Blog Tour: The Exile: The Countess Visits Longbourn by Don Jacobson - with giveaway!

I am thrilled today to be part of the blog tour for Don Jacobson's new release, The Exile: The Countess Visits Longbourn.  My thanks also goes to Janet Taylor for inviting me to take part.

“I have been shaped by the events of over forty years. The world is a nasty place full of awful persons, Mr. Wickham, and does not get any lighter through complaining or blaming.”

The Countess: An Enigma? A Mystery? Or a young girl all-grown-up?

Kitty Bennet, the fourth daughter of the Master and Mistress of Longbourn, had spent far too long as the shadow of her youngest sister. The all-knowing Meryton chinwaggers suggested that young Miss Bennet needed education—and quickly.

How right they were…but the type of instruction Kitty Bennet received, and the where/when in which she matriculated was far beyond their ken. For they knew nothing of that remarkable piece of furniture which had been part of the lives of clan Bennet for over 120 years: The Bennet Wardrobe.

Forty-six years from when she left her Papa’s bookroom, the Dowager Countess of Matlock returned to that exact same moment in 1811 to tend to many important pieces of Family business.

In the process, Kitty Fitzwilliam helped her youngest sister find the love she craved with the hero who, as the Duke said, “saved us all.”

From Whence the Countess Came

Many of my blog posts in this tour supporting The Exile: The Countess Visits Longbourn have explored facets of this book in specific and The Bennet Wardrobe Series in general. I imagine that my hosts have, at times, wondered at my sanity when they receive guest posts exploring solipsism, back covers, and holistic writing.

And now, with this last post in the tour (a big thank you to Sophie Andrews for hosting me here at Laughing With Lizzie) I would like to expand on the manner in which I write and how the character of Lady Kate Fitzwilliam grew into the wholeness that is her in The Countess.

First, though, a bit of history is required.

I finished writing The Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary Journey in March 2016. This first volume of the Bennet Wardrobe Series effectively set the stage for the underlying premise of the entire arc: that each of the three younger Bennet daughters (and the father as well) could realize a destiny behind marriage to Mr. Philip’s clerk, a minor clergyman deep in the country, and a rake. The Wardrobe would afford them that opportunity, perhaps, though, not precisely in the Regency timeline.

Miss Mary Bennet, as the eldest, had pride of position. She herself, though, did not use the Wardrobe to discover what would turn her from the prosy moralist who had fewer than ten lines in Pride and Prejudice. As we learned, she started the process on her own once her mother’s spirits had been calmed with the double wedding…and the two stars of the household (and, I imagine Lydia) were no longer in her way. Her emergence as Miss Bennet and encountering a love that could only come because of the Wardrobe, changed her life.

As I am wont to do, once I have finished a book, I need to flush the story and the characters out of my system. This allows me to approach the next book with a fresh spirit and clear eyes. So, with the final pieces of the Mary book in place, I sat back. I had planned to begin work on the next volume in the Wardrobe Series, The Exile: Kitty Bennet and the Belle Époque, in the early summer of 2016.

But, I had only written the scenes on that day in 1886 when young Kitty Bennet had tumbled out of the Wardrobe in Matlock House. And, I could not begin moving on the next novel. Blocked or confused? I knew not.

Except I was not blocked…just “percolating.” My brain must have been working on the Kitty book below the threshold of consciousness. Oh, to be sure, I had already determined that Kitty would leave Longbourn House through the Wardrobe to escape those who had been making her miserable. She assumed that was her father; determined as he was to send her to a Cornwall seminary. To an extent, t’was also Lydia who had led her into the trouble she faced as an accomplice in the elopement.

And then a few weeks after publishing Keeper, a “Kitty” Variation came to my mind as I was driving. What would have happened to the Bennets if Mr. Bennet had expired before the Netherfield Ball?

And, so, Of Fortune’s Reversal was born.

You see, I have often write novellas to sketch my characters. Thus, Miss Bennet’s First Christmas was my original character drawing of Mary Bennet. Later in 2016, immediately after finishing OFR, I wrote the novelette Henry Fitzwilliam’s War to comprehend the nature of the male lead in Part One of The Exile.

Those fit…as did Lizzie Bennet Meets the Countess…into the framework of the larger works. Each helped me fill in the contours of the hearts and minds of Mary Bennet, Edward Benton, Henry Fitzwilliam, and the older (38 years) Lady Kate Fitzwilliam. However, I always viewed Of Fortune’s Reversal (and its paired novella The Maid and The Footman) as apart from the Wardrobe’s Universe, rather being true P&P variations.

I was mistaken, dear readers; for only recently have I put OFR into its context. I should have realized that there was a reason why I picked up the story of Henry immediately after finishing a novella about Kitty.

I needed to know before I started to tell Kitty Bennet’s story in the Belle Époque what was inside of her…how she would change as she matured. I had to know if she would grow into an estimable woman or would she always be “the girl who coughed.”

Of Fortune’s Reversal was completed by the end of June 2016. However, I had no idea that the young lady who performed so heroically in Hyde Park that November day would find her home in the woman who streaked across the firmament from 1886 onward. Yet, look at young Miss Bennet as she matures in Belle Époque .

Her bravery is legend just as the Cecil Governess was on Guy Fawkes Day, 1815. Both are supremely self-confident…and both have their eyes wide open to accept the love of wonderful people. Both suffer through horrible tials and emerge on the other side transformed, shining brighter.

Simply put, the indomitable Lady Kate of The Countess Visits Longbourn could not have existed without the impertinent Miss Kitty Bennet of Belle Époque. And, that young lady could not have arrived on stage without my exploration of the nooks and crannies of her inner workings in a non-Bennet Wardrobe book, Of Fortune’s Reversal.

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The Bennet Wardrobe books are best read in the following order:

The Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary Journey

Henry Fitzwilliam’s War

The Exile: Kitty Bennet and the Belle Époque

Lizzy Bennet Meets the Countess

The Exile: The Countess Visits Longbourn

Don Jacobson has written professionally for forty years.  His output has ranged from news and features to advertising, television and radio.  His work has been nominated for Emmys and other awards.  He has previously published five books, all non-fiction.  In 2016, he published the first volume of The Bennet Wardrobe Series—The Keeper: Mary Bennet’s Extraordinary Journey, novel that grew from two earlier novellas. The Exile is the second volume of The Bennet Wardrobe Series.  Other JAFF P&P Variations include the paired books “Of Fortune’s Reversal” and “The Maid and The Footman.”

Jacobson holds an advanced degree in History with a specialty in American Foreign Relations.  As a college instructor, Don teaches United States History, World History, the History of Western Civilization and Research Writing.

He is a member of JASNA-Puget Sound.  Likewise, Don is a member of the Austen Authors collective (see the internet, Facebook and Twitter).

            He lives in the Seattle, WA area with his wife and co-author, Pam, a woman Ms. Austen would have been hard-pressed to categorize, and their rather assertive four-and-twenty pound cat, Bear.  Besides thoroughly immersing himself in the JAFF world, Don also enjoys cooking; dining out, fine wine and well-aged scotch whiskey.

His other passion is cycling.  Most days from April through October will find him “putting in the miles” around the Seattle area (yes there are hills).  He has ridden several “centuries” (100 mile days).  Don is especially proud that he successfully completed the AIDS Ride—Midwest (500 miles from Minneapolis to Chicago) and the Make-A-Wish Miracle Ride (300 miles from Traverse City, MI to Brooklyn, MI).

Contact Info:

Website

Amazon Author Page

Goodreads Author Page

Twitter

Buy Links:  Paperback & Kindle

Amazon US

Amazon UK

Blog Tour Schedule:

Feb. 14 Austenesque Reviews;  Guest Post, Excerpt, GA

Feb. 15 My Jane Austen Book Club;  Guest Post, GA

Feb. 17 My Love for Jane Austen;  Character Interview, GA

Feb. 19 So little time…  Excerpt, GA

Feb. 20 Interests of a Jane Austen Girl;  Review, GA

Feb. 21 Babblings of a Bookworm; Guest Post, GA

Feb. 23 More Agreeably Engaged;  Review, Excerpt, GA

Feb. 24 Darcyholic Diversions;  Character Interview, GA

Feb. 26 From Pemberley to Milton;  Excerpt

Feb. 28 Just Jane 1813;  Review, GA

Mar. 2  Diary of an Eccentric;  Guest Post, Excerpt, GA

Mar. 3  My Vices and Weaknesses; Author Interview, GA

Mar. 5Laughing With Lizzie; Guest Post, GA

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions:

Readers may enter the drawing by tweeting once a day and daily commenting on a blog post or review that has a giveaway attached for the tour. Entrants must provide the name of the blog where they commented (which will be verified). If an entrant does not do so, that entry will be disqualified. Remember: Tweet and comment once daily to earn extra entries.

A winner may win ONLY 1 (ONE) eBook or Paperback of The Exile: The Countess Visits Longbourn by Don Jacobson. Each winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter and the giveaway is international.

My thanks again goes to Don for this great post! My thanks also to Janet for setting up this tour.

I wish Don all the best with this release as well as any stories in the future.