Georgia’s Folly  begins at a cluttered flea market and ends at a glittering Sotheby’s auction. The book opens in present day New York City with Chloe Bishop, a thirtysomething history teacher who grew up in foster care. She loves shopping at flea markets, picking up family heirlooms like old pottery and  vintage furniture to fill in for the home she never had. On a routine trip to Brooklyn Flea Market, Chloe finds the diary of Georgia Potter, a young woman who lived in Gettysburg during the Civil War. Like Chloe, Georgia Potter was a passionate collector and her diary  includes lists of her collection of valuable  antiques—including the Holy Grail of 18^th century furniture, a Chippendale settee. There are only five known examples and a sixth settee would be worth more than $4 million.

Chloe immediately contacts Ben Thompson, the man who sold her the diary. Ben is a picker who drives his RV across America, searching for collectibles and antiques to sell to dealers. He is estranged from his wealthy prominent family who cringe at his chosen career. Ben likes to work alone but is intrigued by the treasures in Georgia’s diary, so he agrees to take Chloe along on a search for the valuable settee. As Ben and Chloe head out to their first stop in Gettysburg, they are unaware that they are followed by Gregor, an unsavory Russian art dealer who has also  learned about the valuables mentioned in the diary.

The search for the settee takes them from the Gettysburg battlefields to the 18^th century street of artisans in Philadelphia to a historic mansion on the banks of the Hudson River. Traveling together in the small RV Ben and Chloe draw closer. She shares her search for a father she never knew while Ben struggles to explain his complicated family to a woman who never had one.

Like books by Dan Brown and Steve Berry, Georgia’s Folly combines history with the search for a valuable antique but written from a woman’s perspective with each chapter opening with a page from Georgia’s diary. Georgia’s Folly will appeal to readers of  best selling  split time books by Kristen Hamel  (The Room at Rue Amalie) Fiona Davis (The Doll House) and Julia Kelly ( The Light Over London).

Deborah Chase on The Writing Life

For most of my professional life, I have written lifestyle books on beauty, fashion and health—but I have always wanted to write novels that dealt with art, antiques and history. Over the years I’ve  cut out  interesting articles about art and art history in magazines and newspapers, visited historic sites and museums, and haunted flea markets  and estate sales to bring home a little bit of history.

I devour historical books including those by Phillipa Gregory, Edwin Rutherford and Kristin Harmel. I especially love to visit  streets and stores mentioned in a book. When I started to write novels I wanted to be accurate to place and time. For the first book, Georgia’s Folly I immersed myself in Gettysburg. I stayed in a redbrick hotel that still had bullet holes in the wall, walked the battlefield of Picketts Charge and climbed into the hidden spaces of a home that was a stop on the Underground Railroad. For my second book The Secrets of Hasbrook Hall, I went to gun shows, explored the New York State canal system, hung out with furniture restorers and attended a glittering Sotheby’s auction. I had such an interesting time researching my books, I thought others might enjoy  the sites and back stories of the research.

This blog will cover my onsite research, interesting items to identify and value and share recipes of each time period. I hope that readers will send in photos of their  trips, share photos of items they want to identify and value and  provide old family recipes that relate to specific  times in history.

What I am Reading

Antique ID

Recipes

It’s no secret that I am a passionate foodie. I love to shop at farmer’s markets, collect cookbooks, search out new restaurants and cook for family and friends.

I love when novels include tempting food scenes and  even offer recipes. Geogia’s Folly includes description of meals  as a natural part  of the narrative.  At the end of the book, there will be recipes for the meals featured in the story.