Jane Odiwe | MR. WILLOUGHBY'S RETURN

Thank you so much for welcoming me to the blog and giving me a chance to talk about Willoughby’s Return!

I loved writing this book. Sense and Sensibility is one of my favourite Austen novels and I enjoyed revisiting all the characters and places associated with them all. Writing the plot and thinking about how the characters interact with one another is one of the biggest joys-another is weaving in clues about what the characters look like and how they dress. It’s important in a historical novel to give a feel of the costume and clothing. The fashion at this time was wonderful. I’m sure part of the success of the recent spate of Austen films and adaptations is down to the accuracy and beauty of Regency dress. Who hasn’t imagined themselves dancing at a candlelit ball in white muslin, silk slippers on their feet, and an ivory fan to flutter?

When I’m writing, I like to describe my characters by revealing what they are wearing. It doesn’t have to be a list of items; I find it more fun to sprinkle in the details. In the next passage I could envisage Marianne in a cloak to match her passionate nature. This is the first glimpse we see of her so it is an important impression. I wanted to establish her as an impetuous character, a young lady who does not necessarily conform - she leaves her bonnet and is inclined to run, practices that would have been frowned upon in Georgian England!

Marianne Brandon was bursting with news to tell her sister and was so excited at the report that her husband had divulged at breakfast before leaving for Lyme that morning, that she did not consider there to be time enough to don her bonnet. With her chestnut curls escaping from her coiffure to dance in the wind and her scarlet cloak billowing like a great sail behind her, she almost ran down the lane to the parsonage.

I love researching the fashion of the time. In this next passage Margaret is described as ready to go out in a pelisse, a type of coat fashionably long with an empire waist. Kerseymere is a type of fabric, a fine woollen cloth with a fancy, twill weave.

Margaret had excused herself shortly after this exchange to make ready for their expedition, returning moments later in a blue kerseymere pelisse with a bonnet of the same, trimmed with ribbon. She made a pleasing picture. Margaret was not as dark as her elder sister; she had a fair complexion and light brown curls to frame her countenance. Her eyes were the blue of April forget-me-nots but still there was something of her sister’s spirit in them. The contrast, however, was like ice and fire: against the black gypsy eyes of Marianne, Margaret’s were frozen shards of sapphire

Men’s fashion varied depending on what sort of activity they were engaged in. Here is Mr Willoughby at a local fair in Dorset. He is the epitome of an athletic, handsome man and his clothes need to reflect his personality and his pocket!

Mr Willoughby, she could see, was dressed for the country in a chocolate brown coat, with buckskin breeches moulded to his legs, encased in expensive tan boots to match his gloves and his waistcoat.

Here I describe a toyman or pedlar, a travelling man who sells goods. I found pictures of men like this in books, though I enjoyed imagining what he might have sold.

A toyman with a tray laden with all manner of trinkets and gewgaws strolled past. He made a curious picture. From his shabby tricorne hat were suspended a variety of goods on strings: lace bobbins, wooden spoons, buckles for shoes, and bunches of ribbons. Snuff boxes, skeins of silk, candles and kerchiefs, dolls and toy soldiers were all neatly arranged on his tray, suspended by straps around the pedlar’s neck. A tumbler on a stick was lying next to a red-cheeked wooden doll that was beautifully dressed in a piece of worked Indian muslin with real black hair jutting out under a satin hat.

Finally, I’m sure most of us have wondered what it would be like to attend a ball. I probably do far too much research on ball dresses simply because I enjoy it so much!

The entire room seemed to be plumed by tall feathers of ostrich and egret waving above the ladies’ heads; but none were more splendid or profuse as those combined into a coronet on Mademoiselle de Fontenay’s gleaming coiffure. Her slender frame was swathed in sheerest muslin, set with sewn pearls in motifs, graduating in size toward an embellished hem. Margaret thought her rival looked like a princess and though delighted by her own appearance in a simple, tamboured muslin, felt she must appear as a country bumpkin in comparison . (All excerpts © Jane Odiwe, Sourcebooks Landmark, 2009)

If you could go back in time what would be your favourite kind of costume? Would you prefer a ball gown, riding dress, a regency wedding outfit or something else?

WILLOUGHBY’S RETURN-IN STORES NOVEMBER 2009

A lost love returns, rekindling forgotten passions...

In Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, when Marianne Dashwood marries Colonel Brandon, she puts her heartbreak over dashing scoundrel John Willoughby in the past.

Three years later, Willoughby's return throws Marianne into a tizzy of painful memories and exquisite feelings of uncertainty. Willoughby is as charming, as roguish, and as much in love with her as ever. And the timing couldn't be worse--with Colonel Brandon away and Willoughby determined to win her back, will Marianne find the strength to save her marriage, or will the temptation of a previous love be too powerful to resist?

About the Author
Jane Odiwe is an artist and author. She is an avid fan of all things Austen and is the author and illustrator of Effusions of Fancy, annotated sketches from the life of Jane Austen, as well as Lydia Bennet's Story. She lives with her husband and three children in North London. For more information please visit Jane’s website, http://www.austeneffusions.com/ and on Twitter

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