said my stories are essentially stand-alones but they’re loosely related — but it will be the first one where there’s no reoccurring characters or no one’s going to pop up later or … But I’m excited for it. I don’t even know the title yet so it’s still in its infancy.
Did you always want to be a writer? Is this what you wanted to do or is this new?
I was always a history lover and I always loved to read and I always thought, “Oh, wouldn’t it be great if one day I wrote a book” but I went to school for marketing and PR. One day I just felt this nudging and I’m like, “You know what, I’m going to give this a shot” and it happened and it has just been phenomenal. I just feel really blessed that I’m at a time where I can write regencies and people are interested.