Publishing Rights for Pemberley Remembered sold to Source Books

The publishing rights to Pemberley Remembered have been sold to Sourcebooks. It has been retitled Searching for Pemberley. It will contain the story line from Pemberley Remembered, but it will also continue Maggie Joyce's story. It will be out on December 1, 2009. If you would liked to pre-order or have a look at the new cover, please click on URL link. Thanks. Mary Simonsen
http://tinyurl.com/mcgo7k

e-mail the Author

I would like to hear from my readers, so if you have any comments you would like to share, please post them here or e-mail me at msimon43@cox.net. Thanks you. Mary Simonsen

Interview in The Scranton Times

You know you've hit the big time when you are interviewed by The Scranton Times. Seriously, I am thrilled, especially since it's my only newspaper interview. The main character in Pemberley Remembered is Maggie Joyce who grew up in Minooka in the 1930s and '40s. My cousin, who still lives in Minooka (now a part of Scranton), gave a copy of my book to a friend of hers at The Times, who, in turn, gave it to Jeremy Burton who writes a personal-interest column called "Around the Towns." I was really pleased when Jeremy called to interview me because I wanted people from my parents' hometown to know that I had written a book that, I hoped, reflected the hard work and struggles of my parents and their parents and grandparents. It was a rough coal-mining town in the heart of the Pocono Mountains, but it produced a hearty people, many of whom rose to prominence despite having grown up in the Depression. Here is the article:

"Mary Simonsen didn't grow up in the Minooka section of Scranton, but Maggie Joyce sure did. Maggie is the protagonist in Ms. Simonsen's first book, Pemberley Remembered, which follows the story of a young woman from a coal town in Pennsylvania who gets wrapped up in romance and mystery in post-war England.

For inspiration, Ms. Simonsen drew from her family's deep roots around Scranton, which stretch back to before the Civil War. By the time Ms. Simonsen was born, her parents, Paul Lydon and Hannah Mahady, had moved to suburban New Jersey, but Minooka was still the family home. She remembers visiting the graves of ancestors at St. Joseph's and listening to stories from her grandmother.

The character of Maggie is a composite of Ms. Simonsen's mother and her aunts. Maggie is very much defined by her Irish Catholic ties and the close-knit life of Minooka before World War II.
Ms. Simonsen said in a way the novel allowed her to preserve a piece of her family's history in the voice of Maggie. The book is available from amazon.com."

Six Month Anniversary for PR

I received a wonderful review from Swapna Krishna at Curled Up With a Good Book, and I would like to share parts of it:
Pemberley Remembered is historical fiction in the broadest sense. Not only does it cover Austen’s Regency England; it is a revealing portrait of World War II and postwar England as well. Any fan of either will greatly enjoy this book. However, it is also a story of romance, the likes of which are unsurpassed in today’s literary climate. I am hesitant to categorize the book as a romance, because while it is the story of Maggie and Rob and their love for each other, there is so much more that develops in the novel.
When a reader hears the title, Pemberley Remembered, the first thing that comes to mind is Jane Austen’s famous novel Pride and Prejudice. Any real fans of that work will most likely clamor to read this novel; anyone who does not recognize the name Pemberley will pass it by, even after picking it up to read the synopsis. What a mistake they would be making!
The most remarkable aspect of Pemberley Remembered is Simonsen’s ability to take multiple stories from completely different time periods and fuse them together into a cohesive whole. Maggie’s search for answers, Jack and Beth’s story, the horrors of war, the development of Maggie and Rob’s relationship, the story of the Garrisons and Laceys (the supposed characters the Bennets and Darcys were modeled upon), all while keeping the reader’s interest in the mysteries of the novel – it is quite an achievement. Simonsen devotes ample time to each storyline, never neglecting one for another. The result is a beautiful, full book that is not a quick read – the complicated nature of the novel does not allow for that. Instead, it is a slower, satisfying read, another rarity with books today.
Pemberley Remembered is a shining addition to the world of historical fiction. While the reader may find some storylines more interesting than others, all are well written.... While Pride and Prejudice is a big factor in the book, it does not define it. It can stand very well on its own merit, and because of that, any reader will most likely enjoy this book.
Originally published on Curled Up With A Good Book at www.curledup.com/pemberly/htm
© Swapna Krishna, 2008

Reviews of Jane Austen Inspired Films

Review of Masterpiece, Sense and Sensibility
As a big fan of Emma Thompson's Sense and Sensibility, I was eager to see if another adaptation of Jane Austen's first published novel could shine as much as the 1995 film. It did. The performances of the leading ladies was exceptional, especially Hattie Morahan as Elinor Dashwood, and the supporting cast was first rate. As for the gents, the actor playing the cad, Willoughby, was a little to smarmy for my taste, and David Morrissey's portrayal of Col. Brandon was quite good. Unfortunately, he's too old for 17-year old Marianne Dashwood. Part II moved at a sluggish pace, but the superior acting of the female leads continued to hold your interest. And who wouldn't want to look at the actor who played Edward Ferrars? However, the scene where Edward is disinherited by his mother exposed one of the flaws of the novel. If Mrs. Ferrars was willing to disinherit her son because of a secret engagement with Lucy Steele, why wouldn't she do the same when Miss Steele transferred her affections to Robert Ferrars, the younger son? It seems as if Miss Austen wanted to wrap up the story with everyone ending up with the right person. In any event, this adaptation was wonderful, and the scenery was jawdropping. As far as I'm concerned, any Jane Austen is better than no Austen at all, and so now it's back to the DVDs.

Review Jane Austen Book Club
The film version of Jane Austen Book Club is now out on DVD. It is the tale of five women with very different personalities and interests who come together to discuss the one thing that they all have in common: Jane Austen and her writings. They are joined by a young man who has no interest in Jane Austen but is very interested in one of the members. The actors, Hugh Dancy, Maria Bello, Amy Brenneman, Maggie Grace, Kathy Baker, and Emily Blunt, all share the spotlight, without a camera hog among them. Rounding out the cast is Jimmy Smits who divorces his wife (Amy Brenneman) of 20 years, only to find out that he immediately regrets the decision.Through Jane Austen writings, the members are able to share the difficulties of personal relationships that are present regardless of era. If you are watching this as a Jane Austen fan, you will have to be patient because there is a lot of time between discussion of the different novels. But every once in a while, they do discuss the books, and you'll pick up a tidbit now and then. However, it really is a story about love and friendship, and one that is very well done.

Review of Becoming Jane Austen
If you have ever longed for the slower pace of times past, then this is the movie for you. Not much happens in this supposed tale of a fleeting love interest in Jane Austen's life, and when something does happen, it is most likely to be complete fiction. The stars of ths movie are the sets which recreate a time when everything was candlelit, and even the plainest girl could look pretty in the flickering light of a dancehall, and the dance scenes. Anne Hathaway's portrayal of Miss Austen is very well done, and Scotsman, James McAvoy, who plays her love interest in the film, is talented and easy on the eyes. The supporting cast is first rate with James Cromwell playing Jane's father and Maggie Smith as a Lady Catherine DeBourgh type character. But for those who know Jane, there is too much inaccuracy in the film; for those who don't, there isn't enough action; and for those of us in between, there was nothing to grab hold of. Having said that, it would be a good film to watch on a rainy day.

Austen's Dedication of Emma: Who and Why

One of Jane Austen’s most ardent supporters was her brother Henry. Despite being cautioned by his sister that she did not want her identity known, Henry could not help but brag about his younger sister’s success, especially when Pride & Prejudice went into its third printing. It was Henry, from his sickbed, who successfully negotiated her agreement with John Murray, Lord Byron’s publisher, for her fourth novel, Emma. After an agreement had been secured with Murray, Jane went up to London to see if she could expedite the printing of her book. During her stay, she was contacted by Rev. James Stanier Clarke, the Prince Regent’s librarian. His Royal Highness had learned that Jane was in town from his physician who also happened to be her brother Henry’s doctor.

Rev. Stanier Clarke invited Jane to tour Carlton House, the Regent’s opulent London residence. Putting aside her “hatred” for the Prince because of his debauchery and ill treatment of his wife, Princess Caroline, Jane accepted the invitation. During her tour, Stanier Clarke told Jane that the Prince had a set of her novels in each of his many residences and that, “by permission of His Royal Highness,” she was “at liberty to dedicate any future novel to him.” Jane immediately recognized the commercial value of such a dedication. The dedication that Jane wrote for Emma read: “Dedicated by permission to HRH The Prince Regent,” but was embellished by the publisher, and in unctuous prose worthy of Mr. Collins, the wording as it appeared on December 23, 1815 read: “To His Royal Highness, The Prince Regent. This work is, by his Royal Highness’s permission, most respectfully dedicated by His Royal Highness’s dutiful and obedient humble servant, The Author.”

Did the Prince Regent’s notice of Jane Austen’s writings have any effect on the success of Emma? It is impossible to know. What we do know is that Emma sold more copies in its first run than any of her three previous novels.

Berlin in Ruins

In the novel, Maggie Joyce goes to work in Frankfurt in 1946 for the Army Exchange Service. This part of her story was based on my father's sister, Mim, who went to work for the State Department in Berlin shortly after the war ended. Because of the ferocity of the fight by the Russians in taking the German capital, much of the city was left in ruins. Many of the buildings left standing were comandeered by the Army of Occupation to house their employees. The hardships suffered by the Germans after the war are unimaginable, especially since the winter of 1945-46 was brutally cold. However, the Germans immediately started to rebuild their city and their lives. Streets were cleared of rubble; trolley lines were repaired; buildings were rebuilt using material from bombed buildings. Although there was a non-fraternization order between Americans and Germans, it didn't last long, and many soldiers returned to the U.S. with a German war bride. Photos from my aunt's time in Berlin can be seen at http://www.pemberleyremembered.com/ on the "Story Background" page. There is a slide show at the bottom of the page.

60th Anniversary of Berlin Airlift

Pemberley Remembered takes place in 1947-48. Part of the story includes the start of the Berlin Airlift. Here is some background to that part of the story.

During WWII, the United States and Great Britain had been allies of the Soviet Union. It was never a comfortable alliance because it was known that Josef Stalin was a murderous dictator. But as Winston Churchill put it, “The enemy of my enemy is my friend,” and Stalin was the enemy of Nazi Germany. After the war, Stalin wanted to dismantle German industry and ship it back to the Soviet Union, and it believed its millions of casualties gave it that right. The Western Allies, however, did not want to repeat mistakes made at the end of WWI. The conditions of the armistice were so burdensome that they all but guaranteed that there would be another war. Great Britain and the U.S. wanted to see a democracy arise from the ashes of the Third Reich.

In mid June, 1948, the Soviet Union halted all traffic by water and land into or out of the Allied sectors of Berlin. The only remaining access routes into the city were three 20 mile wide air corridors across the Russian zone. The Soviets’ intention was to take over the three zones of Berlin not under their control. With no Allied traffic coming into Berlin to supply its inhabitants with basic necessities, the Soviet Union would be able to starve Berlin into submission.

On June 26, 1948, the Western Powers responded with the start of the Berlin Airlift. On that day, C-47 cargo planes flown by the United States Air Force carried 80 tons of food into Berlin, not nearly enough to provide the minimum daily requirements of Berlin’s population, but it would soon be joined by the U. S. Navy and the Royal Air Force. In short order, the United States responded to the Soviet’s blockade by making an open-ended commitment to the people of Berlin to supply them with calories and coal as long as they were willing to stand up to Soviet bullying.

Review of PR from a South Scranton Native

I am particularly pleased with this review from Marybeth VanWinkle, the Editor of "The Searcher," the newsletter of the Northeast PA Genealogical Society, and a resident of South Scranton.

Pemberley Remembered is a precious jewel of a novel. Like a carefully cut stone, it can be read from many angles, each presenting a different perspective, yet no single one detracts from the cohesive beauty of the whole. It is a love story, a mystery, and a glimpse into two separate historical time periods in which the protagonists are struggling against traditions and mores of the past while attempting to live their lives according to an emerging set of values.The main character, Maggie Joyce, is typical of many young people who are anxious to try their wings in the great world outside of their hometowns. Given the opportunity to work for the government after World War II in Europe, she believes that she is leaving behind the predictability and inevitability of what her life would have been had she stayed in her little village of Minooka, PA, a depressed mining town, where anthracite coal was once king. Most of the residents are of Irish descent, as well as strictly observant Catholics. There was no need for police or constables because the parish priest wielded all the power, both temporal and spiritual. Maggie’s memories are both nostalgic and painful: her hardworking mother, hard-drinking father and their large brood of children. Maggie doesn’t want to be defined by the parameters of Minooka. She chooses to go, first to Germany and then to England, to work in a post-war administrative office.Maggie is, at heart, a romantic. From childhood, she had read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice enough times to have memorized most of it. By coincidence, she meets the Crowells, who seem to have amazing first-hand knowledge of the book, as well as the real people about whom the book was written. As Maggie gets to know the Crowells, she is introduced to yet another new world, one of gracious and elegant living of the years before World War I, as well as the horrors of the war itself.While the Crowells slowly feed Maggie the story of Elizabeth Garrison and William Lacey, Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, she acquires a boyfriend, Rob McAllister, a hero with a degree of status having been a navigator on a B-17 bomber in World War II. After months of courtship, Maggie learns that Rob has not mentioned their relationship to his family because she is a Catholic and his people are Lutherans. Long before the advent of ecumenism, this would have ended any prospect of marriage. Yet Darcy overcame the differences in society that separated him from Elizabeth. Can Rob overcome the differences between Maggie and him?Pemberley Remembered is absorbing, amusing and very cleverly written. The different styles of writing in the book lend an air of realism to the plot. There are letters, both contemporary and historical, and old diary entries. It combines three time periods successfully without causing confusion for the reader. It has a strong love story and page-turning mystery. For readers who are not sure which genre they wish to read, there is mystery, romance and history enough to go around for everyone

Jane Austen, Best Seller

Because of the internet, it is now possible for people from around the world to come together to discuss their favorite books. In my case, the internet has provided me with an opportunity to share my love of Jane Austen novels, especially Pride and Prejudice, with other Austen devotees. Although the author died in 1817, her masterpiece has never been out of print. Her novel has always been available to anyone who is looking for a timeless love story written with a light hand, an eye for detail, and a love of language. In 2003, Pride and Prejudice sold 110,000 copies, outselling mystery writer John Grisham. Recently, it has inspired a motion picture starring Keira Knightley, a miniseries with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, as well as a film with an Indian twist, Bride and Prejudice.For one of the most famous writers in the English language, Jane Austen did not want her identity to become known. When Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813, more than 15 years after Miss Austen first put pen to paper, she identified herself only as “The Author of Sense and Sensibility.” The reason was simple. Women whose identities were published usually did so to make money because of financial difficulties. A lady, such as Miss Austen, did not write for profit but only for her family's amusement or personal gratification.When Pride and Prejudice first appeared in print two years before the Battle of Waterloo brought an end to the Age of Napoleon, Miss Austen was not interested in writing about the epic events then engulfing all of Europe even though two of her brothers were British naval officers fighting the French. What interested her were the idiosyncrasies of the four and twenty families which made up her neighborhood. As Mr. Bennet so brilliantly put it, “For what do we live, but to make sport of our neighbors and laugh at them in our turn.”When Jane Austen died at the age of 42, the author left behind her a remarkable body of work that had been a perfect fit for the Regency Era. However, when Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, the country was ready to put behind it the decadence associated with the Prince Regent and his friends. More serious works, such as the Bronte sisters’ Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, better suited the atmosphere created by England’s young queen. The Victorians would not have permitted Lydia and Wickham’s transgressions to go unpunished. They would have had Lydia Bennet dying in the snow on the road to Longbourn.It wasn’t until the early 20th Century that audiences rediscovered Jane Austen’s works. Recognizing her genius, Pride and Prejudice was included in the curricula of many high school English classes which is where I first met Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet nearly 40 years ago. Like so many others, I too was inspired by Miss Austen. The results are Pemberley Remembered.

Interview with Fiction Scribe by Jaime (Australia)

This week I have a bonus interview to put up. I’ve talked to novelist Mary Simonsen who wrote the novel Pemberley Remembered. I hope you’ll join me in welcoming her here to the site.

For complete interview, please visit:
http://www.fictionscribe.com/mary-simonsens-pemberley-remembered/

IAG Donates Books to Brooke Medical Center

Another Independent Authors Guild member, Celia Hayes, and I hand delivered about 50 books to Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio on February 1. IAG authors mailed books to Celia, who lives in San Antonio, from all over the country, and the books were as diverse as our membership. BAMC's library was due for an infusion of new titles, and because some of the soldiers receiving treatment at the hospital will be there for months, it will give them a wider range of books to choose from. The IAG hopes to do this again in the second half of 2008. My thanks to my sister and brother-in-law, Kathe and Joe Battaglia, for their help in getting the books and me to BAMC.