MURDER AT NORTHANGER ABBEY BLOG TOUR - SHANNON WINSLOW: MR TILNEY'S LETTER

I especially enjoy writing the many letters included in my novels, trying to make each one a little work of art, as Jane Austen did.  Who can forget Darcy’s 8-pager to Elizabeth after his failed first proposal or Captain Wentworth’s iconic love letter to Anne? You pierce my soul…

But I bet you didn’t know that Henry Tilney can be just as passionate.

Today I’m sharing an excerpt from Murder at Northanger Abbey, (my new Northanger Abbey sequel) that illustrates what I mean. It’s a letter – a slightly steamy love letter, actually – that Henry wrote to Catherine during the time they were separated and waiting to marry. Since the action in this novel takes place after the wedding, this letter is included as something Catherine is remembering to help her through another difficult separation from Henry.

SEARCHING FOR MR TILNEY - JANE ODIWE ANSWERS MY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE HERO OF NORTHANGER ABBEY AND HER NEW NOVEL

Jane Odiwe has just released a new book inspired to Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey titled “Searching for Mr Tilney” (more about the book below). Loving Mr Tilney immensely, and while waiting to have a copy of the novel in my hands, I thought: “Maybe Jane has found out the answers to my perennial questions about Henry while writing her new book!” So I wrote down a few of my questions and sent them to her and she kindly and generously granted me her thoughtful answers.

What are Henry Tilney’s best qualities, Jane,  and is there anything we didn’t know about him that we could find out reading your new book?

Henry is handsome, intelligent, witty, and fun to be around. Catherine is clearly drawn to these qualities when she first meets him in Bath and delights in his teasing ways. She’s very naïve and inexperienced with men, and when she meets Henry who is seven or eight years her senior, it’s easy to see how the mature young man who can talk about history and art, and readily gives his opinions on many subjects would immediately captivate her.

Searching for Mr Tilney is not a re-telling of Northanger Abbey, but I have four male characters that share some, if not all of Henry’s characteristics. In 1975 Harry is a Theology student who has spent some time travelling in Africa. He meets Caroline, a fashion student who is studying in London and who shares some of Catherine’s naivety and love of Gothic novels. Like Henry, I hope you’ll find Harry charming, witty and lively!