Between you and me, The Darcy Cousins feels rather special to me because I had a good time writing it. The Other Mr Darcy was a book that required toil and a lot of energy. Getting into Miss Bingley's mind wasn't easy, and it was also a challenge to show Robert Darcy entirely from her viewpoint. I was determined throughout not to show things from the hero's perspective, because that's what Jane Austen did with Mr Darcy, apart from the famous letter, of course. Don't get me wrong. It wasn't an uphill struggle by any stretch of the imagination, but it required sustained effort.
By the time I got to write The Darcy Cousins, I began to work out how Jane Austen really did that. Her sly style is very deceptive. She doesn't show his point of view, but because of the omniscient narrator there's a great deal that gets slipped in so that we don't miss his point of view at all. I had fun with that idea. I also had fun with having Georgiana and Clarissa interacting -- two very different young ladies with very different ideas about how to approach attractive young gentlemen. And I really enjoyed writing about Lady Catherine, who takes her villainy a step farther. Plus I was able to write about Mr Darcy as a brother, and to give some insight into the Darcys' happy marriage from a different perspective.
In other words, there was a great deal of fun to be had.
Of course all writing is labour intensive, so I should add that the notion of 'fun' is relative...
Of course all writing is labour intensive, so I should add that the notion of 'fun' is relative...
So here it is -- the one and only: The Darcy Cousins, now available for purchase at Waterstones, Amazon.co.uk and for my international audience, from The Book Depository.
I hereby cut the ribbon and launch the new publication.
I will however have to excuse myself immediately because I hear champagne flutes clinking in another room. Could they possibly have opened the bottle without me?
