A coming-of-age story told in four volumes between Austen’s infamous couple; savor the story of the prideful man and the girl prejudiced against him, as they meet much earlier in this rethinking of Jane Austen’s masterpiece, Pride & Prejudice. Could this ‘disobedient little hellion’ one day become mistress of Pemberley and the keeper of his heart?
Caitlin Williams, author of the highly-praised book, Ardently, tours the blogosphere from June 13- June 26, 2016 to share her newest release, The Coming Of Age Of Elizabeth Bennet. Fourteen book bloggers, specializing in Austenesque fiction and romance stories, will share excerpts, guest posts, an exclusive interview with the author and book reviews from this highly awaited Austen-inspired novel. Eight ebooks are also being included in our giveaways (check the rafflecopter form below this post)
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Welcome
readers to the launch of the blog tour for Caitlin Williams’ newly released
book, The Coming Of Age Of Elizabeth Bennet. We would like to extend
our gratitude to Maria Grazia for welcoming us to her wonderful blog and for
helping us launch these virtual visits with fourteen popular book bloggers, who
feature Austenesque and romance fiction, as they share guest posts, giveaways,
excerpts, book reviews and an interview with Caitlin Williams along this
journey.
The Coming Of Age
Of Elizabeth Bennet
takes readers back to when Elizabeth Bennet was a highly-spirited and immature
fifteen-year-old girl, as she finds herself facing the most heartbreaking
situation of her young life; Mr. Bennet has passed away and Elizabeth must go
to Derbyshire to live with her new guardian. You’re probably curious who this
new caretaker is! It is none other than Mr. George Darcy, Mr. Bennet’s old
friend, who has agreed to raise her alongside his own daughter, eleven-year-old
Georgiana Darcy.
But
first, they have to get her to Pemberley, right? Well, that’s not such an easy
task! We know Elizabeth Bennet is a ‘disobedient
little hellion,’ and when twenty-three-year-old Fitzwilliam Darcy is forced
to traipse through Hertfordshire to find her and bring her to Pemberley, he’s
in for his first taste of what it will be like to have the impertinent Elizabeth
Bennet in his life.
This
new JAFF story explores Elizabeth’s youth from the time she is fifteen to
twenty-one years of age, where there will certainly be stumbles and trips along
the way. But could this ‘disobedient
little hellion’ one day become mistress of Pemberley and the keeper of
Fitzwilliam Darcy’s heart?
Since
this book will explore Elizabeth’s childhood, wouldn’t it be simply lovely to
spend a little time remembering someone who was very special in Jane Austen’s
own childhood; the infamous Frances Burney! Fanny Burney was one of the most
influential writers of Jane Austen’s own work, and today Ms. Burney celebrates
her 264th birthday. Did you know that many people claim that Fanny
Burney was the first English woman novelist to achieve international success? No wonder Austen found her work so
inspiring!
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| Fanny Burney, Image from http://bit.ly/eiFQ4S |
“Fanny Burney later Madame D’Arblay
(June 13, 1752-January 6, 1840) was an English novelist and diarist. She
published her first novel Evelina anonymously in 1778. The revelation of its
authorship brought her immediate fame. She published Cecilia in 1782 and Camilla in
1796. Her three major novels, much admired by Jane Austen, are about the entry
into the world of a young, beautiful, intelligent but inexperienced girl. She
was born Frances Burney, daughter of Dr Charles Burney, at King’s Lynn, Norfolk.
Her mother, Esther (nee Sleepe) was granddaughter of a French refugee named
Dubois. Fanny was the fourth child in a family of six, who was largely
self-educated.”
Burney's
life was quite remarkable; she was a protégée of Samuel Johnson, a lady-in-waiting
at the court of George III, later wife of an emigre aristocrat and stranded in
France during the Napoleonic Wars, she lived on into the reign of Queen
Victoria. Her journals and letters are now widely read as a rich source of
information about the Court, social conditions and cultural changes over her
long lifetime.
Similar
to Jane Austen, she spent a lot of her time learning at home and spent a
liberal amount of time reading, where she also wrote some juvenilia of her own.
Burney’s
mother’s early death and her father’s subsequent marriage left her bereft, so
she sought refuge in her journals, learning the craft of writing witty
dialogues. Cecilia, Burney’s second novel, was a favorite of young Jane
Austen’s, where Burney displayed her talents for being an acute
observer. The title of Austen’s most famous book derives
from a passage in Cecilia:
“The whole of this unfortunate
business,” said Dr Lyster, “has been the result of PRIDE and PREJUDICE.” (1)
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| Burney’s first novel, Evelina |
Austen’s name is listed as a subscriber to
Burney’s third novel, Camilla.
During Jane Austen’s lifetime, Burney was a far
more popular writer, perhaps because Austen wrote more about everyday life and
Burney was better versed with the fashions and the amusements of the day – her
novels would probably have made better popular literature.
However, it’s Jane Austen who is considered the
first great female writer and one of the pioneers of the novel. Her wit and
depth in depicting the human character are beyond comparison. Writers such as
Fanny Burney helped to pave the way for Jane Austen and certainly contributed
to her success as an author.
With the release of The Coming Of Age Of Elizabeth Bennet, readers are offered an in-depth view of how young Elizabeth Bennet’s own adolescence may have unfolded if she was raised alongside Georgiana Darcy and under the critical eyes of Fitzwilliam Darcy. In a similar vein to Frances Burney and Jane Austen, Elizabeth Bennet is also an accomplished reader, who enjoys losing herself in a well-written novel, and has a deep love for the written word. Similar to both Burney and Austen, Elizabeth has been forced into a difficult situation after the death of a parent, which not only involves her relocation to Pemberley; her new situation also elevates her station and places unanticipated expectations on the young lady.
Strong-willed, smart and independent; just like Frances Burney and Jane Austen, the young Elizabeth Bennet in this new story will face numerous challenges. Throughout her struggles, she will strive to meet them with a fortitude and grace that readers will find admirable at times, and just plain reckless and spiteful at other times. Savor this reimagining of Elizabeth Bennet as you’ve never seen her before…
From Frances Burney to Jane Austen to Caitlin
Williams’ The Coming Of Age Of Elizabeth
Bennet… Happy Birthday Frances Burney; you started it all 264 years ago
today. We stand on the shoulders of these literary giants, as we celebrate
Fanny’s birthday and recognize her influence on Austen’s work, while we launch
the beginning of a blog tour that welcomes Caitlin Williams back to the JAFF
community with her latest book. We hope our readers find within these pages
another strong, independent woman to admire and love!
(see References)
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“And what are you reading, Miss — ?”“Oh! It is only a novel!” replies the young lady, while she lays down her book with affected indifference, or momentary shame.“It is only Cecilia, or Camilla, or Belinda”; or, in short, only some work in which the greatest powers of the mind are displayed, in which the most thorough knowledge of human nature, the happiest delineation of its varieties, the liveliest effusions of wit and humour, are conveyed to the world in the best-chosen language.
Northanger Abbey
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Book
Description
The
very worst has happened. Mr Bennet has died, leaving his wife and five young
daughters bereft. The family estate, Longbourn, is now lost, entailed away and
fifteen-year-old Elizabeth Bennet is to go two hundred miles away to live with
strangers. George Darcy, repaying a debt of gratitude, has offered to take her
to Pemberley, to live under the mantle of his care and be raised alongside his
own daughter, Georgiana.
But on
the day she is to leave Longbourn forever, young Elizabeth, grieving and
confused, runs off into the Hertfordshire countryside. Fitzwilliam Darcy gives
chase, telling his father he will have her back in an hour or two. Luck and
fate, however, are not on his side and capturing Elizabeth Bennet turns out not
only to be more difficult than he could ever have imagined, but events conspire
to turn her little adventure into his worst nightmare.
The
prideful man and the girl prejudiced against him, meet much earlier in this
rethinking of Jane Austen’s masterpiece. Elizabeth grows up under the
ever-watchful eye of Mr Darcy, from fifteen to twenty-one. She errs and falters, there are stumbles and
trips, but could this ‘disobedient little
hellion’ one day become mistress of Pemberley and the keeper of his heart?
Author
Biography
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Caitlin
Williams lives in Kent, England, with her family. She fell in love with all
things Regency as a teenager, but particularly admires the work of Jane Austen
and the way she masterfully combines humour and romance, while weaving them
through such wonderful stories and characters.
Pride and
Prejudice
is Caitlin’s favourite novel and she finds Mr Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet so
deliciously entertaining that she likes to borrow them from Ms Austen and
enjoys the challenge of putting them in different places and situations.
Her
debut novel, Ardently, was written as a hobby, usually with her laptop
balanced on the kitchen worktop, typing with one hand, a glass of wine in the
other, while she also attempted to cook dinner and keep her children from
killing each other. The success of Ardently was as much a surprise to
her, as it was to anyone else, and she has been thrilled and genuinely thankful
for the positive responses and reviews it generated.
Her
second novel, The Coming of Age of Elizabeth Bennet, is a portrait of a much
younger Elizabeth, who is thrown into an extraordinary set of circumstances due
to the premature death of Mr Bennet, and she hopes you all enjoy it very much.
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Blog
Tour Schedule
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June 13/ My
Jane Austen Book Club/Launch Post/“Happy Birthday Fanny Burney & The Coming
Of Age Of Elizabeth Bennet” & Giveaway
24 comments:
Thank you Maria for launching this blog tour! Your support is appreciated and I hope your readers love this reimagining for ODC!
I read and enjoyed the book "Ardently," and this new book looks great too! I can only imagine the difficulties that will arise as Elizabeth, with her independent nature, is taken to this new situation with different expectations. Really looking forward to reading this!
I am wondering is it just Elizabeth that goes to Pemberley and if so why?
I love reading variations when they meet earlier!
Thanks Maria for hosting us today.
In answer to your question, Vesper, George Darcy offers to take one of the girls to Pemberley to ease the financial burden on the Bennet's. Much like Fanny Price is chosen to go to Mansfield Park. Mr Bennet decides it should be Elizabeth.
Thanks to both of you, Claudine and Caitlin, for being my guests. It's a great pleasure to feature great JAFF books.
I would think, though it is not mentioned, that Mr Bennet would have chosen Elizabeth to go to Pemberly because she was the brightest intellectually of his daughters, and her opportunities at Hertfordshire were limited and not too desirable. There was a vast library at Pemberly, lovely grounds, and George Darcy had engaged the most talented of governesses, originally intended for Elizabeth as well as Georgiana. In this book, though, It was all strange to a bewildered, heartbroken teenager who was grieving over the death of her father, being kicked out of Longbourne, and unable to stay sith Jane and the Gardiners. There would be no intellectual stimulation in a cottage with her mother and other sisters, as we can see the one time she goes home to visit.
This book sounds like such an intriguing read! And am excited to find out how Darcy and Lizzy get along in this new set of circumstances. Thanks for the blog post and the giveaway.
I just LOVE this book cover!!! I can't wait to read this book!
Good luck in the giveaway, Danielle and Priscilla.
Yes, Donna, Mr Bennet chooses Elizabeth because he thinks she will be the one most likely to flourish at Pemberley,and because he wants the very best for her.
Congrats on your newest release! Loved the cover. It was an amazing read!
Thanks Dung, I'm so pleased you liked it.
sounds like a fascinating variation
I've tried twice already to comment and it just doesn't seem to be working but I'll try again, even proving that I'm not a robot for the third time.
This enticing cover and the synopsis and excerpt have compelled me to add this to my must-read list. Thank you for this post and for offering this generous giveaway.
Oh, this meeting earlier will certainly turn things around! Looking forward to reading it.
I want this book!
Congratulations on the release! And thank you for the post about Funny Burney. I confess that, although I am fan of Jane Austen, I have little knowledge of her life and of what influenced her writing. So I am grateful when authors and bloggers share their knowledge:)
This sounds great!! Got to have it!!
What a fitting start to the tour! Can't wait to read this book.
Thanks Tamara! We are thrilled to have you as part of the tour too.
It all sounds so intriguing and is a very different sounding variation.
I must get around to reading Ardently!
Yes, Anji, you'll love them both!! So glad to hear from you. I hope all is well with you!
I'm intrigued by this book. I've heard so much about it and the story sounds great.
I would love to read this book. Thanks for the giveaway.
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