Writing Jane Austen (35 page)

She wore her patent leather boots to give her confidence; much polishing had moved most of the traces of Wickham’s tooth marks, and at least Livia couldn’t think they’d come from the thrift shop.

She took a taxi to the offices of Harkness and Philby. The words sang in her head, Harkness and Philby Literary Agency. Had there ever been a Philby? Perhaps the agency had been founded back in the bad old days when England was riddled with spies, and it had something to do with the most famous of the Cambridge bunch, Kim Philby. Or perhaps Philby ran the financial side of things, working away at accounts of the top of the house.

Too soon, the taxi drew up. Georgina paid the driver, giving him an extravagant tip—what was a pound or so given the financial state she’d now be in? She climbed the steps, pushed the door open and went in.

Tish had new spectacles, tinted a rosy pink, which might improve her view of life but gave her an oddly rodent-like appearance. She looked at Georgina, took in the boots, made a moue of what might have been approval and gestured at the stairs. “She’s expecting you, go on up.”

Georgina paused at Livia’s door, summoning her courage, knocked and turned the handle. “Good morning, Livia.”

Livia’s eyes were fastened on the parcel under Georgina’s arm.

“Is that the book? Why is your arm in a sling?”

“I’ve got RSI. And yes, this is the book.”

“The book. Yes. That’s why I wanted you here. Sit down, although this won’t take long, bad news never does. Have you ever heard of a Professor Windlesham?”

Georgina nearly slipped off her chair; as usual, she was perched on the edge of it. Of all the openings she had expected from Livia, none involved Rollo Windlesham. “I know Rollo Windlesham, yes.”

“It’s of no importance whether you know him or not. The thing is that the man has dropped a bombshell, and it affects you and me and Dan Vesey. How much of that novel have you actually written?”

“All of it,” said Georgina.

“First draft?”

“No. This is the final version.”

“Well, I hope you enjoyed writing it, because nobody is going to be reading it.”

Georgina stared at her. Livia Harkness knew; she knew that Georgina had written the wrong book. Goddammit, how?

“This Professor Windlesham, I suppose he is genuine, he is what he purports to be?”

“It depends what he says he is.”

“Don’t get cute with me. The guy is some kind of an authority on English literature, right?”

“Right. He has a chair at Oxford.”

“Turns out he knows all about the opening chapter of
Love and Friendship
. He heard a rumour about what was going on at Cadell and Davies, went through his filing cabinets and came up with a letter from one Dennis Partridge.”

Dennis Partridge? Georgina frowned, trying to make sense of Livia’s bizarre pronouncements. What on earth was Livia talking about? Who was Dennis Partridge? What did he have to do with
Love and Friendship
?

“It turns out that this guy Partridge wrote that opening chapter of
Love and Friendship
.”

The words shot around in Georgina’s head before they made any sense. “Wrote the opening chapter of
Love and Friendship
? But it’s in Jane Austen’s handwriting, it’s been in the cupboard at Cadell and Davies for two hundred years.”

“One hundred years, in fact. Partridge, who seems to have been a master of pastiche, I wouldn’t mind having him on my list, set out to write a new Jane Austen book called
Love and Friendship
.”

“So where’s the rest of it?”

“That’s all he wrote. It was 1914, and he went and signed up, the fool, and died three weeks later.”

“But the handwriting experts said it was Jane Austen’s own handwriting.”

“Partridge was an all-round forger, and it turns out he taught himself to write in Jane Austen’s hand. He planned to produce a whole manuscript, and then sell it as the real thing.”

“And no one knew, except Rollo?”

“Windlesham says it’s a forgotten footnote in the history of forged manuscripts and Jane Austen sequels, and of little interest to anyone. He thinks it’s an immense joke that Dan Vesey was taken in by it.”

“What does Dan Vesey think?”

“He doesn’t see the joke.”

Oh, but Rollo would be relishing it, and not least because of the fact that Georgina had been caught up in it. Georgina was prepared to bet that Professor Windlesham had heard that rumour way back, before she’d written a word, and had bided his time, moving in to quash Dan’s grandiose plans at precisely the right moment.

Livia had lit a cigarette while she was talking, and tendrils of smoke wafted towards Georgina.

“I really wish you wouldn’t smoke while I’m here. It makes my eyes water.”

“Like I care about your eyes. Right, we have to discuss where this leaves you. You’ll get to keep the signature advance, there’s no way I’m letting Dan Vesey have that back. You can kiss goodbye to the rest of it. Leave that manuscript with me. Is it any good?”

Georgina hesitated. “You can be the judge of that.”

“I’ll be in touch. Or not, as the case may be.”

Dazed, unable to grasp the full meaning of what Livia had just told her, Georgina went slowly down the steps to the street. She felt reborn as the guilt and apprehension rolled off her shoulders. She wasn’t ruined, she hadn’t let anyone down, and, whether Livia liked it or not, she’d discovered what a joy writing could be.

She danced back to Marylebone, feeling happier than she had done for a long while. She stopped at the flower stall at the corner of the street, and bought a large red cyclamen in a pot.

Henry, who’d been in his study, unable to work, and constantly going over to the window to see if Gina was coming, was at the door when she got there, a tall, insouciant figure, whose presence gave Georgina a burst of joy.

“Well? Did you survive your trip into the lion’s den? Did Livia give you a plant?”

Georgina put the cyclamen down beside her, stood on tiptoe and gave Henry an even more lingering kiss than Foxy’s had been. Henry looked taken aback, then drew her into the hall to continue the good work. Georgina emerged, breathless and even happier, if that were possible, and she and Henry looked at one another. His mouth twitched. “Charlie rang.”

“Don’t tell me he’s read the book.”

“Good Lord, no. Charlie hasn’t read a book in years, if ever.” He went out on to the step and retrieved the plant. “No,” he went on, shutting the door behind him, “his girl in the office down there gets the gossip rags, which of course Charlie reads from cover to cover. It appears that Sophie is all over one of them this week, wearing practically nothing in a Caribbean hideout with a celebrated actor, one Chris Denby.”

Georgina was torn, half wanting to murder Sophie for daring to let Henry down, half overwhelmed with delight that Sophie had found other fish to fry. How could she prefer a man like that to Henry?

Madness.

“Do you mind?”

Henry looked down at her, smiling, amused, quizzical. “Not at all. Relieved, in fact. As far as I’m concerned, romance starts right here.”

A week later

Email from [email protected]

To [email protected]

Ring me.
Now.

Ten months later

BESTSELLERS—FICTION

Love Is a Frenzy
Georgina Jackson
Cadell & Davies, £14.99, 506pp

This autumn’s must-read is Georgina Jackson’s stunning
Love Is a Frenzy
, the best historical I’ve read all year. It’s racy, pacy and splices high drama with moments of pure comedy. Susan is a sparkling heroine with attitude, while the dashing Wriothesley is as sexy a hero as ever wore breeches. Sex and scandal, lust and passion, intrigue and treachery and luscious settings in London and Paris combine to make a story you can’t put down. Buy!

A year later

AUTHOR WEDS

Bestselling novelist Georgina Jackson, author of the hugely successful
Love Is a Frenzy
, and physicist Henry Lefroy, nephew of Lady Pamela Grandison, were married yesterday in a ceremony in Winchester Cathedral. They are off to New York for a combined honeymoon and book tour.

Thank you, Teresa Chris, Trish Grader, Sam Gurney, Patricia Moosbrugger, Amanda Patten and Michael Weare.

TOUCHSTONE
READING GROUP GUIDE

Writing
Jane Austen

Elizabeth Aston

F
OR
D
ISCUSSION

1. When Georgina takes the Jane Austen tour in Bath, she’s startled to learn one tourist’s opinion of the original books and the written word in general: “Never read it, and don’t want to,” said Dot. “Haven’t got time for that, and reading’s passé, no one reads these days, books and all that are finished” (page 77). Do you agree? What do you think of the disparity among the fans on the tour?

2. Early on, Georgina resists Austen’s style and subjects. “That’s why this fascination with Jane Austen is so damaging, people harking back to a time when people were seriously oppressed, and pretending it was some kind of golden age” (page 78). Do you identify with the subject matter of Jane Austen’s novels or do you find them alienating?

3. Were you surprised by Georgina’s first reaction to finishing the chapter of Jane Austen’s novel,
Love and Friendship
? Why do you think Georgina so fervently resists this job at first, and later is so reluctant to read the original novels? She cites Charlotte Brontë’s opinion:
“The Passions are perfectly unknown to her; she rejects even a speaking acquaintance with that stormy Sisterhood; even to the Feelings she vouchsafes no more than an occasional graceful but distant recognition”
(page 93). Do you agree or disagree with Charlotte Brontë (and Georgina)?

4. What do you think of Livia’s, Yolanda’s, and Dan Vesey’s behavior toward Georgina? How could they have handled the task at hand differently? When she finally does break down and
starts reading Jane Austen, she goes on a reading binge that lasts for days, only coming up for the occasional meal. Have you ever been lost in a book like that?

5. Georgina’s friend Bel, an Austen enthusiast, believes Jane Austen was the “ultimate realist”: “Nostalgia, dreams for a past that never existed. Isn’t that what all this is about? Aren’t you selling a dream? … So was Jane Austen with her vision of marriage between two equals—how often does that ever happen? Isn’t that what all fiction is? Some good dreams, some nightmares” (page 106). Who do you think is more of a realist—Jane Austen, Bel or Georgina?

6. Once Georgina starts drafting outlines for her narrative, she reminds herself: “Of course the storyline didn’t have to be stunningly original or even complex. The power of Jane Austen’s storytelling lay in a perfect depiction of the characters and the creation of the lives they lived, not in startling events or thrilling about-turns” (page 165). Do you agree with this assessment of Austen’s work?

7. What roles do Henry, Maud and even Anna play in the creation of
Love and Friendship
? How important is their input to Georgina and why?

8. Why do you think Georgina says of Maud, “She’s more like Jane Austen than I am?”

9. Henry gets frustrated with Georgina’s procrastination and tries to approach it from a scientific point of view. What advice would you have offered her? Writing her first novel,
Magdalene Crib,
was a very orderly experience. Why do you think she’s struggling with this assignment?

10. Were you surprised by Georgina’s reaction to the news about Rollo Windlesham, her old professor, and Dennis Partridge and their involvement with the original text? What did you think of the ending? Does it feel satisfying?

11. How are the characters in
Writing Jane Austen
similar to characters one would find in an actual Jane Austen novel? How is the book similar?

A C
ONVERSATION WITH
E
LIZABETH
A
STON

You’ve written many Austen-themed novels, including
Mr. Darcy’s Dream
and
Mr. Darcy’s Daughters.
What made you want to write a contemporary story? How is it different from writing a period novel?