Blurb: The Captain's Lady by Lorhainne Eckhart:
Captain Eric Hamilton is a powerful force in the U.S. Navy, having earned himself a reputation of being a hard-nosed chauvinist. He’s commander of the USS Larsen, a destroyer, currently deployed in the Persian Gulf during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Abby Carlton has just escaped from the man who held her captive for a year. Abducted while traveling in Paris, she was given to an Arab man as a gift, until one night she makes her desperate escape.
While on patrol one morning Captain Eric Hamilton discovers a dinghy floating aimlessly. Abby is found, battered and in an advanced state of pregnancy, lying in the bottom of the dinghy. From the moment she lay on the deck of his ship her innocence finds a way to penetrate his hardened heart. But time is running out. Eric is falsely accused of sexual assault and the CIA wants Abby and the baby for bait to flush out her captor.
Keira: What a premise! Why did you chose to human trafficking and the war in Iraq as the background for your novel. What do you hope readers will get out of the story?
Lorhainne Eckhart: My novel The Captain’s Lady came to me in a dream. It was the scene where Abby is rescued lying on the deck of the ship. I chose the war in Iraq as the background for the novel, as the controversial events of the war were so prominent when I wrote the novel. Even today the Iraq War still sparks a heated debate when you speak to people about it.
When I write a novel, I lean towards what is controversial, then jump in with both feet. The research that was involved was extensive, as I gathered background details. Not something done in a few months, but research and checking accuracy of facts continued throughout the completion of my novel.
During my research for The Captain’s Lady, I came across an article on human trafficking in Europe. What I didn’t expect was to discover how prominent a problem this is. Below is an excerpt from my novel based on the research I uncovered.
“The French police report that every year several thousand girls are reported missing from Paris. The police believe these girls are abducted for use in prostitution in Arab countries. What is really sick is that even Intel has information on these auctions in Africa, where these abducted white women are sold to Arab customers. Blonde women like Abby are most sought after.” He continued as Eric’s nostrils flared, “These women are never seen again. For what it’s worth, Abby is one of the lucky ones.” He thumped the manila file folder with a knuckle. “I believe this Hossein is responsible for more than one disappearance.”
To read the information that several thousand girls are abducted each year from Paris, gave me the background I was looking for Abby. The atrocities that these women endure, to be taken and disappear. I felt it was an area that needed to be brought to light, to be discussed. Women in this modern day to be viewed as commodities and not as a human being with equal rights, is not okay. It’s power and control, which still exists, with not enough focus or resources placed on protecting, locating and rescuing these forgotten women.
Just this past weekend, I rented the 2008 movie Taken
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the invite to do this guest blog on Human Trafficking and the war in Iraq. I hope readers will enjoy my novel and the journey of love between Eric and Abby.
Lorhainne Eckhart
I want to read this novel.
loretta canton,
lbcanton@verizon.net