Your online source for Jane Austen and her legacy
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:
Today is Pride and Prejudice’s 209th birthday. Many happy returns of the day to Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.
Jane Austen’s second novel was published in a three-volume set by Thomas Egerton, Whitehall, London in 1813. She sold the copyright for £110. Ouch! One can only imagine how much the novel has made for its numerous publishers over the centuries. Continue reading “The Best Pride and Prejudice Inspired Novels to Add to Your Historical TBR List”
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:
Happy New Year’s Eve dear readers!
2021 proved to be a fabulous year in the historical book arena. From creative Austenesque variations, to Regency romances upending tropes, to reimagined gender-switched classics, to compelling historical fiction and mystery, we have been duly entertained and enchanted. A big thank you goes out to all of the authors and their publishers for keeping us supplied with so many stories to binge during these challenging times. Continue reading “Austenprose’s Best Austenesque & Historical Novels of 2021”
From the desk of Katie Jackson:
It is a truth universally acknowledged that unbridled pride can result in unintended consequences. Much to the dismay of those who realize it too late, it often requires an event of heart-wrenching significance to stir them from their self-righteous stupor. But what sobering fates will befall them due to their untimely awakening? Prolific and bestselling Austenesque author Abigail Reynolds explores the uncertain destinies of two such prideful characters in her latest Pride and Prejudice variation, The Price of Pride. Continue reading “The Price of Pride: A Pride & Prejudice Variation, by Abigail Reynolds — A Review”
From the desk of Debbie Brown:
Abigail Reynolds continues to outdo herself, to the delight of JAFF readers throughout the world. Her name is one of the most recognizable in the genre, and for good reason. She’s been providing unique ways for Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet to fall in love for over a decade. While many authors run out of fresh ideas after one or two solid books, her prolific writing keeps improving.
In her recently released A Matter of Honor, she’s given Darcy and Elizabeth some new obstacles. She mostly ignores Longbourn and Pemberley and, while Hunsford and Rosings loom large in the plot, her Continue reading “A Matter of Honor: A Pride and Prejudice Variation, by Abigail Reynolds — A Review”
From the desk of Kimberly Denny-Ryder:
Way back in 2011 when reviewing What Would Mr. Darcy Do? for my blog I wrote, “I would like to hereby bestow the title of ‘Queen of the Austen Retelling’ to Abigail Reynolds.” Although many years have passed since my proclamation, not much has changed. Every time I get to read a new work by Reynolds I’m always so excited to get a slice of her creative energy that makes her works so exciting. It also doesn’t hurt that her variations typically involve the always handsome and charming Mr. Darcy in some type of a Pride and Prejudice reimagining. With this being said, I quickly devoured this work and got these thoughts on paper immediately, such is the effect that Reynolds has on my reading habits! Continue reading “Alone with Mr. Darcy: A Pride & Prejudice Variation, by Abigail Reynolds – A Review”
From the desk of Monica Perry:
When I first heard that some of the authors from austenvariations.com were planning a Pride and Prejudice: Readers’ Choice collaborative story wherein Mr. Darcy had a younger brother, I was all excited curiosity–a story with two Mr. Darcys? Yes, please! Would Mr. Theophilus Darcy be strong and stoic like his elder brother, a model of amiability like Mr. Bingley, or perhaps more of a rakish Mr. Wickham? Participating in the Readers’ Choice voting each week and having so much interaction with the writers was great fun, and I was eager to read this published version of The Darcy Brothers. Monica Fairview, Maria Grace, Cassandra Grafton, Susan Mason-Milks, and Abigail Reynolds are authors whose works I’d read and loved in the past, and The Darcy Brothers was no exception.
From the very first page, as Theo and Fitzwilliam Darcy reluctantly make their way to Rosings Park for Easter, we see the way they typically interact (read: Theo pushes Darcy’s buttons and Darcy gets his trousers in a twist). In the wake of childhood tragedy and the more recent near-elopement of their young sister Georgiana with Theo’s friend Mr. Wickham, their relationship is strained and they’ve all but given up on Continue reading “The Darcy Brothers: A Pride and Prejudice Variation, by Monica Fairview, Maria Grace, Cassandra Grafton, Susan Mason-Milks and Abigail Reynolds – A Review”
We are very pleased to welcome Monica Fairview, Maria Grace, Cassandra Grafton, Susan Mason-Milks, and Abigail Reynolds to Austenprose for the official virtual book launch party of their new novel The Darcy Brothers, released today by White Soup Press.
Inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, The Darcy Brothers is an original variation based on Austen’s classic in which Mr. Darcy has a charming younger brother named Theo who meets Elizabeth Bennet and vies for her affections. Written by five Austenesque authors, you may well ask, as we did ourselves, how they could pool their talents and create one novel together? Abigail Reynolds has kindly supplied a revealing guest blog to share the experience with you.
And, any celebration would not be complete without gifts. Please enter a chance to win one of the four fabulous prizes being offered by their publisher by leaving a comment. The giveaway details are listed at the end of this post. Good luck to all! Continue reading “The Darcy Brothers Virtual Book Launch Party with Authors, Monica Fairview, Maria Grace, Cassandra Grafton, Susan Mason-Milks and Abigail Reynolds”
From the desk of Laurel Ann Nattress:
This Pride and Prejudice variation asks readers, “What if Elizabeth Bennet had accepted Mr. Darcy’s first proposal?” After reading this question in the book’s description my first reaction was, ACK, why would she?
Changing the Course of the Plot
Like the two other novels by this author that I have read, the story begins on familiar ground at a certain point in Austen’s novel and then quickly takes a left turn—changing the course of the plot and the characters’ lives. In this case, it starts at a very critical moment, the first proposal scene when Mr. Darcy so arrogantly assumes that the less-socially-endowed Elizabeth Bennet would jump at the chance to accept his generous offer of marriage. Reynolds’ Lizzy is still repulsed by the thought of this man as her husband Continue reading “Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy: The Last Man in the World (A Pride and Prejudice Variation), by Abigail Reynolds, read by Rachel E. Hurley – A Review”
From the desk of Lisa Galek:
What if, during their disastrous first proposal, Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet were hit by a real disaster – a flash flood that trapped them together in Hunsford Parsonage? How would they respond? How would they survive together? And would they still, against all odds, learn to love one another?
Many Austen fans will by now be familiar with Abigail Reynolds’ series, The Pemberley Variations, a group of novels which reimagine how the events of Pride and Prejudice might have been different if only one or two details were changed. In the ninth installment, Mr. Darcy’s Refuge, Darcy travels to Hunsford Parsonage to propose to Elizabeth, but this time, he makes his way through a rainstorm. After he finishes confessing his love for Elizabeth and, in the process, insulting her family, Continue reading “Mr. Darcy’s Refuge: A Pride & Prejudice Variation, by Abigail Reynolds – A Review”
Please help us welcome Austenesque author Abigail Reynolds today during her blog tour in celebration of the release of Mr. Darcy’s Refuge, the ninth novel in her popular Pemberley Variations series.
Whenever I read one of her creative and romantic takes on roads not taken in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, I feel a bit like I am in an Austen Twilight Zone. Readers familiar with Austen’s classic story will recognize characters and settings, but Reynolds always mixes it up, placing new impediments and challenges to Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet’s romance. There are always surprises, and, this new novel is no exception. The first few chapters had me laughing out loud as the story unfolds from Darcy’s point of view. He is even more arrogant and assuming then we ever realized. Ha!
Abigail has kindly shared her thoughts on her writing career and her new book. Leave a comment to enter a chance to win a copy of Mr. Darcy’s Refuge. Enjoy!
I’ve just spent the weekend at the Decatur Book Festival enjoying the company of readers and authors of Austen-inspired books, both fiction and non-fiction. One topic that arose repeatedly was how the world of publishing has changed in the last two years, and even in the last two weeks – yes, really, we discussed some significant changes that have taken place in the last fortnight! It made me think about how my personal writing process has changed as well.
It took me 25 months to write and edit Mr. Darcy’s Letter, which was released in December 2011. In contrast, I started writing my latest release, Mr. Darcy’s Refuge in mid-January of this year, completing it in 7 months. Why so much faster? The easy answer is that I started cutting back on my day job early this year, giving me more free time to write, but that doesn’t completely account for it, since I probably spent one-third the hours on it overall as I did on the last book.
The biggest difference was that I could write every day. When I have to take a break from writing for a week or more, I lose track of the flow of the narrative, and if I want to have good pacing, I have to go back and rework already written text before I start again. Even with detailed notes, I have trouble keeping scenes on track when there’s a large gap in time. It’s much harder to keep characters consistent and I have to do more revisions in order to keep the tone consistent through the book. Interestingly, when I look back at my books, the ones that are most popular with readers are the ones that I wrote the fastest.
Certainly a book can be written too quickly, without enough care being taken to make it into a quality product, but can it also be written too slowly? Obviously, in my case, it can be. But what about Jane Austen? We have a reasonable amount of information about how long it took her to write her books. What does it show us?
Let’s look at Sense & Sensibility, which Jane Austen referred to as her ‘suckling child’ – an interesting metaphor since it implies that she both loved it and felt drained by it. She had finished the first draft, then entitled Elinor and Marianne, quite quickly, since she read it aloud to her family before she was 20 years old. She returned to it two years later to do a full revision, changing it from an epistolary novel to a traditional narrative. Twelve years later she took it out again for yet another full revision, this time changing the name to Sense & Sensibility. It was published in 1810, fifteen years after she read the first draft to her family. She had been working on it for her entire adult life.
In contrast, she started Persuasion when she was 39 years old, and wrote it from start to finish, including revisions, in just under a year. Naturally, she was a more experienced writer at that point, but I also wonder how the speed of her writing affected the book. I think of Persuasion as a delight – the tone, the themes, the characters, the background, all seem to flow seamlessly together as I read it. Sense & Sensibility, on the other hand, reminds me in some ways of Shakespeare’s ‘problem plays’ where there are gaps of style, consistency, or just basic characterization. I think of it as Jane Austen’s problem novel. While more polished than Shakespeare’s ‘problem plays,’ the flow of Sense & Sensibility isn’t as smooth as Persuasion, nor are the characters as consistent, and it’s sometimes hard to follow why certain characters care about other characters. It makes me wonder if Jane Austen also had to struggle with changing vision and loss of flow when the writing of a book spanned so many years. After all, a character created at age 19 would have to go through a major metamorphosis before meeting the standards of an author at age 34, and it would be almost impossible to erase all the traces of the earlier characterizations.
My writing will never come close to equaling Jane Austen’s, or even make it into the same order of magnitude. I write light fiction for my own pleasure and that of my readers, and I’m very content producing the literary equivalent of comfort food rather than haute cuisine. Still, given how much I adore Austen’s writing, it’s very nice to be able to find some potential similarities in our experience as writers!
Thank you for sharing your insights on your writing Abigail. Jane Austen also wrote for her own amusement and that of her family, so you share more than a few similarities. Best wishes for a great success with Mr. Darcy’s Refuge.
Cheers,
Author bio:
Abigail Reynolds is a great believer in taking detours. Originally from upstate New York, she studied Russian and theater at Bryn Mawr College and marine biology at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. After a stint in performing arts administration, she decided to attend medical school, and took up writing as a hobby during her years as a physician in private practice.
A life-long lover of Jane Austen’s novels, Abigail began writing variations on Pride & Prejudice in 2001, then expanded her repertoire to include a series of novels set on her beloved Cape Cod. Her most recent releases are Mr. Darcy’s Refuge, A Pemberley Medley, and Morning Light, and she is currently working on a new Pemberley Variation and the next novel in her Cape Cod series. A lifetime member of JASNA and a founder of the popular AUSTEN AUTHORS group blog, she lives in Wisconsin with her husband, two teenaged children, and a menagerie of animals. Her hobbies do not include sleeping or cleaning her house. Website: Pemberley Variations; Blog: Austen Authors; Facebook: Abigail Reynolds and at Twitter: @AbigailReynolds
GIVEAWAY OF MR. DARCY’S REFUGE
Enter a chance to win one of two digital copies available of Mr. Darcy’s Refuge, by Abigail Reynolds by leaving a comment either asking Abigail about writing her Pemberley Variations series, her new novel, or a remark about Jane Austen’s writing style by 11:59 pm PT, Wednesday, September 12, 2012. Winners to be announced on Thursday, September 13, 2012. Digital copies are available to download Internationally. Good luck to all.
Mr. Darcy’s Refuge: A Pride & Prejudice Variation, by Abigail Reynolds
White Soup Press (2012)
Trade paperback (238) pages
ISBN: 978-0615669755
Kindle: ASIN: B00919X9CW
NOOK: BN ID: 2940015170801
© Abigail Reynolds, Austenprose
From the desk of Kimberly Denny-Ryder:
Whenever I finish an Abigail Reynolds book, I never feel like I’m completely done with the story. What I mean by this is her writing always gets me totally engrossed in the stories making me wish they’d never end. I always feel satisfied with where they’ve gone plot wise, but she writes characters so well that I always end up wishing for more. Fortunately for us Reynolds fans, she published A Pemberley Medley, a collection of short stories that represent different “what if” scenarios for our beloved Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. All five short stories are variations on the original Pride and Prejudice that we all know Continue reading “A Pemberley Medley: Five Pride & Prejudice Variations, by Abigail Reynolds – A Review”
From the desk of Christina Boyd:
In this latest self-published offering from the Pride & Prejudice variation author, Abigail Reynolds’s, Mr. Darcy’s Letter responds to the query: What might have happened had Elizabeth Bennet never accepted Mr. Darcy’s letter that defended his actions in separating his friend from her sister and acquitted him of any cruelty toward Mr. Wickham? Reynolds’s poses a plausible scenario wherein Miss Elizabeth, conscious of society’s mores, refuses the risk of accepting this letter from a man, thus avoids the risk of being discovered and possibly forced to marry the last man in the world she could ever be prevailed upon. Consequently, she returns to Longbourn yet ignorant of Wickham’s debauchery and continues a Continue reading “Mr. Darcy’s Letter: A Pride & Prejudice Variation, by Abigail Reynolds – A Review”
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