Emma Smith had it all - a loving husband, an adorable son,
impeccable social skills and enough wealth to enjoy their
London lifestyle. What else could she need? Still, Emma
had a nagging sense that something was not quite right in
her world. So, when her intimate circle of friends gathered
for dinner on New Year's Eve in 1898 and played their
usual game of "Resolutions", Emma becomes determined to be
more than just an attachment to her husband's star and
vows to be "a better person".
Rejecting the usual Victorian ideas of things a woman can
do, John, Emma's husband, recommends she initiate
correspondence with a male prisoner at Hollowgate where he
was doing some research work for his forthcoming book on
prisons. Intrigued with the idea, Emma begins a unique
series of letters with Chance Woods. Freed from the
usual constraints of Victorian society and feeling safe, as
they would never meet, the correspondence soon becomes
steamy and erotic. Chance pushes Emma to look at life
differently and shocked by his passion, she opens up like a
hot and luscious rose and reveals her innermost feelings to
him in ways she cannot do with anyone else. Then, Chance
dangles in front of her a plan that will allow him to be
released from prison. Once they meet, Emma can't resist
his handsome charms and their torrid love affair spirals
her away from the safe and sheltered life she had always
known. Realizing she can't continue this way, she has to
choose. But, who will win and at what cost?
Mirroring the repression, underlying sexuality, and
changing life of Victorian England at the turn of the 19th
Century, Lauren Baratz-Logsted has skillfully crafted an
erotic and psychological thriller with surprising twists in
fortunes. While a fall seems as inevitable as the title
suggests, Emma's dilemma will pull you into such a vortex
of changing emotions, fantasies and intriguing motivations
that you will not want to put the story down. For reading
clubs and interested individuals, a discussion guide is
also available on the publisher's website. Interestingly,
the first question concerns whether this story could happen
in a contemporary setting. For some reason, shades of Lady
Diana sprang into mind. What do you think?
A literary novel with suspense and erotic undertones that
opens on New Year's Eve 1898. Emma Smith has just informed
the reader that "For seventeen years I was a good - some
might say exemplary - wife. It is important that you know
this about me from the start." That night, she resolves
to, during the course of the next year, become "a better
person." Her husband John, a writer, suggests that she do
so by striking up a correspondence with a convicted
murderer who he thinks does not deserve to be in prison
for his crime. The prisoner, Chance Wood, initially wants
nothing to do with Emma, but then his letters become more
heated and Emma learns that the real definition of vertigo
is not the fear of falling, but the fear of wanting to
fall. As the following New Year's approaches, and the
world gets ready for 1900, Queen Victoria announces - at
the suggestion of an advisor who states that this will
make her look more progressive - that she will free
certain prisoners that do not pose a real threat to
society and who can get an upstanding citizen to petition
for them. But by the time Chance is freed, Emma finds that
she is in a prison of her own making. Unable or unwilling
to merely turn away from the only world she has ever known
in order to achieve what she wants, she becomes convinced
that if she is to ever have her Chance, then her husband
must die.
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