The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen by Collins Hemingway

The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen: A Novel by a Gentleman Volume I by Collins Hemingway

Publication Date: June 20, 2015

AuthorHouse

Hardcover, Paperback, & eBook

Genre: Historical Fiction

Everyone should marry once for love - Even Jane Austen

Jane Austen, single and seemingly comfortable in the role of clergyman's daughter and aspiring writer in the early 1800s, tells friends and family to hold out for true affection in any prospective relationship. Everybody, she says, has a right to marry once in their lives for love.

But when, after a series of disappointing relationships, the prospect of true love arrives for her, will she have the courage to act? The Marriage of Miss Jane AUsten re-imagines the life of England's archetypal female by exploring what might have happened if she had ever married. It shows how a meaningful, caring relationship would have changed her as a person and a writer.

It also takes her beyond England's tranquil country villages and plunges her info what the Regency era was really about: great explorations and scientific advances, political foment, and an unceasing, bloody war.

In such times, can love—can marriage—triumph?

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Excerpt:

Click here to read the excerpt: https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B010DNSO74&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_r_kb_dp_03hdAbQGMV8ST

Praise

"What if Austen, who penned so many classic love stories, found her own romantic match? Ashton Dennis fits right into the Austen universe, while this Jane remains true to life, an intelligent and determined young woman. The writing is Austen-ian, and Hemingway has a talent for witty banter and wry observations that would make Elizabeth Bennet proud. An enjoyable first novel in an imaginative, well-researched series." —Kirkus Reviews

"A skillful portrayal of a ... literary icon takes this historical romance on an imaginative journey of the soul. … Insight and intuition, along with meticulous research, have created a believable version of her character in this tender story of Ashton and Jane. … Excellent character development enhances the plausibility of the scenario. Background, motivation, eccentricity—everything that constitutes a personality allow these fascinating people to step off the pages in lifelike form." —Julia Ann Charpentier, Foreword CLARION Reviews, 4 stars

"All readers of Jane Austen wonder what Jane's life might have been like had she married, or had money. The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen explores these intriguing possibilities. It also depicts Austen in a rapidly changing world, connecting her to important aspects of the era-war, slavery, indistralization, and new modes of travel. Heminghway's book raises many 'what if's' in his thoughtful and thought-provoking portrayal of Jane Austen falling in love." -Susannah Fullerton, author of A Dance with Jane Austen and Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

"[An] engaging and remarkably convincing romance. … Wry, observant, laconic—much like Jane Austen herself, without ever dipping into pastiche or mimicry. … Hemingway, with the lightest touch, builds up a thoroughly convincing alternative history for Jane. … [A] thoughtful re-imagining of Austen’s love life." —Joceline Bury, Jane Austen’s Regency World

About the Author

Whether his subject is literature, history, or science, Collins Hemingway has a passion for the art of creative investigation. For him, the most compelling fiction deeply explores the heart and soul of its characters, while also engaging them in the complex and often dangerous world in which they have a stake. He wants to explore all that goes into people's lives and everything that makes tThe hem complete though fallible human beings. His fiction is shaped by the language of the heart and an abiding regard for courage in the face of adversity.

As a nonfiction book author, Hemingway has worked alongside some of the world's thought leaders on topics as diverse as corporate culture and ethics; the Internet and mobile technology; the ins and outs of the retail trade; and the cognitive potential of the brain. Best known for the #1 best-selling book on business and technology, Business @ the Speed of Thought, which he coauthored with Bill Gates, he has earned a reputation for tackling challenging subjects with clarity and insight, writing for the nontechnical but intelligent reader.

Hemingway has published shorter nonfiction on topics including computer technology, medicine, and aviation, and he has written award-winning journalism.

Published books include The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen trilogy, Business @ the Speed of Thought, with Bill Gates, Built for Growth, with Arthur Rubinfeld, What Happy Companies Know, with Dan Baker and Cathy Greenberg, Maximum Brainpower, with Shlomo Breznitz, and The Fifth Wave, with Robert Marcus.

Hemingway lives in Bend, Oregon, with his wife, Wendy. Together they have three adult sons and three granddaughters. He supports the Oregon Community Foundation and other civic organizations engaged in conservation and social services in Central Oregon.

Interview with Collins Hemingway

Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel like you have the reins of the story?

In The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen, the characters largely followed my story line, which is a miracle over 850 pages in three volumes. However, I found that the story naturally fell into mini-cycles of 4-5 chapters each, and I kept the outline relatively broad until I reached each specific cluster of chapters. As a result, I wasn’t committed to a detailed outline until I had to commit, so my characters may have had more freedom than another writer might grant his or her characters.

Twice, though, I reached a point at which I realized that my character was not going to do what I wanted. With Ashton, the male protagonist, I wrote two chapters based on his expected behavior and they just didn’t work. When I went back and re-read everything to that point, I realized his attitude at this point would be diametrically different from what I had planned. When I recast the story accordingly, everything fell into place.

On a larger scale, the same thing happened with Jane, the female protagonist. When I finished the first volume, I knew how the second volume needed to start—but I couldn’t write. I repeatedly reviewed my outline for the entire three volumes and recognized that when we reached the third volume—also unwritten—she was not going to follow the script. This shift came because of the events of the first volume. When I accepted that her behavior would change, and she would do something rather startling in Volume III, suddenly the floodgates opened and I was able to begin writing the second volume. That’s how interconnected the psychology was with the plot structure.

So, yes, sometimes the characters rebel. Which is another way of saying that the author needs to pay attention to what his characters have learned and experienced along the way, because often those experiences change the emotional and psychological context of the situation from what the author thought it would be.  

Convince us why you feel your book is a must read.

I have combined a biography of Jane Austen with a serious examination of the most personal issues that women faced in the early 1800s. And I’ve combined those human matters with the momentous events of the Regency era. The result is a sweeping epic, a powerful love story, and a deeply personal examination of a woman’s psyche—seen with the intelligence and sensitivity of the era’s most iconic female.

Have you written any other books that are not published?

Yes, I’ve written three other novels that were not quite ready for prime time. I think I know how to go back and save at least two, but these books helped me learn the fiction craft. Five nonfiction books on business and science, which have been published, also helped develop my skills—from the sentence and paragraph level to the organization of a book-length work, not to mention the mental discipline to write at that length.

Pen or type writer or computer?

I taught myself to type over the Christmas holidays in the eighth grade—because I wanted to be a writer. I typed my way through college as a sports writer and became a journalist when newspapers were among the first ordinary businesses to begin to use computer terminals. Consequently, I’m more comfortable typing than writing by hand, and prefer word processors because of the ease of correction and revision.

However, I also print each scene and chapter, edit and revise by hand, then reenter the corrections and additions on the PC. Also, much of my editing consists of shuffling things round. I find the only way to organize anything larger than a couple of paragraphs is to spread everything out on the floor and see what relates to what. Still not easy to do on an electronic screen.

When I’m beginning a new scene and don’t know how to start, or I’m rewriting a difficult paragraph or section, I often switch to pen and paper. Writing by hand brings you closer somehow to the material. At times I’ll have to write the entire section by hand, but other times all it takes is a sentence or two by hand and then the words begin to flow so fast I switch to the keyboard to capture them before I lose them.

Anything you would like to say to your readers and fans?

+Jane Austen pushed the boundaries of “ladies’ novels” as far as she could while still being able to be published. The limitations on women authors in 1805 forced her to weave the most serious issues into the background, and to end her novels where they ought to have taken off—with the wedding. Imagine what she might have written if she had had the freedom to directly tackle the most serious public issues and the most deeply personal matters between a man and woman. That is what The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen sets out to accomplish—a cross between Pride and Prejudice and War and Peace.

For more information please visit Collins Hemingway's website and blog. You can also find him on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Goodreads.

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, December 4
Kick Off at Passages to the Past

Tuesday, December 5
Guest Post at The Writing Desk

Wednesday, December 6
Excerpt at Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen

Thursday, December 7
Excerpt at What Is That Book About

Friday, December 8
Review at A Chick Who Reads
Review at Adventures Thru Wonderland

Sunday, December 10
Review at Clarissa Reads it All
Review at Carole Rae's Random Ramblings

Monday, December 11
Interview at The Book Junkie Reads

Tuesday, December 12
Feature at The Hungry Bookworm

Wednesday, December 13
Review at Pursuing Stacie

Saturday, December 16
Interview & Excerpt at T's Stuff

Monday, December 18
Review at History From a Woman's Perspective

Wednesday, December 20
Review at Faery Tales Are Real
Feature at A Literary Vacation

Friday, December 22
Feature at The Reading Queen

Wednesday, December 27
Review at Svetlana's Reads and Views

Friday, December 29
Review at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

Tuesday, January 2
Feature at Broken Teepee

Thursday, January 4
Feature at CelticLady's Reviews
Review & Excerpt at Books of All Kinds

Friday, January 5
Review at Birdhouse Books

Monday, January 8
Review at Jorie Loves a Story
Feature at Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots

Wednesday, January 10
Review at Singing Librarian Books
Review at WS Momma Readers Nook

Thursday, January 11
Review at What Cathy Read Next

Friday, January 12
Review at Diary of an Eccentric
Interview at Jorie Loves a Story

Giveaway

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The Marriage of Miss Jane Austen