A Very Different New Book, by Zoe Burton

I finally have another release! With the advent of COVID and the stay at home orders, I had begun three stories and then got to the point that I was unable to write at all. The lady who runs the bakery found this out and told me to come back (though I can’t eat inside). Once I was there, it was no time at all that I had a completed book!

The thought of having three stories started kind of overwhelmed me, so once I began, I just chose one and devoted my time to it. I work better that way, anyhow. 🙂

I’ve shared excerpts of the story with you already. I talked about tea time and how it varied from the Regency period to the Victorian, which is the period our story takes place. So, this time I’m going to discuss the ways in which the story is different from the usual variation.

The first difference is that the story takes place thirty years after the year I generally set my stories, which is 1810. I know most set it for 1811, but Jane Austen really wrote the story in the late 1700’s, so I feel free to do my own thing. 😉

This advancement of time means that Elizabeth is 50 in the story. Darcy is 57 or 58.

Bingley never leased Netherfield and never met Jane. Darcy has never before been to Hertfordshire.

There are other changes. Mrs. Bennet is dead and Mr. Bennet is 80. He’s a feisty old dude, though, and was a lot of fun to write.

Mr. Collins is dead, and had no children. I don’t mention it in the story, but there was a law that Regina Jeffers turned me on to that changed entails and how they could be broken. I don’t understand all the details, but all I needed to know for the story was that the entail was able to be broken. Charlotte lives with her brother, John, who inherited from Sir William.

All the Bennet sisters except Lizzy got married and had kids. Mary married her uncle’s clerk, David Dalrymple, who inherited the practice when Mr. Phillips died.

Other than Mary and Mr. Bennet, the only other family member we meet is Mary’s youngest child. Neville is a University student and a friend of Darcy’s nephew.

 

Darcy’s nephew … he’s fun. He’s a viscount now, but when Neville met him, he was just The Honorable Bertram Frary. As a result, Neville is used to calling him “Frary” and continues to do so when it’s just the two of them or they are with a close circle of family or friends.

Georgiana married a viscount who became an earl. Her husband used to be Viscount Hucknall but is now Earl of Ashfield. Her son, Bertram, is now Viscount Hucknall. Georgiana herself is a spitfire. At one point, she reminds us all of Lady Catherine. <3

Who won’t you see in A MUCH Later Meeting? You won’t see any of the Bingleys or Hursts. They’re not even mentioned, simply because they don’t come up. They’re off living their lives and loving on their grandkids.

You won’t see Colonel Fitzwilliam, or his older brother. They’re also busy and are not needed to move the plot forward.

Many of the folks you won’t see just got old and died. Besides Mrs. Bennet, both Phillipses and both Lady Lucas and Sir William fall into this category.

Mr. and Mrs. Goulding are gone, but their son is still living at Haye Park with his wife, his son, and his daughter-in-law.

Lydia did run off with a soldier, but it was not Wickham. The gentleman became a famous and much-lauded hero. They still live in Newcastle, though.

Oh … there are trains now, so it only takes a few hours for any of Lydia’s family to visit her, instead of the week or so it would take by carriage.

Jane married a wealthy tradesman. He’s a knifemaker and is famous among the male members of the ton.

All the married Bennet sisters have children, so Elizabeth has a full life between visits to her nieces and nephews and caring for her father.

As with all of us, time changes things. I recently had another celebration of my birth (that I most definitely did NOT celebrate 😉 ) and it made me wonder what it would be like to meet someone at my age, which led to wondering what it would be like for Darcy and Lizzy.

I’ve gotten lots of positive feedback on the story, and a little bit of negative. Which camp do you fall into?

Giveaway information:

I’m giving away two eBook copies of A MUCH Later Meeting. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment for me here. The giveaway will close on July 28, 2020 at 11:59 PM Eastern time. The winner will be announced on August 2^nd.

For those who comment but don’t win, but would like to purchase, here is a link you can use to buy the book at your favorite store.  

 

 

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