For those of you who participated in our first-ever Fashionista Book Club session on Friday, thanks for logging in! Since author Detmar Blow wasn’t able to respond directly to your questions, we’ve put together a Q&A. More than anything, we think you’ll find Detmar’s answers sincere. Again, many thanks to Detmar for participating. More info on January’s Book Club will be posted soon!

From @bongenre: I’m curious as to Rona (Isabella’s stepmother’s) cooperation with the book. It seemed as though she came off so badly, but then at other parts that she must’ve been aiding the writing of the book. Was it that perhaps that she could easily see how slighted Sir Evelyn’s daughters felt about his will, and was trying to make amends? Or perhaps she wasn’t involved at all and I’m just talking about nothing. haha.

Detmar Blow: Issie’s stepmother was very very helpful about Issie and her brother Johnny’s death. It was Issie’s stepmother who told Tom that Issie felt blamed for her brother’s death. It was really important information as Issie had never told me that she felt blamed for Johnny’s death. It was too dark for her to talk about it to me. Issie had tried with marriage to me to put the sad things behind her.She told me that there were things she was not proud of or interested in going into. We must look to the future.

That Issie felt blamed for her brother’s death was corroborated for me when I interviewed her school contemporaries who told me that Issie told them she felt blamed and responsible. It was a terrible burden for Issie. I had noticed that she refused ever to drive other people’s children in a car.

Issie never got over that her father had left all his money to her stepmother. Issie talked openly about it. It was a cruel, cruel rejection by him of his children. He was a weak man to have done that. It tormented Issie for the rest of her life. She had loved him and he had betrayed her. Ultimately her stepmother may be a hard woman–but it was Issie’s father who let her and her sisters down.