Fergie Shades of Grey
Duchess makes Mills & Boon debut – and the heroine’s a flame-haired aristocrat!
THE flame-haired heroine is an unconventional member of the landed gentry.
She is swept off her feet by a dashing titled beau. It could be a chapter from the Duchess of York’s own life.
But while Sarah Ferguson’s debut novel does give more than a nod to her own romantic history, the heroine in question is actually based on one of her relatives.
The duchess, who is revealed today as Mills & Boon’s latest celebrity signing, is making her first foray into adult storytelling, having written several children’s books including the Budgie the Little Helicopter series.
And as someone who not only met a handsome prince but actually married him – for a while – it is no surprise she has turned her hand to romantic fiction.
Her Heart For A Compass is described by publisher HarperCollins as an ‘immersive historical saga’ and ‘a breathtaking romantic novel of love and daring to follow your heart against all odds, set
‘I drew on many parallels’
amongst the drawing rooms of Victoria’s court, and the grand country houses of Scotland and Ireland’. It was inspired by the life of her great-great-aunt, Lady Margaret Montagu Douglas Scott, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, and ‘draws upon’ Sarah’s ‘unique life journey and experiences’.
The duchess, 61, who still lives with exhusband, Prince Andrew, whom she married in 1986 only for them to divorce ten years later, said she devised the idea after starting to research her ancestry.
‘Digging into the history of the Montagu Douglas Scotts, I first came across Lady Margaret, who intrigued me,’ she said.
The Buccleuchs were close friends with Victoria and Prince Albert but she was unable to discover much about Margaret’s early life.
‘With real historical events and facts to hand, my imagination took over,’ said Sarah, who posed in Victorian dress holding a compass to publicise her book.
‘I invented a history for her that incorporated real people and events, including some of my other ancestors. I drew on many parallels from my life.’
Publicity for the novel reads: ‘In an attempt to rebel against a society where women are expected to conform, free- spirited Lady
Margaret Montagu Scott flees the confines of polite society, and an arranged marriage.
‘But Lady Margaret’s parents, the Duke and Duchess of Buccleuch, as close friends with Queen Victoria, must face the public scrutiny of their daughter’s impulsive nature, and Margaret is banished from “polite society”.
‘Finding strength amongst equally free- spirited companions, including Queen Victoria’s daughter Princess Louise, Margaret resolves to follow her heart.
‘ On a journey of selfdiscovery that will take her to Ireland, America and then back to Britain, Lady Margaret must follow her internal compass and search for her place, and her own identity, in a changing society.’
HarperCollins adds that it offers a ‘compelling look at Victorian England and the fascinating journey of a woman, born into the higher echelons of society, whose only desire is to follow her heart’.
Sarah, who had help writing the novel from established Mills & Boon author Marguerite Kaye, says none of her family – not even her daughters Beatrice and Eugenie – has yet read the book, which will be published in August, as she wants it to remain a
surprise. It is understood that she is already working on the plot of her second novel.
Mills & Boon has been keeping women readers enthralled for more than a century and is still the country’s leading publisher of romantic fiction. Despite accusations that the novels are sexist and old-fashioned, one is sold every ten seconds in the UK.