Finally Catching Up!

Sorry it’s been a while since my last post. DH was off work during the holidays and, as much as I love having him around, he does have a tendency to hog the computer. (I’ve told him several times that when he retires — he’s looking at early retirement in a couple of years — we’d better have two computers both attached to the Internet, or one of us will not survive his retirement!)

Today I have the pleasure of introducing Suzan Lauder, author of Alias Thomas Bennet and today’s feature, Letter from Ramsgate.

Jane Austen left a great deal to the reader’s imagination, so Suzan took one of these “under-described” incidents — Georgiana Darcy’s encounter with George Wickham at Ramsgate — and filled in the details.

I enjoyed this book and have reviewed it, but before posting the review I have a special treat. Suzan has graciously outlined the methods she employed to create my favourite scene in the story. So let me hand this off to Suzan now, followed by my review of Letter from Ramsgate.

Guest Post by Suzan Lauder: The Hunsford Proposal and Deep Point of View

Warning—This article contains spoilers

While enjoying Letter from Ramsgate, some readers have expressed concern about how Darcy could have jumped so quickly from the romance of the proposal to the anger about his assumption that Elizabeth was friends with Mrs. Younge.

Letter from Ramsgate at amazon.com

The easy way out for the author would be to get the reader inside his head and show his thought process explicitly rather than let them watch his anger escalate and the proposal fall apart like a train wreck from Elizabeth’s viewpoint. Had I done this, it would be called head-hopping. However, the writing style I used eschews this technique, which is casually used by many, many writers who choose the more traditional point of view of Omniscient Narrator.

I wrote Letter from Ramsgate in what’s called Third Person Limited, Deep Point of View. This is a popular technique for Regency romance novels. In Deep Point of View, the author must stick to only one character’s point of view at any time; point of view (POV) changes take place only at chapter or clear scene breaks with markers alerting the reader to the change, and the reader gets so deep into the character’s head that they “see” it as if they were there. Another analogy is that the reader is like a camera filming the action: the alternative Omniscient Narrator POV has the reader’s “camera” high up watching from a neutral position. In Deep POV, it’s like the camera is on the shoulder of the point of view character.

Though much harder to write, this technique provides the reader with a much more intense experience, as they’re almost in the character’s head. It also means that if the character is confused and things around them seem unfair, the elevated sense of that unfairness becomes the reader’s experience too. Readers were hurt and indignant regarding Darcy’s jumping to conclusions, therefore I did my job as writer well, because that’s how it looked to Elizabeth at the moment.

How can his actions be justified? In the scene with Colonel Fitzwilliam on the way to Rosings, Darcy is clear about how much he hates Mrs. Younge—more than he hates Wickham—and blames her totally for Georgiana’s misfortune. A couple of chapters later, during the proposal, readers don’t get to know what Darcy is thinking. The point of view is now Elizabeth’s (and the author is hamstrung!). We feel how whisked away she is with the romance and kisses, but we don’t know why her begging Darcy to help Mrs. Younge—a woman he abhors—causes him to become so very angry. Yet his reaction is supported by prior events as well as later scenes where we get to hear how he has reacted to this situation that was just as painful to him as to Elizabeth.

Of course he was terribly wrong. But he had not yet learned how to deal with his conceit, his thinking meanly of those below him, his overblown pride, nor his sense of superiority—all the things he says he learned as a child and applied unwisely in Austen’s novel. In Letter from Ramsgate, his true “Hunsfordization” doesn’t take place until much later in the book, where he gets read the riot act not once, but three times, by a total of no less than five women! He doesn’t know all the facts until then, and pays for it in fear that his mistakes will cost him the woman he loves now that he realizes he can’t force himself to choose expectations over his heart. From Elizabeth’s POV in the final chapters, Darcy finally redeems himself, yet she doesn’t make it easy!

Thanks to Janis for the opportunity to share this fascinating writing topic with readers and authors as a guest post on her blog!

And thank you, Suzan. I have to admit that I have some difficulty understanding POV in general, and your explanation actually has this concept sinking in (finally!).

Now for my review of Letter from Ramsgate:

Letter from Ramsgate by Suzan Lauder

When I re-read Pride & Prejudice as an adult, my first impression of Mr Darcy was that he was “socially retarded.” That impression came back to mind as I read this story.

But first … I believe that most P&P readers wonder what exactly happened in Ramsgate between Georgiana Darcy and George Wickham. Jane Austen leaves this episode rather vague so we are left to our own imaginations. Until now. Suzan Lauder gives us every smarmy detail of the nefarious plot and its players.

Fortunately, this time around we have Lizzy Bennet coming to Georgiana’s rescue, albeit anonymously. The letter referred to in the title brings Lizzy and Mr Darcy together, and at first all proceeds well between them. But the road to happily-ever-after is by no means smooth for our dear couple. There is plenty of angst in both their hearts and sufficient mutual misunderstandings to satisfy even the most die-hard of P&P fans – Pride and Prejudice being the ultimate tale of angst brought on by misunderstandings, mostly caused by (of course) the pride and/or prejudice of our hero and heroine.

And for his part, this is where the “socially retarded” Mr Darcy enters the picture.

Fortunately (again), this time Georgiana saves the day … and is the vehicle for reuniting our dear couple. Their reunion could almost be the equivalent of a “meet cute” – well, you’ll have to read the story to see what I mean.

I very much enjoyed this carefully-written story; even my anal reading eye could not uncover more than one or two minor text errors. The story flows well while taking the reader on a journey of non-canon relationships and interesting new characters.

What I liked most: The cover. It is simply gorgeous.

The Hunsford proposal. It is absolutely brilliant. And a bit more deliciously amatory than the original – although this is still a clean read.

The letter that followed the proposal is likewise brilliantly constructed.

What I liked least: The scenes that take place at the Exeter Exchange zoo and references to Chunee the elephant. I really did not need a reminder of the horrendous prison-like menageries that existed until recent times. And still exist in some places, such as roadside zoos. Nor of the reminder of Chunee’s horrifying end. (To be fair, this detail was presented separately in author’s notes. But it was a jarring note after such a pleasant read.)

The author’s conclusions about disguised handwriting. Having studied the psychology of handwriting for a number of years, I was not completely convinced that the subterfuge would have been successful. On the other hand it wasn’t completely out of line so for the sake of the plot line I let it pass and suspend disbelief. Sometimes the reader has to do that or you end up never enjoying a story, and just drive yourself nuts.

In short: An enjoyable read with just enough wretchedness amongst the characters to remind you that you’re reading a P&P variation! I gave it four stars out of five.

And … if you haven’t already got your copy of Desperate Hearts, you can order a kindle copy here. (Coming soon for Nook.)

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