Jane and the Year Without a Summer Excerpt
“Mrs. Smith.” Pellew had removed his tricorn
and now
bowed
to his fellow-lodger. “I hope I see you in good health,
ma’am?”
“Captain,” she replied, “I am very well, I
thank you.” At
that
instant, she perceived me standing at a little remove
from
them both, and stepped impulsively in my direction.
“Miss
Austen. I must beg your pardon, I was very rude to
you
last night! Only think, Captain, this lady is our fellow lodger—
may
I introduce Captain Pellew to your notice,
ma’am?—and
I had barely made her acquaintance before I
ran
away in a fretful temper!”
“You had barely eaten dinner, too, I warrant,”
Captain
Pellew
replied shrewdly. “Miss Austen, your servant.”
I dropped the gentleman a curtsey. “I detected
no rudeness,
Mrs.
Smith, I assure you. Only perhaps a certain
disinclination
for company, which any of us might feel at
the
close of a long day.”
“You are very good,” the young woman told me.
Her eyes,
which
were moss-green flecked with amber, studied me
gravely
for an instant, then warmed. “You will have detected
Miss
Garthwaite’s disapproval, I am sure. I shall forestall
that
excellent lady’s gossip, and warn you myself that I am a
scandalous
creature, an intimate of Mr. John Bowles Watson’s
Cheltenham
Theatre, undeserving of genteel notice. I give
you
leave to cut me direct, and shall never reproach your taste.”
“Nonsense,” Captain Pellew said roughly. “I
have known
Mrs.
Smith nearly all my life, Miss Austen, and I may assure
you
there is no one more respectable. Her humour, perhaps,
is
capricious.” He gestured at her volume. “Do you undertake
to
master comedy, ma’am? I had thought Shakespeare more
your
suit. Caesar, wasn’t it, last week?”
“Indeed. And my work was rewarded—the play is
to
be
mounted in two days’ time, and Jasper bids fair to be a
charming
Brutus. But this,” she explained with a wave of
the
Sheridan, “is next week’s bill—and Tess is to play Lady
Teazle.”
“Good Lord!” A smile suffused Pellew’s
countenance,
transforming
it instantly. “Watson doesn’t ask much. Lady
Teazle!
He might as well demand you turn loaves into fish.”
“She’ll look like an angel.”
“Tess always does,” he agreed. “That isn’t the
trouble. She’ll
also
open her mouth.”
I must have knit my brows in confusion, for the
Captain
explained,
“Mrs. Smith is charged with a heavy duty, ma’am.
She
is required to instruct the members of Mr. Watson’s
company
to speak the King’s English.”
“Are they . . . French?” I suggested.
“No, no,” Mrs. Smith replied on a laugh.
“Merely
unschooled.”
“Mrs. Smith turns any number of sows’ ears into
silk purses
before
the curtain rises.” Captain Pellew’s lips pursed. “She
makes
the worst Back Alley Tom sound like a lord, and every
barmaid
a duchess. Gives them proper airs, too, and notes on
how
to raise a quizzing glass.”
“You instruct the traveling company,” I said
wonderingly,
“in
. . . elocution? And genteel behaviour?”
“Someone must.” The young lady’s features were
alight
with
mischief. “And I will own that, save for those lacking
all
talent, actors are in general quick studies. Most are ambitious—
and
to acquire refinement, in voice and air, is to gain
a
distinct professional advantage. The theatre is unforgiving.
Pretty
faces age, but graces do not.”
“Tess has not the slightest scrap of talent,”
Captain Pellew
said.
“I wish you joy of her.”
“You’re sadly correct.” Mrs. Smith’s mouth
curved. “And
as
I am already a quarter-hour behind in my duty, I have not
another
second to waste. Adieu! ”
She parted from us with a friendly nod.
Pellew’s eyes followed her through the throng
of library
patrons,
as tho’ he had forgot my presence. But in this I was
mistaken.
“There goes one of the most admirable women of
my
acquaintance,”
he said. “I do not know what Miss Garthwaite
may
have said of her—all manner of nonsense, no doubt!—
but
I would urge you to form your own opinion.”
“I make a habit of doing so,” I replied.
Chapter 7, pages 66-68
QUICK FACTS
·
Series: Being a Jane Austen
Mystery (Book 14)
·
Author: Stephanie Barron
·
Genre: Historical Mystery, Austenesque
·
Publisher: Soho Press (February 8,
2022)
·
Length: (336) pages
· Format: Hardcover,
eBook, & audiobook
· ISBN:
978-1641292474
·
Tour Dates: February 7-20, 2022
BOOK DESCRIPTION
May 1816: Jane Austen is feeling unwell, with an uneasy stomach, constant
fatigue, rashes, fevers and aches. She attributes her poor condition to the
stress of family burdens, which even the drafting of her latest manuscript—about
a baronet's daughter nursing a broken heart for a daring naval captain—cannot
alleviate. Her apothecary recommends a trial of the curative waters at
Cheltenham Spa, in Gloucestershire. Jane decides to use some of the profits
earned from her last novel, Emma, and treat herself to a period of
rest and reflection at the spa, in the company of her sister, Cassandra.
Cheltenham Spa hardly turns out to be the relaxing sojourn Jane and Cassandra
envisaged, however. It is immediately obvious that other boarders at the guest
house where the Misses Austen are staying have come to Cheltenham with stresses
of their own—some of them deadly. But perhaps with Jane’s interference a
terrible crime might be prevented. Set during the Year without a Summer, when
the eruption of Mount Tambora in the South Pacific caused a volcanic winter
that shrouded the entire planet for sixteen months, this fourteenth installment
in Stephanie Barron’s critically acclaimed series brings a forgotten moment of
Regency history to life.
ADVANCE PRAISE
Advance Praise
“Outstanding...Barron
fans will hope Jane, who died in 1817, will be back for one more mystery.”— Publishers
Weekly (starred review)
“No one
conjures Austen's voice like Stephanie Barron, and Jane and the Year Without
a Summer is utterly pitch-perfect.”— Deanna Raybourn, bestselling author
of the Veronica Speedwell Mysteries
“…a
page-turning story, imbued with fascinating historical detail, a cast of
beautifully realized characters, a pitch-perfect Jane Austen, and an intriguing
mystery. Highly recommended.”— Syrie James, bestselling author of The
Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen
“Jane
and the Year Without a Summer is absolute perfection. Stephanie Barron
expertly weaves fact and fiction, crafting a story that is authentically Austen
in its elegance, charm, and wit. The characters and setting will enchant you,
and the mystery will keep you guessing to the last page. This Regency-set gem
is truly a diamond of the first water.”— Mimi Matthews, USA Today bestselling
author of The Siren of Sussex
PURCHASE LINKS
AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | BOOK DEPOSITORY | BOOKSHOP | BOOKBUB | GOODREADS
AUTHOR BIO
Francine
Mathews was born in Binghamton, New York, the last of six girls. She attended
Princeton and Stanford Universities, where she studied history, before going on
to work as an intelligence analyst at the CIA. She wrote her first book in 1992
and left the Agency a year later. Since then, she has written twenty-five
books, including five novels in the Merry Folger series (Death in the
Off-Season, Death in Rough Water, Death in a Mood Indigo, Death in a Cold Hard
Light, and Death on Nantucket) as well as the nationally
bestselling Being a Jane Austen mystery series, which she writes under the
penname, Stephanie Barron. She lives and works in Denver, Colorado.
WEBSITE | TWITTER | FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | PINTEREST | BOOKBUB |
I can't wait to read this! I have it on hold at the library.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the excerpt, Laura. Barron channels Austen so convincingly, and since the book is in first person, I feel like Jane is talking to me! I am looking forward to the final book in the series, though dreading that it will be the last. Have a great weekend! Best, LA
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