Amateur sleuth Jane Austen returns in Jane and the Waterloo Map, the thirteenth novel in Stephanie Barron’s
delightful Regency-era mystery series.
Award winning
author Stephanie Barron tours the blogosphere February 2 through February 22,
2016 to share her latest release, Jane
and the Waterloo Map (Being a Jane Austen Mystery). Twenty popular book
bloggers specializing in Austenesque fiction, mystery and Regency history will
feature guest blogs, interviews, excerpts and book reviews from this highly
anticipated novel in the acclaimed Being
a Jane Austen Mystery series. A fabulous giveaway contest, including copies of Ms. Barron’s
book and other Jane Austen-themed items, will be open to those who join the
festivities.
I am honored to a part of the Jane and the Waterloo Map Blog Tour that was put together by Laurel Ann Nattress of one of my favorite blogs, Austenprose. I first discovered Stephanie Barron's wonderful novels in 2003 when I was walking through the Milwaukee Public Library downtown and saw the beautiful cover of Jane and the Ghosts of Netley. I picked up the book and discovered it was a historical fiction mystery novel with Jane Austen as the main character. The books are immersed in the real events of Jane's life, but have made her the plucky heroine with her own adventures in solving myseries. I was riveted and soon had read all of the books that came before it in the series. Jane and the Waterloo map continues the streak of excellence. It can be read as part of the series or alone. Return for my review as part of this tour on February 16th. Continuing reading for an exciting excerpt of the novel and more details on the book and an exciting giveaway.
EXCERPT FROM CHAPTER 3: In which we find Jane Austen on a visit to Carlton House, royal London
resident of the Prince Regent, with her host, the royal chaplain James Stanier
Clarke.
“I begin to think that the smokes and fogs of London
carry every sort of contagion, Miss Austen.
You will be wanting to fly into Hampshire as soon as your brother may
spare you.”
“I do not think of quitting London before December,”
I replied. “My business with Mr. Murray
precludes it.”
“John Murray, the publisher? Of Albemarle Street?” Mr. Clarke sat up a
little straighter in his chair. “He has
the printing of your latest work, I presume?
As how should he not—the
publisher of Byron, to link his name and fortunes with so celebrated an
Authoress as Miss Jane Austen! Pray, is
the work very far advanced?”
“We have only just embarked on the proofs of the
first volume,” I replied. “My brother’s
illness, as you may imagine, must take precedence.”
“And will it be as admirable in every way as Mansfield Park? I confess that is my favourite of your
works—so pleasing in its treatment of Ordination, and its sober picture of the
clergy. Is your heroine to be as modest
and humble a lady as Miss Fanny Price?”
“Not at all,” I truthfully replied. “Indeed, I cannot think Emma a creature
anyone but myself will very much like.
She is too full of spirits, self-assurance, vanity and pride; and she is
in the habit of always getting her own way.”
“The very picture of the Princess Charlotte!” Mr.
Clarke cried.
He rose and began to turn in some agitation before
the stove, which threw out a good deal of heat.
I was fortunate in having a fire screen close at hand, however, and
employed it. The Bow Room was a marvel
of luxury and comfort—and this, by all appearances, was the least of the
Regent’s chambers. The window that gave
the room its name looked out on an area clad in Portland stone, the insipid
color dappled with the silhouettes of perhaps a dozen yew trees in glossy black
tubs. The shrubs had been clipped into
fantastic shapes—a charger’s head, mane blown back; a sea nymph rising from a
wave. Placed in a spot where no garden
could grow, an entire storey below ground, they refreshed the eye on a dark
November afternoon. Again, I suppressed
the desire to accept Mr. Clarke’s invitation, and write in the peace and
comfort of this remarkable house. I
might be undisturbed for hours, treated to good coal fires, and have my pick of
myriad Jameses to bring me ratafia and cakes whenever I desired them.
“I hope you will not think me impertinent.” Mr. Clarke broke in upon my reverie. “--Although it must be impossible for the
Notice of the Regent to be considered as anything but a Blessing. I wonder, Miss Austen—I have informed you, I
know, of His Royal Highness’s immense regard for your work, and indeed, that of
his daughter, Her Royal Highness Princess Charlotte—would it be indelicate,
nay, presumptuous of me to offer a
little hint?”
Bewildered, I stared at him, my ratafia suspended in
one hand. “If you could perhaps speak
more plainly, sir,” I said.
“Of course.
To be sure.” He turned again,
hands clasped behind his coat. “You are
aware that on occasion the Regent grants the favour of Notice to various
Luminaries of Art and Letters. It is to
be your honour, Miss Austen, to receive that Notice.”
I felt heat in my cheeks. What was
the absurd little man suggesting?
“It is His Royal Highness’s pleasure and happiness
to command that your next published work be dedicated humbly, and gratefully,
to Himself, as Regent of the noble
land that gave you birth, Miss Austen--that inspired your Genius--that has so
warmly embraced your interesting histories of Genteel Romance.”
He beamed at me, confident of the joy that must even
now be surging in my spinster’s breast.
“You will wish, I know, to send a simple note of
thanks to the Regent for this Notice—which I will be happy to convey
myself. I will procure you pen and paper
directly. The Dedication, when composed,
may also be sent for my perusal, so that any little improvements that might
strike my fancy, and that have escaped your scrupulous intellect, may be
subscribed therewith.”
I, commanded to dedicate my cherished Emma to a man I abominated? Commanded, moreover, to regard His Royal
arrogance as an occasion for gratitude?
Absurd.
I had endured enough of Carlton House for one day.
“You are too kind, Mr. Clarke,” I said stiffly. “But now I must take my leave of you. My maid will be wondering what has become of
me.”
“As to that—surely it is a maid’s office to wait
upon her mistress? You will be wanting
another glass of ratafia, I am sure.”
“You are all politeness, but I am unequal to--”
A sound at the Bow Room doorway brought my head
around. Doctor Baillie was silhouetted
in its frame.
“You are wanted, Clarke,” he said brusquely. “The Colonel ought to have Absolution, and
there is no time to waste.”
“Good Lord!
It cannot be so bad as that!”
“It is. You
will find him above, in the Green Velvet Room.
Make haste, man!”
BOOK DESCRIPTION:
Jane
Austen turns sleuth in this delightful Regency-era mystery
November, 1815. The Battle of Waterloo has come and gone, leaving the British
economy in shreds; Henry Austen, high-flying banker, is about to declare bankruptcy—dragging
several of his brothers down with him. The crisis destroys Henry’s health, and
Jane flies to his London bedside, believing him to be dying. While she’s there,
the chaplain to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent invites Jane to tour Carlton
House, the Prince’s fabulous London home. The chaplain is a fan of Jane’s
books, and during the tour he suggests she dedicate her next novel—Emma—to
HRH, whom she despises.
However, before she can speak to HRH, Jane stumbles upon a body—sprawled on the
carpet in the Regent’s library. The dying man, Colonel MacFarland, was a
cavalry hero and a friend of Wellington’s. He utters a single failing phrase:
“Waterloo map” . . . and Jane is on the hunt for a treasure of incalculable
value and a killer of considerable cunning.
PURCHASE LINKS:
EARLY PRAISE:
"A
well-crafted narrative with multiple subplots drives Barron’s splendid 13th
Jane Austen mystery. Series fans will be happy to see more of Jane’s extended
family and friends, and Austenites will enjoy the imaginative power with which
Barron spins another riveting mystery around a writer generally assumed to have
led a quiet and uneventful life." — Publishers Weekly, Starred
Review
"Writing in the form of Jane’s diaries, Barron has spun a credible
tale from a true encounter, enhanced with meticulous research and use of
period vocabulary."
— Booklist
"Barron, who's picked up the pace since Jane and the Twelve
Days of Christmas, portrays an even more seasoned and unflinching heroine
in the face of nasty death and her own peril." — Kirkus
Reviews
"Barron deftly imitates Austen’s voice, wit, and occasional melancholy
while spinning a well-researched plot that will please historical mystery
readers and Janeites everywhere. Jane Austen died two years after the events of
Waterloo; one hopes that Barron conjures a few more adventures for her beloved
protagonist before historical fact suspends her fiction." — Library
Journal
AUTHOR BIO:
Stephanie
Barron 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 fifteen books.
She lives and works in Denver, Colorado. Learn more about Stephanie and her
books at her website, visit her on Facebook and Goodreads.
JANE AND THE WATERLOO MAP BLOG TOUR
SCHEDULE:
GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
Grand
Giveaway Contest
Win One
of Three Fabulous Prizes
In
celebration of the release of Jane and
the Waterloo Map, Stephanie is offering a chance to win one of three prize
packages filled with an amazing selection of Jane Austen-inspired gifts and
books!
To enter the giveaway contest, simply leave a comment
on any or all of the blog stops on Jane and the Waterloo Map Blog Tour starting
February 02, 2016 through 11:59 pm PT, February 29, 2016. Winners will be drawn
at random from all of the comments and announced on Stephanie’s website on March 3, 2016. Winners have until March 10, 2016
to claim their prize. Shipment is to US addresses. Good luck to all!
