In the Aerie of the Wolf - author interview - Leonora Pruner

In the Aerie of the Wolf

Join Leonora Pruner, author of the historical gothic novel, In the Aerie of the Wolf (Nordskog Publishing, April 2011), as she virtually tours the blogosphere in June on her second virtual book tour with Pump Up Your Book!

About In the Aerie of the Wolf 

Set in 18th century England, our heroine Anne is betrothed to a man she’s never met and must leave behind her girlhood fantasies. When she arrives at the home of Lord Wolverton, Master of the Wolf’s Aerie, the mysteries and challenges of her new life cause her to seek Biblical wisdom and guidance concerning honor, integrity, and faithfulness. In this story of the discovery of true love, there is also danger, betrayal, and sword fighting—and it all takes place in a castle complete with secret passageways. Become lost in another time and place. You will not want to put this book down.

Our “eye gate” is so powerful, that we often have difficulty in detecting what lies beneath the physical appearance of a person.  “The attractive” can be assumed to be “the good.”  This is one of the truths in the original fairy tale of “Beauty and the Beast”.  Some of the powerful values and contrasts in it were lost in the cute Disney version and further concealed with its additions.  In the old tale, the Beast became a true hero as a result of lessons learned from being punished with enchantment and Beauty’s arrival.  Her fondness for him developed as she experienced his kindness and came to recognize his character.  But, what if Beauty’s kiss had not transformed him into a handsome prince?  What if he remained as ugly as ever?  Would they have married and lived happily ever after?

At times our lives, seeming to be plain and difficult, may be transformed through kindness, honor, love, and forgiveness.  While the Creator of the universe should not be confused with a genie whose sole goal is to make our wishes come true, our efforts to live faithfully with integrity and humility may be blessed with power to alter our lives constructively beyond our imagination.

Being thrust into a situation totally foreign to her village and girl’s school experiences, Anne Crofton must either grow courageously, or shrivel.  The moonlit garden where she first meets her fiancé is romantic enough, but his refusal to let her see him produces anxiety.  The death of the cleric who was to marry them, later followed by an attack on her personally is terrifying.  Even as there are many things she does not understand about her husband-to-be and whoever opposes their marriage, she discovers the stone structure contains secret passages within its walls.  Much lying beneath the visible profoundly impacts her life and challenges her courage and honor.  Having failed at one point, can she recover?

Lord Wolverton also draws upon his reserves of courage to face the possibility of another severe rejection and betrayal of trust.  His joy at being accepted undergirds his ability to resist a serious attack on his home.  But betrayal shatters his hope for a satisfying life.  Is it possible to forgive the unforgiveable?

Thirteen Things to Know About In the Aerie of the Wolf

• The story, set in mid-18th century England was originally created in a small rented room in a home located on an island (under 1 square mile)in the middle of the Indian Ocean between preparing lesson plans for teaching 10th grade economics.
• People in 18th century England are like people in 21st century America with the same basic motivations and desires and also like pitfalls.
• Anne Crofton learns that appearances could blind her to reality.
• She also learns that actions she tries to dismiss as not really serious deeply wound her husband and their marriage.
• A generally held family myth was based on a deliberate deception.  And a generally held opinion of Lord Wolverton was based on a lie.
• Another family myth/tradition is based on historical facts.
• Despite Lord Wolverton’s rejection by his parents when a child, his nurse and his godfather Sir Andrew stood by him offering loving support.
• The characters of Anne and Lord Wolverton are vastly more important than their physical appearance.
• “Beauty is in the beholder’s eye” assumes reality when Anne perceives the person within a hideous body.
• The reality of God is not dependant on whether or not Anne’s desires are fulfilled in the way she desires.
• Both Anne and Lord Wolverton grow and change in their interactions.
• Integrity and strength of character, as dramatized by Michael Pennywaithe, is revealed in the rejection of attractive temptations.
• The capacity to “forgive the unforgiveable” may allow a new beginning and deeper relationship between Anne and Lord Wolverton.

About Leonora Pruner

While born in Dubuque, Iowa, Leonora Pruner was brought to California by her parents during the Second World War, which has since been her principal residence.  In 1953, she graduated from Westmont College then earned an MBA from Pepperdine University in 1981.  Having married in 1953, she has seen her family expand from two children to thirteen grandchildren and five great- grandchildren.

Writing has been an important activity since junior high.  In the late ‘60s, an eighteenth-century English character on The Wonderful World of Disney, captivated her interest.  The desire to create a variation of him, led to five years of extensive research, followed by the publication of two period novels in 1981 and 1987, Love’s Secret Storm, and Love’s Silent Gift.  Feeling that all that research should be reused, eighteenth-century England continues as a setting for her work.

From 1987 to 1997, she lived in the Republic of Maldives collecting folklore and teaching economics and computer science. While there, she wrote the first drafts of Close to His Heart and The Aerie of the Wolf on her computer.

Visit Leonora online at http://nordskogpublishing.com/book-in-the-aerie-of-the-wolf.shtml