The Road to Pemberley

Table of Contents

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Introduction

Congratulations! If you have purchased this book, you are now a member of an active culture, if you were not in fact one already: the culture of Jane Austen's writing. Recently, it has been particularly prolific, leading to the creation of this anthology to highlight some of the best short fiction drawn from literally thousands of stories written in the style of Jane Austen over the past twenty years, most of them in the last five.

This is not by any means a new social phenomenon. The first known spin-off of Jane Austen's work was published in 1913. Sybil G. Brinton's
Old Friends and New Fancies
sought to continue the adventures of characters from all six of Jane Austen's published novels in one book. Its commercial success is unknown, as very few editions of Brinton's book existed until it was reprinted in 1998, well after it had, like Austen's own work, fallen into the public domain.

The second spin-off was the vastly superior
Pemberley Shades
by Dorothy Bonavia-Hunt, which focused exclusively on the characters from
Pride and Prejudice
. This too went out of print except for a brief publication in the 1970s, and was revived again in 2007 by Laughing Man Publications, a press I created for the express purpose of republishing
Pemberley Shades
. The book's unavailability had made it the stuff of legends. After the text was digitalized, other publishers have done their own reprintings to return the novel to the public conversation.

The first wave of the real revival of Austen-inspired fiction began in 1995, when the BBC miniseries of
Pride and Prejudice
aired.
This time, aspiring authors had a friend called the Internet, and this friend could connect them to thousands and then millions of people who might be interested in reading their work for the cost of the modem and a small monthly fee. This was also when the technology for digital printing improved enough to make print-ondemand books possible; this took the publisher out of the equation and made self-publishing available to people other than the very rich. Such self-published Jane Austen novels made their appearance on the market in 1997 and 1998, while short-form fiction found its way onto organized online forums like
The Republic of Pemberley
and
The Derbyshire Writer's Guild
. This surge lasted a few years, then the enthusiasm retreated to the most loyal and dedicated fans.

When the second wave arrived with the big-screen adaptation of
Pride and Prejudice
, publishers were better prepared, and a good deal of previously self-published Jane Austen books were scooped up by traditional presses and republished. The Internet now spawned countless websites (a slight exaggeration—you actually
can
count the number of Austen sites in existence) and opportunities for writers.

Which is where I come in (because I am clearly the most important person here, not Jane Austen). When I saw the
Pride and Prejudice
movie in 2005, I was not unfamiliar with the story, having read the book in 1999 and seen the miniseries a few years after that. But while I simply liked previous incarnations, I was at a time in my life when, for some reason, Austen's words—or more accurately, Elizabeth and Darcy's—spoke to me as they have to countless (this time it is not an exaggeration) readers and viewers since the novel was first published in 1813. The presence of other Austen-inspired fiction by amateur—and some not very amateur—writers encouraged me to dip my pen into this type of historical fiction wholly unreserved (as the original draft of my first novel on
Fanfiction.net
makes obvious). Three years and ten manuscripts later, I had a book deal, a pile of
Pride and Prejudice
books on my shelf, and more English history tomes than is feasible for someone with an apartment in Manhattan.

I have never shied away from using the term “fan fiction” (or “fanfic”) to describe what it is we are reading here. It is a precise technical term: fiction written by fans of an original work. Since entering the publishing world, never have I seen so many euphemisms for the obvious: sequels, spin-offs, inspirations, retellings, reinventings, and “paraliterature.”

The last I encountered in a rather brusque manner. After my first book deal and my graduation from City College of New York with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, I made the traditional Austen pilgrimage to England, visiting the house where she did most of her writing in Chawton, her grave in Winchester, and the estate that probably served as the inspiration for Pemberley (and was in fact used for exterior shots in the 2005 movie), Chatsworth House. Most of the places I visited sought to cash in on the craze with every bit of paraphernalia possible, which is why I own a key chain with Jane Austen's image on one side and the opening line to
Pride and Prejudice
on the other, and a feathered pen that came in a package with an oil picture that is labeled as Mr. Darcy (but is obviously the likeness of Colin Firth).

At one of these locations, I pointed out the presence of some books on the shelf of the gift shop. “Oh, you've got fanfic! I love this stuff. You know, my own book—”

“It's not fan fiction!” the person working the register said, waving a finger in my direction. “It's
paraliterature
. We only sell books that are retellings from Darcy's point of view. The sequel stuff is junk!”

The technicalities of how this line was drawn eluded me, as one of the novels on the shelf featured a piece of
paraliterature
in which Darcy, Lord Byron, and several servants engaged in a well-written omnisexual orgy, but the implication was that that was somehow better than my little post-novel story and Jane Austen would be more approving of its existence. I decided not to mention this, as the mood was already confrontational and I still had things to buy in the shop.

Anyway, here's some fan fiction. Enjoy!

Marsha Altman

New York, New York, 2011

The Pemberley Ball

BY REGINA JEFFERS