I fell in love with Pride & Prejudice variations over a decade ago when I did a Google search for “Pride & Prejudice sequel” because I was desperate to read more of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet. I’ve read hundreds, if not thousands, of variations and fan fiction over the years. Last year, I finally developed the courage to start writing my own which (I flatter myself) has been well-received by readers of JAFF (Jane Austen Fan Fiction). I write them in between running my blog, homeschooling my three children, recording my podcast, and surviving the hot Texas summers.
I wrote
The Sins of Their Fathers: A Pride & Prejudice Variation
One of the things I love most about Pride & Prejudice variations is that sometimes you get the characters acting out of character a bit!
In this hilarious version, Mr. Darcy decides he is fed up with being stoic and proper all of the time. He decides to bring back some of the mischievousnesses he enjoyed in his youth, with wonderfully different results! I laughed at the antics he and his dog get up to, and I know you will, too!
Since his father’s death, Fitzwilliam Darcy has endeavored to be reliable, responsible, and restrained. But upon visiting Netherfield Park in Hertfordshire, he finds himself weary of the struggle to be so damnably well regulated and delights in a revival of the carefree mischief that characterized his younger days.
What brings on this sudden reversal? Perhaps it is a shocking incident that takes place upon his first entering the neighborhood when he rescues Miss Elizabeth Bennet from the raging current of a rain-swollen stream. The so-called “lady” does not prefer to be…
Another reason I love Pride & Prejudice variations is that the circumstances change, and we get to see the main characters struggle in other ways than the original story.
I fell in love with Speechless when I got to see Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy get stranded together at an inn. Darcy becomes badly injured and is unable to speak at all, so he and Elizabeth are forced to understand each other in less conventional ways.
The thing about this story that makes it so compelling are the humorous moments that entwine with the angst and pain.
If leaving this place meant never seeing her again, he wished the snow would never melt. Let it be winter forever.
COULD ANYTHING BE WORSE than to be trapped in a confined space with the woman you love, unable to speak to her?
Fitzwilliam Darcy knows his duty, and it does not involve succumbing to his fascination for a certain dark-eyed beauty from an unheard of family from Longbourn in Hertfordshire. He has run away from Elizabeth Bennet once already, yet fate has a wicked sense of humour and deals him a blow that not only throws him back into…
My favorite trope for Pride & Prejudice variations is a forced or arranged marriage. In this book, Mr. Darcy’s infamously rude proposal to Elizabeth is overheard. Rumors quickly spread, and they are quickly forced to marry or else be ruined.
I really enjoy watching Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy working hard to make their marriage work. I admire her determination to make the best of the situation, and I love seeing Darcy fall in love with her all over again.
"I have faults enough, but they are not, I hope, of understanding." --Mr. Darcy, Pride and Prejudice
When Fitzwilliam Darcy makes an impetuous offer of marriage to Miss Elizabeth Bennet, he is convinced they have as good a chance as any for a harmonious life together. That is, until an overheard conversation changes everything, and Darcy realizes he is now joined in perpetuity to a woman who loathes the very sight of him.
Elizabeth Bennet’s expectations for matrimonial accord were never very high, having accepted Mr. Darcy’s proposal in a fit of pique, not love. Still, she is determined to…
Sometimes a Pride & Prejudice variation begins extremely differently than in canon. This book has Elizabeth Bennet start out as an orphan and forced to be a companion to the Dowager Countless of Matlock. Mr. Darcy had married someone else after Elizabeth had refused his proposal, but he is now widowed and just as handsome as ever.
I love seeing Elizabeth navigate through their marriage when she is not in love quite yet. I admire her courage and determination to uncover the secrets of Mr. Darcy’s first marriage, and my heart breaks for the trauma that Mr. Darcy endured at the hands of his first wife.
“This was not a man who would explode in a rage, or who would give way to shame or temper...which meant my choices were simple: either he had killed her in cold blood, or he had not killed her at all.”
ORPHANED AND ALONE IN THE WORLD, Elizabeth Bennet has found reasonable contentment as a companion to the Dowager Countess of Matlock, the affairs of 1811 and Fitzwilliam Darcy long forgotten. But the past intrudes upon her again, and Mr Darcy returns to her, handsome, wealthy, and widowed, and hiding many secrets beneath his solemn exterior.
One of my other favorite tropes is when fantasy and Pride & Prejudice combine. I love this version where Elizabeth Bennet can speak to dragons, which is a forbidden power. When Jane becomes ill, Elizabeth has to travel to Pemberley to help save her.
Not only is fantasy involved, but I really enjoy how history becomes involved in the form of England’s war with France and Bonaparte. I find it incredible to see Elizabeth break through protocol and rules all for the love of her sister, Jane.
Foreword INDIES Winner for Fantasy. Royal Dragonfly Award Winner for Fantasy. “A charming retelling”—Locus Magazine
An unforgettable fantasy retelling of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice that is romantic, funny, and more relevant than ever.
Elizabeth Bennet is hiding a forbidden power. She can speak to draca, the fire-breathing creatures kept as status symbols by English gentry. But Mr. Darcy has noticed, and he has his own dark secret.
When Elizabeth’s sister falls deathly ill, the cure lies in the mysteries of draca. Elizabeth, aided by her brilliant sister Mary, defies restrictive English society to hunt for lost draca lore. She…
How would Pride & Prejudice be different if William Collins came to live with the Bennets at Longbourn as a young child due to the heinous actions of his father? What if Mr. Darcy’s own father acted in a way that forever changed the course of his friendship with George Wickham? Will Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy still find their happily ever after?
As the beloved characters of Pride & Prejudice grapple with their childhood difficulties, how will the choices of their parents be carried on to the next generation? Can they find happiness, or are they doomed to a lifetime of misery because of the sins of their fathers?
Constance is a wild, stubborn young girl growing up poor in a small industrial town in the late 1800's. Beneath her thread-worn exterior beats the heart of a dreamer and a wordsmith. But at age twelve, she’s orphaned. Running away to join the circus—like kids do in adventure books—seems like such a brilliant idea…or is it?
"Flight to Brassbright appeals to my inner child's desire for adventure and independence as well as my (mostly) grown-up desire for really well-written stories that capture my imagination and hold my attention." - Tricia, Amazon Reviewer
"...well plotted with a likable protagonist...upbeat with…
Constance is a wild, stubborn young girl growing up poor in a small industrial town in the late 1800's. Beneath her thread-worn exterior beats the heart of a dreamer and a wordsmith. But at age twelve, she’s orphaned. Running away to join the circus—like kids do in adventure books—seems like such a brilliant idea… or is it?
