Can You Stand It? Another Book Giveaway: The Plight of the Darcy Brothers

Inquiring readers, This July we have been offering a cornucopia of Austenesque book reviews and book giveaways. Not only are we celebrating The Grand Sophy month by giving away 15 Georgette Heyer books (contest is open until July 31), but we have already given away copies of The Secret Diary of Charlotte Bronte by Syrie James and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler.

We are announcing ANOTHER GIVEAWAY. You have a week to leave a comment to win a copy of Marsha Altman's new book, The Plight of the Darcy Brothers, which will become available in bookstores in August. Darcy and Elizabeth set off for the Continent in yet another attempt to clear one of the Bennet sister’s reputations (this time it’s Mary). But their journey leads them to discover that the Darcy family has even deeper, darker secrets to hide…

Meanwhile, back at Pemberley, the Bingleys try to manage two unruly toddlers; Caroline Bingley’s husband has a wild encounter with King George himself, and the ever-dastardly George Wickham arrives, determined to seize the Darcy fortune once and for all. Full of surprises, this lively Pride and Prejudice sequel plunges the Darcys and Bingleys into a most delightful adventure!

To learn more about the novel, issued by Source Books, we asked Marsha a few questions about her new novel, and she graciously sent us her answers:

What was your inspiration to write the series?

I started the first story, then had more ideas, so I kept going. The idea of a “series” really didn’t take shape until several books in, when I considered at what point the story should come to its conclusion and how much material I thought I had in me. Fan fiction – and I will not hesitate to call this entire Austen sequel business fan fiction – is about the desire to do more with the characters than the original source material did. The story in the first half of book 1 accomplished my goal of playing around with the Austen characters, but then I realized there was more to do. I wanted to give Caroline Bingley some sympathy (and a husband). I also decided to do something with Mary Bennet, though I wanted to do something more interesting than “she meets a nice guy and marries him after some period of trepidation.” So I created a huge scandal, but I had to come up with an interesting reason for the journey to find her suitor. This gave me an excuse to delve into Darcy's family history that was not buried in England and that Darcy did not know about. When you read the book you can see how things build on themselves. It’s hard for me to get to a point where I know that I’m “done,” though I definitely know when it happens.

What part do you like the most or think is of interest to readers?

My experience with readers in online drafts and actual publication for the first book has been that the readers and I can disagree on what is the “best” segment/plotline/theme, but as long as we’re both satisfied then I think I’ve done my job. So there’s a little of everything in my new book. My particular interest is in doing things that haven’t been done before in other Pride and Prejudice sequels, or that have been done very rarely. In my first book, Darcy was shot, and I described a kilted highlander swinging from a chandelier (always fun). In the second book, I feature a French monk and a scandal involving the Prince of Wales (he is not yet Prince Regent). I also expand more about the Darcy family's past. Hopefully people will like the story line, especially since Darcy and Elizabeth save the day together.

Marsha Altman is the author of The Plight of the Darcy Brothers, a sequel to The Darcys and the Bingleys, which is a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. This is book 2 in a series; book 3 (Mr. Darcy’s Great Escape) is due out in Feb 2010. Order The Plight of the Darcy Brothers at this link. Enter Marsha Altman's website here.

Deadline for Book Giveaway: July 31. Please leave a comment about Fitzwilliam Darcy's and Elizabeth Bennet's growing love for each other in Pride and Prejudice. Sadly for our foreign friends, only those who live in the U.S. and Canada are eligible to win.

Follow the grand unveiling of Marsha's book in blogs around the blogosphere:

July 24: Fresh Fiction
July 28 J. Kaye’s Book Blog
July 29: This Book For Free
July 30: Debbie’s World
July 31: Grace’s Book Blog
August 3: Jenny Loves to Read
August 4: Stephanie’s Written World
August 5: A Bibliophile’s Bookshelf
August 10: Everything Victorian
August 12: A Curious Statistical Anomaly - Posted by Vic, Jane Austen's World