On Equal Ground by Elizabeth Adams - Guest Post and Giveaway

I have the pleasure of welcoming Elizabeth Adams back to the blog today. Elizabeth has a new book out, On Equal Ground, which is a Pride & Prejudice variation. This book deals with a premise that can be somewhat less popular in romance, and particularly in JAFF, but it's one which happens in real life and may well have happened to somebody you know - continuing on with life and finding happiness after the love of your life has died. Now, don't worry, Elizabeth & Darcy are both still around; one of them has married another, and been very happy, but this book looks at the loss, and moving on afterwards.

I was interested in what had prompted Elizabeth to explore this road and she was so kind as to write us a post detailing just that. Let me share the blurb with you, and then we'll hand over to Elizabeth:

Blurb:

Well-read, observant, and spirited, a young Elizabeth Bennet draws the attention of a wealthy widower.

When she finally meets Mr. Darcy, she outranks him. Of course, that doesn’t stop him from insulting her. Married and wealthy, is she still beneath his notice?

Elizabeth’s high society connections create new opportunities for her sisters and, in turn, keep Darcy close to her family.

When tragedy strikes, will Darcy rise to the occasion? Or will his propensity to give offense show no respect for rank?

On Equal Ground - Guest Post by Elizabeth Adams

There are so many reasons I wanted to write this book, it’s hard to know where to begin. For the sake of brevity, I’ll stick with the big ones.

There were some themes I wanted to explore. I’ve been thinking about Elizabeth on a more even level with Darcy for a long time now. I was curious so see what would happen to their relationship—how they would interact—if she wasn’t so far beneath him.

There are a few ways to accomplish this. The Bennets can be higher as a whole, Elizabeth can be someone other than a Bennet, or she can marry up. Of those options, I liked marrying best. That was the germ of this story, but I didn’t act on it. It existed in the back of my mind as an idea of a book I might write one day, but nothing I was burning to write immediately. Then, inspiration struck.

I also wanted to write a widow.

Widowhood is a theme I’ve been wanting to explore for a little while. An old friend of mine was widowed two years ago. It was fairly unexpected; she was thirty-two and had two children under six.

It really shook me up.

Besides the obvious reasons of being heartbroken for my friend and her children, I couldn’t help comparing her to myself. We are the same age—only two weeks apart. We met at a Christmas party when we were ten. My husband was actually a couple years older than hers. We had learned to drive together, gone on our first double dates together, and been pregnant together. Seeing her lose her husband to an unexpected heart condition was shocking to say the least.

When the shock had worn off and I got back to work, I started thinking about broader themes of love. We put a lot of pressure on love—in western culture, as writers, and as readers. If there is only one person for everyone, what happens when the one you’re with dies? Should the widowed partner be alone the rest of their lives because their one and only love is dead?

That seems like a sad existence, especially if your partner dies relatively young.

I’ve read books before where the widowed partner moves on to someone new. It seems like a pretty common theme to have the protagonist discover that their new love is their true love, and the person that they were with before was just a placeholder, or puppy love, or less than in some way.

But I don’t like that either. It devalues the first relationship and glosses over an entire period of life.

I’m not saying you can’t love your second spouse more than your first, or the other way around.

Maybe the loves are just very different. But I wanted to write something different from what is often read and show another side to the story.

Love can come twice. A person doesn’t have to deny their first love to attain their second.

It is a complicated situation and a complex story to tell, but I thought it was worth telling, for people in a situation similar to my friend’s, for anyone who’s ever loved twice, or lost a love. And who better to show us how that’s done than Elizabeth Bennet?

You can buy this book now at Amazon US, Amazon UK and add it to your Goodreads shelf.

Bio:

Elizabeth Adams is a book-loving, tango-dancing, Austen enthusiast. She loves old houses and thinks birthdays should be celebrated with trips - as should most occasions. She can often be found by a sunny window with a cup of hot tea and a book in her hand.

She writes romantic comedy and comedic tragedy in both historic and modern settings.

She is the author of historical books The Houseguest, Unwilling, Meryton Vignettes, and On Equal Ground, as well as Green Card, a modern comedy.

You can find more information, short stories, and outtakes at elizabethadamswrites.wordpress.com
  
Giveaway Time

Elizabeth Adams is very kindly giving away an ebook of On Equal Ground for a commenter on this blog post. To enter, please make your comment by the end of the day on Wednesday 4 October, ensuring that you leave contact details of some sort. This giveaway is open internationally.

Thank you so much to Elizabeth for visiting us, and giving us this peep into her inspiration.