Mistaken by Jessie Lewis - Blog Tour, Deleted Scenes and Giveaway

Today I'm very happy to be welcoming debut author Jessie Lewis to the blog with the blog tour for her new book, Mistaken, which is a Pride & Prejudice variation. First I'll share the blurb with you and then I'll hand over to Jessie for her guest post, which I think you'll really enjoy. It's a collection of scenes which you won't find in the book.

Blurb:

Fitzwilliam Darcy is a single man in possession of a good fortune, a broken heart, and tattered pride. Elizabeth Bennet is a young lady in possession of a superior wit, flawed judgement, and a growing list of unwanted suitors. With a tempestuous acquaintance, the merciless censure of each other’s character, and the unenviable distinction of a failed proposal behind them, they have parted ways on seemingly irreparable terms. Despairing of a felicitous resolution for themselves, they both attend with great energy to rekindling the courtship between Darcy’s friend Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth’s sister Jane.

Regrettably, people are predisposed to mistake one another, and rarely can two be so conveniently manoeuvred into love without some manner of misunderstanding arising. Jane, crossed in love once already, is wary of Bingley’s renewed attentions. Mistaking her guardedness for indifference, Bingley is drawn to Elizabeth’s livelier company; rapidly, the defects in their own characters become the least of the impediments to Darcy and Elizabeth’s happiness.

Debut author Jessie Lewis’s Mistaken invites us to laugh along with Elizabeth Bennet at the follies, nonsense, whims, and inconsistencies of characters both familiar and new in this witty and romantic take on Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice.

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Thank you so much, Ceri, for hosting today’s leg of the Mistaken blog tour.

It’s been enormous fun spending more time with Jane Austen’s characters, some of whom I kept firmly on track, whilst others I gave some slack to blossom to the fullest of their (not always salutary) potential. One of those I tried to keep exactly as he appeared (to me) in canon and whom I particularly enjoyed writing, was Mr. Bennet. His insouciant wit and eagle eye for human folly made him an ideal narrator for all the misunderstandings that occur throughout the story. Regrettably, since he wasn’t a main character, quite a few of his scenes never made the final edit.

I thought it would be fun to share a selection of deleted scenes that show his increasing amusement with Bingley’s indecisive attempts at courtship, though not all are told from his point of view. I hope you enjoy this peek at Mr. Bennet’s sardonic view of the unfolding events in the Bennet household!

~~~~~

Thursday, 28 May 1812: Hertfordshire

Mr. Bennet halted his amble to the library mid-stride, leant backwards, and peered around the parlour door. No, he had not been mistaken. Mr. Bingley was, indeed, engrossed in an apparently diverting tête-à-tête with Elizabeth—his third call on as many sisters in as many days. Mr. Bennet could not but marvel at the man’s indecisiveness.  

Tuesday’s choice had been Jane, with whom the young man had spent the better part of the day exchanging naught but protracted silences and mawkish smiles. The appeal of such a dull courtship eluded Mr. Bennet entirely, and he was not surprised when on Wednesday, Mr. Bingley had diverted his attentions to Mary. They had at least managed a dialogue of sorts and one that must have been more engaging than it appeared for in spite of Mr. Bingley’s appearance of ennui, he had yet stayed the entire day.

Today, it seemed nothing would do but to sample the company of a third Bennet, and very well pleased with his experiment he seemed too. Whatever it was Elizabeth was saying had him leaning almost out of his seat—so far, in fact, that Mr. Bennet was tempted to engineer some sort of commotion to see whether the pup toppled into her lap in fright.

Jane looked on with ill-concealed vexation (never had she looked so much like her mother), and he considered that for a girl heretofore unwilling to frown at a fart, her elevation to jealous inamorata was laudable. Mary seemed entirely unaffected by Mr Bingley’s defection, intent as she was on banging out a discordant bagatelle on the pianoforte.

Mr. Bennet wished his young neighbour luck and hoped he would not take overlong shedding his ambivalence, for he would prefer it if Mrs. Bennet remained ignorant of such vacillation for as long as possible, lest he be called to intervene.

~~~~~

Friday, 29 May 1812: Hertfordshire

The parlour at Longbourn was blessedly quiet, Jane’s youngest sisters having gone to visit Mrs. Philips with their mother. She, her father, and Elizabeth sat in companionable silence, they both reading, and she anticipating whether Mr. Bingley might call again today. She was not long kept in suspense. Not a quarter of an hour after her mother left the house, did Mr. Bingley arrive.

“Good day, sir!” said her father, folding his paper as he arose from his chair. “You have come for Kitty today, I suppose? I am sorry to disappoint you, but she is not at home.”

Jane often missed the gist of her father’s jokes and had grown used to ignoring them, but Mr. Bingley looked altogether baffled. He was saved from his stammering reply—and Jane’s spirits were raised considerably—by the announcement of a second visitor, Mr. Greyson. For Mr. Greyson was Elizabeth’s suitor and would monopolise her attention charmingly. Greetings were exchanged and Mr. Bennet excused himself, claiming five people were four too many for a truly civilized gathering.

~~~~~

Monday, 1 June 1812: Hertfordshire

Mr. Bennet had been uncommonly concerned at the prospect of Elizabeth walking to Meryton this day. Her rapid recovery notwithstanding, he did not think it wise for her to be venturing so far so soon. Nevertheless, she would not be deterred, and when his offer of the carriage had also fallen on deaf ears, he had taken the unprecedented decision to accompany her and her sisters on their walk. Thus, they had all—excepting Lydia and Mrs. Bennet, who tarried abed—enjoyed an agreeable morning in town.

Now almost home, he regarded Elizabeth with pride. The majority of their sojourn had been passed accepting well wishes from the good folk of Meryton. He had anticipated a certain amount of interest, but the ingenuous concern of his neighbours had far exceeded his expectation, speaking volumes as to the esteem his second eldest evidently commanded.

He was also disagreeably humbled, for the more people expressed their sympathy at her misfortune the greater swelled his own remorse. Had he but listened to Elizabeth’s warning, all the unpleasantness of the past days might have been avoided. Instead, she had borne the brunt of Wickham’s iniquity, Lydia’s stupidity and his own inaction and guilt poked incessantly at his equanimity.

As they approached the front door he patted her hand where it rested upon his arm. “I ought to have listened to you, I know. Though I cannot like of your method of proving me wrong.”

Elizabeth smiled at him weakly.

Relieved to have discharged his guilt, he continued more light-heartedly. “And now, with the militia departing next week sans your foolish sister, we need not concern ourselves with the preservation of her honour for at least another season. Our ruin has been wholly averted, and all with very little inconvenience to ourselves.” He chuckled and stood aside for Elizabeth, who now looked excessively weary, to go through the front door ahead of him.

As they entered the house, Hill informed them that Mr. Bingley waited upon them in the parlour.

“I should feel neglected were he not!” He left the girls to change their shoes and went to greet his guest—and knew not whether to be diverted or incredulous upon finding him this time in private conference with his fifth daughter. He allowed himself a modest smile and cleared his throat. “I commend your zeal for my progeny, Mr. Bingley, but even you cannot believe there is potential here!”

His delight in the man’s bewilderment was overshadowed by Elizabeth’s scowl as she trailed into the room after Jane. Hoping her recent travails had not permanently tempered her wit he excused himself and retreated to his library in search of sanctuary.

~~~~~

Thank you, everyone, for joining me here today at Babblings of a Bookworm to talk about Mistaken. Please feel free to ask me any questions in the comments section, or you can contact me via Twitter, Facebook or my blog (links below). I’d love to hear from you! 

Author Bio:

I’ve always loved words—reading them, writing them, and as my friends and family will wearily attest, speaking them. I dabbled in poetry during my angst-ridden teenage years, but it wasn’t until college that I truly came to comprehend the potency of the English language.

That appreciation materialised into something more tangible one dark wintry evening whilst I was making a papier-mâché Octonauts Gup-A (Google it—you’ll be impressed) for my son, and watching a rerun of Pride and Prejudice on TV. Fired up by the remembrance of Austen’s genius with words, I dug out my copy of the novel and in short order had been inspired to set my mind to writing in earnest. I began work on a Regency romance based on Austen’s timeless classic, and my debut novel Mistaken is the result.

The Regency period continues to fascinate me, and I spend a good deal of my time cavorting about there in my daydreams, imagining all manner of misadventures. The rest of the time I can be found at home in Hertfordshire, where I live with my husband, two children, and an out-of-tune piano. You can check out my musings on the absurdities of language and life on my blog, Life in Words, or you can drop me a line on Twitter, @JessieWriter or on my Facebook page, Jessie Lewis Author,  or on Goodreads, Jessie Lewis.

  

Buy Links:

Mistaken   (Amazon US)

Mistaken   (Amazon UK)

Mistaken is also available on Kindle Unlimited

Giveaway Time

There is a giveaway to accompany the blog tour. To enter, please use the rafflecopter below.

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Please note that this just my stop on the blog tour, and there are loads more posts for you to enjoy. Here's the schedule!

Blog Tour Schedule:

03 Oct   My Jane Austen Book Club; Vignette, Giveaway

04 Oct   Darcyholic Diversions; Author Interview, Giveaway

05 Oct   Just Jane 1813; Review, Giveaway

06 Oct   Diary of an Eccentric; Guest Post, Excerpt, Giveaway

07 Oct   My Love for Jane Austen; Character Interview, Giveaway

08 Oct   Of Pens and Pages; Review, Giveaway

09 Oct   From Pemberley to Milton; Guest Post, Giveaway

10 Oct   Half Agony, Half Hope; Review, Excerpt

11 Oct   Savvy Verse and Wit; Review, Giveaway

12 Oct   So little time…; Guest Post, Giveaway

13 Oct   Babblings of a Bookworm; Vignette, Giveaway

14 Oct   Interests of a Jane Austen Girl; Review, Giveaway

15 Oct   Laughing With Lizzie; Guest Post, Excerpt, Giveaway

16 Oct   Austenesque Reviews; Vignette, GA