Eleanor Brice Desmarais, she of the cracked glass slipper and unladylike intellectual propensities, has learned that happily-ever-after is as rare as a frozen dragon, even for a happenstance princess. She survived a plot against her life, but her marriage to the alcoholic, womanizing Prince Gregory of Cartheigh remains at best a sham, and at worse, a potential noose around her neck.
Eleanor understands the harsh realities of women’s lives in her kingdom, so she turns her energies to a school for impoverished girls. She hopes to give them new opportunities, but the temptations of the streets and an ominous plot to bring down the witches of Afar Creek Abbey threaten to close the school forever.
She finds joy in stolen hours with her lover, Dorian Finley, but her husband’s increasing suspicions, her stepsister’s continued scheming, and her own conscience create a rift between Eleanor and Dorian that seems insurmountable. A witch’s spell and a beautiful necklace are all that stand between Eleanor and a most permanent, and dangerous, heartbreak.
The Red Choker is the sequel to Stephanie Alexander’s bestselling debut novel, The Cracked Slipper.
About this author
Stephanie Alexander grew up in the suburbs of Washington, DC, the oldest of three children. Drawing, writing stories, and harassing her parents for a pony consumed much of her childhood. After graduating from high school in 1995 she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the College of Charleston, South Carolina. She returned to Washington, DC, where she followed a long-time fascination with sociopolitical structures and women’s issues to a Master of Arts in Sociology from the American University. She spent several years as a Policy Associate at the International Center for Research on Women, a think-tank focused on women’s health and economic advancement.
Her academic and professional background influenced multiple themes in THE CRACKED SLIPPER, including:
Patriarchy and power dynamics
Education and economic independence
The ramifications of early childhood experiences
Stephanie embraced full-time motherhood after the birth of the first of her three children in 2005. After six wonderful years buried in diapers and picture books she returned to her childhood passion and wrote her own fairytale. Her family put down permanent southern roots in Charleston in 2011. She is a member of the Women's Fiction Chapter of Romance Writers of America and the Bethesda Writer’s Center, and an alumna of the Algonkian NYC Pitch and Shop Conference.
Stephanie is an Adjunct Professor of Sociology at the College of Charleston, and is also on the Board of the College of Charleston's Friends of the Addlestone Library.
To get the latest news, follow Stephanie and The Cracked Slipper on Facebook or on Twitter at @crackedslipper And Her Website: http://www.thecrackedslipper.com/
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