Cynthia Ingram Hensley: Today's Women and Mr. Darcy

Welcome Cynthia Ingram Hensley (Another of the 27 Authors Participating in the Upcoming Decatur Book Festival) to Darcyholic Diversions...

19 Days to Go till Decatur Book Festival!)

Hi, Darcyholics!  Today, we have Cynthia Ingram Hensley with us.  I was so excited when she registered for the upcoming Decatur Book Festival as it has given me an opportunity to begin to get to know her.  And in 19 days I will get a chance to know her even better.  But today, she is visiting with us here. 

The information on Decatur Book Festival was updated last Wednesday evening this week, so visit the link again and find out all the details as well as where YOU can stay as we are so excited to have 27--yes TWENTY-SEVEN Austen Inspired Authors participating with us!  Here is the link! It included information about a large hotel room block you can take advantage of if you would like to be with us!

 The DBF Event Link.  

I am also announcing initial plans for a Darcyholic Holiday eBook Festival.  More Information to come, but send me an email at barbaratillercole@gmail.com if you are an author and would like to participate!!

Upcoming Guest Posts Are As Follows:

August 15--Colette Saucier

August 17--Regina Jeffers

August 19--KaraLynne Mackrory

August 21--Sally Smith O'Rourke

August 24--Pamela Aidan

August 26--Reposting Decatur Book Festival Author Links!

August 28--Jack Caldwell

August 31--Decatur Book Festival Eve!

September 2--Live from the Decatur Book Festival

September 4--Fun Stories from the DBF

September 7--Jack Caldwell's Experiences at the DBF

September 11--Karen Cox's Experiences at the DBF

September 14--Mary Simonsen
September 18--Amber G.

September 21--Moira B.

November 2--Amy Patterson

November 13--Karen Doornebos

And Many more to come!

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Cynthia is giving away a copy of her book, Echoes of Pemberley.   Your comment will enter you into a drawing to win a signed soft cover copy for both US and International (be sure to include a way to get in touch with you in your comment).  Comments count as entries, but additional chances will be given for joining this site, tweeting this post, joining this site as a member via Google Friend Connect (GFC) (See the left hand column on the blog to join!), sharing this on Facebook or your blog, Friend Barbara Tiller Cole on Facebook, clicking 'like’ on Barbara Tiller Cole, Author's Facebook page, Join Darcyholic Diversions Facebook Page or following BarbTCole on Twitter.

Today's Women and Mr. Darcy

                        Hi everyone! I am thrilled to be here on Darcyholic Diversions to share my own thoughts on Mr. Darcy. Like most readers of Jane Austen’s novels, Pride and Prejudice is my favorite. I adore each character and how their individual personalities add importance to the story. Think of it, if just one person were to suddenly vanish, so much of the plot would unravel and be lost. Now that is excellence in writing! Since Pride and Prejudice was published, no character has been more talked about than the novel’s iconic hero, Fitzwilliam Darcy. For almost two centuries the brooding, proud, handsome, rich, Mr. Darcy has been making women swoon—myself included.

            After reading and rereading Pride and Prejudice and then watching the various available screen adaptations—BBC’s mini-series, starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, being my personal favorite—I began seeking fan fiction. My first Pride and Prejudice sequel was Linda Berdoll’s Mr. Darcy takes a Wife—which I loved—and from there I was hooked. I won’t say I’ve read them all, but I’ve read most. I’ve loved some, liked others, and screamed at a few. For the most part, I have been amazed at how we women can all fantasize about the same man, yet see him so differently. Some authors believe he was really a kind, gentle soul who was simply misunderstood. Others prefer the dark, reserved aristocrat who deemed dancing at the Meryton Assembly a punishment. For myself, I tend to believe he can be found somewhere in-between.

            Ultimately, I believe modern women admire Mr. Darcy not because he is rich (Sorry, Sir Walter, it wasn’t Pemberley that made Elizabeth fall in love with Darcy) nor because he’s handsome (though it certainly doesn’t hurt that he is) but because he’s a true gentleman. Mr. Darcy is what all women dream of: a man who can be depended on by his family and friends, a man of strong character, values, and principles. He’s the kind of man a woman can respect. These are all the qualities which Elizabeth eventually came to regard so highly in our/her Mr. Darcy—not his money or his estate. Is today’s woman so different from Elizabeth in her needs? I should think not. So the question is. How did Jane Austen do the unthinkable? How does a 19^th century author pen the perfect leading man so that two centuries later women are still buying her novel…all of her novels.  

            The answer is simple. Women haven’t really changed all that much. In many ways we are still and will always be Elizabeth Bennet. Don’t we all have a couple of unfortunate relatives? Haven’t most of us dated (or possibly married) Wickham before we realized he was wrong, wrong, WRONG? And finally, haven’t most of us girls been caught red-handed checking out a prospective husband’s country estate in Derbyshire. Okay, that last one was just for fun, but you get the point. It goes without saying that women today have more opportunities, equal rights, education and career freedoms than Elizabeth Bennet could even dream of. But do these freedoms lessen our feminine desires? Certainly not! Quite the opposite if bestselling novels such as Outlander and Fifty Shades of Grey are any indicator. Today’s woman still wants, needs a man’s man (cliché but no less true). We want a challenge not an easy victory. Independent, free-thinking Elizabeth Bennet rejected bootlicking Mr. Collins and chose the insufferable Mr. Darcy—despite his many faults. Is it so inconceivable that today’s independent, free-thinking women are still choosing Mr. Darcy?

            Musing Mr. Darcy’s staying power through the ages was in part what inspired me to begin writing. Although I am fascinated by the Regency era and can usually be found with my head ear deep in a Pride and Prejudice sequel of that period, I couldn’t help but wonder of Pemberley and the Darcys in more modern times. It cheered me to think—like my own ancestors and yours—that what Darcy and Elizabeth began so long ago might have continued through generations of children and grandchildren. Maybe there would be a television cater-cornered in one of Pemberley’s family rooms or a telephone hanging on the wall in the kitchen. Possibly, a contemporary Mr. Darcy might dash around Derbyshire in a sports car. Enthralled, I sat down and wrote my first novel, Echoes of Pemberley.

            The challenge for me was to create characters that would symbolize the original cast of Pride and Prejudice, but possess a tad of my own personality in the mix. It was important for my Darcys to have a few distinctive traits that a Darcy–Bennet union might have spawned. For example, my Mr. Darcy (Bennet Darcy) is as taciturn as his Regency grandfather but has a fun dash of Mr. Bennet’s quirky sense of humor. My fresh faced, twentieth-century Georgiana (Catie Darcy) can be a tad snarky but retains all of Georgiana’s innocence. And lastly, for my Elizabeth, I went far out on a limb and introduced a fiery Irishman named Sean Kelly to the story. Since Jane Austen already did such a brilliant job telling how Darcy and Elizabeth fell in love, I decided to take a road less traveled and give the younger Darcy (little sister) a turn at romance. At nineteen, Sean Kelly is every bit as clever and strong-minded as Elizabeth Bennet was. The son of an Irish horse farmer, Sean comes from a large family of five rowdy boys (sound familiar) and would most definitely be more at home in a pub than a drawing room. When Sean Kelly comes to Pemberley to work for the summer, the last thing on his mind is falling in love with a spoiled lass from the shires. Fate, however, most definitely has a sense of humor. Didn’t Elizabeth declare she would never dance with Mr. Darcy? As Elizabeth did so many years ago, Sean soon discovers that first impressions aren’t always what they seem—especially with a Darcy.

             To Jane Austen, 200 years ago you reached into your soul and gave us Mr. Darcy, an enduring, ageless icon. Today’s woman sincerely thanks you. For what would have become of romance novels without Pride and Prejudice…

Echoes of Pemberley on Amazon