Jenetta James...Reimagining the Places of Pride & Prejudice

As part of the Blog Tour for Suddenly Mrs. Darcy, author Jenetta James is visiting More 

Agreeably Engaged and I couldn't be happier. Thank you for being my guest today. I enjoyed following your path along Elizabeth's footsteps. I'm also thrilled that the eBook and paperback are now available on Amazon AND getting good reviews! Congratulations! 

Exciting news for you, dear readers, there is a trade paperback giveaway!

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In Elizabeth’s footsteps: reimagining the places of Pride & Prejudice

Pride & prejudice is one of those novels with a set of iconic locations, completely redolent of the heart of its story.  Pemberley, Longbourn, Netherfield, Hunsford; all have such powerful identities within the narrative and most of us readers have fixed ideas of what these places look and feel like. Who amongst us has not imagined our arrival at the Netherfield ball amongst the hubbub of the neighbourhood and the flickering of Mr Bingley’s candles? Have we not all thought of the rambles we would go on around Rosings park and the corners of the Longbourn garden we would chose to read our book in? They are all places of great character.

But, the writer of JAFF is effectively forced to play around with them. In Suddenly Mrs Darcy for example, Elizabeth sees Pemberley as a wife and its mistress rather than as an awe struck guest and that inevitably influences how the place is presented. More broadly there are two approaches to place within fan fiction. There are those stories which take our beloved characters to places wildly beyond the world of their creator – such as other countries far and wide. This is a really fun thing to do but I am not sure that I am quite brave enough for it! The other take, which I have adopted in Suddenly Mrs Darcy is to take them to places which were within the contemplation of Jane Austen, but which are not really explored in canon.

The most obvious of these is the fabled Darcy House – Mr Darcy’s London town house. I live in London and love it so imagining this is very close to my heart. The reality is that I am a bit of a city girl and maybe that is reflected in my book. The plot of Suddenly Mrs Darcy sees our lovely couple spending an unscheduled summer at Darcy House and for reasons which it would spoil the novel to reveal, Mr Darcy also has another London property which sees some dramatic action.  I mean them to be luxurious and well-appointed (…what else where Mr Darcy is concerned?!) but also to have a sense of the city itself. I hope that readers enjoy visiting them both….

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Book Blurb:

Elizabeth Bennet never imagined her own parents would force her to marry a virtual stranger. But when Mrs. Bennet accuses Fitzwilliam Darcy of compromising her daughter, that is exactly the outcome. Trapped in a seemingly loveless marriage and far from home, she grows suspicious of her new husband’s heart and further, suspects he is hiding a great secret. Is there even a chance at love given the happenstance of their hasty marriage?

 

Author Bio:

Jenetta James is a lawyer, writer, mother and taker-on of too much. She grew up in Cambridge and read history at Oxford University where she was a scholar and president of the Oxford University History Society. After graduating, she took to the law and now practises full time as a barrister. Over the years she has lived in France, Hungary and Trinidad as well as her native England. Jenetta currently lives in London with her husband and children where she enjoys reading, laughing and playing with Lego. Suddenly Mrs Darcy is her first novel.

Links:

Blog: http://jenettajames.merytonpress.com

Twitter: https://twitter.com/JenettaJames

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenettajameswriter?fref=ts

Available at Amazon

Schedule:

4/20:Excerpt & Giveaway at The Calico Critic
4/21: Review at Songs and Stories
4/22:  Guest Post & Giveaway at My Jane Austen Book Club
4/23: Guest Post & Giveaway at So Little Time…
4/24: Review at Diary of an Eccentric
4/25: Excerpt & Giveaway at My Love for Jane Austen
4/26: Review at Babblings of a Bookworm
4/27: Guest Post & Giveaway at Austenesque Reviews
4/28: Guest Post at Songs and Stories
4/29: Excerpt & Giveaway at Best Sellers and Best Stellars
4/30: Review at My Kids Led Me Back to Pride and Prejudice
5/1: Review at Margie's Must Reads
5/2: Guest Post & Giveaway at More Agreeably Engaged
5/3: Excerpt & Giveaway at Laughing with Lizzie

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Thank you again for being my guest today, Ms. James. It has been a pleasure having you visit my blog. I know you have been busy with your tour and I am happy you could stop by here. I wish you much success with your new book and I hope to see many more from you in the future. For you readers that have not had a chance to visit some of the other stops on the tour, the schedule is above. I hope you can find a few minutes to go back and catch up on these interesting posts and excerpts.

Meryton Press and Michele Reed are giving away one trade paperback to a lucky reader and the giveaway is international. Be sure to leave a comment and your email address or other contact info to be entered in the giveaway. Good luck to all. Giveaway ends May 8, 2015 at midnight.