After Fitzwilliam Darcy finds
his suit rejected by the only woman in the world he would ever marry, he looks
to make a quick exit out of Kent and go back to his life before he met
Elizabeth Bennet. Yet, when he wakes the next day he discovers that getting
back to everything he still holds dear may be more challenging than he ever
imagined. What if finding his way back means getting another chance to win
Elizabeth’s love?
Beau North and Brooke West,
co-authors of Holiday Mix Tape from
the Meryton Press winter anthology, Then
Comes Winter, tour the blogosphere from October 8-October 19, 2016, to share
their latest collaboration, The Many
Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy. Thirteen book bloggers, specializing in
Austenesque fiction and romance stories, will share excerpts, guest posts, an
exclusive interview with the authors and book reviews from this highly
anticipated Austen-inspired novel. Four ebooks and four paperbacks are also
being included in our giveaways and entry is available to anyone who
participates. And this great blog tour starts right here, at My Jane Austen Book Club, today! Let's welcome Beau and Brooke on their first day on tour.
__________________________________________________________
Good morning, Maria Grazia, and thank you for
welcoming us to your lovely blog, My Jane Austen Book Club. We are thrilled to
launch our tour for The Many Lives of
Fitzwilliam Darcy here with your readers, and we look forward to sharing a
wide range of posts related to this story throughout this tour. Today, we have a
post that readers have been anticipating because we are revealing our top three
choices for our The Many Faces of
Fitzwilliam Darcy contest, where your readers, and anyone else who votes
during this tour, will be able to pick our final winning image.
Before the big reveal, I want to thank all
of my readers at Just Jane 1813 who contributed such gorgeous and inspiring
images! We were truly blown away by your creativity and your search skills.
There were so many entries that we had never even considered before, and we
have to say that it’s amazing how one character can inspire so much enthusiasm
and ardent admiration!
The idea for our contest was inspired by
the passionate reactions that so many readers have to Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy;
the wealthy and swoon-worthy character that has lived on for more than two
centuries in the hearts and minds of so many people.
As
Austen scholar, Janine Barchas, discusses in her Persuasions article, How
Celebrity Name Dropping Leads to Another Model for Pemberley (#35), for
Austen herself, there was a strong interest to find an image that would
symbolize her own beloved Elizabeth Bennet. A few months after the publication
of Pride and Prejudice, she visited
the widely popular exhibit,
which displayed Sir Joshua Reynolds’
artwork in London, at the British Institution. In a letter to Cassandra, Jane Austen
describes her visit as a search for “Mrs Bingley” and “Mrs Darcy.”
First,
she mentions attending an “Exhibition in Spring Gardens”:
It is not thought a good
collection, but I was very well pleased— particularly . . . with a small
portrait of Mrs Bingley, excessively like her. I went in hopes of seeing one of
her Sister, but there was no Mrs Darcy. (24 May 1813)
Although
she fears that there is “no chance of her in the collection of Sir Joshua
Reynolds’s Paintings which is now shewing in Pall Mall, & which we are also
to visit,” she still jokes, “I dare say Mrs D. will be in Yellow” (24 May
1813). That evening Austen adds to her letter, reporting on the visit to the
Reynolds show:
We have been both to the
Exhibition & Sir J. Reynolds’,—and I am disappointed, for there was nothing
like Mrs D. at either.—I can only imagine that Mr D. prizes any Picture of her
too much to like it should be exposed to the public eye.—I can imagine he wd (would)
have that sort [of] feeling—that mixture of Love, Pride & Delicacy.—
Setting aside this disappointment, I had great amusement among the Pictures.
(24 May 1813)
Although
we do not know whose celebrity portrait, “in Yellow,” Austen had been hoping to
spot, this letter strongly suggests that she had a particular real-world
referent in mind for Elizabeth Bennet, too. (Barchas)
Our
contest is a pursuit very similar to the one taken over two hundred years ago
by Jane Austen, in which we seek to find an image that readers will love and
connect with, in regards to Austen’s hero, Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Without further ado, here are the three
images for our The Many Faces of Fitzwilliam Darcy contest:
Richard Madden Matt Bomer Eduardo
Verastegui
Stunning men, aren’t they? I think it’s
going to be a challenge to pick just one!
To vote for your favorite image of Fitzwilliam
Darcy from the images shown above, go to The Many Faces of Fitzwilliam
Darcy Contest Link.
The winning image and the winner will be announced on October 20,
2016, at our last blog stop, So Little
Time… So Much to Read. The winner of the winning entry will
receive the big giveaway prize collection, which will include:
A
paperback copy of Then Comes Winter by Meryton
Press, edited by Christina Boyd
A
paperback copy of Longbourn’s
Songbird by
Beau North
A
paperback copy of The Many Lives of
Fitzwilliam Darcy by
Beau North & Brooke West
A
$15.00 Amazon gift card
Assorted
Jane Austen postcards
Pride and Prejudice Post-its by
Girl of All Work
Thank
you, for hosting us today, Maria Grazia. May your readers, from all over the world,
enjoy the pleasures of voting for their very own beloved Fitzwilliam Darcy!
Beau & Brooke
__________________________________________________________
Book Description
The Many Lives of Fitzwilliam Darcy
“He
could no longer claim to be Fitzwilliam Darcy of Derbyshire, brother to
Georgiana, master of Pemberley. In that moment, he was but a man. A man filled
with more frustration than most souls could bear. A man torn asunder by his
desperation, his fruitless dreams and desires.”
After Elizabeth Bennet rejects his marriage
proposal, Fitzwilliam Darcy finds himself in the most unusual of circumstances.
At first believing the extraordinary turn of events has granted him an
inexplicable boon, he is eager to put the humiliating proposal behind him.
He soon discovers that he is trapped in the
same waking dream with no end in sight and no possible escape. All that he
holds dear—his name, his home, his love—remains ever out of reach. How will he
find his way back to his normal life? Will one mistake haunt the rest of his
days? It will take all of his fortitude to weather the storms of his strange
new fate, and all of his courage to grasp the promise of his future.
Author Biographies
__________________________________________________________
Beau North is the author of Longbourn’s Songbird and a contributor
to the anthology Then Comes Winter.
Beau is a native southerner who now calls Portland, Oregon home with her
husband and two cats. She attended the University of South Carolina where she
began a lifelong obsession with Literature. In her spare time, Beau is the
brains behind Rhymes With Nerdy, a
pop culture podcast and website, and a contributor at the San Francisco Book
Review.
Facebook: Beau North Writes
Instagram:Miznorth
Twitter:
@BeauNorth
__________________________________________________________
Brooke West is a contributing author to the
anthology Then Comes Winter. Brooke
has a naturally creative soul that pulls her into myriad artistic
endeavors. While writing fiction always
has been her life's passion, Brooke also finds joy in silversmithing,
sculpting, and costuming. Between projects, she runs and practices yoga. She lives in South Carolina with her fiancé,
son, and three cats.
Brooke West
Facebook: Brooke West
@WordyWest and @BrookeWest
Beau and Brooke are giving away 8 copies of
their book, which includes 4 ebooks and 4 paperback copies. To win a paperback
copy, the winners must have a U.S. mailing address.
22 comments:
Oh! I can't wait to read this book as the premise sounds so intriguing!!
How will our beloved Mr D break the spell that forces him to endure the same agony each new day?
Will he have the determination to change,so that his future happiness will be safe and secure with Elizabeth by his side?
A great idea,one I'm so looking forward to reading about!
Thanks for hosting the launch, Maria. We hope your readers love the story. We look forward to hearing from them.
Thanks for your enthusiasm, Mary. I think you'll love this new twist on our favorite story!
Yesss!! Matt Bomer!!
I love the idea of Richard Madden as Darcy. The other two don't seem quite as soulful somehow?
Thanks to you, Claudine, for including My Jane Austen Book Club in your tour! 😊
Thanks to you, Claudine, for including My Jane Austen Book Club in your tour! 😊
I think you're right! Each man does have different qualities. We tried to choose images that we thought embodied different aspects of Darcy's character, both to demonstrate his depth and to appeal to the multitude of interpretations we fans carry of him. So glad you picked up on that!
I'd like to thank everyone for their inspired choices! Matt Bomer has always been a front runner for me, but there is something so brooding and romantic about Richard Madden!
looks like a wonderful story--am fascinated by the plot!
denise
I really enjoyed this story. I thought at first it was going to me similar to another FF story I had read, but then it went off completely differently. Loved it.
I really want to vote for Eduardo because I love him as an actor and person but I don't think he is a Darcy like person, he is good looking and has the appearance but his personality seems to be more outgoing than imagine Darcy to be.
And I love the idea of Darcy having to go endure the repeat of the same day, I think he is a great way for him to co e to see where he went wrong and change.
I have no idea who those three gentlemen are.
You're right! It is a challenge to pick one from the three >.<
Never seen these men before, hard to pick a favorite :)
What a fun contest idea! I love the painting of the art exhibition.
Best wishes on your blog tour :)
P&P meets Groundhog Day. What a combination!
The only one of the three gentlemen I've come across is Richard Madden. He was wonderful as Robb Stark in Game of Thrones, so I just have to pick him.
Good luck with the launch ladies!
I voted for Richard Madden even though I have no idea who he is lol. Matt Bomer makes a good modern Darcy too (from what I can tell in the photo) but Mr Madden was a bit more broody. I can't wait to see who the winner is. You did say the winner of the rafflecopter gets the winning guy as a prize, right? ... I think I read that in the fine print somewhere... ;)
This sounds like a very new and exciting version, can't wait to read it :)
My favorite Darcy here is Eduardo, but all of them are very handsome and brooding.
Great premise of the book, I would love to read how Darcy will overcome this obstacle. Cpmgrats on the book release.
I can't wait to read this novel! Congrats ladies on the new release!
I cannot wait to read this book!!!!
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