Emily Hudson: A Novel »

Melissa Jones is the daughter of the Jamaican poet and screenwriter Evan Jones, and the sister of novelist Sadie Jones. She lives in an essex village in england with her husband and two children.

Inspired by an episode in Henry James's life-the story of an independent young woman's flight from convention.

After the start of the Civil War, Emily Hudson-an orphan who lost her family to consumption and fever-finds herself the begrudged guest at the home of her relatives in Newport. Emily's longing to be an artist is dismissed by her puritanical uncle, who wants nothing more than to rid himself of her through marriage. Her only friend is her aesthete cousin, William, an ailing young writer. When a promising engagement to the eligible Captain Lindsay is broken, William rescues Emily from an uncertain future by taking her to England. Lonely and desperate to escape her cousin-once her confidante, now her obsessively controlling patron-Emily sets out alone to meet her destiny in the eternal city of Rome.

Reminiscent of the novels of Edith Wharton, Emily Hudson is an exquisitely told tale about a heroine struggling to be true to herself, and also find love in a society where only marriage or an independent income guaranteed a woman the freedom to do as she pleased.

Publishers Weekly

Sinister events conspire to defeat spirited 19-year-old Emily Hudson in Jones's (Cold in Earth) successful historical. Orphaned and kicked out of boarding school in Rochester, N.Y., for dubious behavior, Emily is sent to her joyless uncle and his equally somber family; only the solicitous attentions of her cousin William, an aspiring novelist, salvage her spirit. While the Civil War rages, Emily hopes for a marriage to wealthy Capt. James Lindsay, but must settle for William's offer to take her to London, where he plans to become a man of letters. The intricacies of navigating English social mores leave the carefree Emily at a loss. Her American ways attract the attention of the charismatic but married Lord Firle, whose reputation is likely to ruin Emily's and William's standing in society. Forbidden to see Lord Firle, Emily withers under William's increasing disapproval and soon becomes seriously ill with consumption. Emily's interactions with William are creepy fun as they toe the line between familial and incestuous affection. Jones skillfully moves her heroine from freewheeling and childlike to cautious and deceptive and back again, and when the happy ending comes, it feels organic and hard-won. (Sept.)