American Socialite Characters - Bo Bonaparte: The Renegade Son

The man himself.

One of the more interesting things about writing American Socialite was discovering the paradoxes that surrounded Betsy Bonaparte. Both in the historical record and in the pages of my novel, Betsy often comes across as a walking contradiction. For instance, her husband Jerome abandons her and her  son because she's not royalty, yet she goes on to insist later in the book that her son only marry a member of royalty himself. When her son, named Bo, decides to marry a commoner instead, Betsy's entire world falls apart on her. For Betsy, whatever her charms and fine qualities might be, simply cannot see beyond the expectations she has set for herself and others.

 Bo, on the other hand, doesn't long for what Betsy does. A royal marriage simply isn't something that interests him, at least not enough to keep him from marrying Baltimore heiress Susan May Williams. Although being an heiress might not be enough for Betsy, Bo wants the person he wants, regardless of social stature. Not that it's easy to for him to arrive at that conclusion. Betsy isn't the sort of person you want to cross. This is particularly true if you are her own offspring. Still, Bo decides, underhandedly at first, to choose his own path. 

 This ends up being the final blow for Betsy in the novel. First her husband abandoned her, now her son has disappointed her. She lives a life of elegance, luxury, and prestige, and associates with royalty,  intellectuals, and the great movers and shakers of her day, but her world has crumbled around her. Bo's decision to marry the woman he loves rather than someone his mother might approve of triggers in Betsy a long decline which ultimately leads to the realization that her expectations are no longer worth being enslaved to. Not that Bo is an angel throughout the proceedings. He shamefully keeps Betsy in the dark about his marriage, then has to be convinced to reach out to her by his wife - the same wife who Betsy has rejected.

 What's striking to me about both the real and fictional Bo is the fact that he's not a bad person. In fact, he's a refreshingly independent person. Even his unwillingness to confront his mother head on comes from a place of fearfulness rather than a place of genuine disrespect. Betsy is formidable in her quest to see her expectations come to fruition. She is, ironically enough, as rigid in her expectations as Napoleon, the man who caused her marriage to evaporate, was. Little wonder Bo is hesitant to challenge Betsy's expectations in an upfront manner. The fact that he gets around to doing the right thing - albeit belatedly - tells the reader something about the man's character. 

To buy American Socialite, simply click on the link below:

https://www.amazon.com/American-Socialite-Sean-Crose/dp/B08C8RW7N4