Have you ever read a totally unfavorable book review so full of acrimony that it left you wondering if you would have the same reaction? I have and am often hooked into trying out a book to see if I agree. So when I read a collection of reviews gathered at the Austenfans website against Joan Aiken’s novel Eliza’s Daughter: A Sequel to Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, I was intrigued. Here are a few of the zingers to set the mood. “It is the worst JA sequel I have ever read”, “I wonder why ANYONE would have bothered to write something like this!”, “I cannot recommend this book, except as an example of what NOT to do when writing a sequel to any great novel, especially Jane Austen.”, or the final insult, “How did it even get published?” Ouch! To add further to the mêlée, this website was created and is maintained by Sourcebooks, the current publisher of Eliza’s Daughter originally issued in 1984 and now available in a new edition. Cleverly, only a publisher of this depth and confidence would have the strength and wisdom to assemble such a collection of scathing reviews and post them as publicity. A blunder – or a stroke of marketing savvy? We shall see. Continue reading “Eliza’s Daughter: A Sequel to Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, by Joan Aiken – A Review”
Announcing: Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler
GREAT NEWS FOR JANEITES EVERYWHERE!
While snooping about on Amazon.com tonight, I had a wonderful surprise when I discovered that the title of Laurie Viera Rigler’s sequel/parallel story to her popular Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict would be Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict. I immediately wrote to Laurie who is traveling in Tennessee and confimred my discovery sharing my excitement and enthusiasm for her new novel. Imagine my delight when I found the cover posted on her agent’s web site. Hurrah! Isn’t it beautiful? Here is the blurb from Laurie’s literary agent, Marly Rusoff & Associates, Inc.
RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT by Laurie Viera Rigler
Publisher Dutton, June 2009. The eagerly anticipated sequel/parallel story to Confessions of a Jane Austen AddictLaurie Viera Rigler’s debut novel, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, was a hit with fans and critics, and a BookSense and Los Angeles Times bestseller. Its open-to-interpretation ending left readers begging for more-and RUDE AWAKENINGS OF A JANE AUSTEN ADDICT delivers. While Confessions took twenty-first-century free spirit Courtney Stone into the social confines of Jane Austen’s era, Rude Awakenings tells the parallel story of Jane Mansfield, a gentleman’s daughter from Regency England who inexplicably awakens in Courtney’s overly wired and morally confused L.A. life.
For Jane, the modern world is not wholly disagreeable. Her apartment may be smaller than a dressing closet, but it is fitted up with lights that burn without candles, machines that wash bodies and clothes, and a glossy rectangle in which tiny people perform scenes from her favorite book, Pride and Prejudice. Granted, if she wants to travel she may have to drive a formidable metal carriage, but she may do so without a chaperone. And oh, what places she goes! Public assemblies that pulsate with pounding music. Unbound hair and unrestricted clothing. The freedom to say what she wants when she wants-even to men without a proper introduction.
Privacy, independence, even the power to earn her own money. But how is she to fathom her employer’s incomprehensible dictates about “syncing a BlackBerry” and “rolling a call”? How can she navigate a world in which entire publications are devoted to brides but flirting and kissing and even the sexual act itself raise no matrimonial expectations? Even more bewildering are the memories that are not her own. And the friend named Wes, who is as attractive and confusing to Jane as the man who broke her heart back home. It’s enough to make her wonder if she would be better off in her own time, where at least the rules are clear-that is, if returning is even an option.
You can also read a preview of the storyline on Laurie’s web site. I am so excited about this book and can’t wait to read it. Check out Laurie’s first novel, Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict.
Congratulations Laurie and best wishes!
Cover image courtesy of Dutton Books © 2009; text Laurel Ann Nattress © 2009, Austenprose.com
Go Gothic with Northanger Abbey: Guest Bloggers Trina Robbins & Anne Timmons Chat about Gothic Classics: Day 17 Giveaway!
Think of Northanger Abbey in a graphic novel format with all of its energy and Gothic allusions visually popping right off the page, and you will have a good notion of what author Trina Robbins and illustrator Anne Timmons have created in their frightfully enchanting version of Northanger Abbey included in Gothic Classics: Graphic Classics Volume Fourteen. Today both author and illustrator are joining us to chat about their inspiration and the design procession of transforming Jane Austen’s Gothic parody into a graphic novel. Enjoy!
Writing Jane
by Trina Robbins
Imagine you’re a Jane Austen fan (not hard to do!) and you write graphic novels — and a publisher asks you to adapt a Jane Austen novel into graphic novel form. The result, of course, is hog heaven!
I have actually adapted TWO Jane Austen books into graphic novel form. The first, about five years ago, was for Scholastic, for their series of graphic novel adaptations for classrooms. I picked one of my two favorite Austen novels, Emma, to adapt into a twenty-seven page graphic novel. But because I was writing for elementary school kids, there were constraints. Sex does not exist in elementary school rooms, so Harriet could not be a “natural daughter.” Kids would have wondered what that meant, and any explanations would have produced letters from angry parents. So I turned her into an orphan. Emma and Harriet could not be waylaid by gypsies, either, because representing gypsies as criminals is racist, so they simply became a group of rough men who demanded the girl’s purses.
Nonetheless, I got fan mail from elementary school kids, addressed to “Ms. Jane Austen and Ms. Trina Robbins,” saying how much they liked the book. I answered all the letters, telling the young readers that I was sorry to inform them that Jane Austen had died over two hundred years ago, but that if they liked the comic, perhaps someday they might read the book.
Then Tom Pomplun, editor of Graphic Classics asked me to adapt Northanger Abbey, which just so happens to be my OTHER favorite Austen novel (Northanger Abbey and Emma are her two funniest!), to be illustrated by Anne Timmons, with whom I’ve worked on so many other comics (including our own series, GoGirl!) that I can call her my partner in crime. And in forty pages with no constraints!
Adapting any classic novel (I also adapted Bronte and Dickens for Scholastic) is like solving a delightful puzzle — what to keep, what to leave out. My first step is to buy the oldest, cheapest, most used softcover edition I can find. I take a highlighter and a black felt-tip marker to it, highlighting the parts I want to keep, blacking out the parts that have to go. I can’t begin to describe how much it goes against the grain for me to mark up a book like that!
Working with Anne Timmons is a pleasure! When I describe something, she understands perfectly and draws exactly what I had in mind. Northanger Abbey is drawn in a cute and lighthearted style because that’s the way I see the book. Catherine is young, naive, and big-eyed. And she is a hopeless romantic, so some scenes, such as when Catherine runs in tears from Henry, who has just dressed her down because of her suspicions about his father, or when she lies in bed weeping because the General has ordered her to leave in the morning, might have come from some romance comic.
And Anne, bless her, understands the fashions! In the past, I have had dreadful experiences working with male artists (none of whom I chose) who never looked at the reams of fashion reference I always send with my scripts, obviously thinking that if you drew the female characters in long skirts, that was good enough. And you know how important the right clothes are in a Jane Austen novel! I’m sure we all agree that the worst Austen movie adaptation ever was that Greer Garson Pride and Prejudice, where for some bizarre reason, the producers decided to change the time period to the 1840s or 1850s.
Currently, Anne and I are working on an adaptation of Little Women, for the same publisher. I couldn’t be happier!
Catherine Morland & Isabella Thorpe read Gothic novels in the
Gothic Classics edition of Northanger Abbey (2007)
Illustrating Jane
By Anne Timmons
I was just thrilled when Tom Pomplun, publisher of Graphic Classics, asked Trina and I to work on Northanger Abbey! Trina and I have illustrated other books for the Graphic Classics line including a story for their Jack London anthology.
I was familiar with Jane Austen’s work but I had never drawn the Regency period before. I did quite a bit of research by Google-ing a lot of the costume websites. There’s a vast array of websites that contain such concise and detailed information. For example, I needed to look up what a carriage would look like in the early 1800s. And certainly, the costumes and interiors needed to be close to that time period. Lots of Northanger Abbey was set in Bath so there’s a lot of the Georgian style of architecture.
After reading the original story, I received Trina’s adapted script. I laid out the entire story in small roughed out panels, also know as thumbnails. They gave me an idea of what the page would look like. Then I drew the story in pencil. I emailed the files to Trina and Tom to look over. After they gave me suggestions and advice, I inked over the pencils and scanned the finished art. Once the art was a digital file, I could email it to the publisher who did the lettering.
One of my favorite scenes to draw was the walk at Beechen Cliff. There is a lot of excitement leading up to this moment. The fact that Catherine had to wait for more favorable weather so it would be easy on her clothes and shoes. To finally be able to walk on a dry spring day, (and not be confined indoors), would have been a wonderful experience. In my research, I discovered that the fabrics used in the gowns were often made of muslin – a very thin material. It may have been in layers but not exactly warm enough for cold weather! The Regency period was influenced by the styles of the Roman Empire. Lots of high waists and hair pulled up off the face and neck. Trina’s descriptions offer what the character may look like and I had a great time with the embellishments!
I also had a lot of fun drawing the scene where Catherine scares herself as she tries to open the cabinet in her room.
Trina and I are currently working on a graphic novel adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s, Little Women which will be coming out in 2009. I will be, once again in a “Historical Costume Heaven!”
Further Reading
- Read an interview of Trina Robbins at Jazma Online
- Read a review of Gothic Classics at Publishers Weekly
- Read a review of Gothic Classics at AustenBlog
- Visit author Trina Robbins web site
- Visit illustrator Anne Timmons web site
- Purchase Gothic Classics: Graphic Classics Volume 14
Go Gothic with Northanger Abbey: DAY 17 Giveaway
Gothic Classics: Graphic Classics Volume Fourteen (2007)
Which includes Northanger Abbey
Adapted by Trina Robbins and illustrated by Anne Timmons
Leave a comment by October 30th to qualify for the free drawing on October 31st for one copy of Gothic Classics: Graphic Classics Volume Fourteen (2007)
Upcoming event posts
Day 18 – Oct 28 Group Read NA Chapters 25-28
Day 19 – Oct 29 Gothically Inspired
Day 20 – Oct 30 Group Read NA Chapters 29-31
Day 21 – Oct 31 Go Gothic Wrap-up
Go Gothic with Northanger Abbey: Guest Blogger Amanda Grange Chats about Henry Tilney’s Diary
Austen-esque author Amanda Grange kicks off our guests bloggers during ‘Go Gothic with Northanger Abbey’ event as she joins us today to chat about a very important topic; possibly the most important topic to many – Henry Tilney – who is the protagonist of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey and the hero of her next novel Henry Tilney’s Diary. This highly anticipated novel will complete her Austen hero’s series that started with Mr. Darcy’s Diary in 2005, unless she changes her mind and gives Sense and Sensibility‘s co-hero Edward Ferrars his due. Hint ;) Hint ;)
Amanda Grange on Henry Tilney’s Diary
I’m very pleased to be invited to Austenprose during the Go Gothic with Northanger Abbey event because at the moment Northanger Abbey is much in my mind. I’m writing Henry Tilney’s Diary which is, of course, a retelling of Northanger Abbey from Henry’s point of view. Those people who have read my other diaries – Mr Darcy’s Diary, Mr Knightley’s Diary, Captain Wentworth’s Diary, Edmund Bertram’s Diary, Colonel Brandon’s Diary – will know that I like to stick close to the original novels but present them from a new viewpoint, filling out the back stories and adding what I hope are new insights along the way.
I knew before I started it that Henry Tilney’s Diary would be the most complex diary to write because Northanger Abbey is, arguably, Austen’s most complex novel. Not only does it have Austen’s hallmarks of social satire, keen observation, brilliant characterisation, etc, it also has her wittiest hero, and on top of that it parodies the Gothic novel. I knew I would have to try and capture all these element in the diary.
Those who have been following my progress on Historical Romance UK will know that I decided to use some passages from The Mysteries of Udolpho in the diary because I wanted to give modern readers a taste of the kind of Gothic novels that were popular in Austen’s day. Some readers are already familiar with Udolpho, of course – including readers of Austenprose! – but others have never read it, and I didn’t want them to miss out on the unique flavour of the eighteenth and nineteenth century Gothics.
Having decided to include some passages from Udolpho, I then had to come up with a way of working it into the diary. The solution to this problem came in Chapter 14 of Northanger Abbey:
“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid. I have read all Mrs. Radcliffe’s works, and most of them with great pleasure. The Mysteries of Udolpho, when I had once begun it, I could not lay down again; I remember finishing it in two days – my hair standing on end the whole time.” (said Henry)
“Yes,” added Miss Tilney, “and I remember that you undertook to read it aloud to me, and that when I was called away for only five minutes to answer a note, instead of waiting for me, you took the volume into the Hermitage Walk, and I was obliged to stay till you had finished it.”
I knew at once that I would include this incident in the diary. It is such a revealing incident that I would probably have included it anyway, because it shows Henry at his most human and charming whilst also showing his good relationship with Eleanor. But it lends itself perfectly to my desire to include extracts from Udolpho.
I decided that I would then make the incident work even harder for its place in the diary, because I would use it, not only to show Henry and Eleanor’s characters, their good relationship, and the prose of Mrs Radcliffe, I would also use it as a bonding experience with Eleanor’s suitor.
Eleanor’s suitor is one of the elements of the backstory I am going to flesh out. He isn’t mentioned until the end of the book, but in fact she has known him for a long time. As she loves Gothic novels I thought it likely that he would love them as well. My picture of him was hazy at first and I had to think more carefully about the things I knew so that I could develop him as a real person. He had no money – so where could Eleanor have met him? I decided she would meet him at the Abbey, because it’s such an integral part of the book. But what would he be doing there?
There are a lot of ways I could have done it, but this is what happened when I started to write:
Friday
It was late. My father was holding forth in the drawing-room; Frederick’s friends were carousing in the billiard room; and so Eleanor and I took refuge in the library. We had just begun to talk when there was an embarrassed cough and Mr Thomas Stannyard stepped out from behind one of the bookcases.
It was an awkward moment. He had evidently been in the library when we arrived and he had unwittingly overheard our conversation. But instead of laughing and blustering and making some ribald remark, as befitted one of Frederick’s friends, he blushed and fingered his collar and muttered his apologies, adding that he had come into the library to look for a book.
This so astounded Eleanor and I that we looked at each other and then turned our eyes back towards him to discover that he was indeed holding a book.
‘The antics in the billiard-room are not to your taste?’ hazarded my sister.
‘No, I am afraid not,’ he said apologetically.
‘What book have you found?’ I asked.
He looked embarrassed and muttered something under his breath.
‘The Mysteries of Udolpho!’ exclaimed Eleanor.
‘I have a partiality for Gothic novels,’ he admitted shamefacedly.
‘But this is capital,’ I said. ‘My sister and I like nothing better. Which ones have you read?’
‘Castle of Wolfenbach, Clermont, Mysterious Warnings, and Necromancer of the Black Forest,’ he said, then added, ‘I must not intrude any longer.’
‘It is no intrusion,’ I assured him.
‘Will you not join us?’ asked Eleanor.
‘If you are sure . . . ‘ he said.
‘We are. Are we not, Henry?’
‘Yes, indeed.’
He took a seat.
‘Forgive me for saying so, but you do not seem like one of my brother’s friends,’ said Eleanor.
‘I . . . uh . . . think it would be more accurate to say that . . . well, to put it frankly . . . that is to say . . . he owes me money.’
This is just a rough draft. It might easily change between now and publication, but this is how the characters are developing at the moment. This will then lead into some scenes where the three of them read a Gothic novel together. As there is no mention of Eleanor’s suitor when Henry talks about reading Udolpho in Chapter 14, I will probably have them read one of the other novels. I dare say they will be out walking but then have to hurry inside because of a thunderstorm. With the thunder rolling and the lightning flashing outside, they will read some of the more outrageous passages from one or other of the ‘horrid novels,’ replete with dungeons, chains and strange moaning.
I might, too, have Henry come upon Catherine and Eleanor reading a horrid novel, so that I can include extracts from yet another ‘horrid novel’, but as I haven’t got to the later part of the diary, and I am at the moment writing the bits that occur before Northanger Abbey begins, that is a decision I won’t take until much later in the year.
I hope fans of Northanger Abbey will enjoy Henry Tilney’s Diary!
Best wishes,
Mandy
- Visit Amanda Grange’s web site
- Purchase Edmund Bertram’s Diary
- Purchase Colonel Brandon’s Diary
Thanks Amanda for giving us a sneak peek at your next novel Henry Tilney’s Diary which will hopefully be in book stores by late 2009. I am looking forward to the entrance of da man himself, Henry Tilney, and all the Gothic trappings replete with dungeons, chains and strange moaning!
Upcoming event posts
Day 04 – Oct 7 Group Read NA Chapters 4-7
Day 05 – Oct 8 Guest Blog – Diana Birchall
Day 06 – Oct 9 Group Read NA Chapters 8-10
Day 07 – Oct 13 Guest Blog Margaret C. Sullivan
Austenesque Author Rebecca Ann Collins asks – Why revisit Netherfield Park?
The third book in the Pemberley Chronicles series, Netherfield Park Revisted by Rebecca Ann Collins has just been released by Soucebooks this month. In this continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, the story starts in 1859, Queen Victoria has reigned for twenty-two years, England has undergone an industrial revolution and is one of the most powerful and influential nations to rule the sea and colonize the globe. Once again we are introduced to many of the characters central in the novel Pride and Prejudice, the Darcy’s and Bingley’s and their children. Handsome Jonathan Bingley, son of Charles and Jane Bingley, takes center stage, returning to Netherfield Park whose traditions and history runs strong in his family. In this ongoing historical saga, Ms. Collins continues to delve into themes that Jane Austen never approached in her secluded early 19th-century world of three or four families in a country village, but these expansions of plot and characters seem only natural as they parallel the progress of England’s social, economical and industrial growth.
Ms. Rebecca Ann Collins joins us today to share her thought on her inspiration for Netherfield Park Revisited, her affinity to Jonathan Bingley and her favorite book in the ten novel series.
When, on page one of Pride and Prejudice – Mrs Bennet announces, “My dear Mr Bennet, have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?”, we are in no doubt that the story has begun, for it is with her machinations to catch the amiable and eligible tenant – Mr Bingley for her loveliest daughter Jane, that Mrs Bennet is obsessed from that point on.
It affects quite dramatically the lives of the Bennet family at Longbourn and especially those of Jane and her sister Elizabeth. In the end, after an agonising period of indecision on his part, Jane does marry her beloved Bingley and Elizabeth – after even more agony, compounded by both pride and prejudice – is claimed by his enigmatic friend Mr Darcy. At the end of the novel – we are assured that the two couples lived happily ever after; but of course they have moved – far from small town Hertfordshire society – Lizzie to Pemberley and the Bingley’s to a “a neighbouring county”.
Having followed their progress through the first years of their married lives in the dynamic world of 19th-century England, and observed their children growing up, I was intrigued by the prospect of a return to Netherfield Park by another, younger Mr Bingley – Jonathan the handsome, likeable son of Jane and Charles. Of course, Jonathan is already married to young Amelia-Jane Collins – as a result of a somewhat hasty romance, which even if he hasn’t yet come to regret, appears likely to cause him some grief in the future – which is what opened up the possibility of a return to Netherfield Park for Jonathan and his family, with consequences for most if not all of them.
Most authors have their favourite characters – Miss Austen’s was Elizabeth Bennet and mine is Cassy Darcy. But Jonathan Bingley always hung around me, prompting me to do more – like a good actor in a minor role, pleading for more lines, or something more exciting to do. So even before The Women of Pemberley was finished, I had started drafting Netherfield Park Revisited, to give Jonathan his run and his very own niche in the Pemberley story.
Having decided that Amelia – Jane was going to be a problem – how then was Jonathan to be unshackled? The story developed its own momentum, almost from page one and as I do not wish to spoil it for future readers – I shall reveal no more of the plot except to say, it took a bit of careful working out. But, once the cast of characters is set, in an authentic environment, where the basic standards of behaviour (and misbehaviour) are well known and they are allowed to act only according to their own disposition, the stories evolve almost organically, without the need for manipulation or contrivance.
Just occasionally, one needs to give the characters a little push, with an unexpected arrival or an accident – to get them moving in a new direction, but that is really all. A good story with a few interesting characters tells itself; which is what happened with Jonathan Bingley and Netherfield Park Revisited. It has turned into one of my favourite episodes in the series.
RAC
September 28, 2008
Further reading
Pemberley Shades: The Legend of the Lost Sequel
Sourcebooks, Inc has just re-issued the classic Pride and Prejudice sequel Pemberley Shades, by D. A. Bonavia-Hunt. Originally published in 1949, this valued and quite rare book is the first Pride and Prejudice sequel to continue the story after the marriage of our favorite couple, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy concluded in Jane Austen’s famous novel. The long road to reprinting Pemberley Shades has been a winding journey that I enjoyed researching. There are many people to thank for making this cherished sequel available again who I have attempted to credit. I offer my thanks and congratulations to everyone who had a hand in it. Well done.
The Legend of the Lost Sequel
Imagine walking into a bookstore and finding a novel by an unknown author that continued the story of a book written close to 200 years ago. Would you be tempted to purchase it? Now, what if that novel was based on the characters of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy from Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice ? No problem you say, and readily present your cash and carry it home. In turn, imagine that it is 1949 and you are without the benefit of years of memories of Mr. Darcy plunging into the Pemberley pond or rising like a god through the mist of a field to haunt you. Up until this point, there is only one Jane Austen sequel written, and most likely you have not heard of it. Your effortless purchase in 2008 now becomes pure impulse based on the cultural clout of Jane Austen’s name. That was exactly what author Dorothy Bonavia-Hunt and publishers Allan Wingate in London and E.P. Dutton of New York were banking on, and after nearly sixty years after its first publication, Pemberley Shades is still commanding our attention and selling in bookstores thanks to some very devoted Janeites.
It is quite amazing to think that new ground was being forged here by Bonavia-Hunt nearly one hundred and thirty six years after Pride and Prejudice was first published. She was writing for genre that would not be realized by publishers and the public for another forty-five years with the publication of Pemberley: Pride and Prejudice Continued by Emma Tennant. Not much is known about her personal life beyond the basic vital statics documented by her birth and death, and a few census records in England. Born Dorothy Alice Bonavia-Hunt in London in 1880, she was the daughter of an Anglican clergyman and was raised in a literary and musical environment. Her father was Rev. Henry George Bonavia-Hunt, who founded the Trinity College of Music in 1872 in London, and her mother the authoress Madeline Bonavia-Hunt. She had three siblings and her younger brother Noel Aubrey followed in his father’s footsteps as an ordained minister and noted authority of secular organ music. Like Jane Austen, she remained a spinster and lived with family most of her life, writing Pemberley Shades while living with her brother Noel when he was Vicar of St. Leonard’s Stagsden, Bedfordshire.
St. Leonard’s church, Stagsden, Bedfordshire, England where Dorothy
Bonavia-Hunt’s brother Noel was vicar from 1937-1956
Pemberley Shades was first published in 1949 in England by Allan Wingate, London & E.P. Dutton, New York, each publisher creating their own cover art and text design. Interestingly the English version which depicts a bucolic country scene with Regency attired figures dominating the composition seems much more appealing today than the US edition which primarily focuses on the architectural prominence of the facade of a country manor house and secondarily on the small walking figures in the foreground. I find the focus of the two book covers amusing. The English publisher in postwar Britain appealing to the return to gentrified living in war torn England, and the US publisher stimulating desire in post war US to have gentrified living with a grand house! The book did have a second printing the same year by E.P. Dutton, so obviously, Americans were craving English culture and stories written about English classic novels. The popularity of the 1940 MGM movie Pride and Prejudice staring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier didn’t hurt its sales either!
Two covers of Pemberley Shades. Left Allan Wingate, London
and right E.P. Dutton, New York (1949)
And so it was finally in print, sold and then faded away. For the next forty-four years there were no sequels written to Jane Austen’s novels. The BBC started its production of adaptations of Austen novels for television in the early 1970’s and interest began to slowly build again in her work. In 1977 Folcroft Library Editions (Folcroft, PA) re-printed Pemberley Shades duplicating the E.P. Dutton US edition. These editions were a private printing available for libraries to purchase, and as the years passed and libraries deaccessioned their collections, copies made their way into private hands.
Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy & Jennifer Ehle as Elizabeth Bennet
in the mini-series Pride and Prejudice (1995)
Twenty years later an event would acknowledge Jane Austen’s genius in a way that no one could have anticipated. The 1995 mini-series of Pride and Prejudice aired in the UK causing an immediate Austen explosion, which turned nuclear when it crossed the pond and aired in the US in 1996. Austen was now the darling of Hollywood making her boffo box office with the release of the Oscar nominated adaptation by Emma Thompson’s of Sense and Sensibility and Nick Dear’s interpretation of Persuasion. Renewed interest in Jane Austen now prompted a slew of authors ready to take on her characters with prequels, sequels, retellings, continuations and imaginings compounded by the advent of the personal computer and the Internet. This new informational highway had given rise to an appreciation of Austen with new websites such as The Republic of Pemberley devoted to her works, the movies, – and a new spin-off – the burgeoning genre of Jane Austen fan fiction found at sites like The Derbyshire Writers Guild.
Enter Marsha Altman, author of the newly released Austen-esque novel The Darcys and the Bingleys, but at that time still a student at City College in New York. Enraptured by Joe Wright’s 2005 creative and earthy film interpretation of Pride and Prejudice, she begins writing fan fiction and publishing on-line.
When I really started getting into Pride and Prejudice fan fiction, I decided to try and get my hands on almost every sequel out there, which included a lot that were out-of-print. There were two things that were just totally unavailable: Any of the Rebecca Ann Collins books, which were only published in Australia, and some legendary ancient sequel called Pemberley Shades that everyone who had seemed to love. Some used copies were floating on Amazon for $300 or so, which I thought was ridiculous. The most I’ve ever overpaid for a sequel is probably $40.
Interestingly, the two authors that Ms. Altman had difficulty locating copies of their books, Dorothy Bonavia-Hunt and Rebecca Ann Collins are now available to everyone through the good folks at Sourcebooks. For the avid Jane Austen collector, there are first UK and American editions of Pemberley Shades available at Advance Book Exchange, but be prepared to pay dearly for them. After a failed attempt to locate a copy of Pemberley Shades through her own college library, Marsha did track down a copy.
There was one other copy in New York City, at the New York Public Library reading room, which ironically is not a very good place to read for hours on end. You have to get about three different cards to get a book called up, and then you can’t take it out of the room. Clearly the only solution was to stand at the copy machine and photocopy the whole thing. The book nearly fell apart in my hands. I read it and loved it, and I wanted to make it available to everyone else. The problem was, if it was written between 1923 and 1950 (which it was), the author had 27 years after publication to renew the copyright and extend it, otherwise it had fallen into public domain and anyone could print it. I had absolutely no biographical information on the author. She was a woman and I eventually learned she was from England. I called E.P. Dutton, now a division of a larger publishing house, and they searched their records and couldn’t find anything about the book.
Marsha then proceeded to investigate if the US copyright had been extended by the author or her heirs and came up empty deciding to self publish Pemberley Shades herself with her own publishing company Laughing Man Publications. In 2007, the first books were produced carefully recreating as closely as she could the original format and design of the E.P. Dutton 1949 edition with a newly designed cover from the artwork tinted from the line drawings from the title page of the book. Thirty years after the Folcroft private printing in 1977, Pemberley Shades was now available again quickly selling out its first run, and is now in its second printing.
In the end it was about circulation. I don’t think any literary work should disappear. The preservation of knowledge, however frivolous (and there are a lot more frivolous things than Jane Austen sequels), is a sacred part of the Jewish tradition in which I was raised. I’m very much looking forward to the upcoming age of information technology, which is already terrific on how much is available to us, either for free or for relatively small fees. It’s an incredible time to be alive.
And the final act of this saga is with Deb Werksmen, executive editor of Sourcebooks who chose to reprint Pemberley Shades and include it in their fall release of Austen-esque books, allowing for an even wider distribution. Quite an honor for a novel first published 59 years ago, lost to obscurity, resurrected by an Austen enthusiast and written by an Englishwoman who died never knowing that her novel would one day be respected and cherished.
Further reading
- Review of Pemberley Shades on Austenprose
- Read the first chapter of Pemberley Shades
- Purchase Pemberley Shades, by D.A. Bonavia-Hunt
- Purchase The Darcys and the Bingleys, by Marsha Altman
- Marsha Altman’s blog
- Austen-esque books at Sourcebooks
Mr. Darcy’s Diary: Interview with Author Maya Slater
Check out this interesting interview with Austen-esque author Maya Slater about her recently released first novel Mr. Darcy’s Diary.
If you think that the title seems familiar, you are quite right. It is one-in-the-same as author Amanda Grange’s recent release. The difference between the two being that Slater’s version has not yet been published internationally, but is available from Powell Books online and Amazon.uk. My copy arrived about a week ago, and I am about half way through it. I can say, before I give my official review, that Maya Slater has explored the ‘Regency’ man’s perspective, cavorting and all, and my hair is quite a bit curlier because of Mr. Darcy’s escapades.
Mr. Darcy’s Diary, by Maya Slater
Phoenix, Orion Books, Ltd., London, (2007)
Trade paperback (248) pages
ISBN: 978-0753822661
Austenesque author Rebecca Ann Collins: Decidedly Discusses Jane Austen Sequels
“Upon my word,” said her ladyship, “you give your opinion very decidedly for so young a person. Pray, what is your age?”
“With three younger sisters grown up,” replied Elizabeth smiling, “your ladyship can hardly expect me to own it.”
Lady Catherine seemed quite astonished at not receiving a direct answer; and Elizabeth suspected herself to be the first creature who had ever dared to trifle with so much dignified impertinence. Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 29
Win a copy of The Pemberley Chronicles!
Recently, Austenprose was sent a review copy of The Pemberley Chronicles written by Rebecca Ann Collins, a sequel based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Being unfamiliar with the series, we were astounded to learn that this is the first novel in a series of ten that were previously published in Australia between 1997- 2005. We were curious about the author, who we learned writes under a nom de plum. She kindly sent us her story that she had previously contributed to, Jane Austen: Antipodean Views, edited by Susannah Fullerton and Anne Harbers, for The Jane Austen Society of Australia, Sydney 2001.
Let it never be said that author Rebecca Ann Collins does not express her opinions decidedly, turning her displeasure of other Pride and Prejudice sequels into writing ten novels to suit her notion of what Miss Austen’s Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet’s future life was like together. Like Jane Austen’s character Lady Catherine de Bourgh, we were both intrigued and astonished by her decided opinions on the Jane Austen sequel industry. One of the benefits of writing anonymously is that you can say what you will, and she does! We offer a few responses, because, we must always have our share of the conversation.
“How I came to write The Pemberley Chronicles makes an interesting tale. The BBC’s magnificent TV production of Pride and Prejudice had just concluded in 1996 when I was given a video copy to which I soon became addicted. Having read the book many times, I enjoyed seeing Miss Austen’s witty masterpiece brought stunningly alive, perfect in every detail. (None of the productions before or since has had the same energy and polish.)
We heartily concur with Ms. Collins there! The recent ITV and BBC adaptations were ‘nice’, but did not match the “light, bright and sparkling” darling of Austen adaptations, the 1995 BBC/A&E Pride and Prejudice.
“That Christmas, a well meaning niece presented me with two books- sequels to Pride and Prejudice by Emma Tennant titled, “Pemberley” and “An Unequal Marriage“. To my huge disappointment, I found that in these “sequels” Jane Austen’s beloved Elizabeth and her Mr. Darcy had been transformed into players in an American style soap opera – set in Regency England! Shallow, self-indulgent and often downright silly, they were quite unrecognisable. Their superficiality, lack of judgement and total disconnection from Miss Austen’s original characters so appalled me that I sent off an irate letter to the publisher and the Jane Austen Society of the UK.”
Having not read Ms. Tennant’s novels, we can not comment on the truth of their silliness, but we are aware of several other Pride and Prejudice sequels that would certainly qualify as being written in the style of an American soap opera, and even, dare we say, soft-porn! Others readers do too, and we were reminded of this amusing and tongue-in-cheek review on AustenBlog.
“But the more I fulminated, the more frustrated I became. It was in this context and with the encouragement of a literary friend whose judgement I respected, that I began work on The Pemberley Chronicles, which I saw as a means of extending the lives of Jane Austen’s own characters into the wider environment of nineteenth century England.”
Hell wath no fury like a woman scorned, or a Janeite who has had her Austen characters trifled with!
“I wanted to place them in the context of that most dynamic and interesting period of English history and observe them as they dealt with events in their own lives and the consequences of profound social, political and economic change. A sort of “Life after Meryton” exercise- if you will.”
Ms. Collins historical research is quite extensive. Even though Miss Austen concentrated on the microclimate of her characters country lives, and rarely mentioned their outside world, Ms. Collins’ novels delve beyond the Austen realm of working “on three or four families in a country village” and place the characters in full historical context. She has created a much wider environment evolving into the historical romance genre, similar to Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series or Georgette Heyer’s Regency Buck.
“I could not accept that after Waterloo, with change all around them transforming the lives of all the people in England, educated and intelligent men and women as Darcy and Elizabeth are shown to be in the original novel, would spend all their waking moments absorbed by the most superficial matters of fashion, romantic intrigue and gossip – before falling into bed again! Yet, that is exactly how they are portrayed in a rash of so- called “sequels, which have come thick and fast since the BBC made Pride and Prejudice and to a lesser degree Jane Austen – a cult! In some parts of the world sequel writing appears to have reached epidemic proportions – with no accounting for quality.”
When one looks at sequel authors and publishers, her mention of “some parts of the world” appears to be the USA. Being Americans, we’re not sure we appreciate the spirit of that remark. The cult of Austen sequels has certainly become a cottage industry, but Americans by no means have a monopoly on accountability of quantity and quality. We are a nation founded upon free speech and capitalism. We agree that sequel quality varies, but the appeal to readers is as diverse as Miss Austen’s characters in her novels.
“More recently, there have been attempts at bizarre distortions of character and increasingly improbable sexual adventures – to “spice-up” the reserve and dignity of Miss Austen’s characters – all of which serves to reveal an ignorance of the complex values and morés that underpin the world view of Jane Austen.”
We take the Jane Bennet approach to the whole business, and try to make them “all good”, until proven otherwise. We love the language and style of Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma, but the sales of author Linda Berdoll’s ‘Darcy‘ series would support that the majority of readers like silly and sexy in their sequels. The difference, in our minds, between a good sequel and a bad sequel is honesty, respect and loyalty to Miss Austen.
“Hers was not the world of Tom Jones or Vanity Fair; rather, her main characters in whom she invested a great deal of integrity and commitment, reflect the best of eighteenth century Augustan values. They were no less passionate or emotional for being imbued with a sense of dignity and decorum. Like Jane Austen, they valued reason, wit, and sound judgement in both public and private life. Those that did not – like Lydia and George Wickham, or Maria Bertram and Henry Crawford ( Mansfield Park ) were shown up for what they were. Jane Austen is quite pitiless in exposing them to censure and ridicule.”
This is beginning to sound like a Fordyce sermon. We appreciate Ms. Collins’ passion, but she is preaching to the choir here. We abhor sexing up Austen under the pretext of modernization. Austen did indeed apply morality lessons through her un-proprietous characters, but some authors and screenwriters have not heeded her example! We have not read all ten novels in The Pemberley Chronicles series, but we can safely say that there is little “spice” or “adventure” to throw off Austen purists in the first one. Thank you Mr. Collins, – oh we meant Ms. Collins!
Nor was I comfortable with the kind of linguistic “pastiche” – using Jane Austen’s phrases and other contrived “regency-style” constructions that seem to be de-rigeur among many sequel writers. I make no attempt to imitate Jane Austen’s literary style; that would indeed have been presumption of a high order.
Austen is all about language and style, so we are at a bit of a loss here. If a sequel writer does not wish to emulate Miss Austen’s “Regency-style” or language, does just borrowing her characters names qualify a novel a Jane Austen sequel?
“I do not pretend to be another Jane Austen – I merely affect a recognisably ‘period style’ of writing to suit the context of the stories I tell – which range over a fifty year period of the 19th century. So, as you see, The Pemberley Chronicles was a sequel which resulted from a reaction against another, earlier sequel. Almost one might say an Austenian irony of circumstance – but to judge by the response of my readers – a very happy one.
The Pemberley Chronicles begins with the marriage of the Darcy’s and Bingley’s, and progress into the next generation and beyond for 50 years. Ironically, it may have been inspired by the author’s dissatisfaction of another authors sequel of Pride and Prejudice, but her vision of how the Darcy’s lives continue has evolved into an entirely different genre, and may not be a sequel at all.
CONTEST: Win a copy of The Pemberley Chronicles, Volume I. Leave a comment before 11:59 pm on April 30th, stating your opinions pro or con on the recent “epidemic proportions” of Austen sequels, and your name will be entered in a drawing to be announced on May 1st. The winner will receive a new copy of the book by mail.
Craving More of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility? Read On!
“I shall divide every moment between music and reading. I have formed my plan, and am determined to enter on a course of serious study. Our own library is too well known to me, to be resorted to for anything beyond mere amusement. But there are many works well worth reading, at the Park; and there are others of more modern production which I know I can borrow of Colonel Brandon. By reading only six hours aday, I shall gain in the course of a twelvemonth a great deal of instruction which I now feel myself to want.” Marianne Dashwood, Sense and Sensibility, Chapter 46
Continue reading “Craving More of Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility? Read On!”
Austenesque Author Diana Birchall: Brouhaha in the Haha!
LAUGH
“Oh! shocking!” cried Miss Bingley. “I never heard anything so abominable. How shall we punish him for such a speech?”
“Nothing so easy, if you have but the inclination,” said Elizabeth. “We can all plague and punish one another. Tease him — laugh at him. Intimate as you are, you must know how it is to be done.”Caroline Bingley & Elizabeth Bennet, Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 11
My introduction to author Diana Birchall came in a very humorous round-about-way. Last fall, as I wandered onto a book review of a new Austenesque sequel that she had reviewed on AustenBlog, I was doubled over with laughter and filled with awe.
In my professional capacity as a bookseller, I read book reviews by the boat-load, always searching for a new author or title to recommend or enjoy myself. Many of the reviews are skillfully written by professionals who use trite phrasing and power words. (blaugh) Few rarely tell the truth. This was not the case with Diana’s review. She had entirely broken the mold, caught my attention, and earned my deep respect.
It’s always a good sign when the reviewer has me laughing within the first paragraph, and even more astounding when it continues throughout the entire book review – to the point of hysteria! Something very honest and profound resonated with me in her confident off-the-cuff remarks laced with irony and wit. What aplomb! What talent!
I was delighted to learn that her book Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma, which had been previously published in England, had been picked up by SourceBooks and would hit the bookstores in April 2008. It could not have happened to a more talented or virtuous Janeite. Better yet, she might receive the recognition that she deserved, and other readers would have the opportunity to share in the delights of one of the finest writers in the Austenesque genre.
Diana has kindly agreed to contribute a bit of writing to bring us up-to-date on her latest news about her book, and her amazingly diverse life.
Wednesday 12 March, 2008
RE: Brouhaha in the Haha
Dear Laurel Ann:
Can any other author of Jane Austen-related fiction be having a stranger week than I am? First, this week my Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma has sailed into all the Barnes and Noble bookshops across the country, flags flying and sails fluttering. My son and I rushed to the one in our neighborhood last night, and he took a picture of me plopped down on the floor among the books, grinning ear to ear, and pointing wildly and inaccurately at a book by Maeve Binchy. Very exciting! And the overwhelmingly warm reception the book has already been given by a dazzling cyberuniverse of book reviewers has made me, as an author, feel like Fanny Price when Edmund assured her of his love: “Let no one presume to give the feelings of a young woman on receiving the assurance of that affection of which she has scarcely allowed herself to entertain a hope.” Happiness indeed! Why, at this very moment, a cat temporarily named Mr. Darcy is pondering, on the Dove Grey Reader site, who is to win five free copies with a touch of his paws!
So, wild and wonderful happenings enough for one week, you’d think. But no. I’ve just been told that I am to fly to New York on Wednesday to appear as a deponent in the Harry Potter Lexicon trial! The connection between Jane Austen and Harry Potter may appear to be tenuous; though in fact there is more than one link: J.K. Rowling is known to be an Austen fan (or why else would she name a cat character Mrs. Norris?), and of course both are well beloved in our time. Jane Austen, however, is dead, more’s the pity; and safely in the public domain, so that people like me and many of you can frolicsomely write about her characters, and she can neither complain nor institute intellectual property lawsuits.
That is not the case with Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling has filed a lawsuit against the author and would-be publisher of a Harry Potter Lexicon, an encyclopedia dealing with her books, and the case is to be heard beginning on March 24. So that is how it happens that J.K. Rowling and your far humbler author and blogger, namely me, will take the stand! You may well wonder how this came about. For I have lived in Austen’s created worlds for several decades now, reading her novels so many times as would always be called thousands. I actually wrote Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma as long ago as 1994; it was originally published in England, and I am thrilled that SourceBooks is giving it international publication in this very exciting week.
But my “day job” is at Warner Bros Studios, where I work as a Story Analyst. This means that I read novels, manuscripts, sometimes quite old books (I’ve read all of Jane Austen for work at one time or another) to see if they’d make movies. I love my work, but it’s usually fairly quiet in nature. In fact, the years of my career have passed quite uneventfully, with nothing much happening except that I’ve read and recommended books and scripts that became movies ranging from Rocky and Terminator to Moonstruck and Becoming Jane. Inevitably, I’ve read quite a lot. And written a bit too: a scholarly biography of my grandmother, the first Asian American novelist Onoto Watanna, as well as my Jane Austen-inspired fiction: Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma and several Mrs. Elton stories, published as In Defense of Mrs. Elton and Mrs. Elton in America. Late last year, however, it fell to me with my Story Analyst hat on, to do the literary/legal assignment of comparing the Harry Potter Lexicon with the Harry Potter novels of J.K. Rowling. Compare them I did. And that, in short, is how it happens that I am being Disapparated to New York next week.
It should be an extremely interesting experience; the case (which I will not describe explicitly for obvious legal reasons) is a fascinating investigation into intellectual property matters, and it is certainly shaping up as the biggest media circus I’ve ever been, or am ever likely to be, involved with in my life. I labor, after all, in far more modest literary pastures than Ms. Rowling – mine is “the modestest part of the business,” as Mary Crawford said. But I am not such a modest creature as not to be thinking how this remarkable media storm might be made, like the forked lightning that raked Harry’s brow, or the thought of love that fled with the speed of an arrow into Emma’s heart – into benefiting publicity efforts for my book!
Perhaps I ought to draw the curtain here; an author’s flailing energetic promotional efforts are not a pretty sight, and ought to take place behind the scenes. Yet several helpful friends have already come up with suggestions. I take the stand wearing a “Buy Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma” T-shirt. I hand Ms. Rowling a copy of the book. I give interviews and invoke the name of Mrs. Darcy twice for every once I say Harry Potter. No: I must regretfully conclude that the two events, my publication and this trial, had better not be mixed. They are an unequal match.
Yet it is undoubtedly an exciting time. My spirits, like Elizabeth’s, are sometimes in a “high flutter”; but then the next moment I feel like another heroine: “Never had Fanny more wanted a cordial.”
Perhaps I should stick to the subject at hand here and tell you about Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma. One thing I can promise you: it is not as dull as Fordyce’s Sermons which had Lydia gaping. No, it is a work, I hope, light, bright and sparkling; though as it opens twenty-five years after the close of Pride and Prejudice, Mr. and Mrs. Darcy’s eyes are a little dimmed by time. Their love for each other is as strong as ever, and they are happy in their mature lives. Until, that is, a certain possibly unwise invitation is issued and Lydia’s two daughters descend upon Pemberley, with consequences to the neighborhood, to the Darcys’ sons, and to the London theatre. The book takes place in changing times, when the young Queen Victoria is coming to the throne, and she is the exact age of Elizabeth’s daughter, who…
But I must not tell the whole story! Don’t you want to own a book that by this time next week, J.K. Rowling herself may be reading?
Diana Birchall
Thank you Diana and good luck with your Potter exploits. We hope to have a review of your book, Mrs. Darcy’s Dilemma up shortly, but “I would not wish to excite your anticipation” by thinking that it will contain a fraction of humor or insight of your own genteel, but no-holds-barred book reviews! La!
2007 JARWA Nominee: The Jane Austen Handbook
CONGRATULATIONS to AustenBlog’s Editrix Margaret C. Sullivan, author of
The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensibile yet Elegant Guide to Her World
for the nomination of her book in the category of best new Regency ‘Know-How’ book of 2007, by The Jane Austen’s Regency World Awards. Good luck Mags.
VOTE for your favorite nominees online by May 10th, 2008. Purchase your very own copy of The Jane Austen Handbook here
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