GOLDEN KEYES PARSONS is a speaker and author who issues the challenge: dare to take God seriously! In her deep plowing of the heart, moving from tears one moment to laughter the next, Golden will touch your heart with her dynamic writing, combined with her vivid character experiences. If deep story-telling that brings the book alive is what you want, Golden and her debut novel, In the Shadow of the Sun King, is the author you need.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE SUN KINGby Golden Keyes Parson
Published by Thomas Nelson Publishers
ABOUT THE BOOK
Seventeenth-century France is a dangerous time and place for a Huguenot. One woman risks it all to save her family and to fight for the freedom to practice their faith.
Because of their Protestant faith in Catholic France during the 17th century, Huguenots Francois and Madeleine Clavell's estate is overtaken by King Louis XIV's dragoons. Madeleine takes it upon herself to save her family by calling on her past love affair with the king. This is a desperate and risky decision, and one that forever changes her family's future.
Features the following bonus materials: a map, author and historical notes, and a reading group guide, making it a perfect selection for book clubs.
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AUTHOR INTERVIEW
1. What gave you the inspiration for this story?
I came into possession of my family's genealogy from 1695 and decided that our family's story needed to be told. Of course, the final result is highly fictionalized, but the facts surrounding the persecution of the Huguenots in 17th century France are true.
2. How much of your own experiences influenced your characters? What aspects became traits that are theirs and theirs alone?
I found that I draw heavily upon my own experiences, especially in the ups and downs of my faith walk. My heroine, Madeleine Clavell, stands strong for her faith, but finds that her knees grow feeble when her family is threatened. She puts herself on the line to save them. Sometimes that looks like she may have to compromise her faith.
3. If one of your characters were an ice cream flavor, what he/she be and why?
Interesting question. Certainly not vanilla. Maybe something like Rocky Road ... she's strong, sweet at times, but the way is rocky for her.
4. What themes exist in In the Shadow of the Sun King that you hope the reader sees? Are there any themes that weren't overt but developed as the story progressed?I hope the reader will appreciate, maybe for the first time, the price that was paid for the freedom to worship as we please by so many of our ancestors. The theme that is not so "in-your-face" is the cord running through the story that who and how we love can have long-reaching effects -- even down through history.
5. What were your most difficult parts to write? Your favorite?
The most difficult parts to write were trying to describe the palace at Versailles, which I've never seen. The action scenes, the love scenes, the death scenes seemed to just fly off my fingers, but when it came to describing an historical place accurately, I had trouble with that. I do hope to go there someday, but it wasn't in time for my first book.
6. When is your next book coming out and what is the story?
Book #2, "A Prisoner At Versailles," will come out in the Fall of '09, and is the sequel to this first book. The story picks up where Sun King ends and deals with King Louis' pursuit of Madeleine. When she tries to escape to the New World, he brings her back to Versailles to try to persuade her to become his official mistress, because he suspects that her oldest son is his. I'll leave it at that :)
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Thank you, Golden, for being in the spotlight with us.
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