by Sabrina Philips, author of Valenti’s One-Month Mistress (now on sale in North America)
When I think of an alpha hero, whether I’m inventing a character of my own or recalling a hero from a Harlequin Presents that I’ve read, the first place I usually envisage him is at work – whether that’s a boardroom in Athens or Rome, or commanding a tribe in his desert kingdom. Since alpha heroes are inevitably career-driven men defined by being at the top of their game, perhaps that’s understandable.
However, one of my favourite things to imagine – although rarely the first – is the alpha male at home. And if programmes like Cribs and glossy magazines filled with stories on the homes of the rich and famous are anything to go by, apparently I’m not the only one. Yet whilst this comparison undoubtedly explains one part of the fascination – who isn’t tempted to sneak a peak at the luxury of ‘how the other half live’? I think the main reason for my interest is the insight it can give into a person’s true character.
My favourite example of this in literature is in Pride and Prejudice when Lizzy visits Pemberley for the first time. Until this point in the novel she’s found Darcy to be nothing but arrogant and rude, but when she sees his home (albeit in possession of new knowledge that he is not guilty of all the wrongdoing she supposed), she finds it impossible to hold onto that opinion. Because contrary to what she might have expected, the rooms are ‘neither gaudy not uselessly fine’, and to her surprise, the people who work for him are full of nothing but praise for Darcy. As Lizzy says herself ‘The commendation bestowed on him by Mrs. Reynolds was of no trifling nature. What praise is more valuable than the praise of an intelligent servant?’
I have to admit to being inspired by this particular chapter of Pride and Prejudice when writing my debut novel, Valenti’s One-Month Mistress. My hero, Dante Valenti, owns a Michelin-starred restaurant in Rome and spends the majority of his time living in the city. To my heroine, family-driven Faye Matteson, he seems heartless, cold, driven by nothing but money and success. In fact, when she goes to his city apartment, it’s so clinical and stark that to her disappointment it only reinforces her view. However, the place where Dante – or indeed any of us – actually lives the majority of the time isn’t necessarily the place he considers ‘home’. Home to Dante, as Faye discovers when she goes to his villa in Tuscany, is the place he grew up. And it’s there that she comes to learn how his genuine passion for the restaurant business began, sees how much he loves his family and is a part of the local community, and that changes everything.
As a writer, thinking about where the hero considers ‘home’, even if the answer is ‘wherever he lays his hat’ can be a great way to understand a character’s motivations – and of course that goes for the heroine too. Why? Because home is the place where we are most ourselves. And as a reader, I don’t think I’ll ever tire of scenes in which a hero’s home reveals something that alters the heroine’s perception of him, makes her realise he has a heart, makes her wish she had the key…
Sabrina is currently getting stuck in to a new story surrounded by piles of papers, books and sweet wrappers, and isn’t sure she wants to know what her home says about her!
So where in the world do you consider home, and what do you think it says about you?
hi, Sabrina, I read your book as I always like to read new authors & Dante certainly was cold at the outset of the story. That created a lot of tension in the story & kept me going.
My “home” would have to have oak, cedar, & so on certain trees & plenty of wildlife. In fact if I ever came into tons of money, I’d still live near a forest. My earliest yrs were spent with my dad explaining plants/animals to me & its in my deepest most cherished memories.
I think some people are grounded in their earliest environments & go back to where they started & love what they experienced as kids even if there were some negative events in that place.
Good luck with your writing on the new book.
Ah, interesting post, Sabrina, and it’s given me some more insight into my current hero, Luk, who I’ve been struggling with a bit. He has three “homes” – the minimalist New York apartment he lives in, his big noisy family home back in the Old Country, and then there’s the home he refuses to let himself think about, where he lived with his wife.
My ideal is close to the home I grew up in, just north of Sydney, surrounded by a garden and acres of bushland, a big rambling house built by my grandfather with wide verandahs and odd rooms leading off each other and a glimpse of the sea through the hills.
LOL, our current home is tiny, modern, and has a garden smaller than most people’s bathrooms. I’ve still managed to plant a tree, grow some flowers, and make a small wildlife pond that was full of frogs last summer!
hi, Mulberry. Are your going to publish a book? I always liked you & look forward to reading it! Please let Luk be passionate & sensual even if he’s cold.. a vampire on the outside but a lustful inferno inside!
I love to hear those frogs. I go outside & listen to the chorus at times & have cd’s of those sounds I play before going to sleep.
My garden is also small & a recent visitor asked me about the nice dog lot I had (my garden!) but its all I can do for now.
Have a great week.
I love Dante already, Sabrina! A small garden can often be a blessing in disguise, redlighting. You know what they say – ‘A garden is a place that everywhere you look, something needs doing.’
Speaking of which, my own house is currently a palace of fluff inhabited by feral children wearing un-ironed clothes as I’ve been struggling to finish a book. On the upside, during weekdays the bathroom is overflowing with strapping Alpha males.
Yes, we’ve had to call in the builders again!
Thanks for sharing redlighting – I think you’re right, childhood experiences definitely shape what home means to all of us. The image you’ve evoked of those amazing trees and wildlife is lovely, and what a lovely memory of your Dad.
Mulberry, I’m glad the post gave you some food for thought for your current work in progress! It sounds great – and you’ve made a good point that places we avoid literally or avoid thinking about say a lot about a person too. I’d love to visit Sydney!
It’s really interesting how you’ve both pointed out the importance of nature and gardens to ‘home’ too. That’s definitely true of Dante’s attachment to Tuscany. The other day I was listening to a radio phone-in asking people to give the main reason why people bought the house they are currently living in – so many people said ‘because they liked the garden’ and it’s the reason my husband and I bought our house too (even though it is also tiny!)
I hope Dante lives up to your expectations if you do get to read him Christina! And good luck with finishing the book. I fear our new kitchen being fitted will coincide with my next deadline too, although I hadn’t thought of the upside of all those strapping alpha males in the house!
Hi redlighting, how are things going for you now?
I love all those nature sounds, birds, frogs, the wind in the trees, and some of the tapes are just beautiful.
LOL on “am I going to publish?” I hope so, and I’m working on my writing, but still unpublished at the moment. My hero Luk is definitely passionate and sensual- but he’s locked that side of himself away for many years since the death of his wife. He may have just met the woman who will force him to feel again.
Hello, Sabrina – I confess (or does that make it sound like a crime?) to being inspired by Pride and Prejudice as well….I LOVE Mr. Darcy! And of course, the significance of Pemberley is huge. Doesn’t Elizabeth lust after the house before she admits to loving him? Easy to see how a gold-digger accusation could be levelled at her. Perhaps it could be repackaged with a title of Arrogance and Acquisition!
Since everyone’s been talking about gardens – am just finishing up a book where the chambermaid heroine has created a haven of place in her tiny garden. It’s full of scent and soft colour and soothes the senses – and brings peace to a Prince who is a stranger to the concept of inner peace….
Happy reading everyone,
from Sharon – who is gazing out at an endlessly blue sky and listening to the sound of birdsong.
Thanks Sharon – it can’t possibly be a crime to be inspired by P&P, it’s just fab isn’t it? Elizabeth certainly can’t help but lust over Pemberley whether she wants to or not, and I just love Presents heroines who do the same… the girl who knows it’s obscene for the hero to buy them a designer wardrobe/have his own private jet/live in a palace…and yet she she’d secretly as bowled over by the luxury as we all would be!
Loving the sound of your chambermaid heroine’s idyllic garden on this gorgeous sunny day! xx
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