SPOTLIGHT ON ... FIRST IMPRESSIONS BY CHARLIE LOVETT + BOOK GIVEAWAY

Charlie Lovett first delighted readers with his New York Times bestselling debut, The Bookman’s Tale. Now, Lovett weaves another brilliantly imagined mystery, this time featuring one of English literature’s most popular and beloved authors: Jane Austen.

Book lover and Austen enthusiast Sophie Collingwood has recently taken a job at an antiquarian bookshop in London when two different customers request a copy of the same obscure book: the second edition of Little Book of Allegories by Richard Mansfield. Their queries draw Sophie into a mystery that will cast doubt on the true

authorship of Pride and Prejudice—and ultimately threaten Sophie’s life.

In a dual narrative that alternates between Sophie’s quest to uncover the truth—while choosing between two suitors—and a young Jane Austen’s touching friendship with the aging cleric Richard Mansfield, Lovett weaves a romantic, suspenseful, and utterly compelling novel about love in all its forms and the joys of a life lived in books.

About the author:

Charlie Lovett is a former antiquarian bookseller, an avid book collector, and a member of The Grolier Club, the preeminent club for bibliophiles in North America. He and his wife split their time between Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Kingham, Oxfordshire, in England.

JOANA STARNES - "THE FALMOUTH CONNECTION" BLOG TOUR + EBOOK GIVEAWAY

  

For so many reasons, we are addicted to Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. We simply can’t have enough of their beautiful love story. So we dream up all manner of variations on the theme and take them to so many places. Derbyshire, Hertfordshire and London of course, but also to the Lake District, Yorkshire, Devonshire, Bath, the Isles of Scilly – even to revolutionary France.

As far as I know, they have never been to mainland Cornwall. This is where my latest novel takes them. There is great beauty in its rugged shores and secluded beaches, and the scenery is so romantic that it cannot fail to touch the heart.

And then there is the aura of mystery, the frisson of danger brought by age-old tales of smugglers, wreckers and pirates, which might add a new flavour to a beloved tale.

AUSTEN ON STAGE: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE WITH 2 ACTORS - INTERVIEW WITH TWO BIT CLASSICS' S JOHANNA TINCEY

Hello Johanna and welcome at My Jane Austen Book Club! First of all congratulations on your excellent work  in this extraordinary adaptation of Pride and Prejudice.  While reading about your show, “Pride and Prejudice with Two Actors”,  I got really curious. How’s that possible? Two actors, twenty-one characters? Does that mean Nick, the other half of Two Bit Classics,   plays both Darcy and Mr Collins, and Wickham and Mr Bennet as well? And you play all the five Bennet sisters, Mrs Bennet, Lady De Bourgh, Charlotte Lucas? That’s amazing. That must be a real enterprise! 

Between us, Nick and I bring 21 characters to life, but Nick doesn't play all the men and I don't play all the women. There are so many double-acts in the book and we wanted to stretch our acting muscles to the max and have 2 of us bring them all go life between us.  We also want to invite the audience into Austen's wonderful world by encouraging them to imagine and invent with us. Our costumes and set are wonderfully creative and adaptable and we love the challenge of our nightly Austen dance!

Why Jane Austen and not Dickens or the Brontes?

I certainly wouldn't rule out either Dickens or the Brontes in the future, but Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite novels, it has this iconic status and all the characters are so famous it seemed like a natural starting point for a new company.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... THE MADNESS OF MR DARCY BY ALEXA ADAMS + GIVEAWAY

Book Blurb

The year is 1832 and regrets beleaguer Fitzwilliam Darcy. All he ever cared for has been taken from him: his pride, his sister, and his true love, Elizabeth Bennet. Now, having nearly murdered a man in a fit of rage, he might lose Pemberley, too. More than just his home, his very identity is at stake. In desperation, he seeks the help of Dr. Frederick Wilson, owner and proprietor of Ramsey House, a madhouse for fine ladies and gentlemen. Is Darcy’s confinement the inevitable end to his tortured descent, or will he rediscover what he lost in the most unlikely of places?

About the author: Alexa Adams

A devoted reader of Jane Austen since her childhood, Alexa Adams is the author of Tales of Less Pride and Prejudice (First Impressions, Second Glances, and Holidays at Pemberley), the novellas Emma & Elton: Something Truly Horrid and Jane & Bingley: Something Slightly Unsettling, and the short story collection And Who Can be in Doubt of What Followed?: The Novels of Jane Austen Continued. Her next novella, Becoming Mrs. Norris, will be published on November 1st. Alexa resides in Delaware with her husband, daughter, and cat. When not daydreaming of life a few hundred years ago, she enjoys mythology, theater, yoga, and crafts.

Excerpt from Chapter Five

“There you are, Darcy. I thought I would never find you!” The Earl of Matlock called out with labored breath, capturing the attention of his cousin, who turned from his post at the crest of the tallest hill on the Pemberley property. He watched dispassionately as the earl climbed the last few yards to where he stood, and then took a few minutes to compose himself before speaking.

SPOTLIGHT ON ... GOODNIGHT, MR DARCY ( A BABY LIT PARODY ) - HOW TO INTRODUCE VERY YOUNG READERS TO JANE AUSTEN'S WORLD

About the Book  

The adored children’s classic Goodnight Moon gets a classic lit makeover in this charming parody of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice novel. In the opening of Goodnight Mr. Darcy ($16.99, Jacketless Hardcover, 10 x 8-1/2 in, 32 pages, 978-1-4236-3670-0), all of Austen’s much-loved characters are at the Netherfield Ball: In the great ballroom, there was a country dance, and a well-played tune, and Elizabeth Bennett; and Mr. Darcy surprised, by a pair of fine eyes . . . And don’t forget Jane with a blush and Mr. Bingley turned to mush, and a gossiping mother and father saying hush.

Parents and toddlers alike will enjoy this new take on Austen’s timeless work à la Goodnight Moon.