Greetings, friends! I’m so excited to welcome another new author to Austenesque Reviews today.  Not only does Nancy Martin-Young live in NC – what an awesome coincidence – she also has written a story about one of our favorite mismatched Austen couples! No, not the Bennets, Bertrams, or Elliots – I’m talking about the Palmers! 🫢 To my recollection, there has yet to be an Austenesque book published that centers around Mr. and Mrs. Palmer! I’m so glad that Nancy Martin-Young took up her pen to tell their story in her book – Wit and Prattles.

Nancy is paying a visit today to share more about the Palmers and an excerpt from Wit and Prattles. We hope you enjoy! 🤗

Wit and Prattles explores the backstory of the Palmers from Sense and Sensibility.

You might remember them from the 1995 movie, with Hugh Laurie (House) as Thomas Palmer and Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge) as Charlotte. They’re gifted actors, but much older than Austen’s vision. In the novel, Charlotte is young, plump, and pretty, and her dour husband is only in his mid-twenties.

Why the Palmers?

My favorite trope is odd couples who somehow suture a life together. Mr. and Mrs. Palmer intrigue me. It’s as if they’re playing a twisted relationship game reminiscent of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. When a crisis looms, however, the games stop, their bond holds strong, and love triumphs.

In Austen’s novel, the Palmers are more like caricatures than rounded characters. Since we know little of their history or motivations, I had free reign to invent them and even hint at why Thomas is so antisocial and why Charlotte giggles inappropriately.

Seeing the world through Charlotte’s eyes was excessively diverting. From her perspective, Elinor and Marianne act like mean girls. Throughout, Charlotte proves that happiness is a choice.

The Challenges

Sustaining a tense plot line for the Palmers when all the drama in Austen centers around Marianne was probably the hardest part of the process. Every author dreads a sagging middle.

The real danger in writing Wit and Prattles was my becoming so immersed in the research that I didn’t write.

Research is addicting. I scoured primary sources, whiling away hours perusing fashion plates in Ackermann’s Repository, costumes in museums, blueprints for Regency townhouses, debates in Parliament, obituaries, menus, period dance step manuals, poaching statistics, the practice of bribing potwallopers, funeral and birth customs, even arguments over whether Regency gentlewomen wore underpants. (The answer is no. Drawers were considered risqué. Check out some of the cartoons by Rowlandson for proof.)

Borrowing from Austen

Sustaining her arch, balanced prose and indirect discourse without speaker tags let me grow as a writer, since I usually write contemporary romantic suspense novels. Eventually, I deleted the early chapters because they sounded too stilted for modern taste. Instead, I crafted a hybrid style, essentially Austenesque.

Of course, writers have to amuse themselves first. I had a blast inserting Easter eggs for hardcore Austen fans. Thomas Palmer’s list of qualifications for a wife is much like Darcy’s. Charlotte’s love of romances and the very Gothic scene in the library are nods to Northanger Abbey. Mrs. Sophia Palmer’s hypochondria echoes Mr. Woodhouse, Mrs. Bennet, Lady Bertram, and Mary Musgrove. I also hid some references to William Wordsworth, William Carlos Williams, and Beatrix Potter.

Including actual content from period conduct books enriched the novel, as well. There really is a book called The Mirror of the Graces. 

~ Excerpt from Wit and Prattles ~

Charlotte’s original plan to spark jealousy in Mr. Palmer seemed to have fizzled, but a new one was in the offing. There was to be a musical evening! Charlotte practically danced about her room at the thought. Such evenings offered any number of chances to pair off once the rugs were rolled back and the bows rosined. This opportunity must be executed perfectly. Dutifully, she consulted The Mirror of the Graces, determined to avoid any more pratfalls. Several pages were devoted to the management of one’s person in the exercise of accomplishments.

Dancing, it seemed, was “the singular accomplishment best calculated to display the female form in all its elegance.” It allowed a lady to display her fine figure and graceful carriage to the appreciative eye. Besides a mastery of the steps, the book stressed that a lady must at all costs avoid an awkward stiffness of the upper body and neck. That was new. Her dance instructor had been most strict in reminding her to stand straight. Instead, apparently, she must deport herself in “graceful undulation.” Charlotte raised her arms, stretched her neck, and practiced the desired movement in the mirror. The look was certainly fluid. She’d never seen anything quite like it at the London balls, and with good reason. Still, it might catch Thomas’s eye.

A brief knock on the door announced the arrival of Lady Mary, who entered and stopped short. Looking up, Charlotte smiled, but did not stop her practice.

“Whatever are you doing?” Mary demanded after a brief silence.

“Undulating,” Charlotte answered, enjoying the chance to tease.

“Whatever for?”

Charlotte turned to face her stuffy sister. “Because elegant motion of the feet is only half the art of dancing.”

“Exactly what art are you applying?” Mary demanded, hand on hips.

“The art of ‘conspicuous elegance.’ I am also practicing fluttering my lashes to convey my modesty.”

“Where did you hear such nonsense?”

“In the book you gave me.”

Thank you, Meredith, for this chance to share my novel, and thank you all for reading!

I love it! I cannot wait to spend more time with the Palmers and witness more of Charlotte’s schemes. I wonder if she will succeed in making Mr. Palmer jealous! What a terrific idea to share their prospective and dive deeper into these entertaining but peripheral characters! Thank you so much for sharing, Nancy! 💃🏻

~ Book Description ~

A neglected Austen character deserves the happiest ending of all.

Irrepressible Charlotte Jennings is hardly the pick of the Season, despite all efforts to train, constrain, and mold her into a proper lady. She’s had her sights set on introverted Thomas Palmer since she was a girl. Now circumstances force Thomas into society to find a meek wife in possession of a sizable fortune and good teeth. Instead, he stumbles on Charlotte, who pursues him with laughter and perseverance. It’s a mismatch made in heaven.

After a tense wedding night, Charlotte’s high spirits sink. Isolated in the Palmer estate, she’s largely ignored by Thomas, spurned by the visiting Dashwood sisters, and barely tolerated by Thomas’ bookish maiden aunt.

For their marriage to survive, the Palmers must learn that words can cut, happiness is a choice, and the path to lasting love is often pitted with ruts.

Minor characters in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, the Palmers in Wit and Prattles, are fleshed out in full color in this funny, heartwarming, spicy romance.

~ About Nancy ~

Nancy Martin-Young met Jane Austen’s characters when she was eight and remains a devoted Janeite. A former editor, reporter, and college educator, she (writing as Nancy Young) is the author of the Something in the Dark Series: Seeing Things, Hearing Things, and Sensing Things, set in Raleigh’s historic Oakwood neighborhood.

Her novels have earned awards from the RWA.  Nancy’s also a prize-winning poet. Other works include a poetry collection entitled The Last Girl Standing, as well as dozens of poems, articles, and short stories that have appeared in journals, magazines, newspapers, and anthologies. Southern Edge, her short story collection, is slated for publication in fall 2022.

Nancy is still married to the guy who took her to the prom, and together they share two needy basset hounds and an insistent cat. Their children are reasonably well adjusted and still talk to them even though they no longer need to come home to do the wash.

You can find excerpts from her novels at nancymyoung.com. For cool Regency pictures, check out her novels’ Pinterest pages.

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~ GIVEAWAY TIME! ~

Nancy is generously giving away  2️⃣ paperbacks of Wit and Prattles in conjunction with this blog visit!

 To enter this giveaway leave Nancy a question, comment or some love!

• This giveaway is open to US residents.  Thank you, Nancy!
• This giveaway ends September 21st!