Deborah Hawkins – Taylor Collins, A Modern Jane Eyre @DeborahHawk3

Taylor Collins, A Modern Jane Eyre

My favorite romance heroine is Jane Eyre. She is fiercely independent and confident of her worth, despite growing up in an environment that constantly told her otherwise. When Jane meets Mr. Rochester she is not overwhelmed by the inequalities in their social positions, and he falls in love with her precisely because she is confident and independent and not afraid to speak the truth.

I wanted Taylor Collins, the heroine of Dance For A Dead Princess to be like Jane Eyre. When Nicholas Carey meets her, she has already achieved partnership in a prestigious Wall Street law firm. She has handled millions of dollars worth of real estate transactions for her good friend, Mari; and unlike his actress and model girlfriends, she buys her own jewelry. Taylor isn’t looking for Prince Charming, and she is the one woman on earth who isn’t interested in being the Duchess of Burnham because she has created her own exciting and fulfilling life. And this is precisely why Nicholas falls in love with her.

Late in the novel, Nicholas learns Taylor grew up in the same sort of deeming background Jane Eyre did. His admiration for her is even greater when she confesses her mother was a drug addict who was convicted of murder, a fact Taylor put firmly behind her and moved on to become a success. One of my favorite moments is when Nicholas, thinking he will never be released from Wandsworth Prison, tells Taylor why she should forget him and make a new life with Jack Duncan. “I admire you, Taylor. I know how hard you’ve worked to be who and where you are. You’re a beautiful, smart, funny, intelligent woman. And if things had turned out differently, I was going to see if there was any way I could have persuaded you to stay at the Abbey with me.”