Review: SONS AND DAUGHTERS by Karen V. Wasylowski

Karen V. Wasylowski has done it again with Sons and Daughters, an often hilarious, sometimes soul-wrenching, but always engaging tale as she continues the saga begun in the delicious Darcy and Fitzwilliam: A Tale of a Gentleman and an Officer.

True to the title, Darcy's and Fitzwilliam's children dominate the story. Darcy has three and Fitzwilliam nine. (Nine, you say? The man has worked overtime.) The book spans twenty years and we laugh and cry along with both clans as the parents age and their children grow and navigate the always difficult transition to adulthood.

Ms. Wasylowski’s flowing prose keeps you turning the pages to see what will happen next. With so many characters, something new, perhaps funny and perhaps heartbreaking, always happens. Like the time when the children, mostly preadolescent, find some erotic prints Fitzwilliam saved and aren’t sure what to make of them, although they’re certain they must be scandalous, to when Fitz’s wife, Amanda, has her ninth child in a very difficult birth.

Ms. Wasylowski’s is a master at writing the emotion of both adults and children, especially as she shows how the children’s feelings change as they mature. She also has a good ear for realistic dialog, whether the character is child or adult, male or female. At times, the boys are disgustingly boys, and the girls, while perhaps a little nicer, are the boys' matches in every way. And the parents, as parents do, yell and threaten as well as love their children to distraction.

I only wish the book was longer. With so many characters, Ms. Wasylowski by necessity had to skim over some stories. I’d like to know more about George and Kathy, and Anne Marie and Mr. Wentworth. Maybe a few novellas?

But if you want more fun with Darcy and Fitzwilliam, read Sons and Daughters.

Thank you all,

Linda

Book provided by the author

Interview with Jane Austen Author, C. Allyn Pierson

Today I interview C. Allyn Pierson, author of the Pride and Prejudice sequel, Mr. Darcy's Little Sister. Here I ask her to explain in more detail some of the background of the book's events.

Leave a comment for a chance to win one of the two copies of Mr. Darcy's Little Sister which Sourcebooks has generously provided. C. Allyn will select the winners. Check the comments to see who won, and how to contact me to claim your book. If I cannot contact the winners within a week of their selection, I will award the books to alternates. Note, Sourcebooks can mail to USA and Canada addresses only. Contest runs through September 30.

C. Allyn selected the winners Danielle Thorne and Susan. Congratulations! I've sent you both emails. If I do not hear from you by October 8, I will select alternates.

1. Mr. Darcy's Little Sister is a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Why do you think people still love Pride and Prejudice?

Pride and Prejudice is one of the greatest love stories of all time, but I think the characters resonate particularly well with modern readers. I jokingly tell my friends “Of course women love Mr. Darcy—how could you not love a man who will actually admit he is wrong…and then change?!” We have all had the experience of misjudging someone and later finding that we were mistaken, but I think Elizabeth Bennet has a personality which modern women can recognize and relate to, as well, with her wit and humor and her common sense, as well as for her desire to marry for affection, not just for money, which was not the norm among the upper classes during the Regency. The film versions of Pride and Prejudice have also made the story accessible to more people by giving them a visual image of the characters, clothing, and lifestyle of the Regency Era. The 1995 BBC version with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle is particularly accurate to both the book and the time period. The other thing that makes Jane Austen accessible to modern readers is the intimacy of her portraits. Pride and Prejudice is not a story on an epic scale, but one which takes place in a small drawing room or in a private ballroom, which is the way people actually live their lives.

2. Georgiana Darcy comes of age in Mr. Darcy's Little Sister. Tell us about the society rituals required of a Regency lady making her debut.

The coming-out in society of a young woman of the peerage or gentry classes was the most important event of her life, determining the future course of her adult life. The London Season was a gigantic marriage mart where the young women tried to meet and capture the fancy of a gentleman of suitable fortune and become engaged to him. Most girls debuted at age 17 or eighteen, but there was not a strict rule on that. An eldest daughter might be debuted a bit early because her younger sisters were usually not admitted to adult society until the elder one or two daughters were engaged. Hence, Lady Catherine de Bourgh’s shock when Elizabeth Bennet told her that all the Bennet girls were “out” at one time. Before their debuts girls were seen but not heard and young men were expected to act as if they did not exist. When they made their “come-out” they began appearing at adult entertainments such as balls and were allowed to dance and talk to the gentlemen at public events.

One of the important rites of passage was to be presented at Court. The court presentation for girls was at what was called a Drawing Room, and she had to be sponsored by an older woman, not her mother, who had been presented and had good standing in society. A sponsor could not present two girls on the same day. The young woman would wear a court gown, predominantly white, which in the Regency Era was a fashion from about 50 years earlier- tight corseted bodice which was off the shoulders, and a skirt over the wide hoops such as are seen in paintings of Marie Antoinette. The gown was required to have a train 3 yards long, and she was required to wear a plume of ostrich feathers in the back of her hair. The girls were lined up to be presented in order from highest to lowest rank. When a young woman’s turn came her sponsor gave the debutante’s card to the lord-in-waiting and the girl was then admitted to the Presence Chamber, as the lord spread her train behind her. The debutante then walked up toward the throne and did a court curtsey (which was a very deep curtsey which brought her knee almost to the floor), rose gracefully, then backed out of the room without tripping over her train, never turning her back on the Queen, or whichever members of the royal family were present.

3. A large part of the story is Georgiana’s abduction. Tell us a little about the history of abduction of heiresses.

Because of the strictures of 19th Century society on the chaperonage of young women to ensure that their reputations were not damaged—she could not even ride in a closed carriage alone with a single man. In addition, under English law all of a woman’s property became her husband’s when they married, so there were a number of ways that unscrupulous men could take advantage of a woman.

If a man could hold a woman in confinement overnight, it would be assumed that she was no longer a virgin and she would be shunned by society. In this circumstance her family might agree to allow the man to marry her, if the girl would agree, or pay him off to get him to keep quiet about the event since her only other option was to live the rest of her life in seclusion. The young woman’s parents would be socially damaged for not protecting their daughter from being abducted and this would also damage the other children in the family. Voluntary elopement was considered disgraceful because an unsanctioned marriage was disapproved of when dowries and inheritances were involved, but even more disgraceful would be eloping and not reappearing married, such as could have happened with Lydia Bennet in Pride and Prejudice. The social consequences were the same whether the young woman was voluntarily eloping or was abducted. In either case, she was “ruined.”

Another possibility for a man who wanted a young woman’s fortune was a forced marriage. The marriage laws of England made it virtually impossible to do this because, unless they had an expensive “special license,” the couple was required to have the banns read in their parish church three Sundays in a row before the ceremony took place and be married by a minister of the Church of England. However, the laws of Scotland were very different, even though both countries were united under the same ruler. In Scotland the couple merely had to stand up together and acknowledge that they were married—they did not even need a minister. For this reason, a man could take an unwilling bride to Gretna Green, the nearest Scottish town to the main trunk road from London, and marry her, often by the accommodating local blacksmith. The term “over the anvil” was a slang expression for this type of marriage. Once the couple was married the girl’s family could have the marriage annulled if she was underage, but, again, her reputation would be ruined and she would be “damaged goods” and no other man would want to marry her. Thus the family often decided to let the marriage stand, no matter how unsavory the groom was. A limiting factor for this type of marriage was that it was about a three day trip by coach to the border, making it quite expensive.

I took advantage of these circumstances in Mr. Darcy’s Little Sister. An important part of her abduction, one which added confusion for her relatives, was that Georgiana’s companion was also abducted; giving her a chaperone for the entire time she was gone. This circumstance eventually helped them untangle the plot, since a highwayman or other robber would not care about her reputation, but a manipulative man who wished for Georgiana to be able to rejoin society with him as her husband would care.

4. Col. Fitzwilliam plays a major part in Georgiana’s story. Why did you pick him?

I always found the colonel an interesting character in Pride and Prejudice. We really don’t know much about him except that he is very gentlemanly and easy to talk to, and that he is the younger son of an earl, and so did not have much money. He makes it clear that he finds Elizabeth very attractive, but that he must marry a woman of good fortune since he could not support a wife in any elegant style on his pay as an officer. He is both perfectly amiable and quite pragmatic about matrimony, as many people were at the time. I was always intrigued by the question of why the colonel was Georgiana’s guardian with Darcy, rather than his elder brother, who would be the future head of the Fitzwilliam family when he inherited the estate —it seemed that the colonel’s brother would be a natural choice as Georgiana’s guardian. I wanted to explore what the colonel’s character really was and why his brother was not her other guardian.

5. Mr. Darcy's Little Sister has the familiar Pride and Prejudice characters doing unexpected things. Without giving too much away, tell us about both Col. Fitzwilliam’s new occupation and Mr. Darcy’s role.

As part of my interest in the colonel, I decided that there was much more depth to his personality than had been revealed in Pride and Prejudice. I put him into the Horse Guards, which is one of the most desirable of the cavalry units, and which also had an important role in protecting the royal family. This gave the colonel access to the highest levels of the government and allowed him to have contact with both the Prince Regent and his ministers.

I felt that once Elizabeth married Darcy that her perspectives would change because she would be exposed to a much wider society than that of Hertfordshire. She would have contact with some of those in the peerage and be more aware of issues of national importance, and she would learn that her husband, although he would not pander to the dissipated elements of Society, would be well known among the haute ton. It would not be surprising if Darcy’s reserved personality and upright morals would give him a reputation for trustworthiness with the Prince Regent.

6. What do you have coming up next?

I have at least a couple more P&P sequels I would like to write, exploring the Darcys’ marriage beyond the first year, and also telling the story of Anne de Bourgh. I would also like to write a modern suspense series which I have outlined. The main problem is finding the time! One of the advantages of living in the Midwest is that the winters are so cold and snowy that you don’t want to go out- a great situation for a writer!


MR. DARCY’S LITTLE SISTER BY C. ALLYN PIERSON—IN STORES SEPTEMBER 2010

Pride and Prejudice continues...
Georgiana Darcy grows up and goes in pursuit of happiness and true love, much to her big brother's consternation

A whole new side of Mr. Darcy...

He's the best big brother, generous to a fault. Protective, never teases. But over his dead body is any rogue or fortune hunter going to get near his little sister! (Unfortunately, any gentleman who wants to court Georgiana is going to have the same problem...)

So how's a girl ever going to meet the gentleman of her dreams?

About the Author
C. Allyn Pierson is the nom-de-plume of a physician, who has combined her many years of interest in the works of Jane Austen and the history of Regency England into this sequel to Pride and Prejudice. She lives with her family and three dogs in Fort Dodge, Iowa. http://www.callynpierson.com/

Guest Kara Louise: Why Regency Women Sailed to America

Today my guest is Kara Louise, author of the Pride and Prejudice retelling, Darcy's Voyage. In keeping with the nautical theme, Kara enlightens us about the reasons Regency women sailed to America.

Leave a comment for a chance to win one of the two copies of Darcy's Voyage which Sourcebooks has generously provided. Kara will select the winners. Check the comments to see who won, and how to contact me to claim your book. If I cannot contact the winners within a week of their selection, I will award the books to alternates. Note, Sourcebooks can mail to USA and Canada addresses only. Contest runs through September 30.

Kara has selected the winners Aik and BabyBlue22. Congratulations! I've sent you both emails. If I do not hear from you by October 8, I will select alternates.

Welcome, Kara!

I so appreciate the opportunity to visit with you and you readers this morning. In my book, Darcy’s Voyage, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy meet on a ship bound for America. They have completely different reasons for being on the ship, and although they may not have been typical for the time, I did endeavor to create plausible motivations for each of them to make such an arduous voyage.

Mr. Darcy was traveling to America to retrieve his sister. She had accompanied her companion, Mrs. Annesley, after being rescued from Mr. Wickham’s clutches when he attempted to elope with her. Mrs. Annesley’s son and his wife were living in America and she wished to travel there so she could see their new baby. She thought it would be best to take Georgiana with her to keep her as far away from Wickham’s influence as possible. Darcy reluctantly agrees. When Mrs. Annesley becomes sick and cannot return, Darcy sets out on the ship that he owns, Pemberley’s Promise, to bring his sister back himself.

Elizabeth, on the other hand, had been invited to join her aunt and uncle Gardiner, who had traveled to America on business. Since they were going to be there several months, they extended an invitation for both Jane and Elizabeth to come over. Jane declines, but Elizabeth is thrilled for this opportunity. I envisioned her as the type of young lady who would love adventure. We know that she loved to read, and I believe she devoured books on different cultures and exotic lands, prompting a real desire to see firsthand those faraway places. Thus, she grasped at this opportunity to travel outside the realm of her neighborhood and country and sail to America.

What were some of the reasons a young woman might sail to America in the Regency era? In doing research, I found the most common reason for a woman to travel was to find a better life. More often than not, she would be accompanying her husband and have her family in tow. For those who had no means of improving their situation in England, moving to this new world gave them a new hope. They likely scrimped and saved for years; the hope for a new and improved life the only thing keeping them going. Yet in reality, they had no assurances that their lives would improve in the new world, let alone that they would make it across the treacherous ocean alive.

Some traveled to America in the hopes of finding a husband, possibly having secured an offer of marriage through the mail. There were those who would be joining other family members who had made the journey before them. I read of a woman who had traveled to America to join her brother whose wife had died. She was going to be his housekeeper and care for his children. I am sure there were women like Mrs. Annesley, who traveled across the sea to visit her married son or daughter and see their new baby for the first time.

It was interesting to read the names of passengers from the website www.theshipslist.com. Its earliest entry is 1819, and there I found myself wondering about the widow with five children, or Miss Hargrave, or Mrs. Thompson or Mrs. Wings, who all stayed in steerage. This site doesn’t give stories, only names, but I imagine they had a lot of different stories to tell.

My idea for the ship Pemberley’s Promise, which is owned by Mr. Darcy, was a ship that would have been structurally sound and managed with the greatest propriety. This vision was the result of reading about the ship the Jeanie Johnson, which took thousands of Irish across to Canada without one passenger ever dying. The reason for such a spotless record was apparently attributed to the compassionate nature of the captain and the cleanliness in which they kept the steerage compartment. They would leave the hatch open as much as possible, bring bedding up for airing, and encourage passengers to walk up on the deck (something Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth do quite frequently!). Although this ship sailed later in the 1800s, it captured my interest and belief that the conditions on board any ship back then would have been decent or positively horrendous, depending on whether the ship’s owner, captain, and crew cared about the passengers and their fate.

I believe Mr. Darcy, his captain, and the crew would have striven to make it one of the best—and safest—ships sailing at that time. And all that transpires on that ship, Pemberley’s Promise, changes the course for Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy once they return to England.



DARCY’S VOYAGE BY KARA LOUISE – IN STORES SEPTEMBER 2010
A Tale of Uncharted Love on the Open Seas

In this enchanting and highly original retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet sets out for the new world aboard the grand ship Pemberley’s Promise. She’s prepared for an uneventful voyage until a chance encounter with the handsome, taciturn Mr. Darcy turns her world upside down.

When Elizabeth falls ill, Darcy throws convention overboard in a plan that will bind them to each other more deeply than he ever could have imagined. But the perils of their ocean voyage pale in comparison to the harsh reality of society’s rules that threaten their chance at happiness. When they return to the lavish halls of England, will their love survive?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ever since Kara Louise discovered and fell in love with the writings of Jane Austen she has spent her time answering the "what happened next" and the "what ifs" in Elizabeth's and Darcy's story. She has written 6 novels based on Pride and Prejudice. She lives with her husband in Wichita, Kansas. For more information, please visit her website, Jane Austen’s Land of Ahhhs, http://ahhhs.net/.

Review: MR. DARCY'S LITTLE SISTER

Spies! Swashbuckling! The Perils of Pauline!

What?

C. Allyn Pierson's Mr. Darcy's Little Sister is another delightful Jane Austen sequel. But what starts out as a wonderful Jane-esque romp rapidly becomes so much more.

As the title indicates, the story centers on Georgiana Darcy. Georgiana, painfully shy and terribly unsure of herself after the Wickham debacle, must now emerge from her sheltered Pemberley cocoon and make her London debut. But long-standing habits hinder her. Not helping are the patronizing attitudes of her co-guardians, her reserved brother, Darcy, and their cousin, amiable Colonel Fitzwilliam. The most difficult person for her to deal with is Col. Fitzwilliam, who pats her on the head as if she were still a little girl.

But in London lurks The Perils of Georgiana. So-called suitors, desperate for her large dowry, abound. Blackguards kidnap her. Rescue arrives in the person of Col. Fitzwilliam, his easy-going mask flung aside as his sword flashes in true swashbuckling style. How could Georgiana have been so wrong about him?

Meanwhile, the Prince Regent drafts a man of unquestioned loyalty and sober mien to undertake a clandestine mission in war-torn France. The failure of this operation could topple the English government. Which of our Pride and Prejudice characters does he select for this dangerous task? You'll never guess.

With an ear for Austen's prose and a thorough knowledge of the Regency, Ms. Pierson weaves these slightly outlandish threads together into a tale true to the era. Her dialog sparkles, her descriptions are beautiful, and yet another view of Darcy's and Elizabeth's happy marriage is always a treat.

And we thought Jane Austen had already revealed everything there was to know about Pride and Prejudice's well-loved characters. Ms. Pierson shows us their wonderful hidden depths.

Thank you all,
Linda
ARC provided by Sourcebooks