Friday Feature No Greater Love Eris Field
Talks with
Eris Field
Author of
No Greater Love
Eris Field has graciously agreed to stop by and share with us. First a little about how No Greater Love was born and then her interesting background. Take it away Eris.
When a story begins to bubble in my mind, one of the characters usually tells me what the story will be about. In my recently released novel, No Greater Love, I was told early on that the heroine would be a Circassian beauty. Circassian women from the Caucuses with their tall, slender figures, glossy dark hair, ivory skin, and oval shaped faces with large dark eyes and delicately molded lips have long been considered to be the most beautiful women in the world. At one time, they were the prized treasures of Sultans’ harems.
Did I know a treasure from a Sultan’s harem? Of course I did. When my late husband, Dogan, and I were writing a biographical novel, A Legacy of Change: The Saga of a Turkish Family from Empire to Republic, I learned about his grandmother, a Circassian beauty who had been given to the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire. Life was not easy for a new gift to the harem. First came lessons: deportment and language lessons, dance lessons, poetry lessons, lessons in playing a musical instrument, lessons in making perfect Turkish coffee, and finally lessons in the erotic arts. Only extremely talented young ladies were introduced to the Sultan. The others carried out the work of the harem or sometimes were given as gifts by the Sultan to a highly honored guest or to an admired military commander. For Grandmother, who had become proficient in only two skills—coffee making and playing the tambur, a seven string lute—marriage was arranged with a young office assigned to a frontier outpost of the Ottoman Empire where he was charged with defending the land against Bulgarian attacks.
Life was not easy on the frontier, and Grandfather had to send for his older unmarried sister, Zubeyde, to come and help his young wife when her first child was born. For Grandmother, life became more difficult with the birth of two sons and greater threats from Bulgaria. As conditions continued to worsen, Grandmother became frantic. One day, she propped her tambur against the door and ran away with a dashing Lieutenant who promised to take her back to Istanbul.
With an attack from the Bulgarians and the Greeks eminent, Grandfather arranged for horse-drawn wagons to take Zubeyde and his three children back to Istanbul. They were not alone on the road as they made that hazardous journey. Mothers carrying babies and leading small children were trying to walk home. As the journey progressed, Zubeyde added the children whose mothers had died to the wagons. When they finally got to Istanbul, Zubeyde had added 46 children to the household. I was privileged to meet one of those children when she was an older woman and had made her way to Canada. Clearly, No Greater Love would have to have refugee children.
I hope you enjoy No Greater Love with its Circassian beauty and refugee children. It also has two lonely people who find love and nearly lose it.
Blurb for No Greater Love
Janan, orphaned at age eight by an earthquake in Turkey and adopted by an American couple, has grown into an enchantingly beautiful woman, a Circassian beauty. She dreams of having a home of her own, a home with love, but love seems to have passed her by as she spends her time working as a nurse and looking after her family, including an elderly, frail uncle, Carl, who had been sent as a child from Holland to escape Nazi deportation of Dutch Jews during World War II and who now yearns to go home.
Jilted once, Dutch child psychiatrist Pieter has retreated from life and devotes himself to caring for the child refugees flooding into Amsterdam. Now, struggling with late-onset leukemia, he travels to New York for a second opinion and to visit his old friend and mentor, Carl. At Carl’s home, he meets Janan and feels love again.
Janan recognizes Pieter as the man of her dreams. Believing that love is passing her by and knowing that Pieter will be gone in the morning, she asks him for one night. Pieter introduces Janan to the purposes and outcomes of each of eight magical kisses and vows to himself to overcome his illness and return a well man.
Later, alone and facing complications of pregnancy, Janan accepts Carl’s quid-pro-quo offer of help, a decision that may destroy her chances of finding happiness.
Excerpt from No Greater Love
“You gave your time to help me. I am truly grateful.” He rested his hand on her shoulder, shielding her from view of others in the lobby. “Tell me. How may I repay you?”
She lifted her chin and raised her eyes to meet his gaze. “Give me the night.”
“Let’s sit down and you can tell me exactly why you want a night of my time.” When she did not speak, he asked coolly, “That is what you said, isn’t it?”
She dropped her eyes and said in a low voice, “I will be 28 tomorrow and I have never been held in a man’s arms.” She stood up abruptly and crossed her arms across her breasts. Raising her head defiantly she said, “I have never been kissed and I want it now. I want to be held and kissed.” She glared at him. “More than once.” Her eyes were blazing. “I want it all.”
“Why me?” He had risen and was close enough to touch her face but he kept his hands on his hips.
“You will be gone in the morning.”
“You want to seduce me because I will be gone in the morning?” Anger brought a red line to his cheeks as he snapped erect.
“I didn’t say I wanted to seduce you.” She stood up and began to pace. ‘”You just don’t get it, do you?”
He shook his head. “Apparently not.”
“My adoptive parents were middle-aged when I came to live with them. They followed old customs.” She sighed, “When I was in high school, they did not let me date or even go out with a group of my classmates.” She half smiled and shrugged. “And then there was the fact that I was taller than all the boys in my class. I never fit in.” she mumbled defensively. “Even in college, I could never figure out how to turn a chance meeting into a date. Others did it so easily.” She bowed her head. “I am a failure with men.”
He raised his arms as though to hold her and then dropped them to his sides. “Don’t you realize that you are an exquisitely beautiful woman?” He shook his head in disbelief. “How can you not know?” He smiled at her and said teasingly, “You could have any man in the world on his knees begging for a chance to hold you, to kiss you.”
“What a delightful picture.” She laughed mockingly and then sobered instantly. “At 28, my world is very small and the men who might have discovered me have already found their heart’s desire. They are married.” She looked at him without wavering. “The ones who are left are often divorced and mourning the loss of their children, or there are those who want a sexual partner but nothing else. You saw them in the bar.” She shuddered and looked away. “If I were to accept their offers, I would have to face myself in the morning and face the town gossip for as long as I live here.”
“Won’t you have to face yourself in the morning whatever you do?”
“Yes, but you will be gone.”
“I see. I am acceptable solely because I have a return flight ticket in my pocket.” His voice was icy. “Is that why you so kindly selected me?”
“I never meant to insult you” she whispered edging toward the door.
“You are probably right. All I’m good for is a one-night stand and,” he continued savagely, “I’m not even sure I am good for that.” He turned away from her. “Who would want me for anything more than a one-night stand?” He touched the port-wine birthmark on the left side of his face. “Before, I just had this visible defect, but now, I have even less to offer anyone—a 40% chance of surviving this illness and, if I survive, it is most unlikely I will be able to father children.” He turned back and said bitterly, “You chose well. Your pigeon will be gone in the morning.”
Buy Links
No Greater Love is available at Amazon.com http://amzn.com/168921077X
Bio:
Eris Field was born in the Green Mountains of Vermont–Jericho, Vermont to be precise– close by the home of Wilson Bentley (aka Snowflake Bentley), the first person in the world to photograph snowflakes. She learned from her Vermont neighbors that pursuit of one’s dream is a worthwhile life goal.
As a seventeen year old student nurse at Albany Hospital, Eris met a Turkish surgical intern who she would later marry. He told her fascinating stories about the history of Turkey, about the loss of the Ottoman Empire, and about forced population exchanges. After they married and moved to Buffalo, Eris worked as a nurse at Children’s Hospital and at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
After taking time off to raise five children and amassing rejection letters for the short stories she wrote, Eris earned her master’s degree in Psychiatric Nursing at the University at Buffalo. Later, she taught psychiatric nursing at the University and wrote a textbook for psychiatric nurse practitioners—an endeavor requiring a great deal of hard labor.
Now, Eris lives her life dream, writing novels, usually international, contemporary romances. Her interest in history and her experience in psychiatry often play a part in her stories. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America and the Western New York Romance Writers. In addition to writing, Eris’ interests include studying Ottoman history, supporting the Crossroads Springs Orphanage in Kenya for children orphaned by AIDS, and learning more about the old cities of the world.
Where to find Eris:
