I have a new book out! Another Austen-inspired novel, like my last, The Making of Margaret Dashwood.  Now available on Amazon.

Miss Jane Fairfax possesses all the beauty and accomplishments that British society admires in a young woman. But, alas, she is an orphan without fortune and unlikely to receive any offers of marriage. She has now come of age, and must leave the care of her guardians, and make her own way in life. She must contract herself out as a governess, a day she hopes will never come.

The unexpected happens when wealthy, charismatic Frank Churchill enters her world, asking her to make him the happiest of men, offering the love and security she desires more than anything. But no one can learn of their engagement, for Mr. Churchill’s aunt will hear of it and surely oppose the match. It must remain a great secret.

But secrets, as readers of Austen novels know, have consequences.

Readers of Emma know some of Jane Fairfax’s story, but she is seen only through the eyes of other characters. How would her story read if the events were told from her perspective?

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSMPZB83/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title

A talented book cover designer, Hannah Spencer, designed a new cover for my 2021 historical fantasy and I LOVE it!

Margery Pendele has been cheated by life. Alice Yonge has been cheated by death.

Nestled in the heart of the English Cotswolds lies a village largely unchanged by the passing of time, surrounded by the ancient, haunted forest called Parsonage Wood. In the year 1642, the peaceful existence of Castle Combe’s inhabitants is about to be shattered. King Charles’ soldiers are coming to fight Cromwell and the Parliamentarians. War is coming to Castle Combe.

Alice Yonge, the only child of a poor weaver, lives in one of the cottages with her parents. She has a simple life, a good life. Until it abruptly comes to an end, and she is flown away to the Vale. At only sixteen years, she is torn away from all those she loves.

Margery Pendele is a servant who works in the kitchens of the manor house. When she learns from her mother that the Lord of the Manor is her father, she is determined to get all she feels she deserves. Full of bitterness, she scorns Johnny, the peasant boy who loves her, and lets him leave for war with only her words of rejection.

Alice is given a chance to return to Castle Combe, and Margery’s life becomes intertwined with hers. In her efforts to help Margery, Alice enlists the aid of Antonius, the ghost of the Roman soldier who guards the bridge, and the fearsome ninth-century Saxons and Danes who still fight each other in the Wood. Soon, Alice discovers that her own love has gone missing. This time her only weapons are the white stone given to her by the Seraph and the power of her love.

Inspired by historical author Carol Pratt Bradley’s visit to the English village of Castle Combe, this allegorical novel weaves together vivid historical details of the 17th century English Civil war with the ancient legends surrounding the village. It is also a tribute to the language of Shakespeare, Milton and other authors of the time, as Bradley explores the power of words to lift and change us.

A thoughtful novel about life and loss and the transforming power of hope.

The Making of Margaret Dashwood

Who will she meet, besides the Wilberforce’s, of course. Why, the abolitionist Thomas Clarkson, and Clarkson’s dear friends in the Lake Country, William Wordsworth, his wife Mary, and his sister Dorothy. What will the events of the turbulent early years of the 19th century bring to our dear heroine and her family and friends?

While I was researching for my newest novel, “The Making of Margaret Dashwood,” I ran across authors who influenced Jane Austen’s writings.

Frances Burney was an influential writer during Jane’s lifetime. She is considered a pioneer of novels of manners, witty satires of the foibles of British Georgian society. When only twenty six, Burney wrote her popular novel, “Evelina: or, the History of a Young Ladies’ Entrance into the World,” published in 1778. “Cecilia,” followed in 1782, and “Camilla,” in 1796. The theme of these novels dealt with young ladies’ making their way in society, as does Austen’s own novels. So the great Jane Austen was influenced by the great writers of her time. A novel thought. Just as she influences other authors even more than two hundred years after her own time. Like me.

No one writes or creates in any medium in a vacuum. All are influenced by each other. There is a connecting power in creativity. It is like the wind passing through the air, like musical strains reaching the ear and passing on. Through the whole world and across time. Creativity connects us to each other. That is wondrous.

I’ve been looking up words Austen uses in her novels that I don’t know the meaning of:

Coxcomb: a vain and conceited man, a dandy

Bilious: nausea or vomiting

Piquet: a card game with two players

Tippet: a long fur scarf or shawl worn around the neck and shoulders

Sanguine: optimistic or positive

Cara sposo: a dear husband

Pertinacity: sticking to an opinion or purpose, stubbornly tenacious

Verdure: fresh green color and vegetation

Segacity: discernment, foresight

And this is just the beginning…..

August 24, 2022

When historical fiction author Carol Pratt Bradley submitted her newest novel to WiDo Publishing, Managing Editor Karen Gowen was surprised to see such a departure from her usual genre. Gowen, instrumental in bringing four of Bradley’s works to publication and herself a huge fan of Jane Austen’s books, chose to personally review the recent submission.

“It was such a change for Carol yet it made sense, given her knowledge of England and her love of history. I wondered how she would handle lighter subject matter, how near to Austen’s voice and approach she could get.”  

Gowen admits to feeling doubtful as well as curious, which soon gave way to excited enthusiasm. “It’s Jane Austen with the added depth and historical details of Carol Pratt Bradley. I devoured ‘The Making of Margaret Dashwood’, read it right through. It felt like I had discovered a new Austen novel I had somehow missed.”

Bradley discusses how she chose to incorporate historical background into the story: “Most times I compartmentalize history. I never thought to put together the historical time in which Austen wrote her books, just enjoyed the compelling way she wove a story, and the romance, of course, and the happy endings after it looked like all was lost. At the time I got the idea for this novel, I was reading a book about William Wilberforce and the fight for abolition in Britain. I realized, wait a minute, this is during that same time.

“Austen placed her characters in the center of village life. But lurking on the edges of the stories is the larger world in which she lived, full of wars and the blight of the slave trade and other social injustices. After Pride and Prejudice was published, Austen wrote to her sister Cassandra: ‘The work is rather too light, and bright, and sparkling; it wants shade….’ She said perhaps she should have put in more ‘things of substance….the history of Bonaparte…or anything that would form a contrast.’ The time in which Austen wrote her works was crammed with drama and conflict. So, in writing about the character of Margaret Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility, I determined that I would add some shade.”

Bradley’s previous approach to her work has been to write about real characters from history. “This book about Margaret Dashwood would be a different way to write and it intrigued me. I could place a fictional character from a beloved novel with some of the people who lived during that time period and put Margaret inside the historical events. What may have happened to Margaret after the marriages of her sisters, Marianne and Elinor, could happen alongside real-life people of that time, such as William and Barbara Wilberforce and abolition and education activist Hannah More. My imagination could weave her story alongside history. What could be more fun!”

The author found she couldn’t get the words down fast enough, every writer’s dream. “It just flowed out of me like it had always been inside waiting for me to let it out. I adore Margaret and want to return to her story in a sequel. But first I’m writing the story of another Jane Austen character.”

“Carol most definitely should continue with the Austen fan fiction genre,” Gowen says. “I think she’s come across a niche that has real potential to be very successful for her.”

Bradley happened to write the book almost by accident. “I got the idea during the Covid pandemic in 2020. I’d published my fourth novel earlier that year, Daughter of Anne-Hoeck, and was itching to write another one. Since everything shut down, I certainly had more time on my hands. One afternoon I re-watched an adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. I turned it off and sat quietly. What about the younger sister Margaret? What happened to her? How did she respond to the events that happened to her sisters? How would that have shaped her?

“I kept on wondering. Over the next several days, I got out my big book of Jane Austen works and read all of Sense and Sensibility, probably for the first time. Austen portrayed Margaret as a young girl who was not very promising. But that didn’t seem fair at all. Why should Margaret get short shrift? She wrote that Margaret had imbibed much of her sister Marianne’s sensibility and over-emotion and her romantic ideas about life and love. How would Jane Austen portray her as she grew older and came out into society? Would she still think her to be not very promising? The only mention she gets at the end of the book is that she had reached the age where, according to Mrs. Jennings and Sir John Middleton, she might be supposed to have a lover. Did she? Jane can never tell us and that is unfortunate. So I had a thought–maybe I could write Margaret’s story. Did I dare? I closed the book. I would do it.”

The folks at WiDo Publishing are glad she did. “We have become much more selective about the books we acquire through our traditional imprint,” states Gowen. “We were happy to say a quick yes to this one.”