THE CHILD BLOG TOUR - AUTHOR JAN HAHN'S GUEST POST + GIVEAWAY

What a great place to begin the blog tour for my latest book! Thank you, Maria Grazia, for hosting me. I enjoy visiting your book club and discovering what you’re reading.

Most of my previous books have been written in Elizabeth Bennet’s voice, but I’ve ventured into new territory in The Child. It’s written strictly from Darcy’s viewpoint. Today, I thought we might start where he does, on the steps of St. George’s Church in London.

St George's Church, London

Darcy is about to enter the building for a wedding when he spies Elizabeth Bennet across the street. It’s the first time he has seen her in over two years...and she’s not alone.

The parish still exists today in the City of Westminster, and I found some interesting bits about the church I’d like to share with you. I even found a slight connection to Jane Austen.

St. George’s is an Anglican church in Hanover Square, a fashionable residential district located in central London. The church was built in the early part of the eighteenth century in 1721. Because it is in the Mayfair area of London, it has been the scene of many stylish weddings for daughters of the ton. Thus, it seemed fitting for the Darcys to be members of St. George’s parish when they were in Town, and it provided the perfect setting for a Darcy wedding.

                         

Well-known people who have married at St. George’s include:

• The daughter of English landscaper, Capability Brown, in 1773

• John Nash in 1798, a Regency architect who designed the Brighton Royal Pavilion and Buckingham Palace, and

•Theodore Roosevelt, 26^th president of the United States, who married his second wife, Edith Carow, there in 1886.

St. George’s connection with Jane Austen involves Ann Radcliffe, author of The Mysteries of Udolpho. She was buried in a vault in the Chapel of Ease at the church in 1823. Austen referred to Radcliffe’s gothic novel in Northanger Abbey.

 It is said that the famous composer Handel was a member of St. George’s parish.

And at the other end of the spectrum of fame, Eliza Doolittle’s father desires to better his station in life by getting married at St. George’s in My Fair Lady. He sings about it in the song, “Get Me to the Church on Time.”

Although The Child begins at St. George’s, both Hanover Square and the church also play pivotal parts in Chapter Fifteen when Darcy has reached one of the lowest points in his life.

                If I ever return to England, I’d like to visit St. George’s. I missed it the first time around, but now that Darcy has stood on its steps and sat in its pews in my book, I’d like to experience it first-hand. How about you? Have you ever visited Hanover Square, St. George’s Church, or Mayfair? I’d love to hear your comments. 

Jan Hahn

About the Book

Will Darcy ever grow to love a child he never wanted?

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Fitzwilliam Darcy’s proposal to Elizabeth Bennet at Hunsford is disastrous. In Jan Hahn’s The Child, Darcy flees England soon afterward, striving to overcome his longing for her. Upon his return two years later―while standing on the steps of St. George’s Church in Hanover Square―he spies the very woman he has vowed to forget. But who is the child holding her hand?

Darcy soon discovers that Elizabeth and her family are suffering the effects of a devastating scandal. His efforts to help the woman he still loves only worsen her family’s plight. His misguided pride entangles him in a web of falsehood, fateful alliances, and danger.

Will Elizabeth be able to forgive Darcy for his good intentions gone awry? And what effect will the child have on Darcy’s hopes to win Elizabeth’s love?

Buy the book at Amazon or  Amazon UK

 About the Author

Award-winning writer Jan Hahn is the author of five Austen-inspired novels. She studied music at the University of Texas, but discovered her true love was a combination of journalism and literature. Her first book, An Arranged Marriage, was published in 2011, followed by The Journey, The Secret Betrothal, A Peculiar Connection, and The Child. The anthology, The Darcy Monologues, contains her short story entitled Without Affection. She agrees with Mr. Darcy’s words in Pride and Prejudice: ‘A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.’

Jan is a member of JASNA, lives in Texas, has five children and a gaggle of grandchildren. 

Jahn Hahn’s Facebook Page  Jan Hahn’s Author Page

Win a copy

8 eBooks of The Child are being given away by Meryton Press and the giveaway is open to international readers. This giveaway is open to entries from midnight ET on March 21 – until midnight ET on April 4, 2018.

Readers may enter the drawing by tweeting once each day and by commenting daily on a blog post or review that has a giveaway attached to this tour. Entrants must provide the name of the blog where they commented.

Each winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter and the giveaway is international. Each entrant is eligible to win one eBook.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the next steps of the tour

March 22 From Pemberley to Milton / Book Review & Giveaway

March 23 More Agreeably Engaged / Excerpt Post & Giveaway

March 24 My Vices and Weaknesses/ Book Review & Giveaway

March 25 My Love for Jane Austen / Vignette & Giveaway

March 26 Of Pens and Pages / Book Review & Giveaway

March 27 Just Jane 1813/ Author Interview & Giveaway

March 28 Austenesque Reviews / Character Interview & Giveaway

March 29 So Little Time / Guest Post & Giveaway

March 30 Diary of an Eccentric / Excerpt Post & Giveaway

March 31 Babblings of a Bookworm / Book Review & Giveaway

April 1 Margie’s Must Reads / Book Review & Giveaway

April 2 Laughing with Lizzie / Vignette Post & Giveaway