An idea sprung from the works of Jane Austen:
โIt is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a
good fortune, must be in want of a wife.โ
So begins
Pride and Prejudice, the 1813 novel by Jane Austen, one of
the greatest literary works in the English language and the start of my love
affair with the Regency era.
I have read the book countless times over the years with great enjoyment. In my
teenage years, it was the central love affair that engaged my imagination but as
I grew older, I began to appreciate the humour in the story and beyond that, the
observations on the human condition. Austenโs sharp, unflinching gaze finds all
the absurdity and conceits of people and mocks them without mercy.
After Lydiaโs indiscretion in the second half of the book, it becomes apparent
to the modern reader just how fragile a womanโs reputation was at the turn of
the nineteenth century. As Mary says in one scene, โOne false step involves her
in endless ruin.โ I found this an intriguing idea. What if one had, as a woman
at that time, fallen from oneโs perch in society? For men, the rules were
different, and much more license was given. But for a woman to fall in love with
an unsuitable man and to be ruined by himโฆ Where would she go? How would she
manage? These were the themes that I wished to explore.
Another of Austenโs works,
Persuasion, is also a tale about human
frailty, absurdity, conceit and want of resolution. At its heart, it is a tale
about a couple divided by their disparity in fortunes and social standing and
the well meaning but misplaced interference of others. The heroine, Anne Elliot,
is regretful of her past and the decision she made as a young girl in turning
down the hand of a penniless naval officer, Frederick Wentworth.
Of all Jane Austenโs heroines, I find Anne one of the most appealing. I love
Lizzy, of course, the heroine of
Pride and Prejudice. Who could not?
She is pretty and sharp and witty. She says things that I would never have the
courage to. But I find I have a great deal of empathy with Anne. Her gentle
sorrow is heart-breaking. She is not vain or selfish like her sisters. She is
calm and assured, intelligent and selfless but underneath it all, she has a
great capacity for love.
All of us have regrets about our youthful mistakes and wish we could turn back
the clock and do things differently. We donโt always get a second opportunity in
later life to correct the errors of the past. Anne is at twenty-seven,
considered almost without hope of finding a husband, someone who is past their
first bloom of youth and unlikely to have a second chance at love. I wanted to
write about such a woman.
The heroine of my book,
THE BLUESTOCKING AND THE RAKE is Georgiana. Georgie is not
the young, vivacious, beauty of other novels. She is a woman who has loved, lost
and learned to regret. Like Anne, she has a weight of sadness that she carries
within her and a yearning to find love again.
In many romance novels, it is the woman who rescues the rake from himself. I
liked the idea of flipping the situation around and having the heroine rescued
by the love of a man. Perhaps if that man were also a rake, someone quite
remarkably unsuitable, almost the epitome of the man who had caused her current
woes and yet still be able to convince her to entrust her heart to him, I
thought this could be a very romantic idea.
Georgie, is similar to Anne in that she made decisions as a young woman that
come back to haunt her now at the age of twenty-nine. In
Persuasion,
Frederick Wentworth is unrepentant and unprepared to forgive Anne for refusing
him. In The Bluestocking and the Rake, Georgie is unprepared to forgive herself.
My hero, Lord Marcham is desperate to show her that she deserves a second chance
at happiness and that he is prepared to forgive anything, as long as she loves
him. The romance begins when he realises he has to break down the wall she has
built around her heart and convince her that she is worthy of lovingโno mean
feat, given that she believes him to be amusing himself at her expense and so
has steeled herself against him.
So I thank Jane Austen. Not only for giving me hours of reading pleasure but
also for being the springboard for my imagination. Without her, I might never
have had the joy of writing Georgieโs story.
About THE BLUESTOCKING AND THE RAKE
2014 WinnerโAmazon Breakthrough Novel AwardโRomance
The Earl of Marcham has decided to put the excesses of his colorful youth firmly
behind him so that he may find a wife and beget himself an heir. But a
straitlaced spinster may stand in his way after she releases a morality pamphlet
exposing some of his most private misdemeanors. Determined to have his revenge
and teach her a much-needed lesson, the earl decides that his best course of
action is to seduce herโฆ
Miss Georgiana Blakelow has long given up the hope of marriage. Instead, sheโs
resigned to serving as governess to her siblings and saving the family estate
from ruin. She might succeed, if only the wretch of an earl who won the estate
at the gaming table would be reasonable.
As the sparks fly, and as Lord Marcham finds himself unexpectedly attracted to
Miss Blakelow, she becomes even more determined to keep him at a safe distance.
The closer he gets, the more likely he is to discover that his bluestocking
isnโt all that she seems.
About Norma Darcy
Norma Darcy was born in London but grew up living by the sea after her family
moved to Whitstable, Kent, when she was two. She started writing when she was
sixteen, but it wasnโt until many years later that she began to write seriously.
A graphic designer by trade, she has always dreamed of earning a living from
writing. She now lives in Kent with her husband.
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