The Sailor’s Rest by Don Jacobson – Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

I’m very pleased to be welcoming Don Jacobson with a guest post and excerpt of his new book, which is released today! The Sailor’s Rest is a book which features characters from both Persuasion as well as Pride & Prejudice. First, I’ll share the blurb with you and then hand over to Don for a guest post and excerpt from The Sailor’s Rest. There’s also an ebook giveaway. Read on for more details.

Book Description

The Sailor’s Rest: The Naval Adventure Jane Austen Could Have Written!

Jane Austen’s greatest lovers come together to be tested in the crucible of war on the Mediterranean’s blue waters and in the smoky confines of a prestigious London gambling den.

The Sailor’s Rest is inspired by Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion and is set on the stage of Napoleon’s 100 Days. Discover how the two betrothed couples—Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, along with Frederick Wentworth and Anne Elliot—find their love tried by separation, battle, and deception.

The novel immerses readers first in a mystery, then a sea chase, and, finally, a satisfying comeuppance. From the tattered rooms of a waterfront inn to three frigates engaged in a deadly game of naval chess, readers will experience the yearning as four hearts come closer to one-another. Before the tale ends, the audience will step into the gilded confines of London’s preeminent card room.

The Sailor’s Rest uses the characters formed by Austen as a starting point in an Austenesque excursion that will leave readers both challenged and richer for the experience.

The Sailor’s Rest is set in the Persuasion timeline of 1815 but leaves in place the age and plot constructs established by Austen in Pride and Prejudice. This is a full-length novel of 115,000 words.

Part mystery, part adventure - and all heart - This has the feel of a Hornblower epic.

Alice McVeigh, author of Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel

The Grail: The Saving of Elizabeth Darcy by Don Jacobson - Blog Tour, Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

Many of you will be familiar with Don Jacobson’s The Bennet Wardrobe series which takes Austen’s Bennet family into the world beyond their time, as the wardrobe can transport them to other points in history. This is now the last installment in the series, The Grail: The Saving of Elizabeth Darcy. Don has joined us as part of his blog tour for The Grail. He’s brought a guest post, excerpt, and the opportunity to win one of six ebooks.

Let’s look at the blurb, and then I’ll hand over to Don.

Book Description

“You must throw away notions of what you want.
Only then will you be free to accept what you need.”

—The Brown Guide to
Fitzwilliam Darcy, 1840

Long has the amazing Bennet Wardrobe involved itself in the affairs of Longbourn. Where before its actions have been cloaked in mystery, its purpose now becomes clear. The fey cabinet has molded the universes to strike a balance that can be achieved only by saving the greatest love story ever told.

Follow the paths taken by Pemberley’s master and mistress after their children are grown. See Elizabeth Darcy struggle to rekindle the love glow that has dimmed after a quarter century. Grasp the unaccountable pain her departure levels upon the entire Derbyshire family. Watch Fitzwilliam Darcy learn that which he must in order to become the best version of himself: worthy of his Elizabeth.

The Grail: The Saving of Elizabeth Darcy closes out the Bennet Wardrobe series.  The disparate threads spun by the remarkable women born to a Hertfordshire couple of insignificant fortune are woven together. These lives have become the tapestry that records the destiny of Jane Austen’s lovers, immortal in any here/now or where/when.

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The Longbourn Quarantine by Don Jacobson - Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

I’m happy to be bringing you a post from Don Jacobson today. Don has visited Babblings of a Bookworm many times and his posts are always popular. Many of his visits have been to do with his Bennet Wardrobe series, but this one is a stand-alone novella, The Longbourn Quarantine. Don has brought us a guest post and an excerpt of the novella, and Meryton Press are offering an ebook giveaway of The Longbourn Quarantine on this blog post. Let’s look at the blurb and then I’ll hand over to Don.

Book Description 

“Papa handed Mama a brace of pistols. Her tears, Mr. Darcy, her tears: yet, all she did was nod when Papa looked at us and said, ‘You know what to do if they enter the icehouse.’”

Refugees flood the roads. A feared specter has escaped London’s grimy docklands and now threatens the wealthy districts. Amongst that ragged steam is a single carriage jostling its way toward Meryton. Inside are the Darcy siblings along with Charles and Caroline Bingley. They desperately seek the safety of Netherfield Park.

For all their riches, they could not evade the epidemic’s dark hand. Bingley’s leasehold had been reduced to rubble as roving bands raped, pillaged, and burned. The only sanctuary was Longbourn where, once installed, the Darcys and Bingleys were barred from leaving by a fortnight’s quarantine.

Events converge with disease in The Longbourn Quarantine. Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy abandon old prejudices to face grief and mourning. Pride is set aside as Death hovers nearby. The couple forges ahead knowing that love unexplored is love lost: that words must be said lest they remain unspoken in the time of smallpox.

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In Plain Sight by Don Jacobson - Blog Tour, Excerpt and Giveway

Today the blog tour for Don Jacobson’s new book, In Plain Sight stops here for the last stop of the tour. Let’s take a look at the blurb and then I’ll hand over to Don for an excerpt. There’s also a chance to win a copy of the book. Please read on for details!

Book Description

“At the end of the day when we are each of us lyin’ flat on our backs, lookin’ at the ceiling, and the vicar is whisperin’ in our ear, the greatest comfort we shall ’ave is to know that we loved well and were well loved in return.”

When Fitzwilliam Darcy’s father slides into an early grave, his son is forced to take on Pemberley’s mantle. Brandy numbs his pain, but Darcy’s worst inclinations run wild. After tragedy rips everything away, he spends years finding his way back: a man redeemed by a woman’s loving understanding.

Elizabeth Bennet is afflicted with a common Regency ailment: observing the world about her but not seeing those beneath her notice. Then a clarifying act shatters the propriety that has denied her heart the transcendent love she craves.

In Plain Sight explores Jane Austen’s eternal love story by flipping social roles on their heads. From their first encounter, Elizabeth Bennet and the convict known as “Smith” must overcome their prejudices and break through their pride. Only then can they share the treasure hidden in plain sight.

Falling for Mr Thornton - Blog Tour - Review and Giveaway

As long time blog visitors will know, I mainly focus on Austen-inspired books, so I hope today you will forgive me if I blog about an anthology that's inspired by something else - Mrs Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South, which I have blogged about previously.

Now, let's look at the blurb of the Falling for Mr Thornton anthology.

Book Description

Amidst the turbulent backdrop of a manufacturing town in the grips of the Industrial Revolution, Elizabeth Gaskell penned the timeless passion of Mr. Thornton and Margaret Hale. A mixing of contemporary and Victorian, this short story anthology by twelve beloved authors considers familiar scenes from new points of view or re-imagined entirely. Capturing all the poignancy, heartbreak, and romance of the original tale, Falling for Mr. Thornton is a collection you will treasure again and again.

Stories by: Trudy Brasure * Nicole Clarkston * Julia Daniels * Rose Fairbanks * Don Jacobson * Evy Journey * Nancy Klein * M. Liza Marte * Elaine Owen * Damaris Osborne * Melanie Stanford ** Foreword by Mimi Matthews **

Falling for Mr Thornton - My Review

I have always thought that North and South bears some resemblance to Austen's Pride & Prejudice. The main characters, Margaret Hale and John Thornton have their share of misunderstandings, and like Elizabeth and Darcy, are both proud and prejudiced.

There was also a mini-series made of the book, back in 2004, starring Richard Armitage (do not confuse this with the other North and South tv adaptation, starring Patrick Swayze, they are not the same!). I think most people would agree that it's an excellent adaptation, but I first met Mr Thornton through reading the book and I think the book does his character more justice than the adaptation does. Mr Thornton is an absolutely stand-out hero - there are few romantic heroes in books that I've read who would better him - he's right up there with Mr Darcy and Gilbert Blythe!

Why is he such a great hero? Well, firstly he is a self-made man - his family were disgraced following his father's financial ruin and suicide. Teenage Thornton left school and got a job to support himself, his mother and his sister. He worked and saved, achieving promotions and success. Rather than write off his father's debts as he could have, Thornton paid them all back, and later was able to reap the rewards of his hard work, successfully running his own mill. About the only flaw he has is that he doesn't always allow for people who don't have his high standards and drive. He has an amazing work ethic, is very honourable and he is proud of what he has achieved in life. Through his interactions with Margaret, Thornton becomes more compassionate and takes steps to improve his workers' lives outside of his factory. He absolutely deserves a book devoted to him!

Please note that the below inevitably contains spoilers for Mrs Gaskell's North and South. As these are short stories based on the wider book you would need to be familiar with the story, either via the adaptation, or even better, through reading the book for some of these stories to make sense! Now that you've been warned to read on at your own risk, let's take a look at the stories,

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The first story in the anthology, On the Island by Melanie Stanford is a modern story where Meg Hale is a travel blogger and John Thornton is a resort owner. Meg visited Thornton's resort and found him berating an employee (shades of the BBC adaptation first meeting). Meg was in a bad place in her personal life at the time, worrying about her mother's health, and she gave the resort a scathing review. At the request of her father, Meg has returned to give the resort another chance, although she's sure that her initial judgements were correct. She has to come to terms that he is not the man she thought he was.

I thought this was a really strong opening story. It's full of emotion, and really drew me in quickly. I also liked the parallel that for Gaskell's Margaret, Mr Thornton almost epitomised Milton - a place that she didn't want to come to, and where she sees and experiences a lot of misery. I feel that this is part of the reason that she has such a strong reaction towards him, and in this story, Meg has done a similar thing.

We then move on to some time slip stories. The first of these, Passages in Time by Kate Forrester sees Mr Thornton being killed in a fire which has been set on purpose - don't stop reading, it gets better! We then go to the modern day, where MJ Hale is going to see a preserved historic mill building. However, there has been a fire overnight and it has been damaged. There is also a man in Victorian clothing claiming to be John Thornton. Can MJ help him find out who caused the fire and help him return home?

Some of Thornton's back story was varied here, as in canon he didn't take over running his father's mill, but worked in a drapers. I thought the author did a good job of highlighting some of the things that would surely have alarmed and confused poor Mr Thornton. There is a scene which was echoed the part where Margaret got hit with the stone by the rioters in N&S. I also enjoyed seeing a character that I wasn't expecting!

The second time slip story, The First Day of Spring by M Liza Marte sees Margaret faint and when she wakes up she is in a reality she doesn't recognise, married to Mr Thornton and expecting their first child. It's one of those stories that inexplicably shows a character what might happen and made for a sweet story.

We get a change of pace in Loose Leaves from Milton by Damaris Osborne which is a spoof of North & South with a veritable obsession with the British national drink, tea. There are some excellent puns and wordplay in this story, and not surprisingly, the funniest lines in the book:

Tea, 'the cup that cheers,' had been a solace, to the extent that Hannah fondly called her son 'J Tea'. It was her one concession to softness, which she regarded with suspicion.

The next story, Reeducating Mr Thornton, by Evy Journey shows the newly married Mr and Mrs Thornton travelling to Cadiz on their honeymoon. In this version the mill hasn't yet been opened which seemed odd, as I would have thought that Thornton would have been more likely to defer such a visit until after the mill was reopened in order not to lose business, and to re-employ the workers that he had been working to improve conditions for. However, in this story, he goes there and sees another new perspective of life by seeing a different, more relaxed culture.

Moving on to variation stories, which deviate from the core story of North and South, we begin with Mistakes and Remedies by Julia Daniels, which sees Mr Thornton visiting Margaret because his sister has gone missing after paying her a visit. It turns out that Fanny has got herself into a very bad situation, which Margaret helps with. I felt that this story might have benefited from being a little longer as for me as some parts felt rushed. Also, for me, the language in this story was a little modern and informal, so I felt less immersed in the era.

In Her Father's Last Wish by Rose Fairbanks Mr Hale dies at an earlier stage than in North and South. Instead of being in Oxford he is still in Milton, and collapses on the street. With his dying breath, he asks Mr Thornton to take care of his daughter. At this point in the story, Margaret has relented towards Mr Thornton but believes that he looks down on her, due to her lies to protect Fred. Mr Thornton believes Margaret can never love him. Both of them are so mistaken in their belief of the other's feelings - both of them want to take advantage of the situation that Mr Hale has set up for them, but neither of them want the other to have to sacrifice themselves. This is such a lovely, romantic, heart-rending story. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it even brought a tear to my eye.

In The Best Medicine by Elaine Owen we see Mr Thornton taking an opportunity to improve Margaret's opinion of him. An old schoolfriend wishes to set up as a doctor in Milton. His training is recent. Mr Thornton knows that Margaret has taken an interest in a young woman, Bessy, who is in poor health and he wonders whether his friend can help her. I thought this was an interesting idea for a variation. In terms of language use there were a few US turns of phrase but I thought the local dialect was written well, it read like that sort of accent would sound. There was a romance story in here which I thought was nice but unlikely! One thing I particularly enjoyed about this story was that the variation was woven into the wider story, altering later events.

Cinders and Smoke by Don Jacobson sees Mr Thornton undertaking some soul-searching and reflection after Margaret is injured, ending the riot. He then speaks with Higgins and later both of them speak with Margaret to try and bridge their differences. I didn't really get on board with the later parts of the story, which see Margaret acting as a mediator between them, partly because I think she just would have felt so unwell she would have needed to go home and rest and couldn't have spent hours talking, but also that she has views which were more detailed in terms of working practices than I think she would have known. At this point in North and South I think she is very much a voice of compassion but I don't think she has practical ideas of working practices, as it's so far outside her sphere of knowledge. I thought the parts of the story that dealt with Mr Thornton's reflections were really powerful.

The last variation, Mischances by Nicole Clarkston ramps up the angst. Another mill owner, the middle-aged Mr Hamper (who we know is a baddie, from his dodgy working practices) is at the train station the night that Margaret is seeing Frederick off. To ensure his silence, Margaret agrees to an engagement (bleuuugh). But will she accept help in getting herself out of this situation? This was a very satisfying story.

The last couple of stories are billed as alternate endings, but I would say that really they are more like the ending of the novel but from different perspectives. The first of these, Looking to the Future by Nancy Klein begins after Margaret has visited Helstone with Mr Bell and we go through to the end of the novel. I enjoyed it very much but I would say that it's really similar to North and South, because at this stage of the book the reader is in London with Margaret and we see things pretty much from her perspective. I don't think that I got anything new from it, but if you have only watched the adaptation and not read the book then this would give you a better idea of the ending.

We switch to Mr Thornton's perspective of the same period of time in Once Again by Trudy Brasure. He is travelling to London in order to possibly try and find backers and see about sub-letting his rental of Marlborough Mills, while Mrs Thornton is packing up their belongings at home. Firstly, I loved the inclusion of Mrs Thornton in this story. Mrs Thornton is quite a hard, humourless woman. She is hardworking and conscientious, but her love for her son is what makes her a character I root for. Her son is a prince amongst men and she knows it. She is fiercely proud of him and loves him with every fibre of her being. She is devastated at their change in fortunes. Not for herself, but for her hardworking son, who built up a business from a beginning of debt and dishonour and who has now lost it all.

We also know that poor Mr Thornton has been unlucky in love too, and as a final nail in the coffin of his pride, as she is his landlord, he will know that the woman who wouldn't marry him will now get to know all about his business failure. I love this part of North and South because after making the characters suffer, Mrs Gaskell suddenly whips out a happy ending, and for Mr Thornton in particular, it's almost like a fairy tale. He goes to London in despair, has disappointments rain on him during dinner and two days later everything he wants in life and thought he would never achieve is just given to him out of the blue.

I liked some of the details that Trudy Brasure highlighted that some readers might have missed in the original - the fact that Margaret's business proposal for Thornton offers an odd amount of money rather than a round figure hints that she is literally trusting him with everything she has, for example. As you can imagine, reading this story, we go through the emotional journey with Mr Thornton, and it's delicious!

At the end of North and South Margaret wonders how her future mother in law will take the news (she is imagining that Mrs Thornton will not be pleased) and in this story we not only see that scene but where Mr Higgins hears it too. This was my favourite story of the collection, and a fantastic way to end the book.

In summary, this is an enjoyable selection of stories. I am really pleased to see North and South-inspired fiction. I thought that there was a good amount of variation between the stories, so although they were all based on the same novel, they all felt different to each other and I didn't have any confusion when going from one story to another. As with any anthology, I preferred some stories to others, but overall I'd rate this as a 3¾ star read.

Buy Links

Falling for Mr Thornton is available to buy in ebook now!

Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Add to Goodreads Shelf

Giveaway Time!

We have two giveaways going on with this blog tour, both of them international. The first giveaway is just for visitors to Babblings of a Bookworm. It's two bookmarks of Falling for Mr Thornton. To enter, just leave a comment on this blog post.

There is also a grand prize for the blog tour. This will be one ebook of Falling for Mr Thornton plus one other ebook from each of the authors - that is THIRTEEN ebooks in total. Christmas will be coming early for one of you! To enter this giveaway, please use the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note Regarding Comments: I love to read your comments, but a few blog visitors have reported difficulties in commenting while using the Safari browser. If you are unable to comment, please try using another web browser, such as Google Chrome, or please contact me and I will add your comment for you :)

Blog Tour Schedule

14/11/2019 More Agreeably Engaged; Blog Tour Launch & Giveaway

19/11/2019 My Jane Austen Book Club ; Author Interview & Giveaway

21/11/2019 From Pemberley to Milton; Review & Giveaway

25/11/2019 So Little Time…; Guest Post & Giveaway

05/12/2019 My Vices and Weaknesses; Review & Giveaway

10/12/2019 Diary of an Eccentric; Guest Post & Giveaway

16/12/2019 Babblings of a Bookworm; Review & Giveaway

20/12/2019 Austenesque Reviews; Guest Post & Giveaway

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The Pilgrim: Lydia Bennet and a Soldier’s Portion by Don Jacobson - Blog Tour, Guest Post and Giveaway

Don Jacobson visits us today with the latest in the Bennet Wardrobe series.

If you're new to this series, let me explain a little about it:

What is the ‘Bennet Wardrobe’? Well it’s literally a wardrobe, but it’s no ordinary piece of furniture. It can transport people of the Bennet bloodline forward in time for a period, and then transport them back to their original time. The time traveller doesn’t get to choose when they travel to; it’ll take them to a period that will teach them something they need to know.

This story is Lydia's.

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Book Description

“My life has been very much like an unfinished painting. The artist comes to the portrait day-after-day to splash daubs of color onto bare canvas, filling in the blanks of my story. Thus grows the likeness, imperfect as it may be, which you see today.”
Lydia Fitzwilliam, Countess of Matlock, letter to her sister
Elizabeth Bennet Darcy, March 14, 1831.

Does it matter how a man fills out his regimentals? Miss Austen never considered that query. Yet, this question marks the beginning of an education…and the longest life…in the Bennet Wardrobe saga.
Lydia Bennet, Longbourn’s most wayward daughter, embarks on her quest in The Pilgrim: Lydia Bennet and a Soldier’s Portion. This biography reveals how the Wardrobe helps young Mrs. Wickham learn that honor and bravery grow not from the color of the uniform—or the gender of its wearer—but rather from the contents of the heart.

In the process, she realizes that she must be broken and repaired, as if by a kintsugi master potter, to become the most useful player in the Bennet Wardrobe’s great drama.

 “Multifaceted and nuanced, The Pilgrim: Lydia Bennet and a Soldier’s Portion, speaks to the verities of life. Once again, Don Jacobson has combined the essence of Pride and Prejudice with an esoteric story line and the universal themes of redemption and forgiveness in this well-crafted narrative.”

Mirta Ines Trupp, author of The Meyersons of Meryton

Guest Post from Don Jacobson - Roses in the Bennet Wardrobe’s World

It all started with Sir William Lucas.

Seriously.

For some reason I latched onto the old shopkeeper’s introduction of the Bennet sisters at the Meryton Assembly as alluding to their beauty. In the Bennet Wardrobe’s universe, those words were “the Five Roses of Hertfordshire.” My mind has its own way of processing information.

In my house, carnations are considered the more beautiful bloom. Yet, the scent of roses are incomparable. And, I have a veritable forest (Vita Sackville-West would have words with me about pruning if the good lady were still in this world) of rosebushes lining my front walk. But the rose imagery came to the forefront early in 2016 when I was working on the first novel in the Bennet Wardrobe Series, The Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary Journey.

I began considering the rose hagiography early on. For me, it was ascribing a flower to be an emblematic ideal. For instance, many authors have idealized Pemberley’s gardens as being the enduring legacy of Lady Anne Darcy. I imagined that the family memorialized her by naming the delightful sunshine-colored cultivar, the yellow, as the Lady Anne.

I am impressed with the beauty of a pure yellow rose…and so are we all by Jane Bennet’s classic looks. Thus, the Lady Anne became her flower.

As for Elizabeth…we become aware of Darcy ordering a vase of deep red roses…Lizzy’s Own Red Bourbons…placed daily on a table outside of her chambers, unused after those awful days in 1836. Of course, these had been her favorites—and, thus, his—throughout her life. The crimson petals complemented her chocolate, near black eyes and rich brunette locks. Thus, the classic Red Bourbon variation created by Lydia Fitzwilliam was inscribed on Elizabeth’s escutcheon, matching her impertinent statement for impertinent statement.
Of course, flowers also have their own symbolic meanings.

Once I became enamored of using the roses to represent the Bennet women (ah-hah! Not Daughters, but Women), I had to consider the others.

My cover designer and artistic muse, Janet B. Taylor suggested using white to represent Mary’s purity of spirit. You have no idea how that changed my perspective. I had been considering Mary as the bush in winter from which summer’s beauty would spring. Brown canes are not very appealing and tended to confirm the hidebound point-of-view that most in the #Austenesque world had been taking of the middle daughter.

Giving Mary her own flower allowed me to visualize the beauty that was resting inside of her. No longer the root plant (although as The Great Keeper, Mary Bennet Benton ensured the Wardrobe’s integrity and the health of the Bennet Family Trust.), Mary now could be transformed into the woman she was truly meant to be.

Inside of the character study of the man who would become Kitty’s love interest after she translates to the future, Henry Fitzwilliam’s War, we encounter the young Viscount recalling his time as a little boy walking with his Great-Grandmother, the Dowager Countess. He asked her about the roses. Lydia recounts the roses for each of her sisters as I have above. Then the child asks about Aunt Kitty. Lydia replies:

“All of them. Every plant and bloom here in Selkirk, over at Thornhill and Pemberley, down at Longbourn, and most especially on the fieldstone wall in front of the House at Deauville reminds me of my most beloved sister.”

The cult of the rose, I discovered as I worked with the Wardrobe, did not originate with the Bennets but rather with the Gardiners. As we discovered in The Avenger: Thomas Bennet and a Father’s Lament, Mrs. Bennet brought roses to Longbourn shortly after her marriage to Thomas. She was replicating her mother’s plantings behind the Gardiner home on Meryton’s High Street.

The bushes Fanny brought to Longbourn included cuttings from the original plants (rosa chinensis) brought from China by her three-times great Grandfather. That Mr. Gardiner was a trader’s clerk and settled in Meryton following his master, Christopher Bennet, in abandoning the Honorable East India Company for the gentle climes of Hertfordshire. The tangerine hued r. chinensis flowered (sorry for the greensman’s pun) in the person of Frances Lorinda Bennet.

Given her sensual nature, Lydia’s rose required a bit of thinking. The “usual” colors were already serving her elder sisters. I was at a quandary. Except that each morning I strolled past my rosebushes. The blossoms were entrancing, particularly the blush-colored ones. Those, I imagined, were redolent of Lydia’s cheeks when well-loved by Wickham, Richter, or Fitzwilliam. Its fragrance was delightfully potent, filling my kitchen after I clipped a few and reminding me of the powerful woman the Wardrobe’s Lydia was destined to become.

Blush it was for her.

There is one bit of floral arrangement I would wish to address…the garlands that stretch across the bottom of the front cover (print and e-book) and the wreath surrounding the volume number on the print book spine.

I will admit that there are breadcrumbs scattered all over the covers for the Bennet Wardrobe stories. Sometimes they can be found in the covers themselves—for instance, the garland on Henry Fitzwilliam’s War is made of red poppies, the everlasting symbol of the sacrifice made by the soldiers of WWI.

The wreaths surrounding the volume numbers (there is none on Henry Fitzwilliam’s War as it exists only as an e-book) are either incomplete or complete. In some cases—where the life of the character is barely started—as in Lizzy Bennet Meets the Countess—the garland has but two or three roses. Otherwise the garlands are broken (as on The Exile: Kitty Bennet and the Belle Époque) or complete (as on The Exile: The Countess Visits Longbourn) depending on how far the reader is able to follow the title character’s life.

The cover garland for The Pilgrim: Lydia Bennet and a Soldier’s Portion offers other variations. Three roses in the garland are larger, representing the men in her life. Several of them have tear droplets showing the veils through which the youngest daughter had to pass.

The rose iconography in the Bennet Wardrobe stories offers, I hope, a subtext which enhances the overall experience readers have with the arc.

Please enjoy this excerpt from The Pilgrim: Lydia Bennet and a Soldier’s Portion, the seventh book in the arc of the Wardrobe stories.

Excerpt from The Pilgrim: Lydia Bennet and a Soldier’s Portion

Hauptmann Hans Richter, having lived at the Beach House for over one year, has begun to explore rising feelings for the widowed Mrs. Wickham. His affection for her son, Georges Henri, has helped smooth his path. Having been given Lady Kate’s blessing to court, the couple has left the Beach House for an outing in the ancient fortress city of Caen.

The road from Deauville to Caen trended south and west through farmland separated by great hedgerows thickened over the centuries. A sunny day, the great orb warmed their backs as the KW roared down the track, sparsely populated with lorries, other military vehicles, and the odd civilian auto. The whine of the engine and the rush of the wind around the open cab precluded conversation.

That did not mean that Lydia could not look at and appreciate the man next to her. Unlike his companion, her head wrapped in one of Kitty’s brilliant Hermes scarves and her body protected by a scarlet car coat, Hans Richter had pulled on a leather jacket which remained unzipped as they bounced along. His unstarched shirt collar points snapped up and down in the slipstream, offering a creamy counterpoint to cheeks ruddied above his preternatural tan.

His long fingers wrapped the Bakelite steering wheel, securely guiding the bucking four-seater over the bleached tarmac. Lydia watched, one eyebrow rising when his lanky frame, jack-knifed into the bucket seat, flexed and shifted as the vehicle responded to the bumps inherent in Normandy’s indifferently-maintained roads. From time-to-time, his left leg stabbed into the well as he worked the clutch to down-shift as they were forced to slow for traffic or move the transmission into top gear to launch the KW when the road cleared.

She resisted the urge to stroke his right thigh as the muscles tensed and relaxed, bulging his powerful, paratrooper quadriceps.

Lydia’s eyes, often focused upon the scenery as it flew past, would, however, drift back to caress him with their velvet fingers. For his part, Richter would turn her way and, from time-to-time, throw a brilliant grin, his even teeth blinding in the midday sun.

Oh, to be young and without care, if only for a moment.

Mrs. Wickham had taken both Kitty’s lessons as well as her own ruminations to heart. She would be that calm center—no, not like Jane as seen by Darcy, but rather the soaring mistress of the drawing-room, Miss Bennet of the calm and still waters running deeply as she quelled a fractious crowd—that would draw Richter into deeper communion. She would neither entice him nor use her arts and allurements to bend him to her will.

He would move from storge to agape without the need for either the Fifth or Sixth Loves…or he would not. Eros would come eventually.ⁱ

Or it would not.

Too much time devoted to wondering what could be would ultimately detract from the immediacy of what was.

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Caen was impossibly ancient. The Dukes of Normandy long called the city home, consolidating their power around the old port built where the Orne had poured into the Channel. Now, however, with a thousand years of sediment filling in the estuary, Caen like its old trading partner, Bruges, further north was land-locked, ceding its pre-eminence to the aptly-named metropolis of Le Havre.

Much as Vienna was an imperial city without an empire, Caen was a warlord’s domain without his august self, lands, knights, or peasants. Yet, the Château de Caen attracted crowds of German tourists—mostly day-tripping Wehrmacht non-coms—who were stunned by the inherent power of Duke William’s massive castle. If they were not able to travel to Berlin or Nuremberg to delve into Albert Speer’s architectural musings, German soldiers could, none-the-less, marvel at a structure that had already endured 900 years, a scant century shorter than the Führer’s promise for the Reich.

Lydia and Hans parked the KW near the Caen Kommandantura before crossing into the center of town to climb up to the fortifications built on a rise, once remote and now overlooking encroaching houses and shops. They passed through the great gatehouse—the Porte des champs—that had overlooked the sprawling grain fields that fed William’s cavalry.

Massive blocks of granite and limestone could only hold so much appeal to a pair of young people using sightseeing as the medium to learn more about one another. Lydia eventually expressed weariness and begged a demitasse et petits fours before they searched out a suitable spot to dine al fresco. They retraced their steps back into town.

As they entered the place de la ville, two sides of which were occupied by a great church and the hôtel de ville, they spied several cafés huddled beneath the eaves of old, but well-maintained, buildings. As t’was just past the noon-hour, most tables were taken by businessmen, merchants, and others who navigated around the edges of Occupation France’s officialdom.

Lydia cast a worried look at the busy restaurants and said to Richter, “Hans, this seems to be an idea doomed to fail. I cannot see any open seats. Perhaps we should just get the car and head down the river road.

“I did so wish to rest my feet, though.”

Her weary appeal set Richter’s head to swiveling as he scanned the terrace. His eye caught a small two-seater in the far corner, directly against the building. Tactically, this would have been the table he would have chosen if the entire café had been empty. While not the most obvious, this little table had a commanding view of the entire place.

Better to see than be seen.

Firmly gripping Lydia’s hand, Richter made his way to the tiny two-top, weaving around protruding elbows and bowed chairbacks. He did not bull his way across as would many of his kind living and breathing the assumption that they had greater rights than others thanks to their successful conquests. He was polite: numerous utterances of pardonnez-moi, m’sieur or ‘schuldigung mein Herr floated behind the couple as they did their best to avoid unduly disturbing others.

Once settled at their table, Lydia and Hans placed their order, the same as they would have at Villet’s…café et deux macarons et deux eclairs…ample food to keep Richter’s Fallschirmjäger and Lydia’s farmgirl appetites at bay.

The conversation, after all, was what was important. Much of what passed between them would have been accounted as bordering on meaningless little nothings. T’was true that, if exchanged between two persons who only had met this day, such bon mots would have been accounted as idle chit-chat. However, this courting couple would—and did—discover even idle words would illuminate their understanding of the object of their affection. Mrs. Wickham and Hauptmann Richter were oblivious to all persons surrounding them in the café or passing by in pursuit of their business in the old town. Their heads were bent together as they chatted and nibbled and sipped.

In their newfound bliss, Lydia and Hans ignored that which would have been obvious to any observer. The streets of Caen were not those of Deauville. What was accepted as perfectly normal in the pâtisserie Villet rankled, disgusted, and left the bitter taste of incipient collaboration within the breasts of those who only saw a filthy bosche and his consort whiling away an afternoon.

Two pairs of eyes grimly watched the man and the woman. When the couple rose to leave, the men, near-identically dressed in shapeless umber pants and jackets, their caps pulled low to hide their observational focus, tailed them, walking beside bicycles ever-present in a petrol-starved world. Their hearts were hardened by the exigencies of war. Keen deep-set eyes were narrowed in hate. The watchers carefully noted which Kübelwagen ferried the blonde woman and the equally tow-headed German away from Caen and down the Orne River Road.

They did not follow: neither had ridden the Tour de France. Besides, they did not know if the bosche in mufti was a big fish or small fry. The woman was unimportant, likely a whore who would be purged once the nation’s soul was cleansed of the stain of June 1940. They had questions which needed answers as these were new and unfamiliar players on the invisible board where black and white pieces only left the field through death and destruction. Surprise and indiscriminate terror were their tools.

One of the men approached a motor pool Unteroffizier and exchanged a few friendly words, a bottle of something labeled Monnet cognac but almost certainly not the bonafide nectar, and two packages of American cigarettes, the leavings from a late-night gift launched from a low-flying Stirling. Stranded in the Autolaager for long hours with nothing to see but greasy crankcases and leaking gaskets, the corporal became gossipy, especially with those who fed his smoky alcoholism.

The two maquisards walked away knowing that the suspect KW belonged to the Deauville Kommandantura. Its most frequent passenger, a blue-chip target, was a full-blown German Oberst, a Graf of the old blood.

i After January 1815, with Mr. Bennet’s death, Lydia had become her mother’s companion and had listened to the lady expound on all Six Loves.

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Author Bio

Don Jacobson has written professionally for forty years.  His output has ranged from news and features to advertising, television and radio.  His work has been nominated for Emmys and other awards.  He has previously published five books, all non-fiction.  In 2016, he began publishing The Bennet Wardrobe Series—

The Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary Journey (2016)
Henry Fitzwilliam’s War (2016)
The Exile: Kitty Bennet and the Belle Époque (2017)
Lizzy Bennet Meets the Countess (2017)
The Exile: The Countess Visits Longbourn (2018)
The Avenger: Thomas Bennet and a Father’s Lament (2018)
The Pilgrim: Lydia Bennet and a Soldier’s Portion (2019)

Jacobson is also part of the collective effort behind the publication of the upcoming North and South anthology, Falling for Mr. Thornton: Tales of North and South due out in the Fall of 2019.

Other Austenesque Variations include the paired books “Of Fortune’s Reversal” (2016) and “The Maid and The Footman.” (2016) Lessers and Betters offers readers the paired novellas in one volume to allow a better appreciation of the “Upstairs-Downstairs” mentality that drives the stories.

Jacobson holds an advanced degree in History with a specialty in American Foreign Relations.  As a college instructor, Don teaches United States History, World History, the History of Western Civilization and Research Writing.

He is a member of JASNA.  Likewise, Don is a member of the Austen Authors collective (see the internet, Facebook and Twitter).

He lives in the Las Vegas, Nevada area with his wife and co-author, Pam, a woman Ms. Austen would have been hard-pressed to categorize, and their rather assertive four-and-twenty pound cat, Bear.  Besides thoroughly immersing himself in the JAFF world, Don also enjoys cooking; dining out, fine wine and well-aged scotch whiskey.

His other passion is cycling.  Most days from April through October will find him “putting in the miles” around the Seattle area (yes there are hills).  He has ridden several “centuries” (100 mile days).  Don is especially proud that he successfully completed the AIDS Ride—Midwest (500 miles from Minneapolis to Chicago) and the Make-A-Wish Miracle Ride (300 miles from Traverse City, MI to Brooklyn, MI).

Connect with Don

Website    

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads Author Page

Twitter 

Buy Links

The Pilgrim is available to buy now in paperback, kindle and kindle unlimited:

Amazon UK / Amazon US / Amazon CA / Goodreads

Giveaway Time!

Don is giving away 4 eBooks of The Pilgrim: Lydia Bennet and a Soldier’s Portion. To enter, please use the rafflecopter below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Blog Tour Schedule:

25 Sep From Pemberley to Milton

26 Sep So Little Time…

27 Sep Interests of a Jane Austen Girl

28 Sep My Love for Jane Austen

30 Sep Babblings of a Bookworm

1 Oct Diary of an Eccentric

2 Oct More Agreeably Engaged

3 Oct My Vices and Weaknesses

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The Avenger by Don Jacobsen - Book 6 in Bennet Wardrobe Collection - Blog Tour

I'm pleased to be welcoming Don Jacobson back to Babblings of a Bookworm. The latest book in his Pride & Prejudice-inspired Bennet Wardrobe series, The Avenger: Thomas Bennet and a Father's Lament, is now available, and this is the first stop on the blog tour, which features a guest post, excerpt and giveaway!

If you're new to this series, let me explain a little about it:

What is the ‘Bennet Wardrobe’? Well it’s literally a wardrobe, but it’s no ordinary piece of furniture. It can transport people of the Bennet bloodline forward in time for a period, and then transport them back to their original time. The time traveller doesn’t get to choose when they travel to; it’ll take them to a period that will teach them something they need to know.

Let's look at the blurb for The Avenger, and then pass over to Don Jacobson for his guest post.

Book Description

Bennet looked at his wife’s swollen lips, softly bruised from several deeply loving kisses, and her flushed complexion, as alluring when gracing the countenance of a woman of four-and-forty as that of a girl of nine-and-ten. He was one of the lucky few to have fallen in love with the same woman at both ages. 

Thomas Bennet, Master of Longbourn, had always counted himself amongst the few educated gentlemen of his acquaintance. But, he had to travel over 120 years into the future to discover how little he knew about the woman sharing his life.

Once again, the amazing Bennet Wardrobe proved to be the schoolmaster. Tom Bennet’s lesson? Mrs. Bennet had been formed especially for him. Yet, t’would be the good lady herself who taught him the power of the Fifth and Sixth Loves: Redemption and Forgiveness.

Fanny Bennet also would uncover deep wells of courage and inspiration as she stood by her man’s side in the bleak years after World War II. Together they would lead their descendants in pursuit of the beast who had wronged every member of the Five Families.

The Bennet Wardrobe series stands alone… 

The Avenger takes us on a new journey through The Bennet Wardrobe – an alternate universe rising from Don Jacobson’s vivid imagination and based upon the immortal Pride and Prejudice. The Avenger is another important step leading to the culmination of this enchanting trip: one that has drawn us into its reality to travel side-by-side with richly sketched characters. Each book has left us wanting more.

The Bennet Wardrobe series stands alone as a unique result of originality focused on beloved characters as they move—and grow—through surprising plotlines.
Lory Lilian, author of Rainy Days

Don Jacobson - Audio Books - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today we are joined by Don Jacobson to talk about audio books. I've noticed a definite move to audio lately amongst JAFF authors and I applaud it. Firstly, I think it's great to give people a choice of medium. While there are those people who will only read a real book I think there are definitely places for things like ebooks, which revolutionised my reading, and are a wonderful choice for those who are limited on budget or physical space, or who benefit from the flexibility to increase text size.

Similarly, audio books are fantastic; firstly for people who are unable to physically read, (such as my dear, departed Grandad, who had a stroke which left him partially sighted, and he received 'talking books' via post to help him read without the need for his magnifying glass) but also for those who do things like crafting, meaning that they can read without having to hold the book.

I never thought listening to audio would be something that I would do, but spurred on by the encouragement of fellow JAFF-reader Anji, I gave audio a try. Having increased my working hours a few years ago, leading to a decrease in available reading time, I found audio books a godsend! Rather than spend my commute alternately having road rage and dispiritedly flicking through radio channels to avoid adverts I found myself actually really enjoying the time I had to spend travelling, and washing dishes and folding washing are far nicer to do when you are distracted by a book. Since I do a sedentary job I usually try to have a lunchtime walk to get some steps in and listening to an audiobook means I get to read as well as exercise - win/win!

One of the benefits of audio that I've noticed is that you get a different reading experience. I read with my eyes at a gazillion miles per hour - I want to know what happens and I want to know NOW. With audio, you obviously read at more of a speaking speed, which means that sometimes you notice details that you may otherwise have zoomed past. Another thing is that some audio renditions are 'performances' and, as with a play, the performance can bring something additional to the story. This is what Don has come to talk to us about today, and he's brought a giveaway too, of an audio rendition of TWO of his books which have recently become available in audio. After my mammoth introduction, I will now hand over to Don for his guest post :)