So Far Away...P.O. Dixon

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P.O. Dixon has recently released So Far Away, Book Two of her series, Everything Will Change. She visited on January 26 after the release of Book One, Lady Elizabeth, and you can read that post by clicking on the title. Everyone was very excited about the book and it generated much interest. Most of you could hardly wait for this one and now it is here. I hope you will enjoy this short introduction and excerpt from Chapter One. There is also a giveaway so be sure to check out the details.

Please welcome P. O. Dixon

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“Painful recollections will intrude which cannot, which ought not, to be repelled.”

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That is the Jane Austen quote cited at the beginning of Lady Elizabeth: Everything Will Change Book One. The quote is part of Darcy’s heartfelt explanation to Elizabeth of the principals that had guided his behavior. I chose it for Lady Elizabeth because of the recurring feelings Elizabeth suffers throughout the story that something is missing from her life, although she is unable to discern what it is.

I had in mind the following quote as the premise of So Far Away: Everything Will Change Book Two.

“Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.”

Indeed. Having one’s child snatched from the bosom of one’s family is surely the most horrific experience ever for a parent. Such is the fate of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. How could the two of them think of anything having to do with that aspect of their past with feelings other than displeasure?

But what of the child? Reared as the granddaughter of a duke by a loving mother, almost everything that Elizabeth could recall of her past was pleasurable.

What a dilemma she faces in reconciling her past and present as she embraces her chance to reconnect with her Bennet family.

What’s more, there is Mr. Darcy. Just as in canon, he has no use for the Bennets when he first meets them. Here’s how he describes them to Elizabeth when she asks him to tell her about her Bennet relations in Book One:

“The fact is that I found the Bennets wholly lacking in terms of decorum and good taste. Mrs. Bennet is a woman of mean understanding, little information, and uncertain temper. Mr. Bennet comes across as being so odd a mixture of sarcastic humor, reserve, and caprice as to render him wholly detached from the rest of his family, and the daughters are silly, wild, and uncouth.”

Darcy’s feelings are but one obstacle on the path to happily ever after with Elizabeth. Wait until you find out what else is in store for the young lovers.

Here’s an excerpt:

Chapter 1 ~ Home Again

In this, the first chapter of the next part of Elizabeth’s life, it must be said that some things were just meant to be. Others simply were not. Were she asked if she had the power of turning back the hands of time, Elizabeth would be hard pressed to fashion a fitting response with certitude. Returning to the bosom of the Bennet family was meant to be a happy occasion. Pray she would soon realize what a blessing it was—for the Bennets as well as herself. However, it was hardly a blessing to have her whole world turned upside down. Frightening is what it was.

Would that she never knew what it was like to grow up surrounded by such a loving family. Then the separation might not hurt so much. Even if Avery, Lady Sophia, and she remained a part of one another’s lives, things would never be the same.

The hardest part of it all was that she had no one she could speak with to sort out the confusing emotions without the risk of giving offense to someone or another. The one person who might understand a modicum of what she was suffering was far away in Derbyshire.

Tearing her eyes away from the carriage window, Elizabeth looked at her sister Jane. Catching each other’s eyes, a happy smile spread over both young ladies’ faces. Their reunion was a blessing indeed. What a joy it was to have her Jane back after all those years. From the time she learned of her true life, Elizabeth had endeavored to recall what she could of her early childhood. Glimpses of the times Jane and she had spent together as small children, though fleeting, sometimes made the briefest of returns over the past week.

Jane had been a true angel, as well as a source of prodigious information that Elizabeth duly needed to puzzle over in order to piece together what she was to expect of her new life. Then again, Jane would only provide the most flattering accounts of everything and everybody, and Elizabeth soon began to suspect her sister had a view of the world that did not completely meet with realistic sensibilities. Surely there was something of less than perfection in the world Elizabeth was set to embrace.

Elizabeth wondered about her parents, Mr. Thomas Bennet of Longbourn, and her mother, Mrs. Francine Bennet, whom she sometimes heard her aunt Mrs. Gardiner refer to as Fanny.

Fanny. What a whimsical name, Elizabeth considered upon first hearing it mentioned, which led her to suspect her mother, Mrs. Bennet, might be a bit fanciful, with hardly a care in the world about the sort of weighty concerns that often pressed upon her mother Lady Sophia.

She quietly sighed. How am I to make sense of this newfound knowledge that I have not one but two mothers? Elizabeth asked herself any number of such questions designed to give herself a modicum of assurance over what would be a rather unclear next few days, weeks, and months as she navigated the uncharted sea of uncertainty that stretched before her.

Elizabeth could hardly think about the future without her thoughts drifting once again to the past. Her mind balked at the notion of leaving everything behind. Everything she thought she knew about herself had changed, and this was only the beginning.

She stared longingly out the window.

“Pray what is the matter, my dear? You have grown rather quiet in the past ten minutes.”

Elizabeth knew not what to say in the wake of her fluctuating emotions, and thus she remained silent. She reached out her hand in welcome of Mrs. Gardner’s outstretched hand. Squeezing it, she gave her aunt a tentative smile.

Mrs. Gardiner said, “No doubt this is a great deal to comprehend and in such a short amount of time. I dare say there is no cause for unnecessary worry. Or are your thoughts in Derbyshire still, along with your heart?”

Elizabeth did not feel it was best to dwell on the matter of her heart at that moment. Saying goodbye to Mr. Darcy was far harder than she would have imagined it would be. With Avery and Lady Sophia, there was hope for a family reunion. However, in the absence of an engagement with Mr. Darcy, there was no telling when they might see each other again or even if they would see each other.

Would he wait for her? If yes, how long a wait might she consider reasonable?

How long is too long?

Then, too, there was the more weighty matter that had to do with his feelings about her true connections. Mr. Darcy had all but confessed that he did not particularly like the Bennets of Longbourn. That was but one of the reasons she had done all she could to hold at bay any proposal of marriage she suspected he was on the verge of making just before they parted at Pemberley.

How might I possibly accept a life with him when my future with my Bennet family is so uncertain?

As much as she had appreciated his comforting presence and his reassurance during those last days at Pemberley, Mr. Darcy’s magnificent Derbyshire estate, she had to wonder if his sentiments would stand the test of what she was now embarking upon.

Her life was no longer defined by excellent breeding, untold wealth, status, and privilege by virtue of noble birth. The thing that had once bonded Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy – both their mothers being the daughters of peers – was no more. On the other hand, a future between them was not entirely out of the question in light of what she suspected would be her wholly reduced circumstances.

Though I am not truly the granddaughter of a peer, I am indeed a gentleman’s daughter. This alone makes Mr. Darcy and me equals.

Elizabeth could not deny that Mr. Darcy’s finding her Bennet family entirely objectionable when he met them last year might indeed prove insurmountable. She now knew enough of the story of how Mr. Darcy had come to Netherfield with his friend Mr. Charles Bingley at Michaelmas. During that time, he had been made aware of life-changing information, and he simply would not rest until he knew it all.

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Ms. Dixon, what a great start to Book Two. I am excited to read more and look forward to it with much anticipation. Thank you for visiting my blog and giving my readers a glimpse into this second book. I know they will be as thrilled as I am. 

P.O. Dixon is having a giveaway and I know you will all be happy to hear about it. She is giving away one eBook edition of Everything Will Change: Book Two, So Far Away, internationally, and one paperback edition, US mailing address required. Please leave a comment below to be entered in the giveaway. Also please let me know if you will be entering for the eBook or the paperback. Thank you for commenting and don't forget to include your email address for contact purposes should you be the winner. Giveaway ends at midnight April 6, 2015. Good luck to all and again, thank you, Ms. Dixon, for being my guest. It is always such a pleasure to have you visit. Thank you also, for hosting such a generous giveaway. It is much appreciated.