Read – Page 1249 – What Cathy Read Next…

Blog Tour/Review: The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen, Vol.1 by Collins Hemingway

January 11, 2018January 11, 2018 whatcathyreadnext6 Comments

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I’m delighted to be hosting today’s stop on the blog tour for Volume 1 of Collins Hemingway’s trilogy, The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen. (Volumes 2 & 3 are also available to purchase.) You can read my review below but safe to say it’s perfect for fans of Jane Austen’s books or lovers of historical romances (even those who’ve never read Jane Austen).

I’m pleased to say there is a giveaway (INTL) with a chance to win one of two paperback copies of The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen. To enter and view the giveaway rules, visit the tour page here and scroll down to the bottom of the page.

But get your skates on, as entries must be received by 11:59pm EST on January 12^th 2018.

About the Book

Everyone should marry once for love – even Jane Austen.

Jane Austen, single and seemingly comfortable in the role of clergyman’s daughter and aspiring writer in the early 1800s, tells friends and family to hold out for true affection in any prospective relationship. Everybody, she says, has a right to marry once in their lives for love. But when, after a series of disappointing relationships, the prospect of true love arrives for her, will she have the courage to act?

The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen re-imagines the life of England’s archetypal female by exploring what might have happened if she had ever married. It shows how a meaningful, caring relationship would have changed her as a person and a writer. It also takes her beyond England’s tranquil country villages and plunges her info what the Regency era was really about: great explorations and scientific advances, political foment, and an unceasing, bloody war. In such times, can love – can marriage -triumph?

Praise for The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen

“What if Austen, who penned so many classic love stories, found her own romantic match? Ashton Dennis fits right into the Austen universe, while this Jane remains true to life, an intelligent and determined young woman. The writing is Austen-ian, and Hemingway has a talent for witty banter and wry observations that would make Elizabeth Bennet proud. An enjoyable first novel in an imaginative, well-researched series.” (Kirkus Reviews)

“A skilful portrayal of a…literary icon takes this historical romance on an imaginative journey of the soul. … Insight and intuition, along with meticulous research, have created a believable version of her character in this tender story of Ashton and Jane. … Excellent character development enhances the plausibility of the scenario. Background, motivation, eccentricity – everything that constitutes a personality allow these fascinating people to step off the pages in lifelike form.” (Julia Ann Charpentier, Foreword CLARION Reviews, 4 stars)

“All readers of Jane Austen wonder what Jane’s life might have been like had she married, or had money. The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen explores these intriguing possibilities. It also depicts Austen in a rapidly changing world, connecting her to important aspects of the era-war, slavery, industrialization, and new modes of travel. Hemingway’s book raises many ‘what if’s’ in his thoughtful and thought-provoking portrayal of Jane Austen falling in love.” (Susannah Fullerton, author of A Dance with Jane Austen and Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice)

“[An] engaging and remarkably convincing romance. …Wry, observant, laconic – much like Jane Austen herself, without ever dipping into pastiche or mimicry. … Hemingway, with the lightest touch, builds up a thoroughly convincing alternative history for Jane. …[A] thoughtful re-imagining of Austen’s love life.” (Joceline Bury, Jane Austen’s Regency World)

Format: Hardcover, eBook, paperback (200 pp.) Publisher: AuthorHouse
Published: 20^th June 2015 Genre: Historical Fiction

Purchase Links*
Amazon.co.uk ǀ Amazon.com
*links provided for convenience, not as part of any affiliate programme

Find The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen, Vol.1 on Goodreads

My Review

The author has created a fun, light and affectionate tribute to Jane Austen alongside speculating on how her life might have turned out had she married, and delivering an engaging historical romance. The book captures the spirit of Jane Austen’s appraising eye of society, its foibles and – to modern day eyes – its bewildering rules of etiquette.

Jane and her sister, Cassandra, despite neither of them being that old, find themselves on the way to being consigned to the ranks of spinsterhood. ‘She was in her own clique, of course, along with Cass, that of women who were stylish, if overly stale. Her invitations no longer came from young men who were on their way up in society but from older men who had stalled or were in decline: unmarried clergy from poorly endowed parishes or lately widowed men of middle age and anxious finance.’

It doesn’t help that their branch of the family is relatively poor and dependent on the support of more well-off relatives for both money and accommodation, moving from house to house of acquaintances and distant family members. As Jane writes, ‘Like travelling minstrels, we earn our victuals by entertaining our hosts and helping with the odd family tasks. One afternoon chasing the children around, two witty rejoinders, and three darned stockings will earn a meal, by my estimation.’

In fact, Jane and Cassandra have begun to think that love and marriage is something they will never experience since both have suffered the tragic loss of men for whom they had felt affection. ‘Cassandra’s expression shaded from thoughtfulness to entreaty and finally pain. “Shall we never find love?” she asked. “Is it over? Are we never to be happy? Never to embrace the kindness of a man, the blessings of a child?”’

However, Jane does have an admirer: Ashton Dennis, a wealthy young man. But although she likes him, she can feel no romantic affinity with him as he has little interest in literature or the arts. His focus seems only to be on the business of running his family’s estate. And Jane could never love or consider marriage to a man like that could she?

When Ashton goes abroad to “find himself”, as we might describe it these days, he and Jane strike up a lively, witty correspondence, which makes up Part 2 of the book. Jane provides him with news from home about current affairs and scientific developments. This provides the opportunity for the author to give the reader a fascinating insight into important events of the time such as the Louisiana Purchase (the sale of Louisiana by Napoleon to America), the progress through Parliament of the Anti-slavery Bill, and the latest scientific and technological discoveries. Over the months he is away, as she reads Ashton’s letters in response to hers, Jane gradually starts to see a different side to him. How this will be resolved is the subject of Part 3 of the book.

As well as the story of Jane and Ashton, there is much for lovers of Jane Austen’s novels to enjoy with many scenes alluding to plot lines, characters or events in her books (although at the time this book is set, she has yet to be published). So, for example, we have Ashton’s mother warning off Jane from any marital interest in him, much in the way Lady Catherine de Burgh tries to do with Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice…and taking possession of the most famous line from that book to boot. “A single man in possession of a good fortune does not automatically need a wife – not from your class. It is a misconception from which both you and your mother suffer.”

The author also captures the witty, acute observations readers have come to expect in Austen’s novels.

On being asked her view of a potential match for Ashton: “She is the sort of person who professes a love of books without reading, and who is lively without wit. Yet – Mr Dennis – I am not the person to ask about marriage. I live on the corner of Old and Unattached.”

On dealing with marriage proposals: ‘Every polished young woman has a dozen stratagems to deflect the purpose of an unwelcome suitor. One practices firm but gentle rebuffs in front of the mirror almost as often as one practices coquettish ways of saying yes to the proper man.’

I also loved this little joke about writing a book as Ashton reacts in amazement that Jane has written a novel that has been accepted for publication: ‘To think that you have spent – what, a year, more? – to compose a work on a single topic, about a set of characters, is beyond my ken. I salute you, madam!’

This was a fun, engaging, well-written book that captured the spirit of Jane Austen’s books and which I really enjoyed. I received a review copy courtesy of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours in return for an honest and unbiased review.

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In three words: Light, affectionate, romance

Try something similar…Duels & Deception by Cindy Anstey (click here to read my review)

About the Author

Whether his subject is literature, history, or science, Collins Hemingway has a passion for the art of creative investigation. For him, the most compelling fiction deeply explores the heart and soul of its characters, while also engaging them in the complex and often dangerous world in which they have a stake. He wants to explore all that goes into people’s lives and everything that makes them complete though fallible human beings. His fiction is shaped by the language of the heart and an abiding regard for courage in the face of adversity.

As a non-fiction book author, Hemingway has worked alongside some of the world’s thought leaders on topics as diverse as corporate culture and ethics; the Internet and mobile technology; the ins and outs of the retail trade; and the cognitive potential of the brain. Best known for the #1 best-selling book on business and technology, Business @ the Speed of Thought, which he co-authored with Bill Gates, he has earned a reputation for tackling challenging subjects with clarity and insight, writing for the non-technical but intelligent reader. Hemingway has published shorter non-fiction on topics including computer technology, medicine, and aviation, and he has written award-winning journalism.

Published books include The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen trilogy, Business @ the Speed of Thought, with Bill Gates, Built for Growth, with Arthur Rubinfeld, What Happy Companies Know, with Dan Baker and Cathy Greenberg, Maximum Brainpower, with Shlomo Breznitz, and The Fifth Wave, with Robert Marcus.

Hemingway lives in Bend, Oregon, with his wife, Wendy. Together they have three adult sons and three granddaughters. He supports the Oregon Community Foundation and other civic organizations engaged in conservation and social services in Central Oregon.

Connect with Collins

Website ǀ Facebook ǀ Twitter ǀ Pinterest ǀ Instagram ǀ Goodreads

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WWW Wednesdays – 10th January ’18

January 10, 2018January 10, 2018 whatcathyreadnext35 Comments

WWWWednesdays

Hosted by Taking on a World of Words, this meme is all about the three Ws:

What are you currently reading?
What did you recently finish reading?
What do you think you’ll read next?

Why not join in too? Leave a comment with your link at Taking on a World of Words and then go blog hopping!

Currently reading

Beautiful Star & Other Stories by Andrew Swanston (ARC, courtesy of The Dome Press)

History is brought alive by the people it affects, rather than those who created it.

Beautiful Star is a moving and affecting journey through time, bringing a new perspective to the defence of Corfe Castle, the battle of Waterloo, the siege of Toulon and, in the title story, the devastating dangers of the life of the sea in 1875.

The Things We Learn When We’re Dead by Charlie Laidlaw (paperback, review copy courtesy of the author)

On the way home from a dinner party, Lorna Love steps into the path of an oncoming car. When she wakes up she is in what appears to be a hospital – but a hospital in which her nurse looks like a young Sean Connery, she is served wine for supper, and everyone avoids her questions. It soon transpires that she is in Heaven, or on HVN. Because HVN is a lost, dysfunctional spaceship, and God the aging hippy captain. She seems to be there by accident… Or does God have a higher purpose after all?

At first Lorna can remember nothing. As her memories return – some good, some bad – she realises that she has decision to make and that maybe she needs to find a way home.

Recently finished (click on title for review)

Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon (eARC, NetGalley)

There are three things you should know about Elsie. The first thing is that she’s my best friend. The second is that she always knows what to say to make me feel better. And the third thing… might take a little bit more explaining.

84-year-old Florence has fallen in her flat at Cherry Tree Home for the Elderly. As she waits to be rescued, Florence wonders if a terrible secret from her past is about to come to light; and, if the charming new resident is who he claims to be, why does he look exactly a man who died sixty years ago?

Oliver Loving by Stefan Merrill Block (eARC, NetGalley)

One warm, West Texas November night, a shy boy named Oliver Loving joins his classmates at Bliss County Day School’s annual dance, hoping for a glimpse of the object of his unrequited affections, an enigmatic Junior named Rebekkah Sterling. But as the music plays, a troubled young man sneaks in through the school’s back door. The dire choices this man makes that evening – and the unspoken story he carries – will tear the town of Bliss, Texas apart.

Nearly ten years later, Oliver Loving still lies wordless and paralyzed at Crockett State Assisted Care Facility, the fate of his mind unclear. Orbiting the still point of Oliver’s hospital bed is a family transformed: Oliver’s mother, Eve, who keeps desperate vigil; Oliver’s brother, Charlie, who has fled for New York City only to discover he cannot escape the gravity of his shattered family; Oliver’s father, Jed, who tries to erase his memories with bourbon. And then there is Rebekkah Sterling, Oliver’s teenage love, who left Texas long ago and still refuses to speak about her own part in that tragic night. When a new medical test promises a key to unlock Oliver’s trapped mind, the town’s unanswered questions resurface with new urgency, as Oliver’s doctors and his family fight for a way for Oliver to finally communicate – and so also to tell the truth of what really happened that fateful night. (Review to follow 13^th January)

Carol (The Price of Salt) by Patricia Highsmith (paperback)

Two women from different backgrounds – one a department store clerk who dreams of a better life, one who is wealthy and married – strike up a love affair with each other in 1950s New York.

Written in 1952, the novel was originally titled The Price of Salt and published under the pseudonym Claire Morgan. (Review to follow 13^th January)

Shadows on the Grass by Misha M. Herwin (eARC, courtesy of the author)

In nineteen sixties Bristol, seventeen year old Kate is torn between the new sexual freedom and her rigid Catholic upbringing. Her parents have high expectations of her; she however is determined to lead her own life. Meanwhile, Mimi, her grandmother, is dying. In her final hours, her cousin the Princess keeps watch at her bedside. Born in the same month in the same year, the two women are bound by their past and a terrible betrayal. Caught between the generations, Hannah, Mimi’s daughter, struggles to come to come to terms with her relationship with her mother and to keep the peace between her daughter and her husband. She too must find her own way in this foreign land in a new post war world, where the old certainties have gone and everything she knows has been swept away.

The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen, Vol. 1 by Collins Hemingway (ebook, review copy courtesy of HF Virtual Book Tours)

Tradition holds that Jane Austen lived a prim and proper life as a single woman. But what if she wed a man as passionate and intelligent as she -and the marriage remained secret for 200 years? The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen is a trilogy that resolves the biggest mysteries of Austen’s life, the “lost years” of her twenties -a period of which historians know virtually nothing.

– Why the enduring rumours of a lost love or tragic affair? – Why, afterward, did the vivacious Jane Austen prematurely put on “the cap of middle age” and shut herself away to write her books? – Why, after her death, did her beloved sister destroy her letters, journals, and diaries from this period?

The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen trilogy presents an original love story, based on actual history, to put forth a believable, compelling, and plausible answer to Austen’s lost years. Go with Jane Austen as this thinking woman, and sensitive soul, seizes the opportunity for meaningful love with a man who inspires her and understands her independent spirit—the one man worthy of her mind, heart, and soul. (Review to follow 11^th January)

What Cathy (will) Read Next

The Good Doctor of Warsaw by Elisabeth Gifford (eARC, NetGalley)

Set in the ghettos of wartime Warsaw, this is a sweeping, poignant and heartbreaking tale, based on the true story of one of World War II’s quiet heroes – Dr Janusz Korczak.

Deeply in love and about to marry, students Misha and Sophia flee a Warsaw under Nazi occupation for a chance at freedom. Forced to return to the Warsaw ghetto, they help Misha’s mentor, Dr Korczak, care for the two hundred children in his orphanage. As Korczak struggles to uphold the rights of even the smallest child in the face of unimaginable conditions, he becomes a beacon of hope for the thousands who live behind the walls. As the noose tightens around the ghetto Misha and Sophia are torn from one another, forcing them to face their worst fears alone. They can only hope to find each other again one day…

Meanwhile, refusing to leave the children unprotected, Korczak must confront a terrible darkness. Half a million people lived in the Warsaw ghetto. Less than one percent survived to tell their story. This novel is based on the true accounts of Misha and Sophia, and on the life of one of Poland’s greatest men, Dr Janusz Korczak.

Nucleus (Tom Wilde #2) by Rory Clements (ARC, courtesy of Bonnier Zaffre)

The eve of war: a secret so deadly, nothing and no one is safe.

June 1939. England is partying like there is no tomorrow, gas masks at the ready. In Cambridge the May Balls are played out with a frantic intensity – but the good times won’t last… In Europe, the Nazis have invaded Czechoslovakia, and in Germany he persecution of the Jews is now so widespread that desperate Jewish parents send their children to safety in Britain aboard the Kindertransport. Closer to home, the IRA’s S-Plan bombing campaign has resulted in more than 100 terrorist outrages around England.

But perhaps the most far-reaching event of all goes largely unreported: in Germany, Otto Hahn has produced the first man-made fission and an atomic device is now a very real possibility. The Nazis set up the Uranverein group of physicists: its task is to build a superbomb. The German High Command is aware that British and US scientists are working on similar line. Cambridge’s Cavendish Laboratory is where the atom was split in 1932. Might the Cambridge men now win the race for a nuclear bomb? Hitler’s generals need to be sure they know all the Cavendish’s secrets. Only then will it be safe for Germany to wage war.

When one of the Cavendish’s finest brains is murdered, Professor Tom Wilde is once more drawn into an intrigue from which there seems no escape. In a conspiracy that stretches from Cambridge to Berlin and from Washington DC to the west coast of Ireland, he faces deadly forces that threaten the fate of the world.