I’m so excited welcome Austenesque Author, Shannon Winslow, back to Austenesque Reviews today!  Shannon is currently touring the blogsphere with her latest release, Return to Longbourn, and I’m so glad she can pay us this visit!  I hope you enjoy her post about the use of Jane Austen quotes!

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Whose Line is it Anyway?

It is no secret that I adore the work of Jane Austen. Her subtle stories of love triumphant and her witty, elegant prose suit my taste exactly. They have influenced my own writing more than anything else.

With Jane Austen’s stories so deeply entrenched in my mind, I often find myself thinking of and alluding to various passages from her books as I write. Instead of fighting the temptation to borrow some of her expertly turned phrases (as I did when I wrote The Darcys of Pemberley), I went with the idea in my second (For Myself Alone) and now my third novels. So, if you are a Jane Austen aficionado, you will no doubt recognize a quoted line here and there as you read.

I had a wonderful time tucking these little jewels in between the pages, merging my words with my favorite author’s. Seamless transitions: that was my intent. Jane’s lines might have stood out like so many scarlet roses in an acre of thorns if my own writing style was too different, too obviously modern. But I flatter myself that my flare for Austenesque language allows them to blend unobtrusively into the whole.

What’s that you say? “Pretty bold assertion, lady!” Very well, then. Let’s put it to the test. You can check up on me and assess your JA knowledge at the same time.

All twenty of the lines below you will find in the text of my recently-released Pride and Prejudice sequel Return to Longbourn. Some of them are my own inventions and some are true Jane Austen. Can you tell the real thing from the impostors? Can you identify which ones are genuine JA and which are the respectful SW impersonators?

Even if you sniff out the truth, I hope you will note a certain similarity and appreciate my imitations as a mark of my sincere regard for the classic works that inspired my own.

So have fun with the quiz! And be sure to give yourself extra credit for correctly matching the JA lines with their respective books. Answers are revealed at the end of this post. Let me know how you do.

Leave a comment and you’ll be entered to win one of two free e-copies (Nook or Kindle) of Return to Longbourn!

1) She had learnt that much… that she must never again attempt to love by halves. Without knowingly consenting to it, her whole heart had become entangled…

2) “I have the greatest dislike to the idea of being over-trimmed.”

3) Why he should feel such a scruple, why he should change his mind when it was all but done, she could not perceive… The intention, however, was indubitable.

4) “If sentiment is a weakness, my dear, then I think it is one of which you need not be ashamed.”

5) …she was a few minutes remembering all that had transpired the day before, and few minutes more being convinced that her happy recollections were genuine.

6) “Then I do not regret speaking, and I will be bold to tell you one thing more so that my conscience may be clear, whatever else comes of it.”

7) [She] lifted up her eyes in amazement, but was too much oppressed to make any reply.

8) Portions of her behaviour over the past year were mortifying enough to remember, but when she recollected her thoughts… Pride and folly abounded, but there was worse…

9) …she felt it to be her duty, to try to overcome all that was excessive, all that bordered on selfishness, in her affection… To call or to fancy it a loss, a disappointment, would be a presumption for which she had not words strong enough to satisfy her own humility.

10) Under these unpromising auspices, the parting took place and the journey began.

11) What a kind convenience, she thought, that she had been taught to properly know herself just in time…

12) With all these to bear testimony to the mark he had left on the world, there would be no doubt of his memory living on into the foreseeable future.

13) There was nothing remarkable in it, only such limited provisions… as had been known to them all along, and which would go no very great distance towards their comfort and keeping.

14) …exertion was indispensably necessary, and she struggled so resolutely against the oppression of her feelings, that her success was speedy, and for the time complete.

15) [She] foresaw insurmountable difficulties with every suggestion proffered, finding each one more detestable than the last, and ultimately discarding the lot as too loathsome to even admit contemplation.

16) The effect was most extraordinary; for on first hearing it, [she] sat quite still and unable to utter a syllable.

17) “I am determined to go directly. I have said nothing about it to any body. It would only be giving trouble and distress.”

18) The considerable powers of his person to recommend him were further augmented by a sincerity of expression and warmth of voice such as seemed certain proof of his amiability.

19) “It exactly answers my idea of a fine country, because it unites beauty and utility.”

20) [She] grew cheerful as a lark, and such was the brilliance of her felicity that it blinded her to every symptom of dullness and ill health in her sister.

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Quiz Answers:

1) SW, 2) JA: Emma, 3) JA: Emma, 4) SW, 5) SW, 6) SW, 7) JA: P&P, 8) SW, 9) JA: MP, 10) JA: NA, 11) SW, 12) SW, 13) SW, 14) JA:S&S, 15) SW, 16) JA: P&P, 17) JA: Emma, 18) SW, 19) JA, S&S, 20) SW

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

Author Shannon Winslow brings with her today TWO ebook copies (Kindle or Nook) for me to give away to TWO lucky winners!

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment and share what quote of Jane Austen’s do you like to use (could be something you say to yourself, to others, something you like to use in your writing, etc.)

• To save your inbox from unwanted spam, please leave your email address with an [at] instead of @.
• (You could also leave a Twitter handle or Facebook username instead).
• This giveaway is open to residents worldwide.  Thank you, Shannon!
• This giveaway ends April 1st.