The Impoverished Orphan: A Pride & Prejudice Variation Review

 

Author: Kelly Miller

Editor: Jo Abbott

Cover Artist: The Red Fox Creative

Amazon ebook: $3.99

Paperback: $9.99

Kindle Unlimited: Free

Print Length: 197 Pages

Release Date: November 14, 2025

 

When she comes to live with them, her Uncle Allan Barton avoids her, while Aunt Rebecca welcomes three-year-old Elizabeth with open arms. By the time she is five, Elizabeth's memories of her parents and her sister Jane have faded. But when her nurse lets her view a portrait of her parents, her mother appears regal and happy, and her father well-read.

 

Elizabeth dreams about her late family, and yearns to read the books her father left her. What kind of woman will Elizabeth Bennett become? And how will she enjoy growing up on the Bartons’ estate in Wiltshire? Let’s grab a cup of tea, leap into The Impoverished Orphan: A Pride & Prejudice Variation, and see!

 

Story

The past holds nothing for Elizabeth. Her parents’ estate, Longbourn, was entailed, and ownership has passed to Mr Collins. Except for her uncle Gardiner, her extended family succumbed to the same ague that took her parents and sister. And after Aunt Rebecca's death, her uncle prevents Elizabeth from seeing her uncle Gardiner, claiming he is a dishonest and disreputable man.

 

While Uncle Barton has suffered from depression, his affection for Elizabeth grows after his wife's death, and he makes every effort to include her in his family. Elizabeth loves her cousins, and Noah and Cassie return her affection. But despite their mutual love for each other, Elizabeth is a penniless outsider, reliant on their kindness and hospitality.

 

Glimpses of Elizabeth's childhood show how her relationship with her family grows and changes. After a tenth of the novel, readers arrive in 1811. Elizabeth is twenty years old when Cassie's romance with Stephen Ware hits a rough spot.

 

Soon afterward, Fitzwilliam Darcy enters The Impoverished Orphan: A Pride & Prejudice Variation. After foiling George Wickham's scheme to acquire Georgiana's fortune, Darcy comforts his shattered sister while conferring with a Bow Street Runner on the murder of his neighbor. Although he disliked Mrs Cooper, Darcy agrees to watch for anyone resembling Mr Notley’s chief suspect when he visits his friend in Wiltshire.

 

Nature stripped Elizabeth Bennett of her family in The Impoverished Orphan: A Pride & Prejudice Variation. Then Darcy inadvertently robs Elizabeth of what she most cherishes while attempting to ease Georgiana's suffering. Still, Elizabeth is too concerned about others to dwell on her injuries. And despite the difficulties involved, Darcy seeks to assuage the hurt he has caused Elizabeth.

 

As in Jane Austen’s novel, Elizabeth and Darcy must learn to get past their initial perceptions of each other. As understanding develops between them, Darcy must reconcile his perception of what matters to him with his growing attraction to Elizabeth. While doing that, Darcy detects another mystery. So, while keeping an eye out for Mrs Cooper’s murderer, Darcy seeks to unravel a twisted past to help Elizabeth secure a better future.

 

Final Thoughts

As Kelly Miller welcomes readers into a cozy mystery and love story, she portrays Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy's struggles through their eyes. While Darcy is wealthy and well-traveled, Elizabeth wears her cousin's hand-me-down clothes and rarely leaves her uncle's estate. But as Darcy discovers, Elizabeth is rich in the things she values in The Impoverished Orphan: A Pride & Prejudice Variation.

 

5 Stars

 

Check out Kelly Miller's latest novel, The Impoverished Orphan: A Pride & Prejudice Variation, at Amazon.com.

 

More from Kelly Miller:

 

Mr Darcy's Complex Courtship: A Pride & Prejudice Variation

The Darcy Secret: A Pride & Prejudice Variation 

The Mysterious Disappearance of Mr Darcy: A Pride & Prejudice Variation 

The Trouble with Friends: A Pride & Prejudice Variation

 

Mr Darcy's Complex Courtship: A Darcy & Elizabeth Pride & Prejudice Variation Review

 

Writer: Kelly Miller

Editors: Jo Abbott & Carol Bowes

Kindle ebook: $4.99

Kindle Unlimited: Free

Paperback: $11.99

Audiobook: $19.99

Audiobook Narrator: Stevie Zimmerman

Release Date: November 14, 2024

 

While staying with her friend Charlotte and Mr Collins in Kent, Elizabeth Bennett visits the home of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. She meets Mr Darcy and his cousin, who are staying with their strong-minded aunt. Elizabeth disliked Darcy in Hertfordshire and has no reason to think highly of him now.

 

Elizabeth receives a letter from her sister and learns that Charles Bingley broke off his engagement on Mr Darcy's advice. Then Mr Darcy visits her at the parsonage. After disparaging her family, Fitzwilliam proposes to her. Will Elizabeth politely decline his offer? Or will she give him the sharp edge of her tongue? Let's leap into Mr Darcy’s Complex Courtship: A Darcy & Elizabeth Pride & Prejudice Variation and find out!

 

Warning

While I strive to avoid spoilers, Kelly Miller expressed concern over the amount of plot I included in my review. If you plan on reading Mr Darcy's Complex Courtship: A Darcy & Elizabeth Pride & Prejudice Variation soon, you may not wish to read further.

 

Story

As in Jane Austen's classic tale, Elizabeth rejects Darcy's proposal. But his fervent desire to marry her touches her. Elizabeth sets invective aside and tells him she could never marry someone who separated her sister from the man she loved. After assuring Darcy that Jane’s affection for his friend wasn't motivated by greed or social elevation, Darcy promises to speak with Bingley and rescind his earlier advice. He also explains how Mr Wickham tried to elope with his younger sister to benefit from Georgiana's wealth. Darcy begs Elizabeth for another chance to demonstrate his character and prove his devotion to her.

 

In Kelly Miller's story, Elizabeth visits her aunt and uncle in London. After convincing Bingley to marry Jane, Mr Darcy woos Elizabeth. Unlike many gentlemen of his social standing, Mr Darcy shows no reluctance to visit a tradesman's house. When the Gardiners notice Mr Darcy’s interest, they approve of the match. Elizabeth also forges a friendship with Georgiana. Then Lady Catherine de Bourgh learns of her nephew's pursuit in Mr Darcy's Complex Courtship: A Darcy & Elizabeth Pride & Prejudice Variation. Unless Darcy severs his interest in Elizabeth Bennett, his aunt will ruin him.

 

Lady Catherine isn’t alone in her desire to prune the budding romance. Unlike his daughter, Mr Bennett cannot forget Mr Darcy's actions when he stayed with Mr Bingley at Netherfield. The young man's aloof manner, strict views, and rudeness set Mr Bennett against Darcy. Mr Bennett worries that Darcy would be a domineering husband who would repress Elizabeth’s spirits, dictate her actions, and extinguish her creativity and imagination.

 

 

 

Art

While keeping our focus on Elizabeth Bennett, Kelly Miller also takes us into Mr Darcy's world. Elizabeth’s anger turns to curiosity as Mr Darcy presses his suit. Darcy's earnest desire to reform his character and impeccable manners impress Elizabeth. Elizabeth also values his determination to discover the truth when Lady Catherine unveils her plan to destroy Darcy's life. Stevie Zimmerman’s voice and delivery evoke Keira Knightley’s portrayal of Elizabeth in Joe Wright’s 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice.

 

 

 

Like Jane Austen, Kelly Miller focuses on the etiquette and social standards in Regency England. Unlike today, Mr Darcy risks a scandal if he accepts someone who works for a living into his household. Elizabeth does not excel at music like Georgiana. But when she discovers an outlet for her creativity, Elizabeth gives critics ammunition to attack Darcy should she become his wife. Both situations recall Sir Thomas Bertram's outrage when he discovers his family preparing a theatrical production in Mansfield Park.

 

Finally, a lack of communication and an inability to readily discover facts reveal people's fears in Regency England. Kelly Miller shows how the poorer classes' lack of education could harm the aristocracy in Mr Darcy's Complex Courtship: A Darcy & Elizabeth Pride & Prejudice Variation. Mr Bennett's fears also reflect the society of the period. Elizabeth's father loves reading and encourages his daughter's thirst for knowledge and reasoning ability. Yet many members of The Ton strictly control their wives, sisters, and daughters' access to entertainment and learning, even refusing to let them read the plays and sonnets of William Shakespeare. 

Thanks to Kelly Miller for providing an audiobook for review.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

While some characters ascend, others embrace their darker sides in Mr Darcy’s Complex Courtship: A Darcy & Elizabeth Pride And Prejudice Variation by Kelly Miller. When circumstances separate them, Darcy risks his status in society to uncover the truth about his family, and Elizabeth discovers a new interest that could provide financial independence.

 

Rating: 5 Stars 

 

 

For a preview of the novel and audiobook, see Kelly Miller's book at Amazon.com.

The Mysterious Disappearance of Mr Darcy Review

 

Writer: Kelly Miller

Narrator: Vicky-Jo Eva

Ebook: Free to read on Amazon Unlimited

Paperback: $9.99

Audiobook: $17.46

Release Date: March 25, 2024

 

Rory enjoys playing along the beach in Ramsgate. When her Collie brings the ball to a young blonde woman, Elizabeth chats with her. Then, a dark-haired man accuses Elizabeth of using Rory to meet them. Elizabeth hopes to avoid meeting the rude stranger again during her seaside holiday. But how might her life change should her path intersect with the dark-haired Adonis? Let's put on our finery, pack our revolvers, leap into The Mysterious Disappearance of Mr Darcy, and find out!

 

Story

When Elizabeth Bennett meets the man and his sister again at Mrs Stapleton's house, Georgiana greets her happily. Her brother, Fitzwilliam Darcy, apologizes for mistaking Elizabeth's intentions. Elizabeth's admission that she initially thought him incapable of understanding the importance of kindness and respect leaves him humbled. So when Darcy notices Elizabeth has been reading An Essay Concerning Human Understanding by John Locke, he asks her opinion of Book IV. Elizabeth appreciates his receptiveness to her interpretations. Darcy likes how Elizabeth has thought through her opinions and can discuss the merits of their differing views without arguing.

 

In The Mysterious Disappearance of Mr Darcy, Elizabeth begins meeting Darcy on her morning walks. Despite her aunt's request that Elizabeth not meet with him privately, the wide-ranging conversations help them appreciate each other better. While Darcy and his sister enjoy the summer in Ramsgate, Mrs Rebecca Stapleton invited Modesty Gardiner and her niece to spend August with her. As Elizabeth's month in Ramsgate nears its end, neither she nor Darcy wishes to part from the other. So, after a short engagement, Elizabeth becomes Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy.

 

Despite Georgiana’s approval of Elizabeth, not everyone in Darcy’s family believes he made the correct choice. Some, like Lady Matlock, insist Darcy should have married someone from a titled or wealthier family. Nor do all his relatives accept Elizabeth's ability to oversee his correspondence and finances. These factors become important considerations when he goes missing after a shooting in The Mysterious Disappearance of Mr Darcy.

 

 

 

Art

Firstly, Kelly Miller differentiates her novel by setting it in Ramsgate and London instead of more familiar locales like Longbourn and Pemberly. While Elizabeth braves the disdain of Darcy’s family, she also faces the dangers of England’s bustling capital. Darcy trained her to use a gun. Elizabeth believes the staff, overseen by their butler Slade, can protect her on their house and grounds. Still, someone shot the man who accompanied Darcy to the house in Camberwell. So when she leaves the house, Elizabeth takes a gun with her.

 

Given the influx of foreigners following the French Revolution and Napoleon Bonaparte's rise to power, Mr Ellis from the Alien Office investigates Darcy's disappearance. Joshua Webb, who attended Cambridge with Darcy, stays in the house and helps Elizabeth question anyone claiming to have seen him. Still, none of Darcy's close friends know him. In The Mysterious Disappearance of Mr Darcy, Elizabeth finds herself a stranger in a strange land, intent on protecting Georgiana, discovering what happened to her beloved husband, and not knowing who she can rely on.

 

 

 

In addition to placing Elizabeth in different locations, Kelly Miller also isolates Elizabeth from her family. By meeting Elizabeth while she and her aunt stay at Mrs Stapleton's house, Darcy doesn't view her in terms of her family's societal stumbles. Nor does he feel obliged to protect Charles Bingley's interests or observe propriety around Bingley's sisters and brother-in-law when they lease Netherfield Park near the Bennetts' home.

 

Lastly, by shortening the period between their first meeting and marriage to six weeks, Kelly Miller gives the couple sufficient time for love to bloom but not for Elizabeth to know Darcy well. Nor did Darcy have a year to think through what life with Elizabeth would be like. Perhaps, as Lady Catherine de Bourgh suggests, her nephew had second thoughts about his union with Elizabeth and "disappeared" to get his life back on track.

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Kelly Miller's prose captures the elegance and romance of England's Regency period. Her story allows Elizabeth, Darcy, and Georgiana to shine in this new variation of Jane Austen's immortal novel. Enhanced by Vicky-Jo Eva’s cultured voice, the audiobook spirits you back to Regency England, portraying Miller's narrative and Jane Austen's characters with captivating realism in The Mysterious Disappearance of Mr Darcy. 

 

Rating: 5 Stars

 

 

 

The Darcy Secret: A Pride & Prejudice Variation Review

 

Author: Kelly Miller

Cover Artist: Janet Taylor

Audiobook: $17.46

Paperback: $10.95

ebook: $4.99 (free on Kindle Unlimited)

Release Date: May 26, 2023

 

Kelly Miller’s novel The Darcy Secret begins where Pride And Prejudice ends, with Darcy proposing marriage to Elizabeth Bennet at the Longbourn family estate. After Fitzwilliam Darcy leaves Elizabeth Bennett’s company, he realizes she never told him she loves him. Does she return his affections? Or did Elizabeth agree to marry him out of gratitude? After all, he saved her family’s reputation by arranging her sister Lydia’s marriage to George Wickham.

 

After Elizabeth assures Darcy of her love, past indiscretions return to haunt him. A chance meeting with Lady Marchand in Vauxhall Gardens reminds Elizabeth that societal expectations of acceptable conduct differ between men and women. She wonders how many former lovers might return to sway his affections. Can Elizabeth be assured of his steadfastness? Or might Darcy follow the conventions of the age and take lovers when his infatuation fades?

 

While battling the doubts and fears that afflict any engaged couple, Darcy’s family questions Elizabeth’s motives. Lady Catherine might have declared Elizabeth’s unsuitability, yet a far more agreeable relative questions Elizabeth's motives. After all, their courtship—if one can use that term—occurred after the Gardeners brought Elizabeth to his impressive Pemberley estate.

 

Darcy’s sister Georgiana is reluctant to accept Elizabeth. But Elizabeth soon wins her over, and after Elizabeth and Darcy marry, the two women regard each other as sisters. Zounds! The Gardeners receive a disturbing report about Georgiana from a former teacher. Her aunt and uncle send Elizabeth the letter that implicates Georgiana in another student’s death. While the couple ponders Georgiana's involvement, the report awakens an earlier concern. A final letter from Darcy’s late father claimed a streak of madness afflicted women in his family. Did Georgiana kill her schoolmate? And if madness runs through their family, what evils might their children perpetrate upon an unsuspecting world?

 

Kelly Miller’s novel The Darcy Secret: A Pride & Prejudice Variation tackles alcoholism and drug use in Regency England, the perils of ignoring the class structure, attitudes toward sport, and the rise of modern psychiatry. While faithful to the characters and spirit of Jane Austen’s beloved classic, events force Elizabeth and Darcy to investigate a tragic event. Having listened to the audiobook version, I confess that Scott Fleming's female voices initially made me titter with laughter. Yet I felt his deep voice lent gravity and authenticity to Kelly Miller's family drama during my second listen.

 

As I bid goodbye to The Darcy Secret: A Pride & Prejudice Variation, I ponder one final mystery. Elizabeth declares that Collies are the most beautiful breed, but Cocker Spaniels are the cutest puppies. A question plagues me. What kind of dog does Kelly Miller own?

 

Zounds! Why does this bother me? Might a streak of madness run through my family tree?

 

The Darcy Secret: A Pride & Prejudice Variation is available at Amazon.com

Discover the latest news on Kelly Miller's books at Meryton Press. 

Thanks to author Kelly Miller for providing her audiobook for review.

The Trouble With Friends: A Pride And Prejudice Variation Review

 

Author: Kelly Miller

Paperback: $9.99

eBook: $3.99 (free on KindleUnlimited)

Audiobook: $17.46

Narrator: Deborah Balm

 

When Simon Lockhart accompanied his friends Charles Bingley and Fitzwilliam Darcy to the Netherfield estate, he never guessed how Elizabeth Bennett would impact his future. Yet a few days later, she comes to his aid after a riding accident. The way Elizabeth cares for him—at the risk of her reputation—impresses him. Despite her lack of romantic inclinations, he fixates on her and insists on wooing her. Then he meets her sister Jane, and all thoughts of marrying Elizabeth take flight.

 

Pet ownership agrees with Elizabeth Bennett. After caring for her Cocker Spaniel Robbie, she takes a greater interest in her sister Mary and tempers her mother's outrageous schemes. Seeing Mr. Lockhart in distress, Elizabeth places his needs first and her safety second. Despite his wealth and pleasant manner, his features don’t call to her. While she finds Charles Bingley attractive, his disinterest in literature limits the scope of any possible relationship. Yet both potential suitors seem superior choices to their sullen friend Fitzwilliam Darcy. Why does she feel so drawn to Darcy?

 

Elizabeth’s looks and manners take Darcy’s breath away. He cannot stop thinking about her. Yet fate continually draws them together. After Lockhart declares his interest in Jane, Darcy misinterprets Elizabeth's actions as despair. While seeking to protect and befriend her, his sister arrives at Netherfield. Georgiana was bored at Pemberley and still pines for George Wickham. Darcy realizes she needs a friend and knows he can trust Elizabeth to look after his sister’s interests.

 

So begins The Trouble With Friends: A Pride And Prejudice Variation. Author Kelly Miller compresses Jane Austen’s original timeline and limits the settings to Hertfordshire and London. She sidelines some of Austen’s characters while adding new ones, allowing readers to glimpse her beloved protagonists in a new light. While channeling Austen’s voice, she concentrates less on outdated matters, such as entailed properties and arranged marriages, while giving readers what they most desire: more time spent in the delightful company of Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy.

 

In this altered timeline, some events remain fixed, and others change considerably. I missed some of Austen's longer set pieces, such as Elizabeth's visit with Charlotte and her tour of Derbyshire with her aunt and uncle. Yet amid this classic tale of love and family, Simon Lockhart's friendship, loyalty, and sacrifice make him an outstanding addition to Jane Austen's cast. The Trouble With Friends: A Pride And Prejudice Variation honors Austen’s classic tale and will keep readers involved until the end.

 

Deborah Balm's cultured voice adds authenticity to Kelly Miller's audiobook. Balm distinguishes characters well, and her narration immerses you in Elizabeth, Darcy, and Lockhart's world. As my first experience listening to a book on Audible, I found it hugely enjoyable.

 

Thanks to author Kelly Miller for providing a copy of her audiobook for review. The next time I attend an assembly in Meryton or a ball at Netherfield, I shall recommend your novel to all my friends, no matter how amiable or troublesome they may be!

 

The Trouble With Friends: A Pride And Prejudice Variation by Kelly Miller is available on Amazon.com.

P. G. Wodehouse in Lyme Regis Part 2

 

In the P. G. Wodehouse novel Love Among The Chickens, writer Jeremy Garnet could invest himself in Stanley Ukridge's latest get-rich-quick scheme if he foresaw a reasonable chance of success. But it's clear that while Ukridge has no idea what he's doing, the man is also determined to reinvent the entire process of running a chicken farm.

So, Jeremy reverts to what he knows: writing novels. Also, Jeremy's thoughts dwell on Phyllis, a local he met on the train to Lyme Regis. After he met her and formed good relations with her family, Ukridge drove them apart by insulting her father. If only he could win his way back into the father's good graces, so he could court Phyllis!

In addition to walking along the hilltop, Jeremy also likes to swim. He ventures down to Lyme Regis, and changes into his bathing costume in little one-person tents the town has provided. Then he dives into the harbor and takes his exercise.

 

As a writer, Jeremy naturally thinks of Jane Austen's novel Persuasion, and the scenes set in Lyme Regis. Eventually, Jeremy hatches a plan to win over Phyllis' father. He talks the owner of the fishing boat Phyllis' father has hired into spilling the man into the water at a prearranged time. 

Unlike Louisa, who injured herself when leaping from the upper section of the Cobb to the lower part, Jeremy suffers no injury when diving into the harbor and swimming out to rescue his prospective father-in-law.

 

It's a plan reminiscent of "Jeeves' Arrival," the first episode in the 1990s Jeeves And Wooster TV series, which was adapted from several P.G. Wodehouse stories. As with Bertie Wooster, Jeremy's plan has unforeseen consequences. But I'll let you discover the way Jeremy's splash into the harbor creates ripples that swell into waves--and engulf his prospects for courting Phyllis--when you read Love Among The Chickens. 

Dragon Dave

Jane Austen in Lyme Regis

 

 

Lyme Regis, a small seaside town along the southern coast of England, is a popular seaside town. My wife and I enjoyed visiting it during our trip to the UK back in 2015. We only had a morning there, and it wasn't enough. 

Perhaps one day can return we can return. It would be nice to spend a few days there, wandering along the beach, and exploring the town. It'd also be nice to search for fossils there, which is a popular pasttime of locals and holidaymakers on what Brits call the Jurassic Coast.

 

From a book in the Lyme Regis Museum

According to the website janeausten.co.uk, Jane Austen visited the seaside resort three times between 1803 and 1804. Walking along the cobb--the manmade promontory that juts out into the sea--inspired her to include a visit to the town in her novel Persuasion. I certainly felt that sense of history when my wife and I walked the cobb two centuries later. 

I wonder how many other writers have been inspired to set their stories in Lyme Regis over the centuries since this awesome seawall was built?

 

According to the museum in Lyme Regis, Jane Austen complained in letters about the dirty rooms they rented when they visited. While I'm far from an authority on Jane Austen, I understand that she also disliked Bath, a city where she lived and featured in her novels. I've begun to wonder if she preferred the simpler (and less expensive) life in the country to the busy and crowded life of the city.

 

 

As she lived in an age when vaccines and antibiotics and all kinds of medical treatments we take for granted simply weren't available, I also wonder at her death at the age of 41. During these pandemic times, when we've become more concerned about cleanliness, I also take her complaints about dirty lodgings more seriously. And yet, the average life expectancy in the UK was 40 in 1800, so perhaps Jane Austen did not in fact die tragically young, as readers and fans tend to think today.

In any case, the fact that Jane Austen featured Lyme Regis in her novel Persuasion has led to many people visiting the town over the centuries. I'm glad I visited the scenic and lively town. If you visit there, I think you'll be glad too.

Dragon Dave

A Return to Buck Rogers: Wilma's Outrage

In "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century," this grand ball is an event to which Buck Rogers has been invited. He feels overwhelmed, and completely uncomfortable, as you can imagine. For it wasn't that long ago that the Artificial Intelligence Overlords had judged him a traitor, and banished him to the wastelands. Although he was granted a reprieve, he has never proven his assertions of his innocence, or his suspicions that Earth is unwise to link itself with Draconia. And yet here he is, expected to dress to the hilt, and act like an important dignitary, at an event which he feels in his heart is a sham, and which will herald the ruin of his planet.


It's not as if anyone on Earth even wants him in the room (aside from his Artificial Intelligence friend Dr. Theopolis, and possibly the drone Twiki). He's here simply as a favor to Princess Ardala, the Draconian would-be-conqueror of Earth. She declares to the Earth dignitaries that he is a hero, for having defended her flagship from the dreaded pirates. Yet he can't help but feel as if he's being played. As he stated earlier at his trial before the AI overlords of Earth, he's like a pawn in a game of chess.

Buck doesn't understand the intricacies of 25th century dance. So when he approaches Princess Ardala, and asks her to dance, she allows him to instruct the orchestra to play something more suited to his tastes. What he requests is something more familiar to him. Something from his past. In the novelization by Richard A Lupoff, as the orchestra begins to play, Buck pops his knuckles, setting up a rocking rhythm, like a famous disco dancer of the ancient past. Everyone in the hall, even the princess, gapes as Buck demonstrates a sexy boogie step of the late 1980s. 

While everyone in the hall is shocked, and some like Wilma even offended, Ardala is much more uninhibited. She joins Buck in "getting down," and has as much fun as he does. The Earth dignitaries, including Wilma, seem backward and puffed with pride. As a viewer, it's hard to immediately feel for them. It's especially hard to feel for young, beautiful, vivacious Wilma. She seems the most likely to accept societal change. Yet she is appalled, even outraged by Buck's display. 

Imagine if this scene were to play out in Jane Austen's time. What if Buck Rogers had traveled back in time instead of forward? What if Buck had attended a ball in Jane Austen's novel Pride And Prejudice? Remember the scene in Jane Austen's famous novel in which Mr. Collins, the clergyman related to the Bennett family, attempts to introduce himself to Mr. Darcy? Mr. Collins has a strong pastoral and friendly relationship with Mr. Darcy's aunt. Yet Mr. Darcy is affronted that Mr. Collins would personally introduce himself, rather than follow the norms of that time, and wait for a mutual friend to introduce him. How do you think Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy would have reacted to Buck's boogie?

Suddenly, Wilma's outrage over Buck's flaunting of conventions grows more understandable, and a little harder to easily dismiss.

Dragon Dave

A Return to Buck Rogers: Jane Austen in the 25th Century

Earth culture of the 25th Century blends elements from all eras of recorded time (at least what the historians can piece together from surviving culture. Such is the formal dance performed in the novelization of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. As Richard A Lupoff (writing as Addison E Steele) describes in the novelization, the dance is a mixture of minuet and quadrille, ballet and free-form interpretive. As the dancers move, they pass along globes containing lit candles. The chandeliers dim as the dance reaches its climax, producing a fairyland of multicolored fireflies floating on the invisible breeze. 

The dance performed in the film "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" reminds me more of the formal style portrayed in Jane Austen dramatizations than it does Lupoff's description. Just as I like Jane Austen's novels and dramatizations, there's a strong love for her books and characters in the Science Fiction community. American Science Fiction conventions regularly host Regency Balls, in which participants attend in period dress. I'm not sure why SF fans like Jane Austen and cosplaying Old English societal norms, but her stories are timeless, and things like dressing up and drinking tea are always fun. It's nice that series creator, producer, and pilot co-screenwriter Glen Larson tipped his hat to fans of Science Fiction and Jane Austen in his film.

As the TV series progressed, Larson would lean more on Lupoff's description, and portray much more of a blending of styles and freeform interpretation in episodes containing dances. Sadly, those scenes never matched the elegance Lupoff envisaged, and seem dated by today's standards. But this dance in the pilot is elegant and impressive.

Dragon Dave

Traveling with H.G. Wells, Jane Austen, and Arthur Conan Doyle

In November, I read several graphic novels, lots of comics, and a book on geology. I also read three novels. The first, by H. G. Wells, transported me to Switzerland. Or, at least, so it seemed. 

Supposedly, A Modern Utopia takes place on a planet like Earth in another solar system, but the descriptions of the landscape, and the picturesque villages, reminded me of Switzerland. In many ways, it reminded me of one of his earlier novels, The Wheels of Chance. In that novel, his protagonist, a young draper, sets off on a bicycle holiday in the south of England. His descriptions of the landscape are so vivid, so evocative, and so overwhelmingly beautiful that it made me want to follow the hero's bicycle journey with my wife. In A Modern Utopia, I felt as though he was transporting me to Switzerland. It's a country I would very much like to visit some day, and Wells spoke just as passionately about his surroundings in this idealized world as he did in The Wheels of Chance. 

After A Modern Utopia, Jane Austen returned me to some familiar sites in her novel Persuasion. The story begins in a manor house in Somerset, a county in southern England. In fact, it's the same county in which the real-life manor in the TV series To The Manor Born is located. 

As in the TV series, Austen's protagonist Anne, through no fault of her own, is forced to leave her beloved country home due to the fiscal mismanagement of a family member: in this case, her father. So she travels to stay with a family friend, then another member of her family, and this second visit takes her to Lyme Regis. 

While she and her party tour the seaside resort, a crucial event in the story takes place on the Cobb. This is a long walkway or pier, and perhaps the town's most striking feature. 

Jane Austen's characters then make their way to Bath, a setting she used in Northanger Abbey, which I read in October. Sadly, she doesn't offer much description of Bath in Persuasion. Austen painted a more vibrant view of the historic city in Northanger Abbey. (Also, Charles Dickens set part of his first novel The Pickwick Papers there, which I read earlier this year). Still, reading about Anne's visit to Bath made me want to travel there. It was a fashionable resort town in Austen's time, and remains a popular town for tourists today.

Finally, I returned to England for The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. This second collection of stories took me back to London, the great town's suburbs, and other towns in rural England. Then for the last story, "The Final Problem", Arthur Conan Doyle returned me to Switzerland, as Holmes and Watson seek to evade the clutches of the evil Professor Moriarty. As all Holmes aficionados know, Holmes and Moriarty have their final confrontation at a very real place: Reichenbach Falls. Having seen many dramatizations of this beloved story, I enjoyed reading Doyle's words, and following the characters' journey through Switzerland. 

Ah, the places great stories can take us!

Dragon Dave

Jane Austen: Madness Versus Dampness

Several years ago, a saleswoman in a bookstore tried to arouse my interest in Love And Freindship, a short novel by Jane Austen. But the price of the slim hardcover volume seemed steep, and the print was small, so I decided to buy one of the novels that was published during Jane Austen's lifetime instead. 

Reading Love And Freindship now, as part of an ebook collection on Kindle, I think I made the right choice. The story is structured as a series of letters, in which an older woman recounts the major experiences of her life to the daughter of a friend. This story was written by Austen in her early teens, and lacks much in the way of causality. One event happens, then another, with no real reason why one should follow another, and no later recounting of how those events occurred. This may follow the random chaos of life, but a well-crafted novel attempts to make sense out of the chaos. That's the appeal of fiction: it helps us better understand reality.

The story itself, in many ways, reminds me of a farce. Here's one little bit I found memorable. The protagonist and her friend are going here and there (for various reasons) in a horse-drawn carriage. At some stage (I forget why) they leave the carriage and are walking along the road. Then they hear a crash, and rush back along the road to the scene of an accident. There they find their husbands lying amid the wreckage of another horse-drawn carriage. While the protagonist goes mad, and runs about screaming, her friend suffers a serious of fainting spells in the damp grass. By the time the protagonist awakens from her madness, her friend has caught a cold from lying in the damp grass in the chill of the evening. They make their way to a cottage, where the protagonist nurses her friend. Before her friend dies, she extolls the protagonist's wisdom in giving way to madness instead of fainting. This, she asserts, is the best way for a young woman to handle a traumatic event. Then she dies.

Love And Freindship is wacky and hilarious. It reminds me of some of the hysterical and trivial women that populate Jane Austen's novels, such as Elizabeth Bennett's mother in Pride And Prejudice. It's easy to see that kind of character relating the high points of her life in such a fashion. I'm not sure I love it enough to have bought a bound and printed edition, but it was a pleasant diversion, and provides an insight into the young Jane Austen, as she experimented with fiction, and gradually learned her craft.

Pride And Prejudice And H G Wells: Part 2

In H. G. Wells' novel, Love and Mr Lewisham, our protagonist unexpectedly reunites with Miss Henderson in London. Although Mr Lewisham is still smarting from the blows to his academic hopes, he has landed in a school for science teachers. While his prospects have fallen, he still holds high hopes for the future. Yet he finds himself as deeply attracted to her as before. While she begs him not to pursue her, he cannot restrain himself. She eventually relents, and lets him into her life. They spend their dates walking along the streets of London, or enjoying the parks. 

Mr Lewisham and Miss Henderson wandered along
the Serpentine arm-in-arm, over sixty years before
WOTAN took over the Post Office tower
in the Doctor Who story "The War Machines."

As their romance builds, his scholastic endeavors suffer. Eventually he gives in to his feelings and marries her. What little money he has saved quickly slips from his bank account. 

Of all his early novels, H. G. Wells reputedly worked hardest on Love and Mr Lewisham. He wished to tackle a serious subject, and he touches upon some notable social trends in England at the turn of the twentieth century. Despite Mr Lewisham's academic capabilities, one wonders if he could have achieved the goals he sought, without money and family to properly back him. His rejection of religion, and his steadfast belief in the superiority of science and socialism to guide mankind surprise him by acting more as impediments to his career than the pluses he had anticipated. Yet Mr Lewisham and Miss Henderson clearly love each other, despite never having been properly introduced. They thrill to the fact that they have found each other, even if, in doing so, they have violated society's expectations. 

As he demonstrated in his classic science fiction novels, H. G. Wells clearly had his eyes on the power of science and socialism to transform the world for the better. Yet I can't help but think that, like Mr Darcy, H. G. Wells felt society needed to be ordered and regulated by properly appointed gatekeepers, who would moderate social interaction between young people. Mr Lewisham and Miss Henderson might have waited forever to be properly introduced by people such as the master of his school, or her relations. Had Mr Lewisham honored the social contract, he might have entered and graduated from the universities and programs to which he had sought admittance. Even if he had ended up at the school for science teachers in London, he could easily have fallen in love and married Miss Heydinger, one of the female students there who admired him, and shared his interests in promoting science and socialism. 

After he fails to graduate,
Mr Lewishaw confesses that he is secretly married,
and says good-bye to Miss Heydinger,
on a quiet bench in Battersea Park.

His pursuit of Miss Henderson cost Mr Lewisham a respectable academic future. Consequently, he lost any hopes of earning more than a pittance for the rest of his life. Still, like Mr Darcy in Pride And Prejudice, who won Elizabeth Bennett's hand after rescuing her family from disgrace, Mr Lewisham earned his wife's enduring love. I have little doubt that, if you approached Mr Darcy or Mr Lewisham, and questioned either on this topic, both would tell you that the adoration of a faithful wife is one of the most precious treasures a man can possess.

That is, at least in Mr Darcy's case, assuming that you and he had previously been properly introduced.

Dragon Dave  

Pride And Prejudice And H G Wells: Part 1

In his novel Love and Mr Lewisham, H. G. Wells introduces us to a young teacher at a boy's elementary school in rural England. Mr. Lewisham holds great academic aspirations, but he is poor, with no family or friends to support him. Although he earns forty pounds a year, he must pay thirty on room and board to his landlady. So every hour he is not at school, he sits in his tiny attic room, at a small desk made of boxes, and studies. 

Perhaps Mr Lewisham studies too hard. For one day he catches sight of Miss Henderson, a young woman who is visiting some relatives. Her beauty shines like the rays of the afternoon sun upon the coldness of his isolated existence. Suddenly he loses interest in studying. All he wants to do is be with her.

A chance meeting with Miss Henderson in the country lane only deepens his ardor. When the head of the school sees them together, he reprimands Mr. Lewisham. But the young man refuses to take his cues from the older school master. Although it is never stated, Mr. Lewisham knows he should never have spoken to Miss Henderson, or walked along beside her in the country lane, as they have yet to be properly introduced by her family or his academic superiors. 

Unable to control his passion, Mr Lewisham later refuses to take over a class for another teacher. This is because the headmaster wishes to take along another teacher, to a party being given by Miss Henderson's relatives. What if his colleague and Miss Henderson fell in love? Knowing her schedule, Mr Lewisham uses his free time that afternoon to meet with Miss Henderson again. When he realizes that she returns his affection, he convinces her to spend the rest of the afternoon together. Consequently, she doesn't return to the house by the time she promised, and misses the party. Likewise, he fails to oversee a scheduled class later that afternoon. Although they merely talk and walk through the surrounding farmland, and have tea in a nearby village, when they return that evening, Mr Lewisham and Miss Henderson find their reputations are in tatters. 

Taking tea with my wife,
in a cafe along the Serpentine in London,
while under the careful supervision of the Daleks.

Miss Henderson is looked down upon by all the other women in the village. They see her as a fast woman, someone of low morals. Her relatives confine her to their house after that, and never let her out of sight when they go out. Meanwhile, Mr. Lewisham finds the head of the school unwilling to forgive his absence that afternoon. Without his superior's recommendation, his applications to the universities, and the prestigious programs he hoped to enter, come back rejected.

In Jane Austen's novel Pride And Prejudice, self-important clergyman Mr Collins insists upon speaking to Mr Darcy at a ball. As Mr Collins holds close ties to Lady Catherine de Borough, Mr. Darcy's aunt, he feels sure of a warm welcome. Instead, Mr Darcy feels affronted, and rebuffs Mr Collins' attempts at conversation. While Mr Darcy might have spoken more kindly with Mr Collins, and even tolerated a little of the vicar's prattle, he is conscious that they have yet to be properly introduced. Under those circumstances, Mr Darcy feels it would be improper to speak with Mr Collins.

What do you think? Would society function more smoothly, and people get along more peacefully, if you and I refrained from speaking to people we had not yet been introduced to by our family and civic superiors? Or is that just a meaningless aspect of society that we have, quite rightly, dispensed with?

One thing's for sure. Had Jane Austen and H. G. Wells had access to the Internet, Facebook and Twitter would have functioned far differently than they do today.

Dragon Dave