Pride and Prejudice - **Giveaway** Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Sharon Lathan

Sharon Lathon has been kind enough to offer a copy of Mr. and Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy for giveaway.

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Pride and Prejudice - Thoughts - Lost in Austen

I loved this series when it was on TV and as soon as it was released it was proudly added to my Austen collection. If you are an Austen fan who has wished time and time again to jump head first into your favourite Austen novel I would highly recommend this series - although you may change your mind about the wisdom of wanting to pay 18th Century England a visit by the end of it.

We follow Amanda an avid fan of Pride and Prejudice who has spent her whole life measuring up every man she has ever been involved with to Mr Darcy. And then she meets Elizabeth Bennett in her bathroom and she gets to experience her favourite novel more up close and personal than she ever imagined.

This is utterly brilliant. I think we all have some romanticized idea of what the time was like and how we would act if some magic event whisked us into the pages of our favourite Austen novel and the hero of the moment fell head over heels in love with us. Well it is a lovely dream and makes for some nice swoon worthy imaginings on our part but chances are we would be beating at the pages trying to get back to flushing toilets and electricity.

To begin with we just wouldn’t fit in. To everyone else we would act funny, talk funny and even walk funny. We would stick out like a sore thumb. And that is just what happens to Amanda. She gets herself into one embarrassing situation after another and at times has no idea what is going on. And that is what I love about the series. I usually cannot stand embarrassing bit in programmes – it is one of the reasons I do not watch reality TV, but seeing Amanda facing situations and reacting in a way that any 21st Century woman would was priceless.

And, to top things off, this turns everything we know about favourite characters on its head, chucks it in a blender and zaps it up a bit.

To quote Amanda ~~

“Duh-uh-uh! Hear that George? That’s Jane Austen spinning in her grave like a cat in a tumble-dryer”

And the thing is that all of Amanda’s dreams of Mr Darcy go up in smoke when she meets him. After all at the beginning he is an arrogant, pompous prat and it is funny having Amanda seeing him this way and not as the romantic hero of her dreams.

“Elizabeth, what can I say? You’re welcome to him. Miserable sod”

But, my most favourite spin has to be the tilt that is put on Wickham. He is a darling in this and is a true support to Amanda when she needs it.

“Everyone you love, Miss Price, will one day prise your finger from the raft and watch you drown. Everyone Miss Price. Except for me”

I cannot recommend this show enough. It is only 4 hours long (1 hour an episode) but is an Austen fans dream come true.



**The images do not belong to me**

Pride and Prejudice - Love, Lies and Lizzie by Rosie Rushton

When Mrs Bennet inherits enough money to move into the kind of village she has always dreamed of, her daughters find themselves swept up in a glamorous life of partying & country pursuits. However, Lizzie & her sisters soon discover the truth.

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Mrs Bennet has finally been able to realize her dream of living the life of pims and garden parties. And it is in this new world that her daughters Jane and Lizzie meet the men of their dreams, or in Lizzie's case - NIGHTMARES!

While Jane is falling head over heals in love with the caring Charlie, Lizzie is being driven mad by the prideful Jame Darcy who is dead set against Public School students.

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I got off on a pretty bad footing with Lizzie in this book.

Why?

The very first paragraph.

"So you dumped him? Just like that? In the middle of the school trip? Are you crazy?"

So I spent the rest of the book until it was explained just why she dumped her boyfriend being not all that fond of her. 

Love, Lies and Lizzie follows the skeleton plot of Pride and Prejudice with the characters having the same prominent characteristics as in Austen's work.  

Mrs Bennett is just as over the top,ridiculous and indulging of Lydia - although I found her ten times for annoying in this re-telling. And Lydia is just as stupid and selfish as ever. In fact I found her for so in this, there were risks enough back in Austen's times but NOW those risks have multiplied and this stupid girl gives no consideration to her actions and how it it affecting her family. 

All in all a quick and entertaining modern re-telling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. 

Pride and Prejudice - Guest Austen Author - Sharon Lathan

*curtain rises*

Say hello to Austen Author Sharon Lathan everyone! 

*clap, clap, clap*

Austen and the Romance Novel

by Sharon Lathan

For all that some refuse to label Jane Austen’s novels as “romance” (and indeed they are more than simply that) there is no doubt that finding one’s “true love” was a large part of the plot line. Elizabeth Bennet, Anne Elliot, Catherine Morland, Emma Woodhouse, the Dashwood sisters, and Fanny Price ended their respective novels with mates perfect for a host of reasons, but with love a prime factor.

Was Austen writing of a popular notion for the era?

Historically in England, once out in Society a woman had one duty to fulfill: Find a suitable match. By “suitable” the objective was not a man who one loved but one who possessed wealth and rank. A woman who did not secure a good marriage would forever be reliant upon her family or the charity of others to survive. While this may have worked out well for some, in general marriage was the only hope, thus requiring her to make a very wise choice.

This concept is foreign to us yet for the lady of the past it was the way of things. Most women of the gentry class or aristocracy gave scant consideration to choosing out of deep passion. Of course, women are by nature sensitive creatures so emotions often got in the way! Hence the “wisdom” of allowing rational parents to become involved, the daughter knowing that her future security was at stake and thus trusting that a potential husband’s pedigree and wealth was thoroughly examined before he was offered. Indeed this was the whole point of staying within the ton and meeting at places like Almack’s Assembly where only those who were of the best quality and had passed inspection hung out!

Yet by the 18th century the idea of marrying with love as an incentive was gaining ground. Both males and females were deciding that this could add to the union in a positive way. Go figure! However, while this notion advanced and was desirable, practicality did not quickly disappear. Parental approval was necessary for the woman under 21 to marry and although a man certainly had greater freedom in his choices, he too may be beholden to a parent’s pocketbook or Society’s favor. Dashing off to Gretna Green solved the problem of marrying without approval but in most cases only led to worse complications.

By the way, Gretna Green was not the Las Vegas of historic Britain! It was simply the first town over the Scotland border. Scotland and England were not united at this time and did not share the same laws, so a marriage could be conducted anywhere in Scotland without parental consent or proper reading of the banns.

The Regency was an era of high romanticism to be sure, but it followed closely on the heels of the previous eras where ideals were quite different. Strict rules of conduct between the sexes were rigidly enforced in large part because of the rise in romantic sensibilities. You see this in the response of Mrs. Bennet to Lizzy refusing Mr. Collins. To her mother, a woman from the previous generation, marriage to a man with a career and who was heir to Longbourn was far more valuable then waiting for love or passion as a deciding factor. Conversely the effect upon the family by Lydia’s actions (if Mr. Darcy had not saved the day) reveal the penalty for behaving with passionate emotions reigning.

Thus the answer to my question - Was Austen writing of a popular notion for the era? - is yes. However, in each of her novels she tempered the belief in marrying for great love and passion with pragmatism. Each of her heroines married men out of love but they were also well established or as in the case of Mr. Darcy fabulously rich!

That definitely sounds like a romance novel to me! What do you think? And of the Austen lovers, which couple is your favorite and why?

Sharon Lathan bio--

Sharon Lathan is the best-selling author of The Darcy Saga seven volume sequel series to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. Sharon began writing in 2005 and her first

novel, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One was published by

Sourcebooks Landmark in 2009. Her eighth novel will be released in April 2013, The Passions of Dr. Darcy an epic tale of an English physician in Georgian Era India.

For more information about Sharon, the Regency Era, and her novels, visit her website/blog at: www.sharonlathan.net or search for her on Facebook and Twitter. She also invites you to join her and other Austen novelists at Austen Authors: www.austenauthors.com

Pride and Prejudice - Pride and Prejudice, Canine Style!

BEWARE THE CUTENESS!

What’s the story, Wishbone?

Who remembers Wishbone?

I remember it as being one of those series on TV that wasn’t regular so every time I cought it on the TV I was glued to it for half an hour.

Moving on.

For those of you who have never heard of Wishbone, it was a TV show where a dog (who could talk to us but not the people in the show) would play out a classic novel.

And guess what?

Pride and Prejudice was one of the episodes.

Furst Impressions (the title taken from the original title of Pride and Prejudice. First Impressions)

I am not sure if you can get this on DVD but I am sure if that marvelous invention YouTube would be helpful ;)

Wishbone as Mr Darcy (ain't he cute?)

Pride and Prejudice - My Favourite 'Pride and Prejudice' Character - Mr Bennett

Mr Bennett played by Donald Sutherland

My favourite character from Pride and Prejudice is Mr Bennett, and this is purely my own opinion (but of course I am all knowing ;)) but I think that he has to be one of the most overlooked and unsung gents of Austen’s work.

Seriously, this guy deserves a medal.

Why?

Benjamin Whitrow as Mr Bennett 

• Nervous and neurotic wife.
• 6 women in the house – need I say more.

Those 2 points alone put him in the line for sainthood in my eyes.

But he is by no means perfect. He is weak willed, and does not take on all of his responsibilities to his family as he should. He is more than happy to lock himself into his library and allow his wife to get on with the task of seeing to his children. Perhaps appropriate for the time but he is still the father and he had the final say it whatever was decided on.

I think that it is his faults that make him that little bit more likable – especially as he does register hid faults. He knows his own character and does not try to fob the blame for anything that occurs because of his lack of motivation onto anyone else. Now that is the mark of a true person I think.

So, who is your favourite character from Pride and Prejudice?

Pride and Prejudice - Some Randomness on Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

Welcome to Week 2 of 7 Weeks of Jane Austen.

This week is…

Pride and Prejudice Week!

To get things started here are some thoughts on the original novel.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

So begins Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen's witty comedy of manners--one of the most popular novels of all time--that features splendidly civilized sparring between the proud Mr. Darcy and the prejudiced Elizabeth Bennet as they play out their spirited courtship in a series of eighteenth-century drawing-room intrigues. 

I think that Pride and Prejudice may well be Jane Austen’s most famous work, or maybe it is that Elizabeth Bennett and Mr Darcy are one of the most famous literary couple next to Heathcliff and Cathy…

But moving on swiftly, I remember one of the first things that sprang to mind when I first read Pride and Prejudice and that was, “Why the heck are there so many letters?”. It’s true, as soon as I came across a page italic writing I cringes knowing it was going to be followed my two or three more pages…there is something about italic writing that does that to me for some reason or other *shiver*.

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite Jane Austen’s but mainly because of the supporting cast. I love Mr Bennett and the Gardiner’s. To me they definitely make it worth the read and all the more enjoyable especially as most of the time I wanted to bang Darcy and Elizabeth’s heads together and yell at them to act like adults and communicate without jumping to conclusion. Buy hey, without the misunderstandings there would be no story.