Conventions

With U.S. independence secured, at the urging of his father twenty-one-year-old Robert Rutherford sails for Europe in 1787 to seek new business for the family firm. Surprised by his warm receptions from pre-war associates of his father in France and in England, he is drawn into life in both countries.What the New Yorker had thought would be a period of travel evolves into residence. His twenties begin to disappear and a faraway America is kept alive for him mostly through letters from home and encounters with other Americans in Europe. The unexpected onset of revolution in France – and particularly its "reign of terror" – challenges him in ways he had never before even imagined possible. What will be the fates of his friends and loved ones?"What does America think of all that is happening?" – Duke de La Rochefoucauld"I wish to know. Father says not. Are there Indians where you live?" – Carolina"It seems to me clear that Mr. Morris is the gentleman whom President Washington wishes to succeed Mr. Jefferson." – William Short"There are no more peasants. No more serfs. I have land. I have honor." – Pierre"A revolution that ties up and casts a girl into a river to drown and laughs?" – Henry"De certains droits inaliénables. What does all of this really mean?" – Marie-Thérèse"They searched and found no guns! I am the American minister!" – Gouverneur Morris"Remove your hands from my wife this very instant. If you don't, I'll slit his throat, and then I'll kill you." – Robert"Recently, there was a village festival. It is remarkable here. Nothing reminds us of the Revolution." – Rosalie de La RochefoucauldConventions: The Garden At Paris is a sweeping romantic and historical drama set in the often harrowing times that gave birth to our modern world. R. J. Nello was born in New York, raised on Long Island, and has lived and traveled in Europe for over two decades.

After only two years away, in the summer of 1797 the Rutherfords return to a warring Europe…Having settled in New York with a wife born and raised in Europe and who had never before seen America, now in his young thirties and with two small children Robert Rutherford is asked by President John Adams to join a diplomatic mission to France. Mrs. Rutherford views the journey as a chance to see her family on the other side of the Atlantic perhaps for the last time. After the difficult ocean voyage, finding themselves separated by events and by the English Channel, and eventually remaining in Europe for far longer than they had planned, they witness America nearly going to war with France and the rise to power in France of a general named Bonaparte. They also encounter old friends, and Robert is reunited with one lady in particular…Tomorrow The Grace is a continuation of the tale begun in 2017's Conventions: The Garden At Paris. R. J. Nello was born in New York, raised on Long Island, and has lived and traveled in Europe for over two decades.

Now in his early forties and having believed he was finished with diplomacy, in 1808 New York lawyer and merchant Robert Rutherford is sent to Europe once more – this time at the request of President Thomas Jefferson.Obliged to leave his wife and children behind, on the other side of the Atlantic he finds the still militarily weak United States of America caught diplomatically, and himself sometimes even personally, between the warring British and Napoleonic French empires, both of which are also more and more antagonistic toward the determinedly neutral U.S.Amidst all of that, horrifying family news reaches him and Robert decides all that may be left to him is possibly never to return home…CAPTURE THE CAUSE is the third and final volume of a sweeping historical romantic drama set in Europe and America. The tale opens with its first volume, CONVENTIONS: THE GARDEN AT PARIS (2017), and continues with the second, TOMORROW THE GRACE (2019). R. J. Nello was born in New York, raised on Long Island, and has lived and traveled in Europe for over two decades.