BE MORE JANE BY SOPHIE ANDREWS - REVIEW & GIVEAWAY

There are books that change our lives dramatically when we happen to find them. They become a treasure we guard jealously so that we can resort on them when we find ourselves in need.  

Sophie Andrews found her treasure book very early in life. She was nine when her mother sat her down to watch a new movie, the 2005 adaptation of Pride ad Prejudice. Little did either of them realize then how meaningful Jane Austen would be in Sophie’s life. A few years later, aged 16 she would start a blog, Laughing with Lizzie,  after studying Jane Austen’s novel at school.

Since that moment she has become a very active, enthusiastic and creative Janeite: she organizes events such as picnics, balls and house parties for other Austenites and she was even featured in the BBC documentary, My Friend Jane, which focused on the fun and friendship she has found with fellow Janeites.

Now Sophie owns 100 different editions of Pride and Prejudice and has just released her first Austen-inpired book, Be More Jane, with which she tries to help us bring out our inner Austen to meet our lives’ challenges.  

This book is first of all an object of beauty, especially so thanks to the lovely illustrations by Jane Odiwe . Then it is a precious handbook in which Sophie searches and finds significative connections between Jane Austen’s work and real life. What can we learn from such a beloved writer which can be helpful in our every day predicaments?

LOVE & FRIENDSHIP THE JANEITE BLOG TOUR - WHIT STILLMAN REIMAGINES AUSTEN'S LADY SUSAN

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Love & Friendship by   Whit Stillman - Book description

Whit Stillman has taken Austen’s never-finished epistolary novella, Lady Susan, reimagined it as a straight narrative, and added the hilarious new character of Rufus, Susan’s apologist nephew, who aims to clear Susan’s good name come hell or high water (even if he is doing it from "the ignoble abode" of debtors’ prison ). Despite many indications to the contrary, Rufus insists that Susan is, “the kindest, most delightful woman anyone could know, a shining ornament to our Society and Nation.” Rufus then appends his earnest tale with a collection of his aunt’s letters, which he claims have been altered by Austen to cast the estimable Lady Susan in a bad light.

Impossibly beautiful, disarmingly witty, and completely self-absorbed, Lady Susan Vernon, is both the heart and the thorn of Love & Friendship. Recently widowed, with a daughter who’s coming of age as quickly as their funds are dwindling, Lady Susan makes it her mission to find them wealthy husbands——and fast.

But when her attempts to secure their futures result only in the wrath of a prominent conquest’s wife and the title of “most accomplished coquette in England,” Lady Susan must rethink her strategy.

Unannounced, she arrives at her brother-in-law’s country estate. Here she intends to take refuge——in no less than luxury, of course——from the colorful rumors trailing her, while finding another avenue to “I do.” Before the scandalizing gossip can run its course, though, romantic triangles ensue.

THE POLDARK SAGA - MY REVIEW OF BOOK 1 + GRAND GIVEAWAY

I blame Ross Poldark for ...

I hadn’t read any of the books from the Poldark saga before the new adaptation started on BBC1, though I had been totally smitten by the original series back in the 70s. I was just a kid who was beginning to learn English as a foreign language at school at that time and my love for everything British is,  for sure,  a result of Robin Ellis’s good looks and Ross Poldark’s charm as a character. My interest in Jane Austen's novels came soon after.

However, I bought the first 2 Poldark books when the remake was announced in the press. I decided I wanted to read them,  to compare them to their adaptation in the upcoming TV series.

You know, that’s one of my favourite passtimes! 

Synopsis of Book 1 - Ross Poldark

In the first novel in Winston Graham’s hit series, a weary Ross Poldark returns to England from war, looking forward to a joyful homecoming with his beloved Elizabeth. But instead he discovers his father has died, his home is overrun by livestock and drunken servants, and Elizabeth—believing Ross to be dead—is now engaged to his cousin. Ross has no choice but to start his life anew.

Thus begins the Poldark series, a heartwarming, gripping saga set in the windswept landscape of Cornwall. With an unforgettable cast of characters that spans loves, lives, and generations, this extraordinary masterwork from Winston Graham is a story you will never forget.

The hero

“His was not an easy face to read, and no one could have told that in the past half hour he had suffered the worst knock of his life. Except that he no longer whistled into the wind or talked to his irritable mare, there was nothing to show.”

(pictures: Robin Ellis and Aidan Turner as Ross Poldark) 

Respect to other 18th century gentlemen, Ross Poldark is quite the restless Romantic type and very little the well-mannered Austen hero. As a matter of fact, being Ross a gentleman of the Georgian Era, his good manners may be well considered flawed.
He is a living contradiction - as alive as a literary character can be - in so many aspects. He is generous and passionate, has a huge sense of honour and dignity. Anyhow,  his impulsiveness, rebelliousness, anticonformism, pride and moody temper distance him from other literary gentlemen of his time. 

SUDDENLY MRS DARCY BLOG TOUR - JENETTA JAMES, THE BIRTHING OF A JAFF FAN GIRL. WIN AN EBOOK COPY (INTERNATIONAL)

2 years ago I hadn’t even heard of fan fiction, let alone Jane Austen fan fiction. If I had seen the acronym JAFF written down, I might have thought it was one of those error messages I don’t understand that pop up on my computer screen from time to time. I had always been a voracious reader, but somehow this was a landscape that had passed me by, a path that I didn’t even know was there.

Then I found myself pregnant with our second child when our first was only 7 months old and somehow, as well as making me feel pretty sick, it stirred up the old romantic in me. Up went the feet and out came the self-pity chocolates. On a whim, I dusted off my DVD of the old 1995 Pride & Prejudice mini-series. It wasn’t long before I was as hooked as I had been when it was first broadcast, aged 14. It occurred to me that it wouldn’t hurt to re-read the novel, and so I did that as well.

Before I knew where I was, I was living with Lizzy and Darcy. I just couldn’t get them out of my head. What happened next? What became of them? The possibilities danced around my mind. Jane Austen is famous for having written perfectly of “two inches of ivory”, so what about the rest of the fabric? What about the character’s lives behind closed doors? What about the world below stairs? What about the male friendships which go unexamined in the original? The permutations seemed endless.

BOOK REVIEW - JANE AUSTEN'S FIRST LOVE BY SYRIE JAMES

OUT ON AUGUST 5th!  

INSPIRED BY ACTUAL EVENTS

Book blurb

Fifteen-year-old Jane Austen dreams of three things: doing something useful, writing something worthy, and falling madly in love. When she visits her brother in Kent to celebrate his engagement, she meets wealthy, devilishly handsome Edward Taylor—a fascinating young man who is truly worthy of her affections. Jane knows a match between her and Edward is unlikely, but every moment she spends with him makes her heart race—and he seems to return her interest. Much to her displeasure, however, there is another seeking his attention

Unsure of her budding relationship, Jane seeks distraction by attempting to correct the pairings of three other prospective couples. But when her matchmaking aspirations do not all turn out as anticipated, Jane discovers the danger of relying on first impressions. The human heart cannot be easily deciphered, nor can it be directed or managed. And if others must be left to their own devices in matters of love and matrimony, can Jane even hope to satisfy her own heart?

My review

Syrie James confirms her skills as brilliant story-teller and creator of lively pictures of Regency life.  Well-researched historical novel as well as delightful summer read,  her  new Jane Austen’s First Love is based on an imaginative interpretation of Jane Austen’s  enigmatic  reference to a “Him, on whom I once fondly doated”    (from  one of Jane Austen’s  letters to her sister Cassandra).  Intriguing matter for a talented researcher and passionate Janeite like Syrie James. (1)

VALENTINE'S DAY AT PEMBERLEY OR DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY DVD IS OUT!

Yep! I decided to spend a few hours at Pemberley today. The excitement of young Valentine's Days gone, nothing's better than a journey into romance and mystery. Dreams and old memories, do they really help on Valentine's Day? I'm not in a bad mood, not sad nor unhappy, not melancholic nor nostalgic. So the answer is, DEFINITELY YES, they helped a lot.   I played  my new DVDs  and  off I went on a very romantic Valentine voyage.   All alone,  but not truly.

I had already seen Death Comes to Pemberley when it was on BBC One during last Christmas holidays but to re-watch it has given me the chance to enjoy little details that had gone missed at a first view. 

Death Comes to Pemberley, P. D. James's sequel to Pride and Prejudice, is now available on DVD  ( check it out HERE)  and you can watch it on your TV or computer screen as many times as you wish and add it to your Austen - inpired DVD collection. 

This mini-series has  been a pleasant surprise for me, since I didn't expect to like it much. I wasn't that fond of P.D. James 's murder mystery set at Pemberley when I read it,  so I was ready to be bored and even more disappointed by its TV adaptation. Instead, in my opinion,  Juliette Towhidi's script improved the plot, enriching it with short flashbacks and giving it a fast paced rhythm it didn't have. 

MY OWN MR DARCY: BOOK REVIEW, BLOG TOUR AND GIVEAWAY

My review

Can going to the cinema with your mum and best friend change your outlook on life and, especially, on  men? Can a  fictional  character wreck your love life? Elizabeth Barrett, the protagonist  of  My Own Mr Darcy, would answer YES to both questions, of course.

She unwillingly follows her mother to the cinema to see  Pride and Prejudice  only because,  probably, that will help her avoid reading Jane Austen’s book for a project. So she asks her best mate to go with her. Unexpectedly, seeing Matthew MacFadyen as brooding, fascinating Darcy on the huge screen brings her to quite surprising outcomes.

 Pride and Prejudice  becomes her favourite book, she reads it on and on dreaming of Mr Darcy and looking forward to meeting her own dashing gentleman one day.

But, as we well know, reality can very rarely be  compared to the world of perfection we create in our minds while reading, so what expects Elizabeth is a love life of disappointment and disillusionment: there is not one man who is Mr Darcy enough.

LONGBOURN: DOWNTON ABBEY - OR UPSTAIRS DOWNSTAIRS, IF YOU PREFER - MEETS PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Pride and Prejudice was only half the story ...

US cover

Downton Abbey meets Pride and Prejudice in this brilliant novel out today. Or if you prefer, Upstairs Downstairs. In Longbourn, Jo Baker gives respctful voice to those characters whom we have met only in passing on stairs or through commentary and dialogue from Austen’s much loved Bennet family.  While reading Longbourn you experience the opposite path: you’ll see the Bennets from a different point of view, that of their servants.

Sarah, the heroine of Jo Baker’s novel, is a maid servant at Longbourn. She is strong, brave and hardworking but ... does she like her job? She looks at the young ladies in the house with a sting of envy and admiration at the same time. Miss Jane, Miss Elizabeth, Kitty, Lydia and Mary ... 

She thinks  that if Elizabeth Bennet had the washing of her own petticoats, she would be more careful not to trudge through muddy fields.  

But when she thinks of Miss Elizabeth she sees her as so different from her sister, Jane, especially when it comes to dealing with gentlemen. Elizabeth is bright-eyed and quick and lovely, making the young men blush and stammer, and the old fellows smile and wish they are half their age, and that little bit scarpe in their wits.

Sarah has her own opinion on each one of the Bennet sisters, but as you can guess, Elizabeth is the one she admires the most. 

MR DARCY'S GUIDE TO COURTSHIP - THE SECRETS OF SEDUCTION FROM JANE AUSTEN'S MOST ELIGIBLE BACHELOR

If I were a man, I'd ask him for advice in courtship, wouldn't you?  But since I am a woman, I'm  terribly curious to know what he would suggest to another man and what he really thinks about us.  Fitzwilliam Darcy has been so many women's dream man for 200 years now and he must know one or two secrets to  succeed with them.

Since the publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice in 1813, Mr Darcy has been the romantic hero par excellence, fancied by ladies of all ages all over the world. Who better than him could write a guide to the seduce the opposite sex?  

Now, in his Guide to Courtship,   he offers advice to make you successful in love but,  be warned, he wrote this book  before been mellowed by contact with Miss Elizabeth Bennet. So, please,  imagine the Darcy you met at Meriton Assembly, which means all pride and prejudice,  as the author of this little precious book.

THE MISSING MANUSCRIPT OF JANE AUSTEN BY SYRIE JAMES - MY REVIEW

The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen is an awesome new book by Syrie James, author of bestselling novels like  The Lost Memoirs Of Jane Austen, Dracula My Love, The Secret Diaries of Charlotte Brontë, Nocturne  and Forbidden. Due to release on 31st December, The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen is a  novel within a novel :  a brilliant Austen-style Regency tale inside a lovely modern romance.

I must admit that with this new novel Syrie James has surpassed herself and moved forward even respect to a successful achievement like The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen. She did a brilliant job both at delivering a well-designed plot echoing Jane Austen’s voice - but modernizing it for a present-day audience -  and at enclosing it in an intriguing frame of quest and romance.

Samantha is an American librarian who had to give up her Ph D in English Literature while preparing a dissertation on Jane Austen’s work. She was forced to interrupt her studies in Oxford and go back to home   in order to take care of her seriously ill mother.

Now she is on a trip in England with her cardiologist boyfriend, Stephen. Since he is  engaged in a  medical conference in London,  she spends her time alone visiting the places of her happy years at Oxford university and while perusing old little bookshops in search for something interesting, she happens to find an ancient book of poetry containing a letter. The book reveals itself as belonging to Jane Austen  and inside it there is one of her missing letters.  Even more extraordinary is the fact that in that letter Jane refers to a manuscript she lost in 1802 visiting Greenbriar, the Whitakers’ mansion in the countryside, in Dorset.

CHRISTMAS WITH MR DARCY BY VICTORIA CONNELLY - BOOK REVIEW

Christmas is a time to spend with the people we love, a time for shameless  sentimentalism and bittersweet   memories, a time for caring and sympathy.  Can it also be the right time for romance? The answer is yes, if you’ve found your Mr Darcy.

I know, I’m definitely turning into an incurable romantic while growing old. Is that the reason why I swiftly went through the little more than two hundred pages of Christmas with Mr Darcy with a blissed smile printed on my face?

Christmas with Mr Darcy is a light-hearted, delightful  novella, Victoria Connelly has recenlty published as a  sequel to  her A Weekend With Mr Darcy , The Perfect Hero (or Dreaming of Mr Darcy in the US version) and Mr Darcy Forever . I read the three of them with the same foolish grin mentioned above,  it means I simply loved them all. They are all brilliant Austen-inpired modern romances full of references to Austen beloved works and all the dreamy places connected to her life and novels. Delightfully written with a light touch on reality, irony,  and skillful characterization, they find a proper sequel in Christmaswith Mr Darcy

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In  Victoria Connelly’s latest indie publication  all the heroes and heroines of her  Austen Addicts’ Trilogy gather together to celebrate Christmas as well as their favourite author, Jane Austen. The great reunion takes place  at Purley Hall in Hampshire because renowned actress, Dame Pamela Harcourt, is holding a special Jane Austen Conference.

FROM MY AUSTENESQUE SHELF - QUICK REVIEWS & GIVEAWAY

2012 was a feast for any fan of Austen-inspired fiction and non-fiction. Lots of new books were released and I've been able to read and enjoy many of them as well as  to interview or feature their talented authors here at My Jane Austen Book Club. My bookshelf  labelled Austenesque is crammed with review copies and lovely paperbacks. Would you like to get one? I'm ready to give away one book at your choice among the ones below. Read my quick reviews and choose the book you like best among Austentatious by Alyssa Goodnight, His Good Opinion by Nancy Kelley and All Roads Lead To Austen by Amy Elizabeth Smith. Then leave your comment adding your e-mail address. Spread the word through twitter or facebook, your blog or site! This contest is open worldwide and ends at the end of the month, September 30th.

HIS GOOD OPINION BY NANCY KELLEY

Though tired of Society's manipulations, Darcy never thought to be enchanted by a country maiden. However, on a visit to rural Hertfordshire, Elizabeth Bennet captivates him. Lovely and vivacious, she is everything he is not and everything he longs to have. Unfortunately, her connections put her decidedly beneath him, and the improprieties he observes in her family do not win his favour. Putting her firmly out of his mind, Darcy returns to London, but Elizabeth is not so easily forgotten.

WOMEN, POPULAR CULTURE, AND THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY - BOOK REVIEW

The book

(description of the book from Amazon.com) In contemporary pop culture, the pursuits regarded as the most frivolous are typically understood to be more feminine in nature than masculine. This collection illustrates how ideas of the popular and the feminine were assumed to be equally naturally intertwined in the eighteenth century, and the ways in which that association facilitates the ongoing trivialization of both.

Top scholars in eighteenth-century studies examine the significance of the parallel devaluations of women's culture and popular culture by looking at theatres and actresses; novels, magazines, and cookbooks; and

SEARCHING FOR CAPTAIN WENTWORTH BY JANE ODIWE - BOOK REVIEW

Synopsis: When aspiring writer, Sophie Elliot, receives the keys to the family townhouse in Bath, it’s an invitation she can’t turn down, especially when she learns that she will be living next door to the house that Jane Austen lived in. But, Sophie’s neglected ancestral home is harbouring more than the antiquated furniture and nesting mice, though initially Sophie tries to dismiss the haunting visions of a young girl. On discovering that an ancient glove belonging to her mysterious neighbour, Josh Strafford, will transport her back in time to Regency Bath, she questions her sanity, but Sophie is soon caught up in two dimensions, each reality as certain as the other. Torn between her life in the modern world, and that of her ancestor who befriends Jane Austen and her fascinating brother Charles, Sophie’s story travels two hundred years across time, and back again, to unite this modern heroine with her own Captain Wentworth. Blending fact and fiction together the tale of Jane Austen’s own quest for happiness weaves alongside, creating a believable world of new possibilities for the inspiration behind the beloved novel, Persuasion (from the author’s site)

Searching for Captain Wentworth is different from Jane Odiwe’s previous Austen-inspired novels, Willoughby’s Return and Mr Darcy’sSecret. Not only  because it deals mainly with characters and events connected with Austen’s last novel, Persuasion - while the others continued the stories of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice  respectively - but especially because the author adds a spicy ingredient to her narrative to avoid writing the usual sequel.  She adds time travelling and creates two parallel narrative levels between which the protagonist, Sophie Elliot, unexpectedly and inexplicably  moves. She   gets  involved in a series of different adventures and is torn between two men. Is it possible to fall in love with two differently  handsome,  kind, extraordinary  gentlemen , one living in Jane Austen’s time and one in the modern world? Make your acquaintance with Charles and Josh in Jane Odiwe’s new book and you will find yourself sympathizing  with the heroine.

JANE AUSTEN AND CHILDREN - BOOK REVIEW

(2010 - hardcover - 256 pp.)

(guest blogger Nancy Parker)

David Selwyn, the chairman of the Jane Austen Society and a leading authority in his field (editor of the Annual JAS Report since 2001,  and author of numerous works and articles on Austen), does a remarkable job highlighting her relationship with children in her novels in his  2010 book, “Jane Austen and Children.” Although not a mother herself, Austen’s works examine the relationships of children and their parents, as well as the role of children in society, how children function as models of behavior, and the nature of childhood. Austen understands that childhood and parenthood are multi-faceted, and Selwyn too knows that in order to investigate Austen’s interpretation of childhood, he must come at it from a multi-dimensional perspective. His expansive work highlights the unseen child as well as the historical background surrounding parenting and the morals of childrearing in this time.

One of the most effective aspects of Jane Austen and Children is the way in which Selwyn demonstrates how the unseen child is sometimes just as important as the child that is explicitly illustrated, as he shows how children who are not present in the novels are just as important as those who are. In a time when many women and children died during the arduous process of childbirth, it is significant to note how important it is that many of the family members who were not alive had just as important of an impact on the family sphere as those who were. As far as birth practices go, one of the most fascinating aspects of the novel was Selwyn's in depth look at the birthing practices of this time, a load of information that would make any modern mother thankful she was not alive in the 18th century.

PRIDE AND PYRAMIDS BY AMANDA GRANGE AND JACQUELINE WEBB - MY REVIEW

Fast paced and with the exotic charm of Egypt added to the appeal of the Regency world, Pride and Pyramids is a delightful surprise.

Mystery, legends, superstitions enter the lives of the pleasing and proper Darcy family on visiting the land of the Pharaohs.

Defying a magician’s wrath as well as the legend saying magical plagues affect archaeologists , the Darcys  seek the tomb of Hammon and Husn to uncover its hidden treasure.

Elizabeth and Darcy have been married 15 years now and have 6 children. Their life at Pemberley is quiet and comfortable but lacks adventure. This is why they can’t resist the proposal of Edward Fitzwilliam, Colonel Fitzwilliam’s younger brother, and join him in his intriguing expedition to the exotic land of the Sphinx with their family and friends. Not only immeasurable riches await them but also danger and betrayal.

Familiar characters from Pride and Prejudice and new lovely ones enliven this novel, which  is the result of the combined efforts of Amanda Grange - best-selling

COMPULSIVELY MR. DARCY BY NINA BENNETON - BOOK REVIEW

It is always the same old story between them.  At first glance things never work properly between Darcy and Elizabeth. They never hit it off in fact, neither when he is a wealthy British philanthropist and she is an  idealist American doctor volunteering in a poor country like Vietnam.

In Nina Benneton's story, Elizabeth can’t understand the reason for the reverence Darcy gets from all the people around him:

 “It ‘s hard to be intimidated by a guy who faints at the sight of blood” ,  she thinks at first, after their awkward, catastrophic meeting in the emergency room  of the hospital where she’s been asked to treat injured Charles Bingley, Darcy’s best friend .

Furthermore, why is this Darcy so hysterically worried for his friend? And why are the two men  keenly supporting Mr and Mrs Hurst’s application for an adoption, when the married couple themselves don’t seem so truly interested ? 

Elizabeth has her own suspicions. All funnily wrong, actually. Nonetheless,  that is what gives start to an amusing series of misconceptions,  misunderstandings and misadventures which will lead the reader, fatally as well as predictably,  to the highly longed for  rewarding happy ending.

LOVELY JANEITES - ALEXA SCHNEE, REDISCOVERING AUSTEN

Alexa Schnee is a young, very young, talented writer. She has recently re-discovered Jane Austen and wants to share her new enthusiasm. Alexa has always wanted to be a writer. She loves the smell of the bookstore, because nothing in the world smells exactly like it. When she isn’t writing, she’s murdering some musical instrument or hitting the road. She will never, ever like maths and will always love dancing in the Montana rain. She is currently attending Sarah Lawrence College near New York City.

I took a Jane Austen course at my school, Sarah Lawrence College, this last semester. I loved diving into Austen’s work—mostly Sense and Sensibility, Persuasion, and, of course, Pride and Prejudice. But when we came to the Minor Works, I found I was a bit unprepared to discuss these writings. We get a glimpse at a young Austen—an Austen uncolored by life experience and publication. We can almost imagine her standing in front of her family in her parlor acting out scenes and skits she had written. We can see her parents laughing at her satirical wit, her early observances of the ridiculous, her

MR DARCY FOREVER BY VICTORIA CONNELLY - SISTERS ARE FOREVER ...BOOK REVIEW + GIVEAWAY

Sarah and Mia Castle are closer than best friends and share just about everything, including a deep and abiding love for all things relating to Jane Austen. Their annual trip to the Jane Austen Festival in Bath is a highlight of their lives - until the year they discover that no matter how close two sisters may be, it's impossible to share one man between them. Even if he does seem their own perfect Mr Darcy, if one wins him, won't both of them lose?

The two main settings in this novel are dreamy places for any Austen fan: first Barton Cottage, or at least the house in Devon used in 1995 film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, the one to which Marianne and Elinor have to move after their father’s death,  and then Bath in the days of the Jane Austen Festival.

Bath is the place where Catherine Morland met Henry Tilney and it was where Captain Wentworth declared his love to Anne Elliot (p. 61)

Sarah is the Elinor-type and as a much elder sister in a family with no parents she has to take care of Mia,  Marianne’s alter ego in this modern romance. Sarah has the conservatism of  Elinor, the prudishness of  Fanny Price  and suffer from OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder) while Mia has the naivety of Catherine Morland, the recklessness of Marianne Dashwood and dreams of being an actress. Could two sisters be more different?

Sarah’s 18th birthday gift for Mia is a week to spend together, the two of them, at Barton Cottage but her plan will be ruined by an unexpected presence: Alec is the most handsome, fascinating man the two sisters have ever met. Mia loses her head and starts flirting openly with him, Alec seems more interested in Sarah though ...

This will be the beginning of the end for Sarah and Mia’s close relationship, they are more like best friends than sisters. But they can’t share the same man, can they?

Three years later and a great deal of life after the two sisters are both in Bath for The Jane Austen Festival, none of them knowing of the other presence. They haven’t spoken nor seen each other since their week in Devon.

Bath will offer them new chances and new acquaintances ( a Brandon-type and an Edward-Ferrars-type, of course! ) and, especially, an opportunity to meet again.

What about the Mr Darcy in the title? Read this lovely romp to the end and he will be there in his wet shirt for Mia, for Sarah and for all of you! 

What I especially like in Victoria Connelly's Austen-inspired trilogy is her humor. Her prose is witty and her narration characterized by a very light touch which makes you want to turn the page quickly and never put the book down. You are there - at least I was - giggling all the time. And daydreaming, of course! She deals with ordinary life, ordinary heroines/heroes with their ordinary misadventures but she succeeds in making them rather extraordinary, really special. 

Another element I definitely  appreciate is her ability to find the Austenesque in present day ordinariness. Bravo, Ms Connelly! These three modern day romances are really sunshine on a rainy day. I've loved them all. This latest one, Mr Darcy Forever, nonetheless. 


GIVEAWAY TIME!


There's 1 new brand paperback  for the US readers interested in this book. I must thank Sourcebooks for granting  me the copy for this giveaway. Leave your comments adding your e-mail address and good luck. If you want an extra chance to win spread the word on twitter or facebook! The deadline for this contest is April 30th. Good luck!

THE THREE COLONELS BY JACK CALDWELL - GIVEAWAY WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT & BOOK REVIEW

Last week Jack Caldwell was here at My Jane Austen Book Club as my guest , one of the many  stops in his blog tour for the launch of The Three Colonels - Jane Austen Fighting Men (see guest post). On that occasion Sourcebooks granted you readers of this blog two copies of the book, 1 e-book version and 1 paperback. The giveaway contest ends today and I'm going to reveal the names of the two winners in a while. But  first,  I'd like to share my review of the book with you, since I was lucky enough to read  it meanwhile. 

Did I like The Three Colonels?YES! One of the best Austen sequels I've read so far!

MY REVIEW

Jack Caldwell contributes  a male outlook on Jane Austen World. His  The Three Colonels – Jane Austen Fighting Men  is sequel to Sense and Sensibility  and Pride and Prejudice with hints to Tolstoj's War and Peace. It also  includes  characters from  other major novels by Austen as well as new ones created by Caldwell himself.  What Jane Austen had not even hinted at – the Napoleonic Wars – Jack Caldwell  brings forward  in this brilliant tale set in one of England’s most challenging  moments .

Bonaparte, prisoner  in Elba, succeeds in escaping  and marches on Paris .  King Louis flees the country so Napoleon declares himself Emperor of the French Republic. It is war again and the country is not ready.  Lord Wellington needs his best men and they must urgently answer the dreaded call.

Colonel Brandon will have to answer that call, for example. He has long been inactive and is now a very happy husband to Marianne and proud father of a baby girl, Joy.  He is one of the few officers Lord Wellington trusts in his enterprise to stop Bonaparte once and forever.   Useless to say  Willoughby steps forward  on hearing Marianne is alone at Delaford Manor.

Colonel  John Buford  - a new fascinating character with the reputation of being a libertine entertaining married ladies -  meets, wooes  and marries  Caroline Bingley.  She used to be rude, grasping, selfish and cold, but ... love can do magic. When she becomes Lady Buford she totally transforms herself  into a generous woman in love.  At first she probably  marries John Buford  for his position and for his charm, while he marries Caroline for her good looks and her  brilliant personality.  Nonetheless their mènage  will be filled with  intriguing, passionate and even highly dramatic moments.   

Since Lady Catherine De Bourgh has estranged her other nephew,  Fitzwilliam Darcy both  as her trustee at  Rosings Parks  and as her favourite elegible husband to her daughter Anne, Richard Fitzwilliam  is coping with the hard task to  substitute  his cousin in those duties.  While trying to save his Aunt’s property from total failure in a period of  deep economic crisis, he realizes  he has new feelings for Miss De Bourgh. Anne’s health has greatly improved in the last  years and she has gained energy and charm.  Colonel Fitzwilliam’s  new plans and affections will have  a hard time since, suddenly,  he has to leave for Belgium and meet other  duties. 

Even Wickham’s regiment must join Wellington’s Army but  he  doesn’t like the idea of going to war.  He hadn’t joined the army to fight in a war and he  blames Darcy for his unfortunate destiny. 

The historical scenario described by Jack Caldwell moves from  London to Vienna for the  1815 Congress . He deals with politics, of course,  but  he doesn’t  spoil the excitement and glamour of the social gatherings  nor renounces to use the typical  Austenesque light touch.

As Lady Beatrice Wellesley, cousin to Wellington,  says to Caroline Bingley (now Lady Buford) :  “ It is far different from the London society or even the Court of St James. Here empires may rise or fall. Wars may break out or be ended. This world attracts a certain type of individual – hard clever people who are used to having their own way and know how to get it”

This novel was a delightful discovery . Different from other sequels I’ve read , yet in the trend of the Austenesque  vogue, it champions love, loss, redemption, duty and war . It is a real page turner and a must-read for lovers of Austen - inspired novels and historical fiction in general.  

Are you ready to discover who the winners of last week's giveaway contest are? Here we go, then! 
The paperback of The Three Colonels is GranJan  while the e-book version goes to Luthien84! 
Congratulations to both of you. I'm sure you'll enjoy your new read! Many thanks to Jack Caldwell for being my guest and to Sourcebooks publishers for granting the copies for the giveaway contest