I’m so delighted to welcome Pepper Basham today. I just finished reading her marvelous book, The Mistletoe Countess, and I was so captivated by her delightful heroine, that this book has climbed to the top of my list for Best Reads of 2021. Such a fun story! The heroine is a sun-shiny book nerd and absolutely adorable. This story has is all: whimsy, humor, mystery, and lots of romance. All at Christmas. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend that you grab a copy. You won’t regret it!
Here’s Pepper to tell us more about the inspiration that led to this marvelous story . . .
The Houses of The Mistletoe Countess
Have you ever toured a grand house? Do you have a favorite one?
I LOVE visiting grand houses, whether in the U.S. or abroad. In fact, my Christmas novel, The Mistletoe Countess, started during one of my regular visits to Biltmore House, a beautiful country estate house in Asheville, North Carolina. Since I live in Asheville, visiting Biltmore is a regular part of my month and, as usual, I had to stop by one of my favorite rooms of the house: The library.
The library is a two-story space with books cover three walls. The fourth wall is comprised of large windows that overlook the view of the distant mountains. There is also a massive marble fireplace, spiral staircase, elegant furnishings, and…a secret stairway.
Oh yes! What would any grand house be without a few secrets, right? Actually, the staircase isn’t super-secret, but it’s not easy to see or find. The “secret” stairway is hidden behind the marble fireplace and leads to a stairway to a second-floor bedroom hallway. Fun, right?
On one particular day, while I was touring the house and walking down that second floor hallway, I stopped at the bedroom that sits right beside the “secret” entrance to the library. It’s called the Sheraton Room. A gorgeous space, like all the other elegantly furnished rooms of this “chateau” in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
While I stood there, a question popped to mind: What sort of person would want their room to be as close to the library as possible? (Just in case they need to sneak down, unobserved, for a clandestine meeting with a book?)
And that’s how Gracelynn Ferguson Percy began to find her way onto the page. I didn’t know she’d turn out to be one of the most delightful characters I’d ever written. Her joy and innocence, her honesty and optimism, made each scene with her a delight. But what I enjoyed also was that, though she was young and naïve in many ways, she didn’t back down from confrontation and wanted truth to prevail. I suppose I see her as a practical dreamer, because, though she lived within her love of stories, she was quite capable of dealing with real-life situations too.
Unfortunately, Biltmore is, usually, not too keen on folks using their lovely house in fiction, so I located another grand home within the Blue Ridge Mountains and used it as my “model” for Whitlock, the estate house in the U.S. where the story first begins. The real home is called Swannanoa Mansion and is a beautiful Italian Renaissance Revival villa on the outskirts of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. You can find out more about it here (plus, just like in The Mistletoe Countess, it was built by a doting husband for his beloved wife).
Then, I fashioned the English estate of Havensbrooke after Tyntesfield, a lovely Victorian Gothic Revival house in North Somerset, England. (Though Havensbrooke has a darker, broodier feel than Tyntesfield).
Aren’t these places lovely?
Pairing the “brighter” American house with Grace to the “darker” English house with Frederick was a visual for one of the main heart questions of this story:
What happens when grace (or Grace) comes into our lives?
If you’ve been shown grace, you know.
Grace brings hope, joy, light, and life.
It’s one of the reasons we celebrate Christmas, right? Light shone into a dark world and brought hope. Peace. Life.
Grace.
So that’s just another reason why I love this story.
Grace.
Because Grace changes everything.
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I think a trip to Virginia might be in my future… I’ve already looked up via Waze how long it would take to get there. I love visiting the real life settings of my favorite books.
I want to visit Swannanoa House too!!
I’D be the type of person who would want their bedroom as close to the library as possible! (I’d put my bed IN the library if I could! 🙂 )
Ken and I have toured the Biltmore several times after flying into Asheville for the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference. It’s a fascinating and beautiful place.
So glad to have you on the blog today, Pepper!
Thank you, Deb!! It is a beautiful place. And I’m with you! I’d want the bed in the library 😉
It’s lovely to see you here! I’ll always remember my visit to the Biltmore House fondly — in large part because you were so gracious to meet us there and give us a tour. I’ve heard from many readers that they LOVE this book. Congrats, friend!
Becky! It was so fun (and an honor) to get to have you and your daughter visit me at Biltmore! What a delight!! Thank you!!
Hi Pepper, I’m enjoying listening to the audio version of The Mistletoe Countess now. Grace is such a fun and unique heroine! That is fun to see that you had Tyntesfield in mind as you created Havensbrooke! I love Tyntesfield and used it as the inspiration for Highland Hall in my Edwardian Brides Series. I visited Tyntesfield a few years ago and it’s so lovely! I’ll picture that in my mind as I continue listening. I was so happy to hear you will bring Grace and Fredrick back for another novel!
Carrie! Thank you so much and I would LOVE to see Tyntesfield in person some day. Your photos are fantastic!
The Mistletoe Countess was one of my favorite 2021 reads! I loved Grace so much. Enjoyed this inside look, ladies. Thanks so much.
Thanks so much, Deena! It was such a delight to write so I’m really glad it’s bringing delight to readers
Soooo many people have raved about this book, and reading about the Biltmore inspiration just makes me even more interested! It just became my next book!
Glad you were on this blog today! Merry Christmas!
Woohoo!! Thanks, Sarah! I hope you enjoy it! It’s definitely a lighthearted romance that doesn’t take itself too seriously 🙂
I finished The Mistletoe Countess yesterday. I absolutely loved it. Grace is such a fun character, just who Frederick needed. I’m happy there will be another book featuring Grace and Frederick.
Hi Pam!! I’m excited to get to write book 2! I just hope I can do it justice!!
Such a great read! Never heard of Swannanoa and I’ve lived in VA all my life. Will have to visit with hubby. We loved Biltmore at Christmas!