Goodreads asked Carmen Gross:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Carmen Gross Well, when I was brainstorming for my book, I thought: "I really like historical fiction. I also really like old England, England as it was in the 1700s and 1800s." Then I thought of a female protagonist, and I gave her the personality that I think stems from my own dark side. I started writing because I love writing and I felt like it was a talent of mine, and that God wanted me to use my talent to depict to the world a tale of love, fate, never giving up, and treating each other with love and respect. This is what my novel is about, as my protagonist is a proud, orphaned girl who longs for true happiness to find her, for fate to bless her with such happiness, but she must endure various hardships before realizing what it means to be truly happy. Through these hardships, my character Anne learns many things, including the fact that there is no such thing as fate; that we are the holders to our own destinies.

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