We chat with New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh about her latest heartwarming story Always Remember, which follows Lady Jennifer Arden and Ben Ellis who know that a match between them is out of the question, yet their hearts yearn for the impossible.
Hi, Mary! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I grew up in Wales and moved to Saskatchewan, Canada, on a two year teaching contract when I graduated from university. I met my future husband there and am still here more than fifty years later. I taught high school English for twenty years and then was able to retire to write full time—something I have been doing ever since. We have three adult children dispersed over the North American continent, five grandchildren, and four great-grands so far.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
It’s hard to pinpoint an exact moment or event since as far as I remember I have always loved writing stories and always wanted to be a writer. School and marriage and motherhood and life in general interfered for a number of years, but I finally recaptured the dream when I had a bit of spare time to sit at the kitchen table by mid-evening with a notebook and pen. And yes, my first five books were written longhand and then typed into an old typewriter,
With it being the new year, are you setting any goals or resolutions for 2024?
Only to get Book 5 of the Ravenswood series written. It will be Nicholas’s story. As usual I will probably start in April and finish in August. When I am writing, I work seven days a week in order not to lose the thread of the story.
Your latest novel, Always Remember, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Love can overcome all obstacles.
What can readers expect?
Both Ben and Jenny appear to be well-adjusted people on the surface. They are both cheerful and well loved by their families. But Ben can never quite adjust to the fact that his mother, his father’s mistress, died when he was three and he knows nothing about her or any way to trace her. Jenny on the other hand has all she could ever want except the ability to walk—and she finds it difficult to assert her independence over a family that loves her so much they would do anything in the world for her. Ben and Jenny can help each other. But they cannot fall in love. He is the bastard son of an earl; she is the sister of a duke.
Where did the inspiration for Always Remember come from?
From previous books in the series. Ben has been in them all and has increasingly become a complex character who needs to sort out his past and understand his place in the Ware family as the illegitimate son of the head of the family, the Earl of Stratton. Lady Jennifer Arden was in Book 3 as the cheerful, much-loved, but more or less crippled sister of the hero of that book. She has to learn to assert herself and pursue her own dreams despite the need her family feels to protect and coddle her.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
Apart from the two main characters, I always enjoy developing the minor, recurring characters a little more in each book—particularly, in this case, Stephanie Ware, the youngest of the Ware siblings, and Owen, the youngest son, who is cheerful and restless and not at all sure what he wants ro do when he grows up. I particularly enjoyed the character of Joy is this books, however. She is Ben’s bouncy three-year-old daughter from a marriage he made in Spain during the Peninsular Wras.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton.
- The one that made you want to become an author: There was no one in particular. I wanted to be a writer as far back as I remember. I recall writing long, long stories in the coveted notebooks I was given for Christmas and/or birthdays.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: Maybe Frederica by Georgette Heyer since it was my first Heyer and led me first to reading everything else she had written and then to deciding to create my own Regency world and make that the focus of my writing career.
What do you love about writing within the historical romance genre?
There is something very visually appealing about Regency England—the fashions for both men and women; the grand estates in the country and equally grand town houses in London; the carriages and mode of travel; the entertainments, particularly the glittering balls, the careful manners and morals that guided behavior; the careful use of language. Perhaps what I like most is that everyone knew what was expected of them and generally acted accordingly. There were always exceptions, of course, and rebels—and they are what make the writing of Regency stories exciting. They must be creatures of their time, but they must also be individuals, recognizably human.
Lastly, what’s next for you?
I’ll be writing Book 5 of the Ravenswood series, Colonel Nicholas Ware’s story.
