A Sequel with a Difference
A. J. Bishop’s Darcy’s Education of Miss Elizabeth Bennet is a tour de force in its genre. The author gives us an entertaining, thought-provoking, and beautifully written novel in this popular Regency with-a-twist genre. Her ability to capture the characters we love and develop them in unforeseen, yet believable, directions is masterful.
Moreover, she captures the lightly satiric flavour and rhythm of Jane Austen’s style while incorporating an element of sexuality that would have been unacceptable to express in print, yet undoubtedly existed, at the time.
Presented as a sequel to Pride and Prejudice (P&P), Bishop picks up the story after Elizabeth and Darcy have betrothed, when he takes her to Rosing Park. Here we meet two minor characters from P&P, Miss Mary Bennet and Lady Anne de Bourgh, who play small but important roles in the story as they mature in unexpected ways. As the tale progresses, misunderstandings ensue and Elizabeth suffers agonies of doubt, experiences universal in relationships, as Lady Catherine de Bourgh spins her web to oust Elizabeth and replace her with Lady Anne. Darcy himself comes to life as he, too, grows under Bishop’s talented pen. These are but a few examples of her gift for evolving her characters using classic Regency-period issues to surprise and entertain, such as Charlotte’s failure to conceive.
If the beginning daunts you, do not give up. Although Bishop’s style is Austenesque, her authorial voice is not. The early paragraphs will introduce you to Bishop’s themes, and you may need a few pages to orient yourself. The story style is pure Austen; its themes are both universal and modern, an update on the old romantic tale much to the genre’s improvement. Try it, you will like it.
Learn More about AJ Bishop and Her Book
The cover is a work of art, far above the types of covers that usually grace novels in this genre. Darcy’s Education of Miss Elizabeth Bennet is available on Amazon.ca as a pre-order and will launch on April 1. Learn more about Bishop ,who is a talented poet among other abilities, at her website, ajbishop.com
Your favourite writer of French Renaissance Historical Friction [aka me] will be joining Bishop’s launch team. You should too for an entertaining an informative event and the opportunity to win a free copy of this delightful novel. She will be posting more information on her website and I will send more in my March newsletter [sign up below].
Think Shades of Grey marries Little Women and moves to Austenland.
Darcy and Elizabeth, Pride and Prejudice’s most chaste lovers, are trying not to have sex. Desire between Regency England’s most famous lovers hides in the glare of sanctimonious prohibitions. But secret passageways and an illicit library urge their intimacy beyond restraint. Betrothed but delaying the wedding, Darcy and Elizabeth learn the language of love while the hypocrisies of repressed sexuality are everywhere apparent.
Shifting between Elizabeth and Darcy’s POV, the novel tracks the myriad ways the language of intimacy develops while they resolve conflicts produced by the Austenesque themes of misunderstanding and social constraints. Anne falls in love with an inappropriate suitor; Mr. Collins is in need of a matrimonial education; Bingley’s gorgeous cousin turns all heads but chooses an unexpected love interest. With titillating fun and satiric relief, the fairy-tale romance turns on its heels and the happy ending is assured only if the lovers can stay apart until they are wed.
ajbishop—book description
