Why Jane Died.

Why Jane Died.

This blog contains spoilers from the book, “Married to the Alien Admiral of the Fleet, Renascence Alliance Series 4”.

Jane was devasted when Jim moved in with her best friend, and that there was nothing she could do about it. She was, more or less, a prisoner in the Empire.

Then she took an Alliance drug to make her suppress her memories with him.

Jane was specifically warned not to do anything too drastic.

But Jane did not heed the doctors’ warnings and began an intimate relationship with Admiral Jei.

When the memories began returning, she began to feel confused. As you would be.

And Jane had a tough time reconciling her behavior over the last six months with Jei on the Kzi with her former life. She had already been ashamed of some of the things she had done before she took the drug and now remembering what she had done with Jei, an alien, made her feel even worse. She was having a major identity crisis. When something like this happens to you, you don’t make good or logical decisions. Anyone who’s ever known someone going through a divorce or loss of a loved one, knows this.

So, when a human cargo ship was coincidently also waiting at the rendezvous point, and Jane learned about her daughter, she took a chance to go. Why?

Because, if you have ever lived somewhere you didn’t particularly like, and then found yourself at the airport or train station, traveling for business or whatever, have you never wanted to just get on a flight or train somewhere else? To just leave your mess and go somewhere safe? Add that feeling to the protectiveness a mother feels about her children. And then add her unstable mind about coming off the forget-me-not-drug and her shame about being with an alien then you have your answer as to why Jane just left. Not every character in a book, just like not every person in life makes the best decision every time. Jane thought she might have a small chance to escape the Empire and she took it. It doesn’t matter how wonderful a prison is, if you don’t have your freedom then what is your life worth?

Fast forward to the trial, Jane has just done some unspeakable things in front of her daughter. And the final straw is to marry Jei, which would mean she would have to have intercourse in front of her daughter. Morally, Jane cannot do that. Already she has killed, but the sex is one step too far. We all have our straw that breaks the camel's back and that was Jane's. After everything, it was just too much to ask of her.

Let me address the criticism that says there was no foreshadowing of Jane's death. Actually, if you read the book and were paying attention there was quite a bit of foreshadowing of her death the most obvious being her favorite song from Dido’s Lament: When I Am Laid in Earth:

When I am laid, am laid in earth, may my wrongs create

No trouble, no trouble in, in thy breast

When I am laid, am laid in earth, may my wrongs create

No trouble, no trouble in, in thy breast

Remember me, remember me, but ah

Forget my fate

Remember me, but ah

Forget my fate

Remember me, remember me, but ah

Forget my fate

Remember me, but ah

Forget my fate

Here is the link to Dido's Lament (Purcell) Joyce DiDonato, these exact lyrics begin at 1:14.

Listen

Dido, also known as Elissa in Greek, fled to the coast of Africa after her husband was killed. In Africa she purchased a large piece of land which later became Carthage from a local chieftain,Larbas. As the story goes, it wasn't long until Carthage was a thriving city, and Larbas sought Dido’s hand in marriage. To escape from him, Dido constructed a funeral pyre, on which she stabbed herself before the people.

This leads me into the next criticism of this book, that no good stories end with death. Where should I begin? Virgil's "Aeneid" even ends in death, as many of the most beloved Greek tragedies, European operas or the most famous love story in the world, Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", and in modern times off the top of my head, I can think of books and movies where the romance ends in one of the couples dying, "Out of Africa", "The English Patient", "Me Before You", "Atonement", "Titanic", "The Fault in Our Stars", "Ghost", "Love Story", "My Girl", "The Notebook", "Brokeback Mountain", "Moulin Rouge", "Thorn Birds", "City of Angels", and "Westside Story" and there are so many that if I thought about it I could probably list over a hundred books like this.

Not that I would ever presume to compare my book to those classics, but I would like to point out that death at the end of a book is nothing new, nor is it the marker of an inexperienced writer or a bad story.

The last thing I would like to address is the criticism that if a book is listed in romance then it must end happily ever after. I and all the other authors throughout history as well as every dictionary disagree with you. The Cambridge Dictionary states the definition of romance as:

• a close, usually short relationship of love between two people

• the feelings and behaviour of two people who are in a loving and sexual relationship with each other

• the feeling of excitement or mystery that you have from a particular experience or event

• a story about love

• a story of exciting events, especially one written or set in the past

Nowhere in any of these definitions does it say romance must end happily ever after. If you are someone who only wants to read happily ever after books, please follow an author who clearly states under their blurb that their books are happily ever after. That is not my style and no amount of bad reviews will make me change that. I believe part of the joy of picking up a book is not knowing how it is going to end.

"Married to the Alien Admiral of the Fleet", like all the books in the Alliance Series, is asking a question, or rather a few questions,

• What would you have done if you had been Jane?

• Would you have married Jei in front of your daughter?

• Would you have killed Doctor Anu?

• Would you have taken the forget-me-not-drug to begin with?

As always, in my books, there are no heroes or women being rescued; instead, readers are led through an intricate maze of alien courting customs, duplicitous strict religious codes, vicious culture shock, and uncomfortable compromises. In each book, the main character faces a human moral dilemma, and every character gets what they deserve, sometimes more and sometimes less. And this series, although it is romance-driven, has a broader storyline than just the romance. There are many characters of all shades of grey, no one is necessarily good or bad, just as most people are. In addition, ideas are presented, whether they be about gender equality, following meaningless traditions, religion, the use of technology for medical purposes, etc. But they are all there because with the romance, I am writing science fiction.

I want to assure my readers that "Married to the Alien Admiral of the Fleet" was a well-planned out book and that Jane's fate was no accident. Some of the most famous romances end in death. To many people, romance is precisely the not knowing if the romance will survive. In short, it is romantic because everlasting love between two people is not sure thing. One of the most beautiful experiences in life is falling in love, but it is that for the same reason, falling in love, can be the most tragic as well. In the same way, we value life, only because we all know that one day we will all die.