Hello dear friends! I’m so happy to welcome back the lovely Sophie Turner to Austenesque Reviews today! As you might have already seen, Sophie has recently released the newest book in her Constant Love series – A Generation’s Secrets!
Sophie is here today to share more about the love story and characters that are featured in this tale! 📗 And let me just say it sounds aaaaaaamazing!!! 🤗 We hope you enjoy!
Thank you, Meredith! I’m always so pleased to come back here for a visit.
One of the things I love about writing in the Pride and Prejudice space is the incredible cast of characters we writers have available to us. I have long been fascinated by the potential inherent in Georgiana Darcy, who has this incredible backstory and yet not even one line of dialogue in the novel, and Georgiana has been a key character in my Constant Love series.
But for A Generation’s Secrets, the latest book in the series, I also wanted to turn some attention to Georgiana’s mother. Lady Anne Darcy might be the biggest enigma of all of the characters in the book, and I wanted to explore who she might have been. We know her family, of course: she is daughter to and sister of an earl, and she has a sister we know all too well – Lady Catherine.
The strong personality of Lady Catherine allows numerous interpretations of Lady Anne’s character. Was she of a similar personality to her sister, deeply proud of her station and very aligned that their children should marry? Was she like the woman Darcy eventually married, uninclined to take her overbearing sister seriously? Or was she instead reserved like her son, worn down by a domineering sister? I am very intrigued by that middle scenario and hope to someday explore it in a different book outside of the series. But it was the latter Lady Anne that I chose for A Generation’s Secrets.
Another fundamental piece from the books is who the Fitzwilliam sisters marry: a knight or baronet for Lady Catherine, and a gentleman for Lady Anne. It would have been rather unusual during that time for two sisters of an earl to both marry outside of the nobility, and while I expect Jane Austen did this because it suited her plot, it does create potential for further exploration. In the series, I’ve chosen to make the earldom impoverished due to the earl’s gambling, meaning the sisters have smaller dowries and cannot marry as high as they might have otherwise.
The story of Lady Anne’s courtship with her Mr. Darcy is a key part of her story. It’s told through her old journals, which are found by Elizabeth in the mistress’s apartment. Each book in my series has at least one romance, and that of Lady Anne and George Darcy is the primary romance within A Generation’s Secrets, which creates an interesting twist – readers already know they married, but not how they came to that point.
The how involves a love quadrangle. It was fun to write, but it was also a challenge. My voice as a writer has changed over the years, particularly since I began writing in the JAFF world, but the one thing that has been constant is my sitting very comfortably in the third person space. I might move around in that space a bit, but that’s where I live as a fiction writer. Yet there’s no other choice for a journal but to have it written in the first person, so I knew I was going to have to make a go at first person. I felt a journal also needed to be written believably as a journal, and so I looked to what I do write in the first person: my own travel journals.
I keep a journal for every long trip I go on, mostly a recounting of my day and any interesting things I saw, people I met, or facts I learned. My journal entries are rarely chronological recountings of my day – they might begin with the most interesting thing that happened, or where I’m writing them (perhaps in a pub or on a train to somewhere new). So I decided to buy the same style Moleskine journal I use for my travel writing, and wrote out Lady Anne’s journal within. I’m also normally a keyboard writer, but I found the combination of writing longhand and in the same notebook made it easier to tell Lady Anne’s story in this way.
Much of her story is that love story, but as the title might indicate, there are also secrets within to be revealed. And the journal was also an opportunity to explore the influence Lady Anne had on her son and daughter – particularly her son. For her influence on Fitzwilliam Darcy is one of the things that makes Lady Anne such an enigma. In this, I was intrigued by Wendy Jones’s Jane on the Brain: Exploring the Science of Social Intelligence with Jane Austen, particularly where she explores how Darcy’s upbringing would have shaped him. I didn’t entirely agree with all of Jones’s interpretations, but they gave me a springboard to form my own theories on Lady Anne as a mother, and how this shaped her son.
In Pride and Prejudice, we see both Darcy and Mrs. Reynolds speak enthusiastically about how good the elder Mr. Darcy was. Lady Anne doesn’t merit the same enthusiasm. Yet Darcy is well aware that his father was taken in by George Wickham. And we know that there was “great mismanagement in the education” of Darcy and Wickham, which Darcy explains towards the end of the novel:
“I have been a selfish being all my life, in practice, though not in principle. As a child I was taught what was right, but I was not taught to correct my temper. I was given good principles, but left to follow them in pride and conceit. Unfortunately an only son, (for many years an only child) I was spoilt by my parents, who though good themselves, (my father particularly, all that was benevolent and amiable,) allowed, encouraged, almost taught me to be selfish and overbearing, to care for none beyond my own family circle, to think meanly of all the rest of the world, to wish at least to think meanly of their sense and worth compared with my own.”
This was ripe for further exploration, I thought – an opportunity to delve deeper into what made Darcy who he was. But in this continuation series, it was also an opportunity for Elizabeth to gain a greater understanding of her husband, something that became key due to events taking place in the “real world” outside of Lady Anne’s journals.
Many thanks again to Meredith for hosting me, and I thought I would leave you all with one of Lady Anne’s journal entries, where we can see her falling in love with George Darcy (and for good reason, I might add!):
“21 December, 1778
“He is gone. The wait now until the season seems unbearable, but at least we had a wonderful evening last night. I played Scarlatti and he offered to turn the pages for me. I am glad I know it so well or I think the distraction of his presence would have caused me to make a great many blunders. He was so very complimentary again when I finished and then Cathy tried to ruin everything by giving her old line about how if she would have learned she would have been a true proficient – meaning, of course, more proficient than her sister. It upset me, as it always does, thinking of how I applied myself to practise and she never did, and my family just ignored her, as they always do. But Mr. Darcy expressed his sympathy over whatever physical condition had prevented her from learning. His tone was innocent and Cathy spluttered that there was nothing physically wrong with her, and how dare he presume there was. And he said, O! I shall never forget it – ‘my apologies, Lady Catherine, I made an assumption on why you do not play given your sister’s skill. I should not have presumed the cause.’ And Cathy turned bright red in the face, but there was nothing she could say, and then he looked down at me for just a moment, but in that moment I could see that he knew, that he understood my situation. It was then that I knew I loved him, and I almost fainted when he offered his hand to assist me in rising from the stool. So it is decided – I love George Darcy, and the wait until I see him again will be most painful to endure.”
Oh, Sophie, I absolutely love every single thing about this! 💗 I’m so excited to learn that A Generation’s Secrets features Lady Anne Darcy prominently. And the romance is a love quadrangle with the revelations of Lady Anne’s internal thoughts and private feelings told through her journal entries…??? This sounds so fantastic! 🙌🏼
And then you share this journal entry? 🤌🏼 I cannot wait to read more!
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~ Book Description ~
In the wake of a life-changing event, Georgiana and Elizabeth learn the secrets of the previous generation. A trip to America will reunite the former Bennet sisters, but when they gather at Pemberley, events there will leave their generation with its own secrets to hide. Fourth story in the Constant Love series.
Content warning: Readers should be aware that this story includes themes and scenes of miscarriage and stillbirth; death and mourning; spousal and child abuse; PTSD; slavery; sexual assault; and 19th century surgery.
~ Connect with Sophie ~
Blog ❧ Twitter ❧ Facebook ❧ Goodreads
~ About Sophie ~
Sophie Turner worked as an online editor before delving even more fully into the tech world. Writing,
researching the Regency era, and occasionally dreaming about living in Britain are her escapes from her day job.
She was afraid of long series until she ventured upon Patrick O’Brian’s 20-book Aubrey-Maturin masterpiece, something she might have repeated five times through.
Alas, her Constant Love series is only planned to be seven – or possibly eight – books right now, and consists of A Constant Love, A Change of Legacies, A Season Lost, and A Generation’s Secrets . The tentatively titled fifth book, A Dangerous Connection, is likely to be out in 2023, if it comes out as long as its predecessor.
Sophie blogs about her writing endeavours at sophie-turner-acl.blogspot.com, where readers can find direction for the various social drawing-rooms across the Internet where she may be called upon.
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~ GIVEAWAY TIME ~
Today Sophie brings with her a fantastic bounty of goodies to give away!! One GRAND PRIZE winner will win:
- Winner’s choice of any book in the Constant Love series in the format of their choice (ebook, paperback, or audiobook)
- Frostbeard Studio candle: Darcy’s Parlour
- a Blue John aka “Derbyshire spar” stone
IN ADDITION, 4️⃣ other winners will be chosen to win their choice of any book in the Constant Love series in the format of their choice (ebook, paperback, or audiobook)!!!
To enter this giveaway, leave a question, a comment, or some love for Sophie below!
- This giveaway is open worldwide (GRAND PRIZE is open to US residents). Thank you, Sophie!
- This giveaway ends February 25th!
I loved the journal entry! Glorious put down of Lady Catherine.
Thank you, Gill! I had a lot of fun writing that one.
In all my readings of Pride and Prejudice, it never occurred to me to wonder about Darcy’s mother! What a fun idea!
I think she’s easy to overlook because she’s not alive during P&P, and Darcy’s father comes up a lot more because of Wickham. Thanks for your comment, Annie!
As usual, I expect to enjoy this story in the series.
Thank you in advance.
So glad to hear you’re looking forward to it, thanks for your comment!
Oh my lands! This book sounds wonderful. There are not many books written in the P&P world featuring Lady Anne: her love, her life, her influence on her children. This story will be a “must read” for many.
Yeah, I think she’s been an underutilized character, which made her fun to explore since she had such an influence on her children. Thank you for your comment!
This does sound interesting. Thanks for sharing and thanks for the chance to win some wonderful prize.
Glad to hear you found it interesting. You’re welcome, and thanks for commenting, Sheila!
This particular book in this series sounds wonderful. I love generational stories and the use of journals. I thought the excerpt was hilarious and captured exactly what would have happened! Kudos Mr. Darcy for your remarks. Thank you for the generous giveaway.
I definitely had fun writing that entry, particularly Mr. Darcy’s remarks to Lady Catherine! So glad to hear this sounds wonderful to you. Thanks for commenting!
That was the perfect excerpt to include in this post, Sophie! I loved Lady Anne Darcy’s journal entries and the all encompassing story arc. Oh the secrets revealed within this book! Congratulations! Please do not enter me in the giveaway as I already have all the books!
Aww, thanks for your comment, Carole! I’m so glad to hear you loved the journal entries.
I am captivated with this wonderful and unique idea. Journals and a beautiful story which would be a real treasure. Thanks.
I’m so glad to hear you were captivated by the idea of the journals, Anne. Thank you so much for your comment!
A fascinating and unforgettable story which caught my interest. An excerpt which I enjoyed and would love to cherish. Thanks for your feature.
Thank you so much, Ruth! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed the excerpt.
Thank you for sharing those thoughts about the Darcy parents and lineage and putting them into creative form! I have found fascination with Lady Anne and George in that, even if their education of Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy was not adequate, they had to at least instill enough goodness for him to realize, when he found himself on the wrong path, he was able to change and transform. I think Lady Anne also had a frailty that might remind me of Fanny Price, but that’s another of my thoughts. I would love to read your work one day when I can get this TBR reduced. Thank you again and congrats on the new release!
It’s so cool you mentioned Fanny Price because she was definitely on my mind as well when I was writing Lady Anne. I think telling her story in the first person made her easier for readers to empathize with than Fanny. Thanks for your comment, Jen!
I’m very much in need of a good book to take me away from this crazy world (“There is no frigate like a book to take us lands away…”) – I think you’ve found it for me – many thanks!
What a wonderful quote! I love it particularly since there’s such a large naval component in my series. Thanks for your comment, Jean!
Somewhere in Heaven, Emily Dickinson is smiling!
I think you may be the first, or if not, close to it to feature Lady Anne Darcy in a book. Thank you! I dare say we all who devour JAFF daily have thought about her more than once. Her story will be a wonderful addition to your series which I have read and listened to more than once!
Lady Anne is quite underutilized! I’d love to eventually get to a variation with her, but that’s some books down the queue, haha. Thank you for your comment, Linda, I’m so glad to hear you’ve been through the series multiple times!
I have looooong been a fan of the Constant Love series since finding the first two on fanfiction.net years ago; they are absolutely brilliant and have become one of my very favorite “comfort” reads. I have no idea how many times I’ve read them, especially the first two, but I’m at the point where I can open to any place within the books and know exactly where I am in the plotline by reading only a sentence or two. 😉 I am such, such a fan, Sophie, and it’s thrilling to find out that a new book in the series awaits!!! Yay!! 😀
Warmly,
Susanne (Cassandra Lowery on ff.net) 🙂
Aww, it’s so wonderful to hear that my books are “comfort” reads for you, Susanne! Thank you so much for your comment!
Thank you for the excerpt and the giveaway. So interesting – both!! lOVE.
Thanks for your comment, Amy! So glad to hear you found them interesting.
Thanks, Meredith for hosting. I love journals and try to scribble a bit myself. What a fun concept. I already own the first two books in this series. Book three and now book four will be on my wish list. Blessings on the success of another launch from this series. Thanks for the generous giveaway and good luck to all in the drawing.
I love journals too, although I tend to buy them and not write in them, except when I’m traveling! Thank you for your comment, J.W.!
Looking forward to discovering Lady Anne, she is often overlooked in JAFF and is such a strong influence on Darcy, curious to know the lady.
Thanks for a chance to win.
I agree, she’s such a strong influence on Darcy and there was so much potential in exploring that. Thank you for your comment, Stephanie!
I’m looking forward to a wonderful read.
Thank you so much, Mary!
I hope you plan on additional novellas while we wait a year for the next!
I’m actually working on a side project right now, but it’s definitely novel length, although not likely anywhere near “A Generation’s Secets” in length. Thanks for your comment, Laura!
what a wonderful way to revisit family history via journals
Glad to hear you liked the idea. Thanks for your comment, Glory!
Sounds interesting. Congrats on the release!
Glad to hear you found it interesting, thanks for your comment!
How intriguing to unlock the story of Darcy’s mother in your own way.
d
That’s a great way to put it, thanks for your comment!
I love the journal entry! The author did very well with the first person after all. I felt like I was in the parlor with the sisters and George Darcy! Thank you for bringing this series to my attention, and thanks for the giveaway!
Thank you so much for your comment, Cyndy! I do always love when writing can make us feel transported somewhere else. 🙂
It makes me so happy to discover new books and authors! Having the opportunity to enter a contest is the icing on the cake!
It makes me happy to see readers discover my work! Thank yo so much for your comment, Jeanna!
I loved Mr Darcy senior putting Lady C back in her corner in this excerpt!
I also think Lady Anne is a bit of an enigma. By the fact that Lady C’s daughter is called Anne you’d have thought they were close, or at least that Lady C was trying to curry favour, but I suppose Lady Anne might have been named after her own mother. Personally I’m with you, Sophie, I see her as quite like Georgiana, quite shy, which might have been another reason for her to have married a bit lower socially, a bit less pressure. I’m glad that you’ve given this character such a protector as Mr Darcy senior.
He was very much a protector in my story and I think that appealed to her a lot, to have someone who was always in her corner so to speak. Thank you so much for your comment, Ceri!
I’ve read “A Constant Love,” but none of the rest so far. Please enter me in the giveawy.
Great – that’s why I wanted to do a flexible giveaway so folks can pick up wherever they left off. Thanks for your comment, Lois!
Lady Anne is a lucky lady to have Fitzwilliam as her son. But she must have also been fortunate in her own marriage to Mr Darcy, who was a good man himself. I’m really looking forward to your new story. And as an international fan I’d love a new book to read. So please count me in, thanks for a chance to win !
That’s a key part of what I wanted to delve into — how did these good people have a son who was inherently good and yet still needed a whole lot of correction by Elizabeth? Thanks for your comment, Charlotte!
I’m one of those readers that if it’s been quite a while since the last book in a series, I fear I won’t be able to pick up the new one and remember facts from the other books without rereading. That in itself is not a hardship except that these are long books! However, each book was well worth the wait as I believe this newest one will be. It sounds wonderful. I love the journal idea, that Lizzy discovers them. I love that it appears Lady Anne and Mr. Darcy Sr. were a love match. And I love how your covers coordinate with each other.
Oh drat. I forgot to thank you Meredith for hosting Sophie Turner’s book tour. I agree with you, it does sound amazing.
I wish I could get them out faster, but it just takes sooo loooong to write and revise books of this length. However the good news is for this one, I had feedback from beta readers that they really needed a summary of major past events and characters, so that’s included at the beginning of “A Generation’s Secrets” and I’m planning to do it for the rest of the series. Thanks for your comment, Michelle!
Congratulations on your new book. Looking forward to knowing more about Lady Anne. Thank you for the giveaway
Thanks for your comment, glad to hear you’re looking forward to knowing more about Lady Anne!
I haven’t read any books in the series yet but it sounds delightful. Thanks for the giveaway!
Thanks for your comment, Claudia! Glad to hear you think the series sounds delightful.
I think it’s neat that you write Lady Anne Darcy’s thoughts on a real journal instead of typing it on the screen, Sophie. The romance between Darcy’s parents has piqued my curiosity to know how more of their story and who their love rivals are. Thanks for sharing a brief excerpt from A Generation’s Secrets.
Thanks for your comment! Glad to hear the post piqued your curiosity!