Authors Interviewing Characters: KELLY SCARBOROUGH
THE BUTTERFLY GAMES
For fans of Philippa Gregory and Allison Pataki, a debut biographical historical novel about a young Swedish countess whose youthful love affair with the heir to her country’s throne has profound personal and political repercussions.
In some games, winning means losing everything that matters.
In the opulent world of the Swedish royal court, Jacquette Gyldenstolpe walks a dangerous tightrope between romance and political intrigue. Neglected by her parents and ostracized by the people around her, the young countess falls in love with Prince Oscar, heir to the Swedish throne—but their passionate affair has far-reaching consequences for the new Bernadotte dynasty, which is already challenged by threats from inside Sweden and beyond.
By the time Jacquette learns that the Butterfly Game is not for the faint-hearted, it is too late. For she has a secret—one as precious to her as it is potentially devastating to the crown—and she will stop at nothing to protect it.
Based on a true story and set in stormy early-1800s Europe, Butterfly Games is a sweeping historical tale of forbidden love, fierce duty, and the cost of ambition. From the lavish ballrooms of Stockholm to the elegant manor houses of the Swedish countryside, Jacquette’s story will transport readers to a world where every whisper could lead to triumph or ruin.
KELLY SCARBOROUGH IN CONVERSATION WITH JACQUETTE GYLDENSTOLPE
I meet Jacquette in her apartment at Stockholm Palace, a suite of rooms overlooking the inner courtyard. The ceilings are low, the walls pale, the furnishings elegant but spare. Nothing personal is meant to linger long in the quarters of a maid of honor in a royal household.
Jacquette sits near the window, where the autumn light is strongest, her posture composed, her hands folded loosely in her lap. She is dressed in her daytime hovdräkt: subdued grey silk, no unnecessary ornaments, her hair arranged with deliberate restraint. At first glance, she appears calm. As we begin to talk, I notice the tension she carries so naturally it almost reads as poise.
A small table has been set between us with porcelain cups and a silver pot. The tea has gone lukewarm. Neither of us takes a second sip. From somewhere down the corridor comes the faint drone of voices, the opening and closing of distant doors—reminders that privacy here is conditional, temporary, easily invaded.
This is not the girl I first imagined when I began writing her story. This is a woman shaped by watchfulness, by loss, by decisions made in rooms very much like this one. When Jacquette looks at me, her expression is open but guarded, as if she has learned—through long experience—that truth must always be weighed before it is spoken.
I ask if she is ready.
She nods once.
And we begin.
Kelly: Jacquette, when I first meet you in the novel, you’re fourteen and already being watched, judged, and whispered about. How aware were you then of the danger you were stepping into?
Jacquette: Not at all aware. Oh, I don’t know; perhaps I sensed little things. I knew when a room felt hostile. I knew when the maids of honor smiled too sharply. But I still believed that if I behaved well enough, quietly enough, I might be left alone. That was my first mistake.
Kelly: You’re often accused of being passive. Do you see yourself that way?
Jacquette: No. I see myself as careful. There is a difference. When you are a girl with no legal power, no fortune of your own, and a reputation already damaged by your parents’ choices, silence can seem like protection. Later, I learned what happens when silence becomes complicity, and that lesson nearly destroyed me.
Kelly: You fall in love with Oscar knowing the cost could be catastrophic. Why didn’t you walk away?
Jacquette: Because he was kind before he was powerful. Because with him, for a time, I was not currency. I was not a strategy. I was simply myself. And because first love convinces you that if something feels true enough, the world will eventually bend to it. It rarely does.
Kelly: Your mother, Aurora, both protects you and exploits you. How do you hold those two truths together?
Jacquette: With difficulty — and grief. My mother believes survival justifies everything. I believe survival should come with some compassion, some limits to what you’re willing to do to others to secure it. Loving my mother means understanding that the world shaped her ruthlessly and resolving, again and again, not to become her.
Kelly: Motherhood changes you completely. When did you realize that?
Jacquette: The moment I understood that my child could die because powerful men found her inconvenient. From that point on, I understood that my happiness wasn’t the only goal, or even the most important one. I stopped asking what I wanted and began asking what I could endure.
Kelly: You’re given chances to force the hands of the men who control you—you have documents, secrets, leverage. Many readers expect you to use them. Why don’t you?
Jacquette: Because truth is not neutral. In my world, there is no assurance it won’t wound the wrong person. I chose to wait until I knew where all the players stood.
Kelly: If you could speak to the girl you were at fourteen, hiding a forbidden letter box, what would you tell her?
Jacquette: I would tell her that love will ask more of her than she imagines—and that she will survive it. I would tell her to trust her instincts sooner. And I would tell her that one day, she will stop being afraid of being ruined.
Kelly: Finally, are you finished with Oscar?
Jacquette: Who knows what the future will bring? But I know I am finished believing that love is enough.
Credit: Lithography by Johan Elias Cardon (1802-1878) after a painting by Anders Gustaf Andersson (1780-1833), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Colorized by Kelly Scarborough.
BUY BUTTERFLY GAMES HERE
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About Kelly Scarborough
After more than two decades as an attorney, Kelly Scarborough began writing historical novels about fascinating women who lived in challenging times. Her passion has taken her to Swedish castles and archives, where she has met interesting people and new friends. Scarborough’s debut novel, Butterfly Games, a tragic love story about two star-crossed lovers, a countess and a prince, is based on real-life characters who lived in Sweden in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars. It’s for fans of Philippa Gregory, Outlander, and Bridgerton.
Scarborough currently lives on the Connecticut Shoreline and in South Carolina’s Lowcountry, where she bangs away on her MacBook Pro whenever her husband, three stepchildren, two children, and Shih Tzu cooperate. At heart, she’ll always be a Jersey Girl.
Learn more at kellyscarborough.com and connect with Kelly Scarborough on Facebook, Instagram @kellyscarboroughwrites, Pinterest, TikTok @kellyscarboroughwrites, X @mskellyo, and Youtube.
Category: Interviews, On Writing
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