Jane Austen State of Mind

It is my pleasure to highlight Elizabeth Rasche's latest novel, A Learned Romance , here on the Jane Austen State of Mind blog. If you love variations that delve into the minds of secondary characters, this book may be right up your alley. I've always found Mary Bennet intriguing and enjoy books that provide insight into her character and look beyond the pedantic sermonizing. To that end, I'd like to welcome the author herself to tell us more about the book. Before we delve into her interview, here is the book blurb/summary: "She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she  grew older; the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning."                    ~Jane Austen, Persuasion, Chapter 4 MARY BENNET HAD NEVER WISHED for anything more than to be known as the meek and pious Bennet sister, the one who sweetly brought peace to her family. BEING THE LAST UNMARRIED BENNET SISTER, the pressure to partake of a Londo...

I would like to welcome Grace Gibson to share her latest book,  Old Boots  . It is a diverting follow-up to the wildly popular and thoroughly entertaining,  Silver Buckles . Before I pass the reigns over to Grace, I thought I'd share a few thoughts on the book. Like Silver Buckles, which is told from Elizabeth's point of view, Old Boots is a first person narrative though this time, from Mr. Darcy's perspective.  I tend to either love or hate the variations I've read that are told from Mr. Darcy's point of view. You might ask why? The ones I dislike typically present an exaggeratedly snobbish, emotionless, or downright dull Darcy. This is not an issue with Old Boots. Darcy is true to character (at least the way I think of him) but also imminently likeable. At the same time, he is fastidious, conflicted, and intelligent. In this variation, it seems many of his defenses are lowered from the start.   In Old Boots, Darcy's relationships with and opinions of the ...

  It is my pleasure to introduce and offer a review of L.M. Romano's debut novel, Forgotten Proposal . In recent months, I've been preoccupied by and rather busy with various summer amusements. As a result, my reading has been rather hit and miss. In some cases, it has taken me weeks to finish a single book. Slow reading also tends to be the case when I am not particularly drawn into the story. Sadly, I've also encountered quite a few less than riveting variations this year. Luckily, neither of these issues were of concern with my most recent read. From the minute I opened  Forgotten Betrothal , however, I was drawn in and ultimately finished it more quickly than any book I've read in some time. More than once I even read well into the night (a perk of summer vacation)! Forgotten Proposal includes a lot of the elements I love to find in works of Austenesque fiction--including (but not limited to): a determinedly charming Mr Darcy, compelling new characters, a dash of m...