SHADOW OF THE CORSAIRS by
Elizabeth Ellen Carter
BLURB:
Go back to where it all began
with this prequel to Captive of the Corsairs and Revenge of the Corsairs.
Shadow of the Corsairs tells the
story of Jonathan Afua a member from a noble Ethiopian family who is torn
between heartbreaking grief and revenge.
Morwena Gambino hides her
aptitude for business while working for her father and all of her best laid
plans come under threat from jealousy surprising close to home.
Their lives are changed forever
when they encounter the dangerous and brilliant Captain Christopher ‘Kit’
Hardacre and his crew of privateers.
Jonathan and Morwena might even
have a chance to fall in love – as long as Kit’s erratic behaviour doesn’t get
them killed first…
INTERVIEW with ELIZABETH ELLEN CARTER
Q1. Elizabeth, how wonderful to
see a prequel to the amazing Captive of
the Corsairs, and also Revenge of the
Corsairs, coming our way. What idea triggered the need to tell readers more
about Kit Hardacre?
In Captive of the Corsairs, the heroine,
Sophia sees Jonathan and Morwena’s wedding celebration. Shadow of the Corsairs
goes back four years prior to their first meeting and their romance.
Kit plays such a pivotal role in all three
books. He is one of the most dominant personalities I’ve ever written. What
Shadow does is allows me to show Kit without Sophia’s grounding influence.
Q2. Will readers see a
different side to Kit in ‘Shadows’?
Will we like him more? Or less?
There are times Kit is pretty unlikeable
but we see the reasons he does what he does. Anyone reading Shadow without
having read the first two, I hope will glean enough of his back story to
recognise it.
In Shadow, Kit is still in thrall to opium
and he crosses the line into recklessness more times than not.
Q3. The dark and mysterious
Jonathon sounds so intense. His wrestle with grief, revenge, and love, have the
potential to overshadow the charm and eccentricities of Kit Hardacre. What do
you think readers will think of Jonathon?
I hope readers will fall in love with
Jonathan as I have done. He is the most mature and sensible of all the Corsairs
heroes. He has a quiet dignity. Jonathan is not flamboyant like Kit or as naive
as Elias.
His story starts off as heartbreaking but
ends in hope. Jonathan has lost everything but through Morwena has chance to
live life anew.
Q4. Is the character, Morwena,
based on anyone in history?
No one directly, but I hope I’ve given
justice to the independent spirit of Sicilian women. I was so pleased how her
character came together. She is all about her family and when one of them
betrays her badly, it is the source of great heartache.
Q5. Can you rule out another in
the Heart of the Corsairs series?
This universe is technically at a close,
but the Hardacre name lives on! My new series goes back ten years prior to
Captive and tells the story of Kit’s father who is recruited to become a spy
against Napoleon.
In the first book Live and Let Spy, we find
out about Kit’s origins and discover the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
I’m also planning a father and son reunion
short story for 2019.
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