GUEST POST AND GIVEAWAY: ALEXA ADAMS, FRIENDS & FOES FROM PRIDE AND PREJUDICE IN WONDERLAND

Thank you so much for hosting me today at My Jane Austen Book Club! It’s always a pleasure to drop in.

Today I’d like to focus on some of the side characters in my book, Darcy in Wonderland, all of whom are of great interest to Janeites. While the story primarily focuses on the immediate Darcy family, particularly Mr. Darcy and Alice, many of our friends and foes from Pride and Prejudice receive mention, and some even play a major role in the plot, like Lady Catherine. She has had ample time in the spotlight over the past several days as I’ve done the rounds of the blogs, so let’s set that imposing grand dame aside and turn our attention to quieter members of the cast.

Mary Harding and Kitty Crawford

Austen was rather specific regarding the fates of some of her characters, and even though this is a rather unorthodox continuation, I have stuck to cannon as much as possible. For example, the fates of Mary and Kitty Bennet are clearly disclosed at the end of Pride and Prejudice, so I didn’t tamper with their destinies.

“The days passed quickly in a frenzy of preparations, visiting, and new arrivals, who swelled the numbers in the dining room. Elizabeth’s sister, Mary Harding, her husband, and their three rather grown children arrived from Hertfordshire two days before the ball. They traveled with the Collinses of Longbourn, who left their children at home. Kitty Crawford and four of her brood of nine did not descend upon Pemberley until the following day, as her husband, a clergyman, worked in a parish not far away. The halls of the great house veritably rang with the footsteps and laughter of children while the nights were marked by family gatherings in the drawing room, full of games, performances, conversation, and laughter. What did it matter if Mr. Collins was abysmal at cards? Under his wife’s skillful management, the former rector’s absurdities were never subjected on any single person for too long, and Bennet was often happy to partner him, finding his cousin just as diverting a source of entertainment as his grandfather had before him.”

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.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANE AUSTEN! ALEXA ADAMS, WRITER

What would your life had been without Jane Austen? 

How my life would be different with out Jane Austen ... Without Jane Austen to guide me towards the path of moral rectitude, I'm not sure I would have become a person whom I could respect. She entered my life when I was in a period of ambivalence and despondency. Without the good examples of Anne Elliot and Elinor Dashwood, I would probably have grown into a resentful adult, burdened with an unproductive and self-defeating sense of entitlement. Instead, I learned to accept my burdens with grace and continuously strive to be a better person than I currently am. Thank you, my dear Miss Austen, for setting me on the correct path, and a very happy birthday to you!  

Alexa

AUTHOR GUEST POST - ALEXA ADAMS, HOLIDAYS AT PEMBERLEY + DOUBLE GIVEAWAY

“Mr. Darcy is the best of men, and there is no danger of inflating either his or my vanity by making sure everyone acknowledges this fact.”

“Is there not?” her Charlotte chided. “Perhaps vanity poses no danger, but what shall you do when he does something truly exceptional – by Mr. Darcy standards, of course? Will not such accolades become commonplace if too readily invoked? You must save your loudest applause for special occasions and not become too appreciative an audience.”

Holidays at Pemberley, or Third Encounters: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Concludes is a book written out my own pressing need to complete the stories of my reimagined cast of characters. While the book is ostensibly focused on Charlotte Lucas, it is just as much about Elizabeth and Darcy, the entire Bennet clan, Darcy’s extended family, and, to an extent,  the Wickhams. I had intended Second Glances: A Tale of Less Pride and Prejudice Continues to wrap up their adventures, but as I finished the final drafts of the story, the hanging threads proved too irksome to bear.

Second Glances originally included Charlotte’s romance with David Westover, the rector at Kympton, but I cut it because it didn’t mesh with the rest of the plot. It was intuitive to resurrect their minor storyline and structure a new plot around it, one which provided my flawed characters with an opportunity to learn those vital lessons Austen taught so well. There was still so much to be desired from them! My Darcy may not have begun so proud, but he was still unforgiving:

“It is insupportable, Elizabeth!” he declared. “I cannot sit down to dine with the Wickhams. They must leave at once!”