Dearest Elizabeth

Dear Liz, 

I can’t believe you’re alive and well!  And that you ran off to be with Will, I had no idea! You’re not who everyone thought you were. You’re not who I thought you were. This is my sister here, Elizabeth Holland, society’s treasure, who faked a death to be with her true love, a coachman.  It sounds like one of the novels I would read.

I can’t even begin to explain how devastated I was when I heard about your death. You’re my sister, my perfect sister.  Always there to please others, always doing what was best for your family and your reputation.  At first I thought it was my fault that you were dead.  I found out that you knew about Henry and me.  I was so overwhelmed with guilt. Thank you for understanding that I love Henry.  I love him so much Liz and I hope he still loves me.  I hope he doesn’t end our romance because he feels guilty for your death, as I did.  How could I live without him, he’s all I have left.      

But Liz, how could you desert us? How could you desert me? With father already gone, you left me behind with mother and her expectations for me to marry well. And you know, I can’t do it Liz. The one man I would marry  is mourning your death. We still have no money. Mother has sold everything, including your things and father’s things. Society knows about our financial state.  Soon everyone will know we are destitute. They are probably putting together the pieces about your engagement to Henry.

Currently your best friend Penelope Hayes has made quite an impression in society. You should have seen the performance she staged after your death. Always crying or something about how much she missed you and how young you were and what about Henry and this and that. I saw right through it. I knew she was a fake and was behind your disappearance for her own selfish little desires. Now she wants Henry. My Henry!  I won’t let that happen Liz.  I will put that Penelope in her place before she even tries to lay a gloved finger on him.

Please Liz, forgive me for seeming angry, I’m not. I’m so glad you’re alive and I wasn’t responsible for your death. I’m glad you’re in love. I appreciate your trusting me with your secret. I know we are different and there are things that I do that you don’t approve of.  There are things that you do that I think are amusing as well.  But we are sisters and always will share a bond. So I thank you for telling me your secret and in exchange I will keep you up to date on what is happening here.

So I have to ask you something Liz. I want your advice for once. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know how to get our family out of this financial disaster. I don’t want mother to be upset. I don’t want us to be even poorer. But I don’t want to marry some rich snobby bachelor. I want to marry Henry. So I am asking you, the girl who always knew the right thing to do, or so I thought, to help me, the girl who never cared about the right thing to do.  She needs you now, more then ever.

                                                                        Your loving sister,

                                                                        Diana

This is a fictional letter I created between two characters in The Luxe series book Rumors. Diana writes back to her older sister Elizabeth after she learns that she faked her death. Diana is the only person who knows that Elizabeth is alive and why she had to run away.  I think Diana would have mixed emotions about what Elizabeth did.  I imagine that Diana would be relieved that Elizabeth is alive and that she didn’t cause Elizabeth’s death.  But Diana would also be upset and feel a little abandoned by Elizabeth. Elizabeth left Diana alone, with their depressed mother, and poor. The only hope for her family requires her to marry a rich man. Diana probably would feel stuck and would want Elizabeth’s advice on how she can help her family financially and still marry Henry, her true love. Diana and Elizabeth have different personalities and didn’t always get along. Diana is honest and to the point. She’s real and would tell Elizabeth that she’s upset and in need of her help. Diana wouldn’t want the responsibility of her family. She would want to do what’s good for her and marry Henry.

                                                            

Rumors about Rumors

I have just finished The Luxe and am now reading Rumors, the second book in The Luxe series.  At the end of The Luxe, it was revealed to the reader, and Elizabeth’s sister Diana, that Elizabeth who was engaged to be married to Henry wasn’t dead. She had run off to be with her coachman and true love, Will.  We also learned that Elizabeth’s “best friend” Penelope had helped Elizabeth fake her death so that Penelope could marry Henry.

I’m just starting Rumors but after reading The Luxe and getting to know the characters, I already have some predictions on what may happen in this book to Penelope and Diana.  Penelope is evil, conniving and selfish. This was earlier displayed in The Luxe where Penelope paid for secret information about Elizabeth from her maid in order to get rid of Elizabeth.  She threatened to ruin Elizabeth’s reputation by exposing her affair with Will.  She only helped Elizabeth escape and fake her death so she could marry Henry.  Now that Elizabeth is out of her way, there’s nothing to stop Penelope from marrying Henry.  I’m predicting that Penelope will try to gain Henry’s love by acting like Elizabeth.  Penelope and Elizabeth were the two stars in society, but Elizabeth was always more well liked because of her flawless manners and obedience.  Now Penelope can play that role. This will help Penelope’s reputation and allow her to work her way higher on the social ladder and into Henry’s heart.

Little does Penelope know, Henry wasn’t in love with Elizabeth, but with her little sister, Diana. I’m predicting that Diana and Henry will continue to be in love and later get married. This could happen because Diana’s family is still deep in debt and Henry’s father still needs to find Henry a suitable wife. This is not what Penelope wants so she will probably form another plan to destroy Diana like she did to Elizabeth.  She may do this by getting secret information about Diana and worsen Diana’s already bad reputation and social status so that Penelope can end up with Henry.  Penelope may even drive Diana out of town like she did to Elizabeth.

Now that quiet, sweet, and beautiful Elizabeth is gone. The evil Penelope and willful Diana will take center stage in Rumors. Penelope is fierce and determined to get what she wants. She will do whatever she has to do to get it.  Diana is determined as well as unruly.  She doesn’t care what others think and does as she pleases.  I’m predicting that there will be lots of conflict between these two girls, wanting and battling for the same thing.  

The next book in the series is called Envy, maybe that book will be about Penelope’s envy for Diana after she marries Henry or Diana’s envy for Penelope after she marries Henry.  I guess I’ll have to read it to find out!  

Decisions, decisions, decisions

The Luxe starts  off with the death of the young, beautiful , society girl Elizabeth Holland.  It’s 19^th century Manhattan, and Elizabeth was engaged to marry society’s most eligible bachelor, Henry Schoonmaker. The story is a flashback showing the reader all the events that led up to Elizabeth’s death.  Secrets are revealed that show Elizabeth’s real life, not the one everyone thought she had.

When Elizabeth learns her family is broke, she agrees to marry Henry in order to keep their high rank in society.  But Elizabeth’s heart really belongs to her poor coachman, Will. Meanwhile Henry is in love with Diana, Elizabeth’s little sister and Penelope, Elizabeth’s best friend is in love with Henry. On top of that Elizabeth’s maid, Lina is in love with Will.  As you can see it’s quite a complicated love triangle. Despite the time period, the inner conflicts that these characters face are modern. 

Elizabeth is a proper, prim, perfect society girl.  She spends her days drinking tea and attending dress fittings.  She tries to be pleasant but she isn’t very likeable.  Elizabeth whines and complains about everything. Elizabeth complains about how she has to marry Henry but accepts his proposal. She imagines running off with Will, but when he leaves for California she doesn’t follow him.  She gossips about her maid’s behavior and her sister’s inappropriate actions.  But she doesn’t do anything about any of it.  She doesn’t take control of her life or do things to make it better. Almost everything in the book revolves around Elizabeth, but she is a nothing.  I even think Elizabeth faked her death in order to avoid being disowned by her mother and publicly disgraced by her best friend.  Elizabeth doesn’t make decisions, she takes the easy way out.

Although I wish Elizabeth would take action and do what she needs to do, even if it causes others to be unhappy, I can empathize with her because she’s in a tough situation.  She struggles with her own desires including running off with Will but also cares about her family’s welfare and her own social image that she’s worked so hard to make perfect.  Although I don’t live in 19^th century upper society and I’m not faced with being disowned by my mother or publicly humiliated by my best friend, I too struggle with my own wishes, duties, and sense of self.  Sometimes I don’t want to decide between these competing things that may hurt myself or others but I want to be true to myself and be a good person and be happy.  I think this is what Elizabeth wants as well.  She wants to be with Will, take care of her family and still be looked upon highly.  But instead Elizabeth may be dead, her family poor, and a tragedy to upper society.

We all have to make hard decisions among competing interests whether we live in upper class 19^th century Manhattan, or in middle class present day Brooklyn.  Inner conflicts remain the same, and we must take our lives into our own hands and make decisions, even if it doesn’t please everyone, for ourselves.