 |
| Ada Bright and Cass Grafton |
I have the enormous pleasure of hosting Cass Grafton and Ada Bright on the blog today - they have a new novel just out, dedicated to their long friendship - The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen. I've just received my copy, and I'm so looking forward to reading it! As you probably know I love Bath and this book is set in that fabulous city - how could anyone resist? There is a wonderful GIVEAWAY - leave a comment at the end of the post to be entered. Winners announced in a week's time!
Thank you, Jane, so much for inviting us to visit you on your
Blog! We feel you are very much a part of the whole journey we’ve been on this
last year, not only because of your love for and in-depth knowledge of the city
of Bath, where the story is set, but also because you were with us in Bath on
the day we started to write the book!
For anyone who doesn’t know us, we are
Cass Grafton and Ada Bright, two friends from different continents (the UK and
the USA respectively) who have written a story together that just so happens to
incorporate a few of our favourite things: Jane Austen, online friendships, and
romance… oh, and the beautiful city of Bath! So, perhaps it’s fairer to
say we’ve co-written a story that incorporates almost all of our
favourite things. Seriously, there’s even talk of Cadburys chocolate!
The Book!
What is The Particular Charm of Miss
Jane Austen about? Well, it raises a question: what might life be like if
something had prevented Jane Austen from ever publishing any of her books? Our
heroine, Rose - a dedicated Janeite - is about to find out!
When the story opens, it’s September,
and the city of Bath is playing host to the Jane Austen Festival, an
annual celebration of the famous author and her works.
Rose, a Bath resident as well as an
avid Jane Austen fan, can’t wait for her friends to arrive and for the Festival
to start, but she’s unaware one of the recently arrived guests will turn her
life upside down by sharing with her a magical secret that ultimately leads to
Jane Austen’s entire literary legacy disappearing!
With the support of a displaced two
hundred year old author and a charmed necklace, can Rose help to bring back
some of the most beloved stories of all time and turn her own life around in
the process?
~o0o~
We’d like to share with you an excerpt
from the first part of our story, The Particular Charm of Miss Jane Austen.
Rose, our heroine, is such a dedicated
Jane Austen fan, it has influenced her choice of home (the basement flat
located beneath No 4 Sydney Place, the Austens’ main Bath residence) and her
choice of job.
As the Festival begins, she
starts to notice one particular guest whose behaviour has roused Rose’s
curiosity, so much so that she overcomes her natural reticence to speak to the
lady, albeit briefly.
Later that evening, back home in her
cherished flat in Sydney Place, she is enjoying a quiet read before going to
bed when - for the third time in recent weeks - the smoke alarm in the holiday
apartment above her own flat begins to sound; only this time, it doesn’t stop.
Realising she won’t get to sleep at all
unless it stops, Rose puts her book aside and heads upstairs to see what the
problem is...
Excerpt
from Chapter Nine:
Relieved to
see no sign of flames or smoke as she walked up to the door of No 4, Rose
pressed the bell for the ground-floor flat. Looking upwards, the floor above
was in darkness. The current holidaymakers were either out or very deep
sleepers.
The door was
opened cautiously, a pair of bright eyes peering round its edge.
‘Hi! I live
down there,’ Rose gestured towards the basement flat. ‘I can hear the smoke
alarm. Is everything okay?’
Slowly, the
door was pulled back to reveal the young woman Rose had spoken to earlier in
Queen Square. She was still neatly attired in Regency costume, though her
chestnut hair now hung around her shoulders.
‘Oh! It’s
you.’ Rose smiled and offered her hand. ‘My name’s Rose Wallace. It looks like
we’re temporary neighbours whilst you’re in Bath.’
The lady
smiled politely and took Rose’s hand briefly. ‘I am pleased to make your
acquaintance. My name is Miss… Jenny; Jenny Ashton.’
There was a
pause, with only the piercing bleep of the alarm to be heard.
‘So…’ Rose
gestured towards the open door. ‘Is there a problem? Smoke or something? We’d
best call the fire brigade and quickly!’
‘No,
indeed.’ Jenny shook her head, the shorter curls framing her face dancing
around. ‘Be not alarmed. There is no fire, merely a recalcitrant contrivance;
it will not cease!’ She glanced over her shoulder. ‘I know not what I am to
do.’
‘Shall I
take a look?’
With a
relieved smile, the lady stood back and Rose walked into the hallway, then
followed her along into the ground-floor flat, amused at the attempt to speak
in old-fashioned dialogue. Definitely the dedicated fan she had supposed!
There was no
sign of smoke or flames inside the flat, but the beeping was incredibly loud
and very persistent as they went into the bedroom. Rose stood beneath the alarm
and chewed on her lip thoughtfully. Georgian buildings were all very elegant,
but the high ceilings weren’t as practical as modern ones.
‘Are there
any ladders here?’
Jenny shook
her head. ‘There is a spacious closet, but no ladder within.’
‘How have
you managed to stop it in the past?’ Jenny raised a brow, and Rose added. ‘I’ve
heard it before.’
‘Forgive me.
It was not my intention to disturb.’ She gestured towards the mantelpiece. It
was covered in candles of all shapes and sizes, and though none were lit, Rose
could tell from the smell in the room they had only recently been extinguished.
Beside the bed there was an old-fashioned oil lamp, also not in use.
‘I find the
lighting pains my eyes. I am more accustomed to candlelight.’ Jenny waved a
hand at the mantel. ‘By dousing the flame, the noise would hastily cease. I
find its continuance unfathomable.’
‘Perhaps
there’s a fault.’ Rose tried not to stare as she looked around the room for
something to stand on and then peered into the adjacent sitting room, but it
was impossible to miss the books piled high on every possible surface,
including the floor. Jenny was clearly an avid reader!
‘Might this
suffice?’
Rose looked
over her shoulder; Jenny was resting her hand on the back of a sturdy-looking
chair at the desk by the fireplace.
‘It might.’
Jenny stood
aside, which Rose took as a hint she expected her caller to drag the cumbersome
seat over to the opposite side of the room.
It was hard
to miss the array of items stacked along the rear wall as she walked over to
fetch it: neatly piled below the window and an old iron door set into the wall
were small, wooden crates, the contents spilling out onto the floor – an array
of antiques and collectibles. Perhaps she had some connection to the Bartlett
Street Antiques Centre – a collector, or a trader or something...
Trying to
curb her curiosity, Rose tried to pick up the chair. It was heavy, and it took
all her effort to manoeuvre it into place below the still beeping alarm.
Kicking off
her slippers, Rose climbed onto it. She was tall enough, with the aid of the
kitchen utensil quickly supplied by Jenny, to reach the cover of the smoke
detector and managed to flip it open. The only answer for now would be to
remove the battery, and with a little difficulty she finally managed to grasp
it with the tweezers and it fell to the floor, narrowly missing Jenny who
ceased her intent study of the quote on Rose’s discarded slippers to jump out
of its way.
Picking up
the battery from the floor, she then studied it warily. ‘Such loud disturbance
from such small means.’ Then she looked at Rose with a warm smile. ‘I am
indebted to you.’
‘No
problem!’ Rose stuffed her feet back into her slippers and concealed a yawn
behind her hand. ‘I’ll just put this back.’
Jenny stood
aside again as Rose manhandled the heavy chair back into place by the desk.
There was a writing slope on there – a lovely replica – a glass bottle of ink
and what she supposed must be pens, though they bore little resemblance to the
fancy quills with long feathers often depicted for the era! By contrast, there
were also several bottles of eye drops next to them. Then Rose blinked. There was
a piece of paper – rich textured – on the slope, and the writing on it was very
familiar to her. Jenny was clearly trying to mimic Jane Austen’s well-known
hand.
Rose started
at the sound of someone clearing their throat and spun around. Jenny was watching
her from across the room, her expression keen, and, feeling as though she had
stepped over a line, Rose blushed.
‘Sorry! Too
curious for my own good. You have some lovely things.’ She gestured around at
the silverware, old books and suchlike.
‘One man’s
disorder is another man’s treasure, do you not find?’
Rose eased
past her and opened the door to the outer hallway. ‘Er, yes, I suppose so. Make
sure you let someone know you had a problem with the alarm as soon as you can,
and I’m sure they’ll get it fixed. ‘Night.’
If Rose
wasn’t mistaken, she could have sworn Jenny almost curtseyed before deciding
against it, merely inclining her head in almost regal fashion, and, keen to
make her escape, Rose hurried out into the street, closing the door to No 4
firmly behind her.
Giveaway!
We would love to offer a giveaway of a copy of The Particular
Charm of Miss Jane Austen, winner’s choice of eBook or paperback (open
internationally), along with the following:
Marvel Comics edition of Northanger Abbey
China thimble with Northanger Abbey quote: 'Oh, who could ever be tired of Bath?'
Jane Austen silhouette pin
Pendant and chain with Northanger Abbey quote re friendship
Thank you Cass and Ada for visiting - I loved the excerpt!
Don't forget to leave a comment to be entered in the draw for the fabulous GIVEAWAY!
Where to find Ada and
Cass:
Facebook:
Ada Bright
https://www.facebook.com/missyadabright
Twitter:
@missyadabright https://twitter.com/missyadabright
@CassGrafton https://twitter.com/CassGrafton
Tabby Cow Blog -
https://tabbycow.com
Pre
Order Links
Smashwords (for all eBook formats including
Kindle, Nook, Kobo, iBooks, PDF etc)