By Maria Grazia, My Jane Austen Book Club
Today on My Jane Austen Book Club, I’m delighted to welcome back Barry S. Richman, author of the beloved Follow the Drum. With his second Pride and Prejudice variation, Color My World, he offers another bold and imaginative reimagining of Austen’s classic. In this new tale, Elizabeth Bennet awakens from a fall with a remarkable ability: she sees people’s emotions as colors—except in one man. Fitzwilliam Darcy is a void. A mystery. And against her better judgment, she’s drawn in. With emotional insight, quiet magic, and a sharper focus on Mr. Bennet, Color My World promises to be a deeply affecting romance.
Welcome back, Barry! Your new Pride and Prejudice variation, Colour My World, introduces a fascinating concept—Elizabeth perceives emotions in colour. What inspired this idea? Did it stem from synaesthesia, fantasy, or something more symbolic.
Thank you—it’s wonderful to be back! The idea arose from Austen’s depiction of Elizabeth’s tendency to judge others by her own opinion—and often poorly. I turned that trait into something physical by giving her the ability to see emotions in colour, using synaesthesia as a symbolic device rather than fantasy.
Elizabeth’s inability to "see" Darcy is such a compelling choice. How did you develop that contrast, and what does it say about their relationship?
She cannot see his aire, which opens the door to misunderstanding his character. Because she relies so heavily on this gift, its absence leaves her floundering. Instead of trusting her other senses, she clings to what is futile. It also becomes comic, since she cannot see her own aire either—an indication that she does not yet understand herself.
This Darcy carries heavy emotional weight—from loss, duty, and idealism. How did you shape his arc differently from your military variation in Follow the Drum?
Darcy does not appear in Follow the Drum until Elizabeth leaves Longbourn for Derbyshire; they meet as adults with only her backstory known. In Colour My World, his childhood and bond with his mother open the book, establishing one of two paths that later converge in Meryton. Their interactions form one side of a double-headed coin, with Elizabeth and her riding accident as the other.
The role of Mr. Bennet seems more prominent and emotionally layered in this book. What inspired you to give him such narrative presence?
Our genre often relies on an outside villain, but in Colour My World I chose differently. Elizabeth and Darcy create their own obstacles, becoming their own worst enemies. Mr Bennet serves as the catalyst—watching, needling, and provoking—while ultimately guiding them toward resolution, and taking no small amusement at everyone’s expense.
Colour is such a vivid and visual storytelling device. How did you decide which colours matched which emotions, and how did that affect how you wrote key scenes?
I chose colours that felt instinctive. Affection is gold—warm, steady, unmistakable in family moments and Darcy’s guarded care for Georgiana. Envy is green—sharp, flickering, easy to catch in Caroline Bingley. Fear is grey—dulling the aire, like a shadow pulling tight. Anger is red, quick and hot, most vivid in confrontations. These choices shaped Elizabeth’s perception of truth and controlled the tension, humour, or conflict in entire scenes.
With Elizabeth unable to read Darcy’s emotional cues, the usual misunderstandings take on a different kind of tension. How does that shift their romantic dynamic?
Elizabeth’s inability to read Darcy strips her of the certainty she feels with others, leaving her unsettled and defensive. She leans too heavily on a gift that fails her, which makes her prone to misjudging him even more. In its absence, her natural senses intrude—she notices his pleasing features and hears his spoken regard—yet resists believing either. Their tension grows from silence and absence rather than open conflict, making the slow emergence of trust all the more powerful.
This variation feels like it blends Austen’s realism with a subtle layer of magical or emotional fantasy. How did you strike that balance while keeping the story grounded?
At the beginning of the book, I included a note to guide readers toward seeing Elizabeth’s perception as a rare scientific phenomenon rather than fantasy. That framing was important, because I wanted the story to remain within Austen’s world of manners and character. I deliberately avoided language that suggested magical realism, treating the colours as an extraordinary but natural extension of perception—remarkable, but hopefully, believable.
After the response to Follow the Drum, did you change how you approached Colour My World—either in confidence or pressure?
No, because I was already more than halfway through Colour My World when Follow the Drum was released. From the beginning, I intended this book to centre entirely on Elizabeth and Darcy, and to do so in a lighter tone. Their story has always been a romance of the ages, and I wanted to give them their full due—no kidnappings, no violent actions, no crimes—only the challenge of overcoming themselves and learning to understand each other.
Colour My World arrives October 2, 2025
Order your copy on Amazon here.
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