by Jane Odiwe, guest blogger and author of Willoughby’s Return
Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to talk to you all about my new book. One of the things I enjoy about writing my Austen sequels is the research I have to do for each novel. I love to set each major scene giving clues to how places looked at the time, as well as considering sounds and smells! Jane Austen did not devote much of her writing to descriptions of places and scenes as she took it for granted that people would know what she was talking about, but I think it is important that I transport my reader back to the 1800’s especially if they know little about the era.
I have Marianne and Colonel Brandon go to London for the season. I read everything I could about shopping, amusements and entertainments of the time and it is very fortunate that so much of the part of London I was researching still exists even if some of the buildings have changed. Helping to transport me back in time was a map from 1803 that I downloaded from the internet. Off I went on the tube to stand in Oxford Street and Bond Street trying to imagine that the cars roaring by were carriages and that the sounds around me were different again.
I wanted to give an idea of how exciting it would be for Marianne’s sister, Margaret, to come to London for the first time. She is a young lady who has grown up in the relative quiet of the countryside:
Fascinated by everything she saw, marvelling at the shops on every side, Margaret exclaimed at all she witnessed. Watchmakers, silk stores, and silversmiths displayed their wares behind sparkling glass, illuminated by the amber glow of oil lamps. Exotic fruit and towering desserts in the fruiterers and confectioners formed a dazzling spectacle; pyramids of pineapples, figs, and grapes cascaded from porcelain epergne. Marchpane castles, rosewater creams, and fruited cake vied for attention on platters of every shape and size. And the crowds of people stretching across the wide pavements, the ladies gathered outside in admiration of the linen shops, draped with silks, chintzes, and muslins were a sight to behold; such fashionably dressed gentility as Margaret had never seen before… After the relative quiet of life in Devon and Dorset, she could not believe how noisy London was to her ears; not only the sound of rumbling carriages and carts, but the clatter of patterns on pavements and the distinctive cries of street sellers rang everywhere about.
I love writing descriptions of interiors. When Marianne and Colonel Brandon visit his sister, Lady Lawrence, at Whitwell, it gave me an opportunity to ‘paint’ the setting. We know from Sense and Sensibility
that Brandon’s sister spent some time in France and I decided that her taste in design would have been influenced by her travels abroad.
The Brandons were shown into a large salon, filled with the most beautiful fittings and furniture. The style was French, the room ornate with gilded chairs, pier glasses, and chandeliers of the finest crystal. The silk-covered walls glowed with coral shades and iridescent hues of shell pink, further illuminating the room in flowing drapes at the floor-length windows, in the decorative ceiling, and in the Aubusson rug, which burgeoned with fat summer roses and green leaf garlands.
Lady Lawrence sat upon a velvet sofa, bolstered with pads and rolls, guarded by golden lion heads on either arm, which seemed ready to spring into life and leap out at anyone who might come to disturb her apparent idle repose. Despite the warmth of the day, she was covered to her waist by a heavy coverlet fringed with gold braid. She did not get up when they entered but excused herself, claiming that the damp of the day was responsible for her inability to stand.
Whilst writing Willoughby’s Return, I celebrated a special birthday and was lucky enough to spend a few days with my family in the house where Sense & Sensibility 
1995 was filmed! It was great fun walking in the footsteps of Marianne and Elinor Dashwood, seeing the spot where Willoughby pulled up in his curricle and where Colonel Brandon helped Marianne cut reeds in the estuary. It was such an enormous treat and great inspiration for my writing.
I had a wonderful time researching Willoughby’s Return. If you could go back in time and star in your own Austen fantasy, where would you like to go? Would you prefer experiencing a vast country house, a grand ball, or perhaps an evening at a Georgian circus like Astley’s?
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?
Buy: Willoughby's Return
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 and follow her on Twitter.
Giveaway: One lucky commenter will win 1 copy of Willoughby's Return. Open to US and Canadian readers only. Enter by answering Jane Odiwe's question about your own Austen fantasy. Increase your chances by reading Jane's interview and asking her a question. Ends: November 18, 2009.
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by Sharon Lathan, guest blogger and author of the Darcy Saga.
Ever wonder where today’s common events or things come from? I always have. I am one of those people who loves playing Trivial Pursuit not only to test what superfluous knowledge may be lurking in the buried recesses of my wee brain, but because I learn so much. Most of it is utterly useless, but intriguing nevertheless. This thirst for education, both necessary and pointless, has helped me tremendously in the course of writing my Regency Era saga.
In my first book of the Darcy Saga, Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy, Darcy tells Lizzy of a family tradition that has not continued after his mother’s death: A summer festival to honor the workers of Pemberley. At the time it was a throwaway comment. But the more I thought about it, and as summer approached within the pages of my story, I decided I really liked the idea of hosting a festival, and decided to include one in Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley, the second book in the Darcy Saga and in stores now!
The next logical question was, “What would a festival in 1817 include?” I ended up discovering that many of the festival/carnival entertainments that we enjoy today existed hundreds of years ago! How cool! Among the numerous amusements that take place at the Pemberley Summer Festival (Guess you will have to read the book – LOL!) I included clowns.
The concept of individuals performing humorous stunts to entertain is as old as time. The ancient Greeks had their pantomimes, the French later borrowing the idea in their mimes. Royal courts had jesters and the Medieval common-folk had mummers. The Italians perfected the harlequin know for his amazing feats of acrobatics. Clown troupes of all types traveled the breadth of Europe for centuries, sometimes as part of an actors’ troupe or on their own.
The types of clowns and tricks they performed are too many to name here. Always the objective was to bring laughter through outlandish outfits, pratfalls, silent pantomime, and zany acrobatics. The men and women who pursued this profession did so very seriously. They studied the art, perfected their routines, and performed with mastery every bit as precise as a stage actor.
Clowns became associated with the circus in the late 1700s and we can thank Englishman Philip Astley for that. Astley was an ex-cavalryman who was a virtuoso horseback rider. In 1768 Astley opened an equestrian school to train riders. He used the opportunity to conduct shows –for a fee, of course – displaying his “feats at horsemanship.” The trick-riding phenomenon took off as a wildfire. He called his shows a circus based on the round ring he created. He discovered that the horses ran best in a circular ring and that the audience had better visualization. After trial and error the perfect size of 42 feet became his standard and is still so today.
His shows grew and within two years he closed his riding school, devoting all his time to perfecting the circus. He added tightrope walkers, jugglers, tumblers, musicians, and yes, clowns. Astley’s Royal Amphitheatre opened in London in 1773, the Parisian one in 1782, and before he was done another 18 would arise in cities throughout Europe. The modern-day circus was born!
Lizzy and Darcy tapped into this entertaining reality during their Summer Festival extravaganza. I had a marvelous time learning the facts and then writing a series of shows to dazzle the guests. Here is a small sampling of the Pemberley clowns:
A sudden hush fell over the audience as the tent flap opened to reveal a small man sedately walking onto the arena. He was costumed in a loose, garish patchwork suit of every shade in the spectrum, enormous blue shoes, face painted with colorful stripes, and head bald. If all that was not enough to awe the crowd, the little clown was walking on his hands! He advanced across the field unhurriedly, gigantic feet flapping and florid face grinning, until he reached the very end whereupon he abruptly crumpled into a heap, lying still as death. The audience collectively gasped, some even rising or taking involuntary steps forward, only to halt mid-stride when the tent flap exploded open and out blasted two more clowns. One was dressed as outrageously as the hand-walker, a fluttering ball of color with hundreds of brightly patterned strips of fabric apparently glued onto every inch of his body, a scarlet wig, oar-sized boots of green, and red circles about his eyes and mouth. He was running pell-mell and steering a rickety wooden wagon, inside of which sat the third clown. He was costumed as a proper English gentleman, only highly exaggerated. The collar of his waistcoat extended way past his ears, the cravat knotted at least three dozen times and some eight inches beyond his chin, jacket tails touching the ground, baggy breeches with three-inch wide knee buckles, and, of course, huge shoes. All this topped off with a ridiculously high beaver hat.
I hope you enjoyed my brief history lesson and the tasty treat! Thanks, Keira, for allowing me to guest on your blog. It has been tremendous fun. Be sure to pop over to my website to learn more of The Darcy Saga series. But first, tell us about your favorite circus act or a special circus memory.
About the Author
Sharon Lathan is a native Californian currently residing amid corn, cotton, and cows in the sunny city of Hanford. She divides her time as homemaker nurturing a husband and two children, plus the cat, dog, and fish; while also working as a Registered Nurse in a Neonatal ICU. Somewhere in there she finds time to write! Sharon Lathan can be found on her website/blog at: www.darcysaga.net, on Facebook as “Sharon Lathan, “ on Twitter as “@SharonLathan,” and on the Casablanca Authors’ blog at: http://casablancaauthors.blogspot.com/
Buy: Loving Mr. Darcy
Giveaway: Sharon Lathan and Sourcebooks are giving away 1 set of Sharon’s books out so far: Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One and Loving Mr. Darcy: Journeys Beyond Pemberley. This contest is open to US and Canadian readers only. To enter leave a comment about your favorite circus/clown memory, ask Sharon a question, anything really! The winners will be announced on September 8th, 2009. Good luck!
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