Here is the next list of modern-day writers who, in their own way, have paid homage to Jane Austen’s legendary stories. Each of these authors has written two books either inspired by Austen’s characters or based on the author herself.
They appear in alphabetical order:
Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife by Linda Berdoll
LINDA BERDOLL
“Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife”
Released on May 1, 2004
The Darcys begin their married life as one of the happiest; most in-love couples imaginable, picking up the story after their wedding, with flashbacks to the days after the courtship, when Elizabeth and Darcy’s passion for each other grew stronger. After a spicy wedding night, the couple finds their compatibility extends far beyond their matched wits. As Elizabeth settles into her role as mistress of a large household, her sister Jane grapples with her own, less passionate marriage to Charles Bingley. Thrown in as well are an illegitimate young man who just might be Darcy’s son, a vengeful serving man who plagues the Darcys and develops an unhealthy fixation on Elizabeth, and suspicions of infidelity.
NOTE: This book was originally self-published in 1999 named The Bar Sinister.
Darcy & Elizabeth by Linda Berdoll
LINDA BERDOLL
“Darcy & Elizabeth: Nights and Days at Pemberley”
Released May 1, 2006
Things start off sweetly as the terminally dignified Darcy returns from the continent to greet wife Elizabeth and the twins she has borne in his absence. Despite initial annoyance engendered by Elizabeth’s recuperation, during which sex is rather out of the question, hearth and home soon return to normal. However, dealing with Darcy’s conniving aunt, Lady De Bourgh, as well as the machinations of his troublesome sister-in-law, Lydia, and his arch-rival and nemesis Wickham (here truly evil), threaten their domestic happiness. Elizabeth takes all this circumspectly but with keen concern; between bouts of marital jollity, she provides Darcy with wise and commendable counsel.
Remembrance of the Past by Lory Lilian
LORY LILIAN
“Remembrance of the Past”
Released September 2, 2009
In this ‘what if’ story, Elizabeth Bennet and her relatives – Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner – are in London, ready to start their tour to the Lakes in June. During this time, Elizabeth’s path crosses with Mr. Darcy’s again. However, Mr. Darcy is not alone in London: besides his close family – Georgiana and Colonel Fitzwilliam – an old and dear friend has returned and claimed a well-deserved place in their lives. This is a story about hopes and desires, about losses and fears, about second chances and happiness.
Rainy Days by Lory Lilian
LORY LILIAN
“Rainy Days”
Released October 10, 2009
Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are caught in a rainstorm two days before the Netherfield ball, and they are forced to spend a few hours alone together where they talk, listen, and better understand each other’s feelings. However, even when original pride and prejudice are overcome, new obstacles arise. The road to true love is never smooth, and surprises along the way enhance the passion of the journey.
Relations Such As These by Sara O'Brien
SARA O’BRIEN
“Relations Such As These”
Released on November 4, 2009
What if Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet met before the Meryton assembly while touring the Netherfield estate? What if his relations were just as questionable as hers? This book explores the possibilities of what might have happened had the proud Mr. Darcy met Elizabeth Bennet under different circumstances. Would he act differently, or would he maintain his haughty demeanor? Furthermore, what if his relations were less than desirable compared to hers?
Blame It On the Tea by Sara O'Brien
SARA O’BRIEN
“Blame It On The Tea”
Released on May 19, 2010
When Elizabeth Bennet stays at the Hunsford Parsonage instead of going to Rosings with Mr. & Mrs. Collins, due to a headache, she decides to take a draught with her tea- which changes the outcome of her confrontation with Mr. Darcy. The results will take the couple on an unexpected and thrilling journey of many discoveries, and several twists to a very eventful end.
Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laura Viera Rigler
LAURA VIERA RIGLER
“Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict”
Released on August 3, 2007
Talk about an out-of-body experience. One moment Courtney Stone is a modern-day L.A. career woman lamenting a lost love; the next she is Jane Mansfield, a well-to-do, willowy (though not particularly buxom, unlike her twentieth-century namesake) lady in nineteenth-century England. What could account for this transplant of time and place? Courtney has no opportunity to ruminate over such matters; she must quickly learn to interact with inhabitants of the brave old world in which she finds herself. There’s her mother, determined to marry 30-year-old Jane off to handsome Mr. Edgeworth; her artist father, more inclined to his daughter’s free-spirited frame of mind; and faithful servant Miss Barnes, who helps her mistress manage everything from chaperones to corsets. It’s not long before Jane finds the lines blurred between her two vastly different selves.
Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laura Viera Rigler
LAURA VIERA RIGLER
“Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict”
Released on April 27, 2010
In this sequel, 19th-century Jane Mansfield switches bodies and milieus with contemporary L.A. girl Courtney Stone. As Jane grasps the idea that she’s a different person in an unimaginable world, and grapples with the radically liberal social mores, dress and language, she leans on Jane Austen’s novels as touchstones to reality. Kate Reading performs the first-person narration with a cultured tones and accent befitting an upper-class Regency-era young lady. Her skill as a versatile voice performer becomes evident as dialogue introduces modern American characters, and she skillfully modulates her accent, dialect and tones to accommodate them. The romantically suspenseful story and the entertaining vocal interpretation will keep romance listeners enthralled and amused.
Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners by Josephine Ross
JOSEPHINE ROSS (with Henrietta Webb)
“Jane Austen’s Guide to Good Manners: Compliments, Charades & Horrible Blunders”
Released on October 3, 2006
This book is a light-hearted, insightful handbook written as if intended for Jane’s original Regency Era readers. When Anna, Jane Austen’s young niece, sent her a novel for “literary comment,” Jane loved everything about it, except its utter disregard for the manners of the day. The resulting and tender correspondence between the two serves as the foundation for this instructional book. Etiquette and social behavior of the early 1800s come to life in lovely chapters teaching the reader how to pay and return formal “calls,” how to properly refuse a proposal of marriage, who should lead off the dancing at a country-house ball, and what to wear for a morning walk.
Jane Austen: A Companion by Josephine Ross
JOSEPHINE ROSS
“Jane Austen: A Companion”
Released on November 16, 2006
This illuminating, entertaining, up-to-date companion is the only general guide to Jane Austen, her work, and her world. The book explores the literary scene during the time Austen’s works first appeared: the books considered classics then, the “horrid novels” and romances, and the grasping publishers. The book looks at the architecture and decor of Austen’s era that made up “the profusion and elegance of modern taste”: Regency houses for instance, Chippendale furniture, “picturesque scenery.” On the smaller scale the book answers questions that may baffle modern readers of Austen’s work. What, for example, was “hartshorn”? How did Lizzy Bennet “let down” her gown to hide her muddy petticoat? The book shows us the fashions, and the subtle ways Jane Austen used clothes to express character. Courtship, marriage, adultery, class and “rank,” mundane tasks of ordinary life, all appear, as does the wider political and military world–especially the navy, in which her brothers served.
A Marriage Worth the Earning: To Have and to Hold
MARY L. SHERWOOD
“A Marriage Worth the Earning: To Have and to Hold”
Released on May 14, 2009
Darcy and Elizabeth’s first year of marriage commences as idyllic as most newlyweds could hope. But soon, their tranquility departs, and together they must discover the finer art of compromise and understanding. This book follows the lives of Austen’s beloved characters throughout the years, beginning with volume one where Darcy and Elizabeth must learn to put Pride and Prejudice aside and become one united in the love and passion inspired by the original novel.
A Marriage Worth the Earning: For Better for Worse
MARY L. SHERWOOD
“A Marriage Worth the Earning: For Better for Worse”
Released on May 1, 2010
Darcy and Elizabeth’s first year of marriage continues in Volume II of A Marriage Worth the Earning where both husband and wife struggle with more than their fair share of difficulties.
Darcy & Fitzwilliam: A Tale of a Gentleman and an Officer
KAREN WASYLOWSKI
“Darcy and Fitzwilliam: A Tale of a Gentleman and an Officer”
Released on February 1, 2011
Married life is bliss. At least that is what Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam’s cousin Fitzwilliam Darcy would have him believe. But Richard has no intention of stepping into the parson’s mousetrap until he encounters American widow Amanda Penrod at one of London’s innumerous balls. Instantly smitten, Richard suddenly finds himself behaving as foolishly as Mr. Darcy did when he was courting Elizabeth Bennet. While Richard is busy struggling to navigate the unfamiliar seas of romance with Amanda, an unexpected storm in the person of Caroline Bingley threatens to stir up the formerly placid matrimonial waters of the Darcy household.
Georgiana's Story by Karen Wasylowski
KAREN WASYLOWSKI
“Georgiana’s Story”
Released on June 27, 2011
Shy Georgiana Darcy feels duty bound to experience her first season in London society’s marriage mart. She disappointed her brother, Fitzwilliam Darcy, and her cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, once before when she ran off with George Wickham. She is determined this time. Nothing will interfere with her guardians’ dreams for her future again.
Tea with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson
KIM WILSON
“Tea with Jane Austen”
Released on April 1, 2011
Who would not want to sit down with Jane Austen and join her in a cup of tea? Here for the first time is a book that shares the secrets of one of her favorite rituals. Tea figures prominently in Jane Austen’s life and work. At the center of almost every social situation in her novels one finds tea. In Emma, does Miss Bates drink coffee? Of course not: ‘No coffee, I thank you, for me-never take coffee. A little tea if you please.’ In Pride and Prejudice, what is one of the supreme honors Mr. Collins can envision Lady Catherine bestowing on Elizabeth Bennet and her friends? Why, drinking tea with her, naturally. Tea with Jane Austen begins with tea drinking in the morning and ends with tea in the evening, at balls and other gatherings. Each chapter includes a description of how tea was taken at a particular place or time of day, along with history, recipes, excerpts from Austen’s novels and letters and illustrations from the time.
In the Garden with Jane Austen by Kim Wilson
KIM WILSON
“In the Garden with Jane Austen”
Released on April 1, 2011
Jane Austen took a keen interest in flower gardening and kitchen gardening alike. This book strolls through the sorts of gardens that Jane Austen would have known and visited: the gardens of the great estates, cottage gardens, gardens in town, and public gardens and parks. With lush photos, social history, excerpts from the novels, information on her life, and period drawings, In the Garden with Jane Austen brings Jane Austen’s world and Georgian and Regency gardens to life. The book also includes gardens featured in film adaptations of Austen’s novels and provides instructions on creating one’s own Jane Austen garden.
More lists coming soon…
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