Guest Kara Louise: The Fascination of the Regency

Linda Banche here. Today I welcome Kara Louise, whose latest book is the Pride and Prejudice retelling Only Mr. Darcy Will Do. Here she tells us about her fascination with the Regency.

Leave a comment with your email address for a chance to win the copy of Only Mr. Darcy Will Do which Sourcebooks has generously provided. Kara will select the winner. Check the comments to see who won, and how to contact me to claim your book. If I cannot contact the winner within a week of the selection, I will award the book to an alternate. Note, Sourcebooks can mail to USA and Canada addresses only.

And the winner Kara selected is Chelsea B! Chelsea, I've sent you an email. Thanks to all for coming over.

Welcome Kara!

Thanks for inviting me back with you today to celebrate the release of Only Mr. Darcy Will Do. I’ve been asked to share about my favorite Pride and Prejudice character and two things that fascinate me about the Regency era. I am going to cheat a little on both topics.

Let me preface my first answer by saying this: In writing the variations of Pride and Prejudice, it is the characters of Elizabeth and Darcy that are truly my favorites. I love Mr. Darcy’s enduring love and desire to change himself for the better, whether or not he will ever have the chance to win Elizabeth’s affection. I love Elizabeth’s wit and intelligence, and that when she realizes the error of her judgment concerning him, she is able to not only see him as the good man he is, but readily falls in love with him.

But Jane Austen gave us a wide host of characters with such unique personalities that it’s almost a joy to write any of them. If I’m in the mood to be cruel, I can write a scene with Lady Catherine de Bourgh or Caroline Bingley. If I want to be evil, what better person to write than George Wickham?

Foolish? Mr. Collins. Silly? Mrs. Bennet. Shy? Georgiana Darcy. Sarcastic? Mr. Bennet.

But other than Lizzy and Darcy, the character I really enjoy writing is Col. Fitzwilliam. He doesn’t have a very big part in OMDWD, but he does have some good scenes in the prologue of the book, getting things rolling (and a smaller part toward the end). I always enjoy allowing him the opportunity to banter back and forth with his cousin, the fastidious and controlled Fitzwilliam Darcy. He always adds a bit of levity to the scene, usually to Darcy’s chagrin!

Col. Fitzwilliam converses easily, teases his cousin mercilessly, and unwittingly moved Darcy to feelings of jealousy when he seemed to find a rapport with Elizabeth at Rosings that Darcy was not able to do. He is, however, as loyal to his cousin as anyone can be. I like that about him, too.

And here I must clear up a misapprehension. Jane Austen never gives us Col. Fitzwilliam’s first name. Several stories have been written using the name Richard, and many assume that is his correct name. While it sounds right, I chose to use the name Patrick in this particular book. I hope you don’t mind.

As for the second question, I shall talk about only one thing I find fascinating in the Regency because it pertains to my book. That is, what it was like for a governess, since Elizabeth finds herself in this position after her father’s death.

A governess would have had to have all the manners and genteel upbringing required to raise the children in a like manner. She would have been educated so that she could teach the children in most subjects, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, history, geography, grammar, and even some needlework. For some subjects, like music or painting, a master may have been brought in.

She was considered beneath the family for whom she worked, but was above the servants in the household, which often left her without anyone in the household who was her equal.

Finally, a lady became a governess usually due to some financial burden within her family that forced her into this employment.

I’ll explain this by using Elizabeth Bennet as an example. She was born and raised as the daughter of a gentleman. Despite not having a governess herself, as she told Lady Catherine de Bourgh, she loved reading and probably taught herself a lot. Despite having a silly mother, she was able to learn and exhibit the countless good manners that were expected of a young lady.

When her father dies, her family is suddenly without any substantial source of income. The house is entailed away, and when Mr. and Mrs. Collins move in, the Bennet ladies all move out. I chose to have Mrs. Bennet and the three youngest daughters move to Meryton with Mr. and Mrs. Phillips. Jane takes on a governess position with the Gardiners in London, and Elizabeth goes to work as a governess for six year-old Emily Willstone.

Even though the Bennets had not been very wealthy, they were an esteemed family, but now Elizabeth’s station in life is essentially quite a bit lower. Despite the fact that she would have previously been on slightly more equal terms with the Willstones, she now is beneath them.

She is fortunate that the Willstones treat her kindly and give her time on Sundays to visit the Gardiners and Jane. When Mrs. Willstone’s sister, Rosalyn, comes to visit, she and Elizabeth enjoy each other’s company. But Elizabeth can only attend the balls and theater and dinner parties vicariously through Rosalyn, who relates to her all that took place at these events when she returns from them.

Elizabeth eventually finds herself with the Willstones at Pemberley after being invited by Mr. Darcy, a long-time acquaintance of the Willstones. There she begins to see the good in the man that she was blinded to before, while realizing how much more beneath him she now is, despite the fact that her birth, manners, and education have not changed.

I hope this has made you curious enough to see how things work out between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy and you will want to read Only Mr. Darcy Will Do.

Thanks again for having me here.

ONLY MR. DARCY WILL DO by KARA LOUISE
In this fresh and original retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet’s greatest fear comes to pass—Longbourn is entailed to Mr. Collins. Elizabeth finds work as a governess in London, widening the social divide between her and Mr. Darcy and making it more difficult than ever for them to find their way to each other...

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kara Louise grew up in the San Fernando Valley and moved to the Midwest in 1991, where she enjoys the relaxed pace of the country. She began writing about nine years ago, first with a story inspired by her genealogical research. But that took a back seat when she discovered the writings of Jane Austen. She has written six novels based on Pride and Prejudice, including Darcy’s Voyage, answering the “what happened next” and the “what ifs” in Elizabeth and Darcy’s story. She lives with her husband outside Wichita, Kansas. Visit her at http://karalouise.ahhhs.net/