1932 - Pride & Prejudice Revisited: 2nd Edition - by Karen M Cox

Today I'm happy to be welcoming Karen M Cox back to Babblings of a Bookworm. Karen's books often take Austen's works to other eras, and my personal favourite of her books, 1932, transports Pride & Prejudice to the Great American Depression of the 1930s. Karen has revised and re-launched this book and comes here today with a post about 1930s movies, and a chance for me to share my review of the 2nd edition of 1932 with you. She also brings a giveaway! Read on for more details!

Book Description

“…do anything rather than marry without affection.” 

—Pride and Prejudice

During the upheaval of the Great Depression, Elizabeth Bennet’s life is torn asunder. Her family’s relocation from the bustle of the big city to a quiet family farm has changed her future, and now, she must build a new life in rural Meryton, Kentucky. 

William Darcy suffered family turmoil of his own, but he has settled into a peaceful life at Pemberley, the largest farm in the county. Single, rich, and seemingly content, he remains aloof—immune to any woman’s charms. 

Until Elizabeth Bennet moves to town.

As Darcy begins to yearn for something he knows is missing, Elizabeth’s circumstances become more dire. Can the two put aside their pride and prejudices long enough to find their way to each other? 

1932, Karen M Cox’s award-winning debut novel, is a matchless variation on Jane Austen’s classic tale.  

Winner of the Bronze Independent Publishers Book Award in Romance, 2011

Guest Post from Karen M Cox - Movies

Thank, Ceri, for welcoming me to Babblings of a Bookworm to celebrate the new 1932. As part of the blog tour, I’ve gathered some fun information about the time period of the book, the 1930s. Yes, the decade of the Great Depression had tragedy and suffering, but it also had joy too, shining through like a brilliant smile suddenly appearing in the stoic countenance of a certain Austen hero.

With that in mind, here are the 5 Best Movies Set During the Great Depression. Why are they the best? Well, because I said so, I guess!  Here we go...

• The Sting (1973) Why? Because I've always had a huge crush on Paul Newman.
• O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000) Why? Because it's my dad's favorite movie. And it has great quotable lines, like "I've spoken my piece and counted to three," and "Well, ain't this place a geographical oddity. Two weeks from everywhere!"
• To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) Why? Because Atticus Finch. And Gregory Peck. That is all.
• The Untouchables (1987) Why? Because it's dramatic, and the actors are superb: Sean Connery, Kevin Costner, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, and Robert De Niro just nail their roles in this one.
• Cinderella Man (2005) Why? Because James J Braddock rises like a phoenix above the ashes of adversity. And a man who takes care of his family is sexy as hell.

 Okay, movie buffs, have your share in the conversation—anything I missed?

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1932 - Pride & Prejudice Revisited by Karen M Cox - My Review

1932 is a story based on Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, but moved into Depression-era Kentucky. It doesn’t follow Austen’s story exactly, but takes the characters into another era. When I first discovered the Austenesque genre 1932 was one of the early stories that I found, and I loved it! You can see my review ofthe first version here. 

When I heard that Karen M Cox was planning to release a second edition of 1932 I was equally excited and apprehensive; I am such a fan of the book that I was happy that it was getting some attention, but I was a little worried that the things that I charmed me in the first version might be removed or changed in this one but I still jumped at the chance to read and review it for the blog tour.

One of the things that worries Mrs Bennet in P&P is the insecurity of the Bennets’ situation – they only have Longbourn as long as Mr Bennet lives. In 1932 the economic downturn is what has done for the Bennets’ financial security – Mr Bennet has lost his job, teaching at a university, and some investments haven’t worked out, meaning that he doesn’t have back-up savings. As he hasn’t been able to find another job, the whole Bennet family are going to move to the country, where her maternal uncle, Edward Gardiner is the local vet and still owns the Gardiner family farm, which he offers to the Bennets.

Elizabeth is a university student, but her family will no longer be able to afford the fees. Instead she will have to take a job at her uncle’s surgery to help out the family finances. Her elder sister Jane is found a job at a local store and the rest of the family are going to have to pitch in at the farm. Even so, it will be touch and go as to how they will manage; they are moving at the wrong time of year to plant crops so it’ll be some time before they can stand on their own feet financially.

Lizzy finds the whole situation chafing to her pride; she has moved to a society where she feels like just another poor girl. However, she soon begins to make friends in the town of Meryton, and she begins to attract the notice of a local farm owner, a certain William Darcy, although as his notice towards her doesn’t seem very admiring, she can’t really account for it:

Again, when she looked up, she caught Mr. Darcy staring at her. He turned quickly when she saw him. Elizabeth self-consciously rubbed an imaginary ink smudge from her cheek and returned her attention to Reverend Adams.

Mr Darcy lives with his sister, Georgiana. She has two daughters and there is some mystery surrounding the father of the children, as Georgiana is still calling herself Miss Darcy. Darcy is proud and reserved, but he shows another side of himself in his love for his nieces.

Meeting Miss Elizabeth Bennet has taken Darcy by surprise; she has entered into his well-ordered life and he can’t get her out of his head. He doesn’t want to love, having seen what misery it can bring but he is quite bewitched by Elizabeth and is very attracted to her. He feels compelled by this attraction to propose marriage. He doesn’t offer her love, but what he does offer her is an escape from her family life. This would be a way to ease the burdens on her family’s finances. This is an Elizabeth who has little hope for the future, so she decides to take a gamble on improving the short-term future rather than hold out hope of getting a better long-term future. There is another motivation for her gamble though:

She looked up at him and the words died in her throat. He was watching her with an intensity that was unnerving at worst, and at best–well it was somewhat stirring.

A marriage of convenience between two proud people who are both keeping secrets from each other… what could possibly go wrong?!

So, what is it that I love about this book? Firstly, I love the fact that this is set in a different period. I think that the options for women in those times were limited, although obviously there were more options than in a Regency setting.

I like the way that that author took text from Pride & Prejudice and worked it naturally into the different setting:

She had accused him of being too quick to judge others based on outward appearances, but was she not just as guilty as he? Until this moment, she had never truly known herself, and the knowledge she had gained was troubling.

What I love most about this book is the feelings, particularly on Darcy’s side. He thinks he is infatuated with Elizabeth and has offered her a marriage based on compatibility and sense. When he realises that he feels more for his new wife than he has professed, he doesn’t have much hope that things will improve:

He was in love with the new Mrs. Darcy, and the pain of it was acute, because he knew she didn’t return his feelings.

When I started reading this second edition I didn’t know how comprehensive the changes were, whether I’d even notice them. However, in addition to minor amendments there were also several scenes added, some of which gave more of a flavour of the pre-marriage period, showing the building relationship between the couple, and also giving more insight into one of the secrets Darcy is keeping from his wife.

For those who like to know about these things, there are some sex scenes in this book. In this sort of marriage of convenience scenario, this kind of intimate scene can highlight for the reader the state of a relationship. I was glad to see the notable sex scene of the wedding night made it from the first edition into the second. It’s notable to me as so often first sex scenes between inexperienced people seem highly romanticised, and this one seemed more real!

It’s also worth noting that there is a ‘sidequel’ to this story - The Journey Home which looks at Georgiana’s story. I would read 1932 first and then move on to The Journey Home.

In summary, I loved the second edition of 1932 just as much as the first; the changes made between the editions only enhanced the story for me. It was already a story that I re-read, but I will enjoy my reads all the more now! This is a definite 5 star read for me.

Author Bio

Karen M Cox is an award-winning author of five novels accented with history and romance, a novella, and several short stories.

Karen was born in Everett WA, the daughter of a United States Air Force Officer. She had a nomadic childhood, with stints in North Dakota, Tennessee, and New York State before settling in her family’s home state of Kentucky at age eleven. She lives in a quiet town with her husband and works as a pediatric speech pathologist.

If you would like periodic bits of authorly goodness delivered to your inbox, be sure to get Karen’s News and Muse Letter. Updates, sales, book recommendations, etc. are yours for the asking. 

Social Media and Publicity Links: Website / Instagram / Twitter / Facebook / Tumblr / Pinterest

Buy Links

1932 is available to buy now in both paperback and ebook, and is also available in Kindle Unlimited - Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Add to Goodreads shelf.

The sidequel, The Journey Home is also available to buy now in ebook - Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA / Add to Goodreads shelf

Giveaway Time!

1932 Tenth Anniversary Edition Launch and Birthday Party

To celebrate the 10th anniversary edition of 1932, Karen is giving away a signed copy of the book and some Jane Austen swag: fun notecards from The Quill Ink, What Would Jane Do? book of quotes, and Austen coffee mug (if US winner) or an ebook copy of the book and 25$ Amazon Gift Card (if International Winner - cause #shipping :) 

To enter, use the Kingsumo link below:

https://kingsumo.com/g/ezayjm/1932-tenth-anniversary-party

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Blog Tour Schedule

Feb 10          Karen M Cox

Feb 12          More Agreeably Engaged

Feb 15          My Love for Jane Austen

Feb 16          Diary of an Eccentric

Feb 17          The Reading Frenzy

Feb 17          From Pemberley to Milton

Feb 18          Olga: Author, Translator

Feb 19          My Jane Austen Book Club

Feb 20          Austenesque Reviews

Feb 21          Rosie Amber Book Reviews

Feb 21          Babblings of a Bookworm

Feb 25          So Little Time

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