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Sunday, July 28, 2024

The Great Question of Jane Austen's Time

The Great Question of Jane Austen’s Time

~~It is my pleasure to welcome Don Jacobson to Darcyholic Diversions!  I have long admired his unique and very well researched books.  His latest book, In Westminster's Halls, was an emotional ride through tense political and social disruptions, as well as being a completely distinctive and out of the ordinary Jane Austen variation.  I can say that I came away having learned a great deal about the slave trade times in England.  But I was highly entertained at the same time.  I hope you enjoy this special post that Don has written for us today, and, that you will give Don's newest book a read soon!~~Barbara Tiller Cole  

In Westminster’s Halls

Blog Stop for Darcyholic Diversions (July 26, 2024)

            The Napoleonic wars are a subtle undercurrent in many of Austen’s works. Wentworth makes his fortune from prize money. Colonel Fitzwilliam has served on the Continent. William Price is a midshipman. There is a shortage of men at the Meryton Assembly. The militia is formed and stationed in Meryton (because the regular regiments are fully occupied fighting on the Peninsula).

The military permeates British life during the last decade of the eighteenth century and the first of the nineteenth. And so, too, justifiably, do questions of the army and navy color the pages of many variations.

That noted my first question as I approached the writing of my most recent novel—well before it became In Westminster’s Halls—was what else mobilized the British middle and upper classes in the face of an existential threat to British sovereignty? In Enlightenment Britain, that issue was slavery. This tickled my historian’s fancy. Austen never directly addressed the question of slavery. Yet, I wondered. The introduction to my copy of Mansfield Park was instructive.

“The most famous gap in Mansfield Park, however, is the “dead silence” that follows Fanny’s questions (p. 171) about the slave trade. Critics debate whether that silence would be filled by a condemnation or a defense of slavery. Still, surely the significance of the silence is that it could never be filled in a novel like this—and thus it registers all that the novel cannot accommodate.”[i] 

In recent years, Austenesque authors have shifted their attention to how Jane Austen looked at the leading issues of her time. Of these, of course, was war and peace. The overarching existential threat posed by the French Emperor intruded into the lives of Britons from the very highest reaches of Mayfair to riverfront warrens like Seven Dials. The war was unquestionably the backdrop against which British life played out. The economy, taxes, food, and work were only a few of the modalities that the war influenced.

However, suppose writers focused only on how the war intruded into Fitzwilliam Darcy’s and Elizabeth Bennet’s lives. In that case, we would lose sight of the vibrant questions considered significant by the middle and upper reaches of social thought.

Proponents of abolishment in the late Eighteenth Century had to contend with the war. Slave traders and owners persuasively argued that abolition would decimate the British sugar economy when its duties were most needed. These forces also pointed to the fact that Revolutionary France, despite its protestations of equality, had yet to end either the trade in human bodies or slavery itself. They conveniently ignored the fact that the United States Constitution included a clause that ended the American slave trade in 1807.

Thomas Clarkson was an establishment voice—a rector’s son and a deacon himself—who articulated the case against the ownership of other persons in his award-winning 1785 Cambridge Latin essay. His thoughts stirred sentiment against slavery. However, the politics of the time could not accept total abolition; the economic consequences were too frightening for those who had based their fortunes on Caribbean sugar.

A different tack was required. Clarkson and his allies, Wilberforce and Grenville, split the question, attacking the trade and intending to move on to overall abolition. Akin to the quote from Professor Claybaugh above, my novel cannot discuss the strategy from the defeat of the first attempt in 1793 to the victory in 1807.

However, the professor notes that Austen’s silence on slavery is vital: not because she either approved or disapproved but rather that, being an intentional writer, the Lady chose to say nothing when she had every opportunity to say something. Her readers would have noticed that. They also understood that Sir Thomas Bertram’s fortune in sugar rose from his Caribbean slave plantations, and, thus, even in its silence, Mansfield Park speaks about slavery.

Once I had arrived at the answer to my question, I then posited how Jane Austen might have inserted the Bennets, Darcys, Fitzwilliams, and other friends into the great debate. First, I had to turn Thomas Bennet from the book-loving recluse into a man engaged in the Great Cause.

And, thus, the Prologue to In Westminster’s Halls took shape.

&&&&

This excerpt is ©2024 by Donald P. Jacobson. Reproduction is prohibited. Published in the United States of America.

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Prologue

Anne liceat invitos in servitutem dare?

(Is it lawful to make slaves of others against their will?)

Cambridge Latin essay topic, 1785

 

As it is usual to read these essays publicly in the senate-house soon after the prize is adjudged, I was called to Cambridge for this purpose. On returning however to London, the subject of it almost wholly engrossed my thoughts. I became at times very seriously affected while upon the road. I stopped my horse occasionally and dismounted and walked. I frequently tried to persuade myself in these intervals that the contents of my Essay could not be true. The more however I reflected upon them, the more I gave them credit. Coming in sight of Wades Mill in Hertfordshire, I sat down disconsolate on the turf by the roadside and held my horse. Here a thought came into my mind, that if the contents of the Essay were true, it was time some person should see these calamities to their end. This was in the summer of 1785.[ii]                 

Thomas Clarkson

***

The Road to London near Wades Mill, Hertfordshire

 

      Tom Bennet removed his hat and turned his face to the sky. The summer sun warmed him and silenced the small voices that had beset him since yesterday in Cambridge.

Bennet rode toward Meryton this morning after spending a sennight at his alma mater. The call of the great university’s towers rang loud in the years after his time reading the classics. Longbourn held little attraction for Bennet, although, as his father’s heir, he understood the need to be an attentive understudy. Yet, his heart always leaned toward the bookshelves lining the study. Father and son had agreed that the racks were Tom’s province while Sam Bennet managed the estate’s affairs from the oak worktable in front of the window overlooking the gray and white river-pebbled front drive. A burgundy leather chair and low footstool by the hearth allowed the son to disappear into Plutarch or Seneca while being near at hand in case the father had a question about a tenant or an expense.

A few days short of a fortnight had elapsed since his Ancients master had written Tom about the upcoming reading of the year’s winning essays, a new tradition now set at the end of Easter Term. He had urged Bennet’s attendance with an unusual appeal:

 

‘I have written young Bertram, but I doubt he will attend his old tutor. He may not be in the country if his father has sent him off to the family plantations in the Carib. The loathsome practice that fills the Bertram coffers—and not distance—may be why he would avoid the symposium. I may underestimate your friend by tarring him with the same brush as his father, but I may not.

‘That is why I take up my sword and beseech you to return to the crèche from which you sprang with such promise. I regret I could not reveal Aristophanes's allure more convincingly and entice you to abandon your familial responsibilities. That is an old story, and I cannot belabor you with my disappointment: of such, many a life is made. You, my pupil, are not built for regrets.

‘Other riches may entice you to abandon grain husbandry and root vegetables briefly…

‘Our former master at Magdalene, Rev. Peckard, who is—as it turns out—a hidebound radical, was floated to the heavens last year as the university’s vice-chancellor. Safe in the sinecure, the old Oxonian abandoned his conformist stance and rattled our masters with the Latin Essay competition based on the abolishment question “Anne Liceat Invitos in Servitutem Dare?”[iii]

‘Whilst matriculating, you may have encountered Thomas Clarkson, the son of a Cambridgeshire cleric. He was a year behind you and, admittedly, not of our august Magdalene community. If you attend for no other reason—although I would be flattered that you would bless me with the opportunity to share a bowl of tobacco and a dram of Warre’s—you must for his lecture. With all the students having fled to England’s four corners, your old rooms await.’[iv]

 

And, so, Bennet begged his father for a fortnight’s freedom. That worthy smiled in recollection of the busyness owned by a man with but twenty-five summers. There would be time enough to narrow his son’s horizons from the greater world to a small market town, limiting, although only twenty-four miles from the center of the world.

Now, questions that elbowed their way into Tom Bennet’s ken, whether he wished it or not, paved the road to Hertfordshire. Longbourn’s acres had remained unchanged for the past century since the India House trader Christopher Bennet had brought it under his control. Tradition dictated much of what the Bennets and their tenants undertook on the land nestled in the bend of the Mimram. The world rarely imposed upon Meryton.

Tom was pleased that colonial slavery had never taken root on the old island. Influenced by Edmund Burke like his father, young Bennet fully embraced country-whiggish tendencies to despise those who made their bread from the broken backs of slave labor or through commerce in weeping souls. Aristocrats who tried to keep their hands clean by dealing through men of business while adding thousands from the sugar trade into their accounts likewise earned his scorn. His contempt for those so evil as to suggest the Bible sanctioned their acts made Bennet particularly receptive to the singular essay he had heard scarcely two days ago.[v]

Clarkson, a St John’s graduate—Bennet did not eschew the other colleges—offered a thesis setting on its head every pro-slavery argument. Clarkson tore off the fig leaf and rent the veils to render impotent every claim made to give cover to any—owner, procurer, or trader—seeking to distance themselves from the pernicious vileness. Clarkson’s case resonated so profoundly that Bennet barely recalled leaving Cambridge in the dawn’s morning pink. He hardly noticed the road home to Longbourn. What he had heard set loose the dogs of doubt, mainly what he could accomplish as a gentleman of a modest estate. Over the miles, his study had become darker and more unsettling. The world about him faded the deeper his contemplations. His inattention had let Cato’s pace slow to a bare walk.

Bennet rode alongside the Mimram below Ware. The sound of Wades Mill’s great wheel was the backtone surrounding him. As he turned his face to the road ahead, a surprising tableau appeared: another man, a traveler Bennet supposed, sat on the verge, head supported by both hands. A hat obscured his face, but his clothing was gentle, if not first circle, quality. His horse cropped the tufty grass a few feet away. The subject of Bennet’s attention never moved, even when Cato approached and halted nearby in response to Bennet’s gentle tug. However, as he dismounted, the vagabond let loose a gust of a sigh, giving evidence of life.

The man lifted his head, surprising Bennet to the extent that he would never forget their first encounter. The man who had left him so troubled sat on the ground before him: Thomas Clarkson.

“Ah, friend,” Clarkson began, “Are you an angel or a demon? Although I own you look like neither. However, I will be optimistic and pray that one of Gabriel’s minions has come to me as he did Moses in the desert. I fear I am in no state to wrestle. I have been doing more than enough of that as I try to return to town. The weight of my thoughts has become so great that I worry my poor bay could not carry me further.”

Bennet’s laugh as Clarkson’s dark humor shivered the afternoon air. “I must agree that you are the thinker of deep thoughts, but you cannot regret those ideas. You, sir, for I heard your talk, are on the edge of a great leap that will define our generation and those yet unborn. Would that I knew where you would lead, for I would account myself to be a follower.”

“Then you would be my first,” Clarkson ruefully said, “but maybe that is to both our fortunes. I may lead you to spend your life in a mad pursuit of the unattainable. One person—you—I could quickly turn away from my path. It will be exceedingly more difficult to dissuade a multitude. Perhaps I should seek my folly—as that is how our betters see it—in solitude.

“You see, sir, while I wrote the words, it was not until I read them aloud to men like you that they impressed upon me their integrity and, thus, their import.

“Now, when I close my eyes, I see the outlines of a great Cause…”

Bennet stepped in. “A great Cause: that has been roiling my spirit for a dozen miles. Ending the Egyptian Exile of millions and saving our collective souls seems a task that even Heracles would find beyond his demigod powers. What can I, the eldest son of country gentry, do? We have little reason to traffic with those who would hold others in bondage.”

Clarkson struck like an adder. “Do you put sugar in your tea?”

Bennet looked at his feet, ashamed. A gentle hand on his arm caused him to look up into a pair of warm brown eyes. “Do not be chagrined, dear sir. I was unkind to abuse one espousing my crusade.

“I, too, have a sweet tooth, much to my mother’s cook’s delight. My weakness is her lemon bars. I regret that I will have to forgo that treat until no man must brave the lash to sweeten my afternoon.” 

He stuck out his hand. “Allow me to introduce myself to a fellow Cambridge man. Clarkson. Thomas Clarkson of Cambridgeshire, London, and, I imagine, anywhere that will have me.”

Bennet’s chuckle rumbled deep in his chest. “Bennet. Thomas Bennet of Longbourn near Meryton, but a few miles ahead down the river road leading to Hertford. You must call me Bennet, and if you allow the familiarity, I will call you Clarkson.

“You just said ‘anywhere that will have me.’ I can promise you that such a harbor rests below a knob atop which ancient fortifications brood. We call it a ‘mount,’ but it is just an orphaned shoulder of the Chiltern Uplift, split from the main ridge by this stream—the Mimram—digging its way to the Lea. Longbourn is but ten miles away. You, Clarkson, will find a berth there today and whenever you wish. I will not be gainsaid!

“Let us remount, for I cannot allow you to lay by the roadside when my parents’ parlor awaits—oh, and my father’s port. Can we agree that while the Portuguese have a checkered record in Brazil, Douro’s grapes are grown by free labor? That will be my father’s position, and I doubt if our youthful ardor will shift his taste to gin.”

Clarkson tipped his head back in hearty laughter. “Bennet, I swear I will allow the elder Bennet his fortified wine if he takes his tea with good, free English honey.”

They mounted and rode on little thinking that from such serendipitous encounters are lifelong friendships made.

#####

Book Release Data

Global Release on all Amazon Platforms (e-book, KindleUnlimited, Paperback): July 22, 2024

Audible Release (Performed by Benjamin Fife): August


[i] Amanda Claybaugh, Introduction to the Barnes & Noble edition of Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. (New York, 2004). P xxxii.

[ii] Clarkson, Thomas (1808) The History of the Rise, Progress, and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave-Trade by the British Parliament. Vol. 1. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees and Orme. pp. 209–210. Spelling and punctuation in context. Accessed from https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10611.

[iii] For more on Reverend Peter Peckard (c. 1718-1797) see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Peckard. The translation of the essay question is “Is it lawful to enslave the unconsenting?”

[iv] Thomas Clarkson (28 March 1760 – 26 September 1846) was an English abolitionist, and a leading campaigner against the slave trade in the British Empire. He helped found the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade (also known as the Society for the Abolition of the Slave Trade) and helped achieve passage of the Slave Trade Act of 1807, which ended the British trade in slaves. Warre was a leading exporter of port wine from Portugal having begun under another name in 1670.

[v] Edmund Burke (1729-1797) was an Anglo-Irish statesman and philosopher. He served in Parliament for twenty-eight years. According to Bourke (2015), “Burke was a proponent of underpinning virtues with manners in society and of the importance of religious institutions for the moral stability and good of the state.” This fits well with my impression of the conservative, but not Tory, values held by the Bennets.

In Westminster’s Halls


Book Release Data

Global Release on all Amazon Platforms (e-book, KindleUnlimited, Paperback): July 22, 2024

Audible Release (Performed by Benjamin Fife): August 

Book Blurb

With a narrative steeped in duplicity and conspiratorial intrigue, “In Westminster Halls” offers a unique speculative journey into the world of Jane Austen. This bold exploration delves into the existential issue of slavery. Set against the backdrop of Regency privilege, sexual nuance, and callous indifference, Jacobson's masterful storytelling will captivate you, leaving you yearning for more. It's a portrayal of Meryton’s beloved characters like you've never seen.

Robert W. Smith, award-winning author of A Long Way from Clare

Fighting for Freedom, Finding Love

In 1807, a dark stain marred British society. It wasn't Napoleon or the War. The slave trade divided Britons along economic and moral lines. In Westminster's Halls is a tale that unites Longbourn, Pemberley, and Matlock in a mission to end the trafficking of human souls.

Powerful forces are determined to silence Bennet, while Wickham is sent to manipulate Darcy. Amidst mystery, danger, and politics, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy navigate mutual prejudice and willful pride, striving for a future in a world where all are free. Their journey is a testament to love’s power.

In Westminster’s Halls seeks to fill Austen’s great silence on slavery. The book speculates, with a touch of audacity, how Austen’s beloved characters would have behaved if true-life events were part of Pride and Prejudice.


Book Release Data

Global Release on all Amazon Platforms 

(e-book, KindleUnlimited, Paperback): July 22, 2024

 

Audible Release (Performed by Benjamin Fife): August 2024


Book Links

US     WestminstersHallsAmazonUSA


https://www.amazon.com/s?k=pride+and+prejudice+Variation%2BRegency+Romance%2B+mystery%2Bpolitics%2BTrue+love%2BDarcy%2BElizabeth%2BBennet%2B+true+love%2Bhappy+ending%2Bpride+and+prejudice+variations+and+sequels%2B+British%2BIrish%2Bclassic+fiction%2B+Pastiche%2BAdaptations&ref=nb_sb_noss


UK    WestminstersHallsAmazonUK


https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=pride+and+prejudice+Variation%2BRegency+Romance%2B+mystery%2Bpolitics%2BTrue+love%2BDarcy%2BElizabeth%2BBennet%2B+true+love%2Bhappy+ending%2Bpride+and+prejudice+variations+and+sequels%2B+British%2BIrish%2Bclassic+fiction%2B+Pastiche%2BAdaptations&ref=nb_sb_noss


Rafflecopter Link

Don Jacobson is giving away ten e-books of In Westminster’s Halls

Enter the drawing for a no-charge copy at the link below.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/9d1fdafb2/


About Don Jacobson

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Don Jacobson has written professionally for forty years, from news and features to advertising, television, and radio. His work has been nominated for Emmys and other awards. Earlier in life, he published five books, all nonfiction. In 2016, he released the first volume of The Bennet Wardrobe Series, The Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary Journey. Since then, he completed the series by closing the circle with the eighth volume, The Grail: The Saving of Elizabeth Darcy. Standalone works include The Longbourn Quarantine, In Plain Sight, and The Sailor’s Rest. All his works are also available as audiobooks (Audible).

Jacobson holds an advanced degree in history with a specialization in European History after 1789. As a college instructor, he taught United States history, world history, the history of Western Civilization, and research writing. He is in his third career as an author and is a JASNA and Regency Fiction Writers member.

Besides thoroughly immersing himself in the Austenesque world, Jacobson enjoys cooking, dining out, fine wine, and well-aged scotch whiskey.

His other passion is cycling. He has ridden several “centuries” (hundred-mile days).

He is incredibly proud of having completed the AIDS Ride–Midwest (five hundred miles from Minneapolis to Chicago) and the Make-a-Wish Miracle Ride (three hundred miles from Traverse City to Brooklyn, both in Michigan). When not traveling, Jacobson lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with his wife and co-author, Pam—a woman Miss Austen would have been hard-pressed to categorize.

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

Mr. Collins Exclusive Interview With the Author of 'Mr. Knightley... In His Own Words


Mr. Collins Exclusive Interview 

With the Author of 'Mr. Knightley... In His Own Words'

(It is my pleasure to yet again be a part of the release of Shannon Winslow's Newest Novel.  It has become a tradition, and maybe even a good luck charm for Shannon to stop by Darcyholic Diversions to present Mr. Collins latest interview when she releases a new book.  We at Darcyholic Diversions are grateful to, again, be host for one of these special interviews! 

As soon as I saw the cover, with Jeremy Northam's image as Mr. Knightley, I knew that I was going to enjoy this book.  If you have always wondered how Mr. Knightley came to be in a large estate all by himself, as I have, don't miss Shannon Winslow's latest!  ~~Barbara Tiller Cole)

It has become a tradition that, with the publication of each new book, I sit down for an interview with Mr. Collins (now Sir William Collins). Did you know that, after his run as a legendary literary figure, he turned his talents to a new career as a talk-show host? It’s true.
He and I have not always been on the best of terms, I’m sorry to say. The awkwardness stems from the fact that I made his character’s early demise my top priority as a writer. In fact, Mr. Collins expired in the very first chapter of my very first novel (The Darcys of Pemberley). I’m afraid he has never quite forgiven me for that. Here’s our most recent interview:

[House lights dim. Applause sign flashes. Stage lights come up to reveal a platform with twin retro club chairs occupied by host Sir William Collins and today’s guest, the modestly successful author Shannon Winslow. Collins lifts a hand in the style of a royal wave to acknowledge the audience before turning his attention to his guest.]

Collins: Welcome back to Meet the Author, Ms. Winslow.
Winslow: Thank you, Sir William. It’s a pleasure, as always.

Collins: I had begun to wonder if we would see you again.

Winslow: Oh? Why is that?

Collins: Well, you have to admit it has been quite some time – over a year – since your last visit.

Winslow: True. This book did take a little longer to write. Mr. Knightley didn’t give up his secrets easily. [laughs] It took some patience and persuasion on my part.

Collins: Mr. Knightley in His Own Words. [holds up the book] It’s your third in this series of stories about Austen’s heroes, if I’m not mistaken.

Winslow: You are not mistaken, Sir William; it is my third. First, there was Fitzwilliam Darcy in His Own Words, then Colonel Brandon, and now Mr. Knightley.

Collins: And yet, you have so far failed to take up my suggestion, Ms. Winslow. Why is that?

Winslow: Your suggestion? Oh! I suppose you mean Mr. Collins in His Own Words. No, you’re quite right; I haven’t. How observant you are to have noticed. As to why… Well, I don’t think we really have time to go into that right now. I’m sure your audience would be more interested in hearing about this new book. After all, that’s why I was invited here, isn’t it?

Collins: [rolls eyes slightly and sighs] Very well. If you insist, tell us a little something about Mr. Knightley in His Own Words.

Winslow: Thank you. The first thing to know is that, as with the other two, this is not simply a retelling of the original story from the hero’s point of view. The last third of the book does cover that ground, but the first 2/3 is entirely new material. You could call it a very extensive prequel to Emma, since it divulges what happened in two key, earlier periods of Knightley’s life – as a teenager and a twenty-something. He really had quite a tragic past, you know, and I admire him so much for how he came through it and bravely carried on.

Collins: Tragic, you say. Could you give readers a little hint as to what you mean?

Winslow: Sure. I can say a few words without spoiling anything. Since I always begin with what Austen told us, we already know Knightley has little family – at least little remaining. He apparently lost his parents early, and yet we aren’t told when or how. If he had any siblings besides John, they must be gone as well. [drops voice to a stage whisper] And I will candidly tell you that he did have another brother – an older brother, in fact, named Miles. [resumes normal volume] My other big clue that I took for a starting point was Mr. Knightley’s incredible patience and devotion to Mr. Woodhouse. I went looking for what could possibly explain that, as well as all the other things.

Collins: May I take it that you found the answers you sought, Ms. Winslow? 

Winslow: Oh, yes. It took some patience and persistence, as I said before. But it all came out in the end and made perfect sense. Knowing Mr. Knightley’s full story, has given me so much more admiration and appreciation for the man! I think readers will enjoy discovering the same.

Collins: Much too soon to tell, though, I presume.

Winslow: [looking nonplussed] Well, early reviews are quite promising, but...

Collins: [interrupting] I’m afraid that’s all we have time for, Ms. Winslow. Do stop by again… sometime or other.

Winslow: Thank you, Sir William. I’ll do that.

[Applause sign rouses studio audience to a loud ovation. Stage manager shouts, “Cut! That’s a wrap, folks.” Assistants scurry to remove Ms. Winslow’s microphone and touchup Collins’s makeup for the next segment to be filmed.]

Collins: So the next book, Ms. Winslow? Another “…in His Own Words”?

Winslow: Quite possibly. Readers seem to enjoy them, and so do I, actually.

Collins: Any chance of your finally taking my suggestion as to your subject? I think I can promise to be more cooperative than Mr. Knightley, more forthcoming about my past and all my heroic adventures.

Winslow: You must understand, Sir William… What I mean is… You see, readers are interested in… well, a slightly different style of hero – the leading man type. They want to know what makes him tick, and to experience vicariously through him the magic of falling in love all over again. They want to picture him and his lady living happily ever after. And, well, we all know that was never going to happen for you and Charlotte.

Collins: [abruptly stands and raises his voice, accusingly] And whose fault is that? It might have turned into the greatest love story of all time, had you not chosen to cut me off before my prime! In the very flower of my youth. A man of the cloth, too! [continues to rant]

Winslow: [to assistant] Oh, dear. I was afraid this would happen if he forced me to answer that question. Perhaps I had better go now.

[Assistant nods vigorously and hurriedly escorts Ms. Winslow away. Others rush to attend to the agitated Sir William]

Thus ends another volatile Winslow/Collins interview at Meet the Author.

~*~*~*~

Mr. Knightley... In His Own Words

Purchase at Amazon

Mr. George Knightley. According to Emma Woodhouse, you won’t see one in a hundred who is so clearly the gentleman. Respected by all, he’s kind, unpretentious, and scrupulously honest, with an air so remarkably good that it’s unfair to compare other men to him. We also know he’s been his “own master” from a young age. But Jane Austen tells us little more. 

What were his early years like, and how did he lose his parents? A man in his mid-thirties, he must have had at least one romance along the way. Did it end badly? Is that why he’s never married? When and how did his relationship with Emma shift from friendship to love? And what can explain his incredible forbearance towards the eccentric Mr. Woodhouse? Now, Mr. Knightleyreveals these answers and more in His Own Words.

This is not a variation from but a supplement to the original story of Emma, chronicled in the hero’s point of view. Two-thirds completely new material, it features key events in Mr. Knightley’s past – events that still haunt him and yet have shaped who he’s become, the superior man Emma can’t help falling in love with.

Thursday, October 6, 2022

Regina Jeffers Celebrates her 75th Birthday with a New Book Release!

 In Honor of Her 75th Birthday

Regina Jeffers Celebrates!

With a New Release of a Delightful New Book!

By Barbara Tiller Cole

Recently, Regina Jeffers reached out to me for a brief chat.  In just the last month she turned 75!  And to celebrate that seminal milestone she has released a new book.  When she told me both of her latest birthday and of her book, I was happy to be able to be a part of her celebration.

Let's face it.  None of us are getting any younger.  And each milestone we reach is to be commemorated.  So when Regina and I chatted about her latest book release, in honor of it and her latest birthday I offered to have a little online Birthday Party to celebrate!  

My hope is that each of you that read this will celebrate with her too!  Maybe it will be a happy memory you will to share.  Perhaps it will be some virtual presents you would like to offer to her!  

I remembered today that I was able to share another birthday with Regina some years ago, and even found a picture of the cake!  It was on the occasion of the Decatur Book Festival which was celebrated that year with a large gathering of Jane Austen inspired authors.  I still remember it with fondly! 

Regina was one of the featured speakers on the City Hall Stage (on her birthday) and I was grateful to be chosen as the moderator for the session. (And yes, that is Abigail Reynolds in the picture as well).  

Birthdays are times for remembering good times as well as celebrating achievements.  And this birthday season, for Regina she is celebrating the release of a wonderful new book.  

As many of you know, I don't do formal reviews on Darcyholic Diversions.  As an author myself, I would rather share what I like about the books my friends write and assist them as much as I can in letting others know about their latest treasures.

I was so grateful to get a pre-release copy of Regina's latest release, Elizabeth Bennet's Gallant Suitor.  I have always enjoyed stories with prior connections. The story opens with an unconventional house party held at Stepton Abbey in which Sir Wesley Belwood, a tyrannical baronet, is attempting to match Jane with Colonel Fitzwilliam!  Just learning that I knew that it would be a unique story and it was!  

It isn't long before Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth join forces to assist their relatives in being able to make their own choice, instead of a choice of Sir Belwood's making.  And where the story goes from there I won't tell you you just have to read it!  

I have always found Regina's stories compelling, and this one was equally so, if not more so.  From horse racing, to matchmaking, you will thoroughly enjoy Regina's birthday present from HER to US!

The Elizabeth in this story is spunky and not afraid to say exactly what is on her mind.  And, as she did not meet Fitzwilliam Darcy in a ballroom, but one-on-one, they formed a friendship very early in the book.  It was delightful to me to see that relationship develop as the story proceeded.

I can highly recommend Regina's latest book. I am not going to reveal more as I hope that you will read it!  It will be a 75th birthday present to Regina and to you if you do.

Regina has been busy this week. Her blog tour took off quickly and you might want to look back and see some of her previous stops as well as the one on October 10th.  I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of it.  

The blog tour has prizes!  There are chances to win free eBooks at each stop along the way, plus those who show that they have purchased the book receive 5 extra chances to win a $75 Amazon Gift Card on N. N. Light's blog!  Now that could be a birthday present for YOU!  

So be sure and comment below or Regina nor I will know that you stopped by to read the birthday tribute AND for a chance to win!