Roses and Readers, join me in welcoming Velda Brotherton as guest author today.
We think of Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder, or PTSD, as something fairly new. A disorder that affects veterans of
war, but wasn’t recognized as such as popularly as following the Vietnam
War. In writing the Victorian Series, I
wrote Lord Blair Prescott as being controlling, withdrawn, and prone to riding
the prairie all night. When I began work on Rowena's Hellion, the second in the
series which would deal with him as the hero, I remembered what a fan had
written regarding Blair Prescott, She said, "Velda if you can pull off why
anyone would love a man like this, then I'll be surprised."
So my work was laid out for me.
Why did Blair Prescott behave the way he did toward the woman he was supposed
to marry? So much so that she talked an outlaw into kidnapping her to prevent
the marriage. Why did he often get drunk before he could sleep?
An old friend said he had been a
gentle, quiet boy growing up. Could something terrible have happened to cause this
behavior? Being familiar with PTSD because of research for my earlier book,
Beyond the Moon, I began to research wars in which he might have fought and
found the Franco Prussian War of 1870-71 and the elite forces known as Zuoaves
who fought under Napoleon III. So I sent the poor young man, a second son in a
titled English family, off to war.
Since that decision and the first
draft of Rowena's Hellion, I've learned a lot about the history of PTSD. For
thousands of years diaries have been found that were written by soldiers and
others suffering from this malady that had no name.
During the Civil War military physicians, at a loss to treat
the problems, simply mustered the extreme cases out during the first three
years of the war. “They were put on trains with no supervision, the name of
their home town or state pinned to their tunics, others were left to wander
about the countryside until they died from exposure or starvation,” wrote
Richard A. Gabriel, a consultant to the Senate and House Armed Services
Committees and one of the foremost chroniclers of PTSD.
Gabriel’s research tells us that in 1863 the number of
insane soldiers simply wandering around was so great, there was a public
outcry. Because of this, and at the urging of surgeons, the first military
hospital for the insane was established in 1863. The most common diagnosis was
nostalgia.
In earlier times French doctors termed the symptoms maladie
du pays, and the Spanish, confronted with the same reactions among their
soldiers, called it estar roto (literally, “to be broken”).
As late as World War II and the Korean War, men were not
treated for the symptoms of this disorder. It was by then called battle fatigue
or shell shock. Today doctors are working on treatments to help men returning
from war deal with this debilitating disorder that include drugs and counseling
that teaches these wounded warriors to handle their problems with the horrific
memories and flashbacks.
Excerpt: “I decided I was meant to be a
spinster. Even thought of going into the convent, but the sisters were so mean
spirited at St. Ann’s that I did not think I would enjoy that.”
“Oh, love, I cannot imagine
you as a nun. Never.”
“What, you think I’m not
worthy?”
“Not that at all. I think you
are too full of mischief. And you enjoy the sort of loving that isn’t allowed
in a convent. Truth be known, I can see where Tyra gets her—what is it the
westerners call it?—orneriness.”
She punched his shoulder
gently. “Is that right? I will have you know I am the picture of decorum.”
“Oh, you are?” He laughed
again. “I just realized something.”
“What’s that?”
“I am actually enjoying
myself. I cannot remember the last time I felt this good.”
Tears filled her eyes and she
cupped his face.
“Rowena, don’t cry. What is
it?”
“I want you to be happy, so
much it hurts me here.” She clenched a fist over her heart, sucked in a sob. “I
guess that’s what love is.”
Silence covered him like a
cloak, and he stared at her. He was so frightened for her, yet so sure he
needed her more than he needed to take his next breath. Took her fist in his
hand, pulled it to his lips and kissed the fingers tenderly. He could not
speak. Sat there gazing down at her and hanging on to her hand. She was his
connection to reality.
Blurb: Loving a man damaged by war is a challenge, but Blair’s
haunted eyes capture Rowena’s nurturing heart. She struggles to bring peace to
this man who rides the Kansas prairie in the moonlight, wild to escape the
demons who follow him from the battlefields.The woman haunts him as
well, but he dare not follow his desires for fear he will hurt her.
Twitter: @veldabrotherton
Buy Link: buff.ly/12rMMBI
