Author Regina Jeffers Talks About A Regency Christmas

It is my pleasure to welcome ‘new-to-me’ author Regina Jeffers who considers herself a Jane Austen enthusiast and has a new yuletide story out this month entitled, CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLY: A PRIDE AND PREJUDICE CHRISTMAS SEQUEL.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the book: To bring a renewed sense joy to his wife’s countenance, Fitzwilliam Darcy has secretly invited the Bennets and the Bingleys to spend the Christmastide festive days at Pemberley. But as he and Elizabeth journey to their estate to join the gathered families, a blizzard blankets the English countryside. The Darcys find themselves stranded at a small out-of-the-way inn with another couple preparing for the immediate delivery of their first child, while Pemberley is inundated with friends and relations seeking shelter from the storm.

Without her brother’s strong presence, Georgiana Darcy desperately attempts to manage the chaos surrounding the arrival of six invited guests and eleven unscheduled visitors. But bitter feuds, old jealousies, and intimate secrets quickly rise to the surface. Has Lady Catherine returned to Pemberley for forgiveness or revenge? Will the manipulative Caroline Bingley find a soul mate? Shall Kitty Bennet and Georgiana Darcy know happiness?

Written in Regency style and including Austen’s romantic entanglements and sardonic humor, CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLY places Jane Austen’s most beloved characters in an exciting yuletide story that speaks to the love, the family spirit, and the generosity that remain as the heart of Christmas.

 

Regina has graciously agreed to give us some details on what a Regency Christmas is really like.

When most people consider a Regency Christmas, they are really envisioning a Victorian one. During the Regency Period (1811-1820), Christmastide began on Christmas Day and ended with a Twelfth Night celebration. There are few references to Christmas traditions in Regency literature other than the occasional wish for a “Happy Christmas” among story characters and real-life accounts. Even Jane Austen made few references to the day as anything other than an acknowledgement of Jesus’ birth. 

Religious observances remained the foundation of English Christmases of the time. One must remember that in the 16th Century, to prevent subversion, the government banned Christmas celebrations. According to the Jane Austen Centre Magazine, “We have accounts from early 19th Century journals of Christmas days where the writer mentions the holiday but makes absolutely no fuss about it. Likewise, there are records of newspapers, published on December 25th that do not even contain the word Christmas.”

In Chapter 14 of Austen’s Persuasion, we see how the schoolboys’ return home for the holidays is the most important event, not the celebration of Christmas itself. “Immediately surrounding Mrs. Musgrave were the little Harvilles, whom she was sedulously guarding from the tyranny of the two children from the Cottage, expressly arrived to amuse them. On one side was a table occupied by some chattering girls, cutting up silk and gold paper; and on the other were trestles and trays, bending under the weight of brawn and cold pies, where riotous boys were holding high revel; the whole completed by a roaring Christmas fire, which seemed determined to be heard in spite of the noise of the others.”

The Christmas pudding is traditionally made on Stir Up Day, the last Sunday before Advent. All family members of a household take a turn in the stirring with a special wooden spoon, which represents the Christ Child’s crib and the stable. Stirring in a clockwise direction with his eyes closed, each person makes a secret wish during his turn at the spoon – very much as one might do before blowing out the candles on a birthday cake.

In country houses, the occupants hung decorations on Christmas Eve. These remained in place until the Epiphany on January 6, when they were removed. One might hang holly, ivy, rosemary, evergreen, hawthorn and hellebore (Christmas rose). 

As for the mistletoe/kissing ball, it became quite elaborate during the Victorian Period. However, many believe the tradition remained below stairs in the servants’ quarters during the Regency Period. Yet, the kissing ball and the removal of the berries for each kiss “stolen” from a lovely heroine is often found in Regency based romances. 

A Yule Log to burn throughout the festive days would have been common, as well as a Christmas candle. The kindling from the previous year’s Yule Log would be used to light the current year’s find. Groups – mummers whose origins date back to the Middle Ages  - sang and performed short plays, usually on Boxing Day (December 26). The actors often mixed bits of history with the heroes of the British Napoleonic Wars in their tales. Of course, Saint George remained a staple of the plays. 

Parlor games entertained houseguests, but there was no caroling (except possibly in Wales), no decorated trees, no stockings hung by the chimney with care, and no Christmas cards. Gifts were few and often took the form of charitable acts by the aristocracy. A landowner’s cottagers might bestow a gift symbolizing their devotion to his generosity or representing the bounty of the estate’s harvest on the main house. A Regency Christmas was a time to reflect upon one’s religious beliefs and to enjoy the companionship of friends and family. It was not the commercialized holiday we of this century would expect.

 

In creating CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLY, the challenge was to tell a tale of “Christmas” for a modern audience, but to stay true to the Regency Period’s practices. In the novel, Christmas arrives on a Sunday. It is December 25, 1814, the time period between Napoleon’s arrival on Elba and his escape in March 1815. I shifted the story’s emphasis from the expected symbols of Christmas (gifts, carols, trees, etc.) to the birth of two children and how each child’s entrance into this world changes the family into which he is introduced. I used the holiday’s practices as the framework through which the story is told. 

Regina, thanks so much for guest blogging. It is quite fascinating to discover how little Christmas was celebrated during this era. We sometimes get so wrapped up in how we now celebrate Christmas that we forget how it has been observed in times past.

Let me share a bit of background on Regina. As I mentioned earlier, she considers herself a Jane Austen enthusiast and was a public classroom teacher for 39 years. She is the author of several Austen-inspired novels, including Darcy’s Passions, Darcy’s Temptation, Vampire Darcy’s Desire, Captain Wentworth’s Persuasion, The Phantom of Pemberley, and the upcoming The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy. She also is a Regency romance author: The Scandal of Lady Eleanor, A Touch of Velvet, A Touch of Cashémere, and The First Wives’ Club. 

A Time Warner Star Teacher and Martha Holden Jennings Scholar, Regina often serves as a consultant in language arts and media literacy. Currently living outside Charlotte, North Carolina, she spends her time with her writing, gardening, and her new grandson. 

For more on Regina and her writing, check out her website www.rjeffers.com, visit her blog http://reginajeffers.wordpress.com, find her at http://austenauthors.net, on Twitter – @reginajeffers, and on Facebook – Regina Jeffers. Her books are available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Books-a-Million, Joseph Beth, and Ulysses Press.

What are your thoughts on how Christmas has been observed in past eras? Do you observe any traditions that have been passed down the generations? Thank you so much for stopping by today.

Author Mary Simonsen On Re-Imagining Jane Austen’s Work

As we continue to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the publication of SENSE AND SENSIBILITY by Jane Austen this month, author Mary Lydon Simonsen joins us to share her thoughts on the unique author and what her work has inspired.

Mary is the author of two Regency Austen re-imaginings, THE PERFECT BRIDE FOR MR. DARCY and A WIFE FOR MR. DARCY, and a Jane Austen historical romance, SEARCHING FOR PEMBERLEY. Her latest novel, MR. DARCY’S BITE (released October 4), adds a paranormal twist to the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth in this PRIDE AND PREJUDICE re-imagining.

Here’s a brief synopsis of MR. DARCY’S BITE: Mr. Darcy has a secret...
 
Darcy is acting rather oddly. After months of courting Elizabeth Bennet, no offer of marriage is forthcoming and Elizabeth is first impatient, then increasingly frightened. For there is no denying that the full moon seems to be affecting his behavior, and Elizabeth’s love is going to be tested in ways she never dreamed...
 
Darcy has more than family pride to protect: others of his kind are being hunted all over England and a member of Darcy’s pack is facing a crisis in Scotland. It will take all of Elizabeth’s faith, courage, and ingenuity to overcome her prejudice and join Darcy in a Regency world she never knew existed. 

Here’s Mary’s take on a question I asked.

Hi Mason. Thank you for having me on your blog. You have asked for me to write about why I think Jane Austen’s work has endured for 200 years and has spurred the various re-imaginings.

In PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, Jane Austen opened her novel with the following: “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.” It is simple and brilliant and sets the tone for the entire novel. From that one sentence, we know that we are going to be treated to a well-written story by an author who is in possession of, if not a good fortune, than most definitely an abundance of wit. 

Although Austen did not think of her masterpiece as a romance, more a study of a neighborhood of four and twenty families set on its ear by the introduction of two single men in possession of large fortunes, that is how it has turned out. Because Elizabeth Bennet is such a well-sculpted character, full of wit, humor, grace, and intelligence, we want her to marry well, especially since she has virtually no dowry. But when we first meet Fitzwilliam Darcy, a member of the landed gentry with connections to the monarchy, he is proud, aloof, and too full of himself. It is only when Lizzy refuses his offer of marriage that he looks inward. After finding himself wanting, he undergoes a change that will make him worthy of our heroine. A man who is capable of change? What woman doesn’t want that? He probably even asks for directions.

Like so many other PRIDE AND PREJUDICE enthusiasts, I find the possibilities for Darcy and Elizabeth to be endless. Unlike some authors, such as Charlotte Bronte, Austen leaves a lot of the details up to the reader. Physical descriptions of people and places are minimal, and as such, her stories are not anchored to any one time period. (Think of Emma and Clueless.) She is more interested in the personality traits of her characters and their interactions. 

In my novel, DARCY ON THE HUDSON, I have Darcy visiting American Elizabeth Bennet in New York while MR. DARCY’S ANGEL OF MERCY is set in post-World War I England. In MR. DARCY’S BITE, I go a step further. I have turned Mr. Darcy into a werewolf. But even with fur, fangs, and four feet, the essence of the gentleman from Pemberley is the same, and that is because I have remained faithful to the nature of Austen’s beloved characters.

I am not sure what Jane Austen would make of all these re-imaginings, but at the very least, she would have to be pleased that her novel stirs the imagination of generations of readers. Her work stands the test of time.

Mary, thanks for guest blogging today. I enjoyed your take on why Austen’s work has endured for so long and continues to be so popular. I’d have to agree that I think she would be pleased that her novel stirs the imagination of so many.

In Mary’s novels, the romance between Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet is told with a light touch and a sense of humor and presented as a battle of wits between two equals. For more on Mary and her writing, check out her blog, Austen Inspired Fan Fiction by Mary Simonsen. 

Do you think Austen would be pleased her work has inspired so many different takes on Darcy?

 

Author Abigail Reynolds Discusses Jane Austen’s Longevity

This month marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen, and the start of a literary sensation that continues to this day in so many varied ways.

It’s my pleasure today to welcome author Abigail Reynolds, pioneer of the daring, sexy Jane Austen “What if?” romance. Re-imagining a pivotal scene from Pride and Prejudice and the intrigue that follows, Abigail penned her latest offering, MR. DARCY’S UNDOING. This is a fresh retelling of Pride and Prejudice that asks: What if Mr. Darcy had a serious rival for Elizabeth Bennet?
 
Here’s a brief synopsis: A passionate new Pride and Prejudice variation explores the unthinkable—Elizabeth accepts the proposal of a childhood friend before she meets Darcy again. When their paths cross, the devastated Mr. Darcy must decide how far he'll go to win the woman he loves. How can a man who prides himself on his honor ask the woman he loves to do something scandalous? And how can Elizabeth accept a loveless marriage when Mr. Darcy holds the key to her heart? As they confront family opposition and the ill-will of scandal-mongers, will Elizabeth prove to be Mr. Darcy's undoing? 

Abigail joins us today to answer a question for me.

Mason - If Jane Austen had lived 50 or 60 years later do you think her work would have endured as well as it has and why?

Jane Austen’s characters and wit are timeless, but I suspect she wouldn’t have the same following today if she had written during the Victorian era rather than the Regency, not because of any deficiency in her writing, but because one reason Austen’s books are so popular today is the escape they provide from the realities of modern industrialized life. If she had written half a century later, her bucolic settings would include factories belching steel, and modern readers would know that many of the wealthy characters had made their money by child labor and horrific working conditions for their employees. A Victorian Gracechurch Street would be covered in soot. 

It’s much harder to romanticize the Victorian period. Elizabeth Gaskell’s book North and South, published in 1855, has a romance similar in many ways to Elizabeth and Darcy’s, yet it hasn’t produced the same degree of affection as Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. True, Gaskell can’t match Jane Austen’s wit, but also the background of North and South is much grittier and seemingly less innocent. Would Pride & Prejudice be as beloved if Darcy were a wealthy mill owner instead of a country gentleman and trains were belching steam in the background? I doubt it.  

The interesting thing is that some of the difference in how we perceive the Regency era versus the Victorian era arises from Victorian sentimentality. Feeling oppressed by the “modern” industrial age, Victorian artists and novelists often portrayed the pre-industrial Regency as a fairy tale time of innocence and beauty, and in some ways Jane Austen’s books and their adaptations have helped perpetuate this myth. There was plenty of grittiness in the Regency as well, but Jane Austen chose not to portray the tenant farmer’s daughter dying of consumption, the vast number of women in London reduced to prostitution as the only way to feed themselves, or even the decadence of the ton and their oblivion to the sufferings of their “inferiors.” Mr. Bennet may amuse himself at his wife’s expense and treat her without respect, but the marriages Austen portrays don’t include the wife-beating that was prevalent in the period. Would modern audiences love Pride & Prejudice as much if those had been included? It certainly wouldn’t be the same escape from reality.  

As a writer of Austen-inspired novels, I often run into readers who are shocked by my portrayal of Regency society. They also see the Regency as an age of innocence when it fact it was a hotbed of decadence and sexual immorality. Part of this is because modern readers of Pride & Prejudice miss some of the implications hidden in Austen’s language. Very few, if any, of my shocked readers understand what Mr. Bennet is telling Elizabeth when he says, “I know your disposition, Lizzy. I know that you could be neither happy nor respectable, unless you truly esteemed your husband; unless you looked up to him as a superior. Your lively talents would place you in the greatest danger in an unequal marriage. You could scarcely escape discredit and misery.” He isn’t expressing concern that Elizabeth will be bored in her marriage; he’s saying flat out to his favorite daughter that he thinks if she marries Darcy, she’ll end up having affairs. That hardly betokens an age of innocence!

Regardless of the reality of daily life in the Regency, most modern Austen readers will continue to see it as a simpler and more elegant time, in part because of what Austen herself chooses to portray and in part because of Victorian sentimentality. It’s a time that feels more distant from the present-day evils than the industrial Victorian era, and regardless of the brilliance of Austen’s writing, that will continue to add to her appeal for generations to come.  

Thanks for inviting me!

Abigail, thanks so much for guest blogging today. You make an excellent point about how we readers view Regency society compared to what it was truly like. Austen’s writing does give one the opportunity to escape into a world of innocence for a time.

Now for a bit of background on Abigail. She is a lifelong Jane Austen enthusiast and one of the few authors to take Pride and Prejudice in a sexy direction. She began writing the Pemberley Variations series in 2001 to spend more time with her favorite characters from Pride and Prejudice. Encouragement from fellow Austen fans convinced her to continue asking “What if…?” 

So what are your thoughts on the reason Austen’s work continues to be so popular?

 

Free E-Books!

http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/a/austen/jane/

Did I get your attention with that title? Well, it got my attention Tuesday when I got an e-mail from Beth at Sourcebooks. I even e-mailed her back just to make sure I understood what I understood, and I did.

Today (Thursday, Dec. 16) is Jane Austen’s 235th birthday!

Sourcebooks, the world’s leading publisher of Jane Austen fiction, is offering a unique deal to readers who want to celebrate Jane by reading special editions of all six of Austen’s beloved novels in a 21st century format.
 
Special e-book editions of Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion and Mansfield Park are available for free for one day only (TODAY). 

It appears there has been some problems with the cost being adjusted at several e-book sites. According to Beth, these sites are in the process of working out the problems and should have it fixed soon, if not already. Due to that fact, Sourcebooks has extended the celebrated for an extra day, so the books will be FREE TOMORROW as well. Beth said iBooks and Google books currently had everything working correct and that Sourcebooks.com should have their corrected shortly. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

These celebratory editions include the full novels, plus the legendary color illustrations of the Brock brothers, originally created to accompany the books in 1898.
 
In addition to the Jane Austen classics, readers can also enjoy these bestselling Austen-inspired novels. The following bestselling e-books will also be free today only (Dec. 16) in honor of Jane’s birthday: Eliza’s Daughter by Joan Aiken
The Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
What Would Jane Austen Do? by Laurie Brown
The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins
The Other Mr. Darcy by Monica Fairview
Mr. Darcy’s Diary by Amanda Grange
Mr. & Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan
Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe
Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy by Abigail Reynolds
 
Remember all of these e-books are available TODAY ONLY for FREE wherever e-books are sold. You can download one, two or as many as you like from sites like Amazon, B&N and Apple, as well as other sites. Remember, it’s just for today only.

What a wonderful way to celebrate a birthday with books (and free). Now if you read my blog much you know I’m a big fan of print books. I don’t own an e-reader and just like the feel of a book in my hands. However, this is a great opportunity to read some classic books as well as several new Austen-inspired novels. And since I haven’t read Pride and Prejudice (yet), I thought this was a sign that I really need to read this classic. This e-mail came the day I posted my review of Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell, another take on Pride and Prejudice.

What more can I say, expect spread the word. Help Sourcebooks celebrate Jane’s 235th birthday and enjoy many hours of great reading. If you're getting someone an e-reader for Christmas, these would be some great books to have already downloaded for them. Just a thought.