Blog Tour & Giveaway ~ The Elizabeth Papers by Jenetta James

Everyone please welcome Jenetta to my little corner of the web!

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Young lovers at the ballet: art imitating life in The Elizabeth Papers

Did you ever go somewhere, or do something, and think: that needs to go in a book one day?

On a summer evening in 2004 I went to the ballet for the first time. It was a performance of Tchaikovsky’s Onegin (that is “on-yea-gin” - I didn’t know how to pronounce it at the time either) at Covent Garden in London and it completely blew my mind. What is more, I wasn’t the only one. To my right sat my boyfriend (who enjoyed it, but didn’t show any overwhelming emotion) and on my left was a little girl, who burst into tears at the conclusion of the second act, and was pretty much inconsolable for the whole of the interval. It is a seriously tragic tale with plenty of unrequited love floating about, so you can’t blame her. Truth is, I was a bit shaky myself.

I am a person who never hoards anything; but I still have the programme to this day. I was astonished by the power and passion of the dancing, and the whole thing stayed with me.

So much so, that when I found myself, ten years later, writing The Elizabeth Papers, I had my modern day characters revisit it.

The idea of The Elizabeth Papers is that it is a romance in two parts - one part Regency and one part Modern. The Regency protagonists need no introduction. They are Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy. The modern protagonists, who are called Charlie and Evie, are brought together through a quirk of history, unknown to both of them and it leads them on a quest. That quest is to find out the truth behind the marriage of Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth. It is a story within a story, a romance within a romance, with a foot in two time periods.

At a point in the modern narrative, I needed Charlie and Evie to go somewhere together, get closer to each other, and then be blown apart by the discovering by one of a fact about the other. There is, at this point, a rising sense of sexual tension, and an awful lot of unanswered questions. I like a bit of drama, so decided to do it in public and what could be more emotionally charged than having them go to see Onegin, just as I had a decade before? I hope that it works as a scene and would love to hear what people think of it.

I’d love to hear of your stories. Have you been somewhere unusual or had an experience which stayed with you and might be novel-worthy? Let the comments begin! Thank you to Liz for hosting me and The Elizabeth Papers on her excellent blog.

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Thank you for stopping by Jenetta and sharing your exciting new book with us!

About The Elizabeth Papers

“It is settled between us already, that we are to be the happiest couple in the world.” —Jane Austen, Pride & Prejudice

Charlie Haywood is a London-based private investigator who has made his own fortune—on his own terms. Charming, cynical, and promiscuous, he never expected to be attracted to Evie Pemberton, an emerging and independent-minded artist living with the aftermath of tragedy. But when he is hired to investigate her claims to a one hundred and fifty year old trust belonging to the eminent Darcy family, he is captivated.

Together they become entwined in a tale of love, loss, and mystery tracing back to the grand estate of Pemberley, home to Evie’s nineteenth century ancestors, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth Darcy.

How could Evie know that in 1817 Elizabeth Darcy began a secret journal? What started as an account of a blissful life came to reflect a growing unease. Was the Darcy marriage perfect or was there betrayal and deception at its heart?

Can Evie and Charlie unearth the truth in the letters of Fitzwilliam Darcy or within the walls of present-day Pemberley? What are the elusive Elizabeth papers and why did Elizabeth herself want them destroyed?

Amazon | Goodreads

About The Author

Jenetta James is the nom de plume of a lawyer, writer, mother and taker-on of too much. She grew up in Cambridge and read history at Oxford University where she was a scholar and president of the Oxford University History Society. After graduating, she took to the law and now practises full time as a barrister. Over the years she has lived in France, Hungary and Trinidad as well as her native England. Jenetta currently lives in London with her husband and children where she enjoys reading, laughing and playing with Lego. Suddenly Mrs. Darcy is her first novel.

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Check Out All The Stop On This Sensational Tour

5/30: Guest Post & Giveaway at My Jane Austen Book Club

5/31: Excerpt & Giveaway at Romance Novel Giveaways

6/1: Review at Tomorrow is Another Day

6/1: Guest Post & Giveaway at Liz’s Reading Life

6/2: Review at From Pemberley to Milton

6/3: Guest Post at Moonlight Reader

6/4: Review at Babblings of a Bookworm

6/5: Review at Just Jane 1813

6/6: Guest Post & Giveaway at Austenesque Reviews

6/7: Excerpt & Giveaway at So Little Time…

6/8: Character Interview at More Agreeably Engaged

6/9: Author Interview at Savvy Verse & Wit

6/10: Review at Diary of an Eccentric

6/10: Excerpt & Giveaway at Skipping Midnight

6/11: Review at My Kids Led Me Back to Pride and Prejudice

6/12: Review at Margie’s Must Reads

6/13: Excerpt & Giveaway at Best Sellers and Best Stellars