Blog Tour Guest Post: The Secret Life of Mrs. London by Rebecca Rosenberg

Please join me in welcoming Rebecca Rosenberg to Let Them Read Books! Rebecca is touring the blogosphere with her debut historical fiction novel, The Secret Life of Mrs. London, and I'm thrilled to have her here today with a little teaser about the real-life love triangle you never knew about! Read on and enter to win a paperback copy of The Secret Life of Mrs. London!

San Francisco, 1915. As America teeters on the brink of world war, Charmian and her husband, famed novelist Jack London, wrestle with genius and desire, politics and marital competitiveness. Charmian longs to be viewed as an equal partner who put her own career on hold to support her husband, but Jack doesn’t see it that way…until Charmian is pulled from the audience during a magic show by escape artist Harry Houdini, a man enmeshed in his own complicated marriage. Suddenly, charmed by the attention Houdini pays her and entranced by his sexual magnetism, Charmian’s eyes open to a world of possibilities that could be her escape.

As Charmian grapples with her urge to explore the forbidden, Jack’s increasingly reckless behavior threatens her dedication. Now torn between two of history’s most mysterious and charismatic figures, she must find the courage to forge her own path, even as she fears the loss of everything she holds dear.

“Charming Houdini, I shall never forget him…” Charmian London’s diary, 1916.

How do two of the most iconic men in America in the early 1900s, Houdini and Jack London, fall in love with the same woman, Charmian Kittredge London?

Harry Houdini and Jack London

The Great Harry Houdini had transformed himself from a poor magician in Coney Island to a world-renowned escape artist who challenged police chiefs and prison wardens around the world to lock him in their strongest jails, safes, handcuffs, and locks—Houdini would always escape their strongest shackles.

And Jack London was the most popular, well-paid author in America, writing fifty books in twenty years. Adventure novels such as Call of the Wild and White Fang, to scathing political novels such as People of the Abyss and Iron Heel, to socialist statement novels The Valley of the Moon and Martin Eden.

Jack and Charmian working together

Yet Charmian London captured both men’s passion. Charmian was a modern, adventurous woman.
She was college educated and worked as a writer, editor, and typist when she met budding novelist Jack London. She read and reviewed his first novel, and their partnership was born. Jack would tell his stories, and Charmian would type them up at 100 words per minute, later editing for him. Their equal working relationship was extraordinarily productive, producing 1000 words a day. Their marriage was a modern model of equality, so much so, they called each other “Mate” instead of darling or sweetheart.

The Houdinis and the Londons

The Londons met the Houdinis at Houdini’s Chinese Water Torture Chamber Escape at the Orpheum Theater in both San Francisco and Oakland, 1916. The couples hit it off, and Charmian wrote in her diary, “Charming Houdini, I shall never forget him.” A hint of things to come.

So what monumental event pried Charmian from Jack’s arms to take the train from California to New York City to meet Houdini? Houdini had New Yorkers astounded at his impossible disappearing act with Jenny, the five-ton elephant. The ecstatic crowd jumped to their feet, but Houdini had spied Charmian sitting in the front row and was mesmerized. Charmian wore a white fur jacket, and he was stunned. Charmian wrote in her diary: He swept me still.

What happened between them? And how did it affect Houdini’s wife, Bess, and Jack London? I hope you’ll want to find out!

Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon AU | Barnes and Noble | IndieBound

About the Author:

A California native, Rebecca Rosenberg lives on a lavender farm with her family in Sonoma, the Valley of the Moon, where Jack London wrote from his Beauty Ranch. Rebecca is a long-time student of Jack London’s works and an avid fan of his daring wife, Charmian London. The Secret Life of Mrs. London is her debut novel.

Rebecca and her husband, Gary, own the largest lavender product company in America, selling to 4000 resorts, spas, and gift stores. The Rosenbergs believe in giving back to the Sonoma Community, supporting many causes through financial donations and board positions, including Worth Our Weight, an educational culinary program for at-risk children, YWCA shelter for abused women, Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center to provide performances for children, Sonoma Food Bank, Sonoma Boys and Girls Club, and the Valley of the Moon Children’s Home.

For more information, please visit Rebecca’s website and blog. You can also find her on Facebook and Goodreads. Visit the Facebook page for The Secret Life of Mrs. London.

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