Jane Austen Award

Editorial Review

The immediate thought on delving into *Inspiration* is the delightful prospect it is a tale of an unknown artist with the name Darcy, perchance a tangent novel? A short-lived moment of wonder and awe inside his attic studio transpires. The description of paint daubed floorboards adds wonderful sense of place as Darcy ponders a blank canvas and lack of a muse. His grey thoughts provide a glimpse to the mind of a man longing for a love that might be possible with the right muse. At this point Bingley’s intrusion and invitation for Darcy to accompany him to Hertfordshire is the start to a second telling of Pride and Prejudice. While Ms Grace weaves little cameos of Darcy’s artistry to the forefront of Jane Austen’s masterpiece, Inspiration soon transmits a deal of Austen’s memorable dialogue and familiar text. It is after all a JAFF novel, and Darcy’s artistic talent endows respite from the re-doing of the primary source. Inspiration by Maria Grace is hereby granted a Jane Austen Award.

Jane Austen-Regency Award

Editorial Review

Elizabeth in the New World seems an unlikely scenario, but JAFF readers will assuredly excuse a unique variation on Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. In grief over Darcy’s presumed death Elizabeth seeks to bury the past beneath a new life on the Island of Grenada. Soon the island is under threat from internal rebellion, and Elizabeth discovers her would-be husband is all that she abhors. The raw side of man’s desires and rebellion is unkind to Elizabeth. Her life and chastity hangs by a thread in a tale woven seamlessly with historical facts. All the while a knight minus his shining armour has sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and finally rides to the rescue. All this is revealed within a secondary heroic adventure story running parallel to Elizabeth’s story. The setting for Jane Austen’s P&P was 1812, while the backdrop for *No Greater Love* is Fedon’s 1790’s Revolution. Therefore, poetic licence, and a proportion of fairy tale is permissible for alternative variations of Jane Austen’s novels. Well-written, well researched, the novel is a gritty realistic epic tome depicting life on Grenada for plantation owners and that of their slaves.

Editorial Review

Letty Grey with considerable candour and wit assumes the role of companion to a dying woman. Lilias too is a delightful character who resides in Paris. Sadly but surely Lilias fades. In death she is no less a heroine and pawn for good in a time of great need for Letty. Her good friend Viscount Leomar Byesby is a spy extraordinaire. Leo treads the streets of Paris at the point of Napoleon’s escape from Elba and his triumphal return to Paris. One word, one little mistake can spell disaster, and Letty’s mistake sets prescendence for urgent retreat. Their escape route duly enlightens readers unfamiliar with Paris and what lay below in times past before the building of an extensive metro network. The author has a distinct literary flair, the prose is confident, and the plot itself touchingly sentimental. Sensible Letty is no simpering miss. Byesby is a modest gentleman gallant. The two together reveal historical facts seamlessly amidst chatter, and all the while a gentle theatre of budding romance unfolds.

Latest Jane Austen Award/Regency Award

Editorial Review

A poignant tale of Caroline Bingley’s struggle to overcome Mr. Darcy’s rebuttal of her affections, and his eventual wedlock to Miss Elizabeth Bennet unfolds. With a hard lesson learned for the young lady with a scissor sharp tongue, Caroline is forced to consider her future. A bleak picture emerges, and while she must at all costs be present at Darcy’s wedding she did not foresee Pemberley as the prime venue for the wedding breakfast. With stoicism Caroline strives to impress on the Misses Elizabeth and Jane Bennet, she no longer bears hard feelings toward either of them. All the while she remains embittered in belief her life is in tatters and her heart shredded by Darcy. Quite oblivious to another gentleman who views her as Darcy never has, Caroline is soon faced with a dilemma. Totally unaware the thrill of the chase excites her admirer she finds him exhilarating company. He is what he is at heart while somewhat reformed in character. To her chagrin he becomes her salvation and mentor in many respects. Soon a Caroline she never knew existed emerges from the dark shadow of all she had despised about herself. Hence envy, heartache, gratitude and love, is blended with the skill of excellent prose and solid plot. And within the pictorial splendour of the Pemberley Estate is where a happy ever after for Caroline is realised. Therefore the Jane Austen Award is hereby bestowed to Sue Barr for Caroline: a P&P Continuation.

Editorial Review

One foolish and thoughtless mistake on a dark night in a less than salubrious district of London is almost fatal for the Earl of Charlcombe. No coward and outnumbered by thugs, to his utmost surprise a young woman skilled in the art of wielding a long blade proves a lifesaver alongside her sword wielding servant. While dazed and wounded the earl is intrigued and fascinated by the two strangers who take command and see him safe to his London House. The pair retreat and refuse attempts to reward them. Undaunted he sets out to discover their identities. Madelaine is unlike young ladies the earl has met before. She brushes compliments aside and will not allow a man to court her. Utterly flummoxed the earl is earnest in his admiration, and Madelaine recognises the danger of the earl’s allure. Life is always unpredictable. The earl has an enemy, and Madelaine encounters an old foe. Brutal abductions occur and adventurous rescues ensue. Well researched in the art of fencing, Madelaine’s resilience in the face of adversity is far from the tranquil settings of romantic Regency novels bearing Miss Austen’s ilk. Dickens leaps to mind, and Ms Marks has captured the London dialect and portrayed the criminal underworld cant to perfection. The Regency Award is hereby bestowed to The Fencing Master’s Daughter by Giselle Marks.   


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