The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen
Read The Missing Manuscript of Jane Austen Online
Authors: Syrie James
“A novel within a novel honoring what we love most about Austen: her engaging stories, her rapier wit, and her swoon-worthy romance…Pitch-perfect, brilliantly crafted.”
—Austenprose
PRAISE FOR THE NOVELS OF SYRIE JAMES
T
HE
L
OST
M
EMOIRS OF
J
ANE
A
USTEN
“This fascinating novel will make readers swear there was such a man as Mr. Ashford and that there is such a memoir…Tantalizing, tender, and true to the Austen mythos, James’s book is highly recommended.”
—Library Journal
(starred review)
“James creates a life story for Austen that illuminates how her themes and plots may have developed…The reader blindly pulls for the heroine and her dreams of love, hoping against history that Austen might yet enjoy the satisfactions of romance.”
—The Los Angeles Times
“Austen and Mr. Ashford seem a perfect match in matters of head and heart…Though she hews closely to the historic record, [James] creates…will-they-or-won’t-they suspense that culminates with a proposal and an ‘intensely’ kissed Austen. It’s a pleasant addition to the ever-expanding Austen-revisited genre.”
—Publishers Weekly
T
HE
S
ECRET
D
IARIES OF
C
HARLOTTE
B
RONTË
“For fans of biographical tales and romance, Syrie’s story of Charlotte offers it all: longing and yearning, struggle and success, the searing pain of immeasurable loss, and the happiness of a love that came unbidden and unsought. I did not want this story to end.”
—
Jane Austen’s World
“James adapts Brontë’s voice, telling Brontë’s story as though it came straight from the great writer…James offers a satisfying—if partly imagined—history of the real-life experiences that inspired Brontë’s classic novels.”
—BookPage
D
RACULA
, M
Y
L
OVE
“James gives readers an intriguing alternate theory as to the events that occurred in Stoker’s classic horror tale while at the same time delivering a spooky yet thoroughly romantic love story.”
—Chicago Tribune
“Syrie James weaves a tale of quite a different Dracula: a mouthwateringly handsome, powerful, cultured, and passionate one…We will never think of Dracula in the same way ever again. I…Loved…It!”
—
American Book Center
N
OCTURNE
“Lyrical, lush, and intensely romantic, this infinitely touching, bittersweet story…will weave its way into readers’ hearts, with its complex characters and compelling emotions sure to linger long after the last page has been turned.”
—Library Journal
“A gloriously romantic story! Near-death experiences, a charming and enigmatic stranger, concealed dark secrets, forbidden love…An exquisite feast of passion, turmoil, adventure, and intrigue.”
—Austenesque Reviews
F
ORBIDDEN
“A YA novel that hits all the right notes…If you enjoy angels, ‘forbidden’ romance, and dashing heroes, then this should be added to your TBR.”
—
USA Today
“Hands down the most fascinating book I have read in quite a while…You will find yourself wrapped up in their world, indulging in every kiss, and holding your breath with every twist.”
—
Luxury Reading
THE
M
ISSING
M
ANUSCRIPT
OF
J
ANE
A
USTEN
S Y R I E J A M E S
BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK
THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
This book is an original publication of The Berkley Publishing Group.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
Copyright © 2012 by Syrie James.
“Readers Guide” copyright © 2012 by Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Cover design by Lesley Worrell.
Interior text design by Kristin del Rosario.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
BERKLEY
®
is a registered trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
The “B” design is a trademark of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley trade paperback edition / January 2013
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
James, Syrie.
The missing manuscript of Jane Austen / Syrie James.—Berkley trade paperback ed.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-1-101-61885-1
1. Austen, Jane, 1775–1817—Manuscripts—Fiction. 2. Fiction—Authorship—Fiction. 3. Treasure troves—Fiction. 4. Mystery fiction. 5. Love stories. I. Title.
PS3610.A457M57 2013
813’.6—dc23 2012036733
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
| ALWAYS LEARNING | PEARSON |
For Yakun and Yvonne, who have brought such love and light to my life. You are lovely, graceful, gifted, dedicated, loving, and exceptional women, and I am so honored and grateful to be your “other mother.”
And for all the Jane Austen fans across the globe, who share my reverence and passion for Jane, and always wished there was a seventh novel. This book is for you. I humbly pray that I did her justice.
T
HE MINUTE
I
SAW THE LETTER
, I
KNEW IT WAS HERS.
There was no mistaking it: the salutation, the tiny, precise handwriting, the date, the content itself, all confirmed its ancient status and authorship.
I came upon it entirely by accident. It lay buried between the pages of a very old book of eighteenth-century British poetry that I’d found at a used bookstore in Oxford—an impulsive purchase I’d made to add to my library back home and to keep me company during a few days of sightseeing in England.
It was to be a quick trip—less than a week. When I’d learned that my boyfriend, Dr. Stephen Theodore, was attending a medical conference in London, I hadn’t been able to resist tagging along. Although I knew he’d be tied up almost the entire time, it was a great excuse to do some touring on my own. My first stop was Oxford, the site of my unfinished education. I still felt pangs about having to abandon my doctoral studies in En glish literature, and returning to the “city of dreaming spires”
filled me with nostalgia. I’d spent a lovely June afternoon and evening exploring my favorite old haunts—wishing, every step of the way, that I could have shared them with Stephen—but we kept in constant touch via e-mail, phone, and text.
I’d found the book in a dusty pile on a shop’s back table, unappreciated and ignored. I could see why. It wasn’t the prettiest of volumes. It was still in its original, temporary binding—the pages hastily sewn together inside a cheap, cardboardlike cover, with the title printed on a tiny paper label pasted on the spine. The publication date was missing, but I judged the book to be at least two hundred years old.
I didn’t have a chance to really study my new treasure until the morning after I’d bought it. I awoke to grey and stormy skies, and after a leisurely English breakfast at my B&B, I decided to wait out the rain with a cup of tea in my cozy little room. I sank down into a comfortable chair by the window, turned on the old-fashioned lamp, and carefully opened the aging volume.
The pages at the beginning were brown and soiled at the edges, but as I went further in they became clean and white, with only a light brown speckling in the margins. I slowly thumbed through the volume, smiling at the familiar, much-loved poems set in antique type. The edges of the pages were ragged where the original owner had used a knife to cut open the folds. Near the end of the book, I noticed that a few pages hadn’t been cut, but were still joined at the edge, creating a kind of pocket. I borrowed a letter opener from the B&B proprietor and gently sliced open the remaining pages. To my surprise, tucked in between the leaves of the last pocket, I discovered a single sheet of paper neatly folded into envelope shape and size.