Thank you for picking up Miss Aldridge Regrets . I do hope you’ll enjoy it. I’m often asked what inspired me to write this novel. Well, if you’re interested, read on!
Miss Aldridge Regrets began life as a short story. A jazz singer witnesses a murder at the nightclub where she works and ends up leaving on the next ship to New York to avoid suspicion. The problem was that everyone who read it wanted to know what happened next. Apparently, if you put a ticket for a transatlantic ocean crossing into a character’s hand, you can’t just leave it there! Lena Aldridge herself arose from my love of complicated characters. One of my favorite characters in crime fiction is Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley. I say favorite, although I would never want to meet him, because I’m fascinated by how, even though he is a murderer, I root for him to get away with his crimes. Lena isn’t a female version of Ripley–I’d be more than happy to chat with her over a couple of martinis–but she’s not perfect. She often takes the easy path and sometimes that has led to her making bad decisions. In her career, in her romantic life, in how she presents herself to the world. During the voyage to New York, Lena is trying to find not only a murder but also herself. Other influences include, of course, the incomparable Mrs. Agatha Christie. Without her devious plotting and research on myriad murder methods, this book wouldn’t exist. I also must thank F. Scott Fitzgerald for the hideous, wealthy socialites he created, some of whom inspired characters you’ll meet on my version of the RMS Queen Mary . Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery after all! I wrote the first draft of Miss Aldridge Regrets back in 2019, but working on edits through several lockdowns did help me to understand part of Lena’s quandary while trapped at sea. Like many of us, I turned to novels that could offer me an escape from what was going on in the world, and I loved returning to Lena’s adventure. Whether you are looking to spend a few hours getting away from the world, or you’re searching for your next beach read, I hope you enjoy Lena’s journey. Very best wishes,
1.
Although at first Lena is happy to pass as a white woman, later she begins to doubt this decision. Do you think she was right to question herself, or do you see it as a practical decision given the era and the environment she is in?
2.
Lena was very close to her father before he died, but it turns out that there’s a lot about her family that he didn’t tell her. Why do you think he didn’t tell Lena more about her mother?
3.
Why do you think Lena wasn’t more suspicious when accepting the offer to go to New York when she knew it sounded too good to be true?
4.
Lena and her best friend, Maggie, have grown up together, but Maggie’s actions change how Lena thinks about her. How would you react if your best friend had done something similar to Maggie?
5.
There is a huge contrast between Lena’s life in London and the glamour of the Queen Mary . If you could choose between spending a day in 1930s Soho or onboard the ship, which appeals more?
6.
When Lena meets Will Goodman, she is startled when he sees her for who she is. She sees him as an ally but doesn’t trust him enough to tell him her other secrets. Do you think she should have?
7.
When Eliza Abernathy reveals her true relationship to Lena, Lena isn’t sure how to react. What do you think you would do in her position?
8.
All the murder victims are morally dubious, often criminal characters. Does that change how you feel about the murderer and their motives?