Pamela Aidan - An Assembly Such as This

Bless you all! 

1. Darcy notes with pleasure that he’s assuming the same role of educator to Charles Bingley as his father once assumed for him. What does this insight tell you about Darcy and his relationship with the Bingleys?

2. Charles Bingley is often found expressing his gratitude to Darcy for his assistance, advice, and various acts of goodwill. But Darcy cuts him off every time. Why do you think he does this?

3. At the Assembly that opens the novel, Darcy claims that only the Bingley and Hurst sisters are worth dancing with or talking to. Why, then, does he take such joy in rebuffing Caroline’s advances?

4. Darcy often notes with disdain the “ambitions” of the various women he encounters at functions, both in Hertfordshire and London. Compare his two worst nightmares — Caroline Bingley and Mrs. Bennet, or “the tabby” as Darcy calls her.

5. At Squire Justin’s, Darcy first begins to wax poetic to himself about Elizabeth. He compares her eyes to fine French brandy, notes her fingers as “delicately formed,” her brow as “lovely,” and is otherwise enchanted by her. What is at war within Darcy? Why is he so resistant where Charles leaps forward with abandon?

6. When Darcy finally confesses to himself his feelings for Elizabeth, he checks himself by remembering “he had been well prepared from birth for his station in life and what was due his family.” What do you think he means by this?

7. After Darcy and Caroline compile an outrageous list of accomplishments that the perfect woman must possess, he muses, “Would the embodiment of that list offer a better surety of his future happiness than a woman who was true, pure, and lovely?” What do you think?

8. Fletcher and Darcy butt heads several times over the course of the novel. Do you sympathize with Fletcher, given his attempts to surreptitiously help his master find happiness? Or is he overstepping his bounds as a valet, selfishly attempting to reach “the pinnacle of his profession” through Darcy?

9. How do you feel about the ending of this first part of the trilogy? Darcy is introspective and aware of his dubious motives in keeping Bingley away from Hertfordshire, yet at novel’s end he is still continuing with them. Why?

10. What other Jane Austen novels would you like to see Aidan’s take on? If you were to write a spin-off, which novel or series would you choose and why?

11. In the original Pride and Prejudice, Darcy’s standoffishness is often attributed to his high social standing, as if snobbery were a part of being a gentleman. Now that you’ve been given a glimpse into what might have been going through Darcy’s head, what do you think of this opinion of him?

12. Do Austen’s characters, as portrayed by Aidan, live up to your expectations? How are they similar to their counterparts in Pride and Prejudice? How are they different?

1. Don your Regency best (the nicest gown in your closet will do — and don’t forget a bonnet!), whip out your finest china, and host your next Book Club meeting over tea and sweets that even Darcy wouldn’t pass up.

2. Call your local Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Board, or check out the Historical Museums’ Guide for Historical Museums in the United States (http://www.censusfinder.com/guide_to_historical_museums.htm) and the National Register of Historic Places (http://www.cr.nps.gov/places.htm) to find a grand estate open to the public in your region. Have the members of your Club meet there for a tour through the high life. Can’t you just imagine the ladies strolling down that carpeted marble staircase?

3. Spend some time browsing the Internet checking out the many Austen fansites, such as The Republic of Pemberley (http://www.pemberley.com), Misjudgments (http://www.dreamcreations.net/pride/), and http://www.visitprideandprejudice.com.

An Assembly Such as This is your first novel. Have you ever written fiction before the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy?

No, the trilogy is my first venture into fiction or extended writing of any kind beyond college papers.

What inspired you to begin writing fanfiction for Pride and Prejudice?

Pride and Prejudice has been my favorite literary novel since high school, one that I returned to again and again, but I believe the credit for turning me into a writer belongs to the BBC/A&E version produced in 1995 and the director and actors who created the first truly faithful rendition ever attempted. It was a marvelous, inspiring interpretation. Further, it was Colin Firth’s performance that really opened up my eyes. Darcy is so sketchy in Austen and very unlikable, but Firth’s acting brought to the fore intriguing suggestions of who Darcy might really be. Darcy’s side of the story suddenly begged to be explored. I had hoped someone would take up the challenge, but it seemed that if I wanted his side of the story, I’d have to write it myself! Believe me, it was with great fear and trembling — I have immense respect for Austen — and a certain amazement at my own audacity that I began this “traipsing after Jane!”

Besides leading to independent spin-off novels, what role do you think fanfiction plays in the world of books and publishing?

Fanfiction can revive interest in the original novels from which they are derived, bringing them back into public awareness after decades or a century or more of neglect. It breathes new life into older stories and reintroduces the great characters of literature. The part fanfiction has to play is that by appropriating riveting characters and plot outline, people, who may never have thought to try to write, learn the craft from an author they admire.

How do you think working as a librarian influenced your work as an author?

My work as a librarian gave me a tools with which to evaluate my writing and the perspective to step away from the author role into the critic’s role.

Even though the Regency is long ago and far away, there is much in this novel for readers to connect to, especially the universal humanity of its characters. Which character do you most identify with?

I suppose that the character I most identify with would have to be Darcy himself, not that I see myself as Darcy or having his problems. In the course of writing the trilogy, he became as well-known to me as my own sons. In a way, I felt like Darcy’s mother, intensely interested in his well-being and ultimate happiness — that he, in fact, “turns out well.”

What, in your opinion, made Mr. Darcy the perfect choice for the novel’s main character?

Darcy was the perfect choice because he wins Austen’s most beloved and admired character by achieving a near complete reversal in his outlook and behavior that is never disclosed. It takes more than fascination or infatuation to effect such a deep-seated change that would cause a man to succor his worst enemy with no hope of appreciation or reward.

Many female readers love Jane Austen because of her witty, strong female characters. Why do you think your readers respond to Austen’s (and your) male characters so well?

Austen’s females don’t compromise their characters or their sense of what is right in the face of pressure or to attract a man and are admired for it by her male characters. Austen’s heroes actively pursue this kind of woman, women who are worthy of their respect, and they win them at the price of changing and growing. Although there might be some initial resistance or blindness to this necessity, they eventually do it and gladly in a way that affirms both their own self-worth as well as the supreme worth of their object. There’s a hunger among modern women — and it seems to be international — to be seen as such a treasure worth winning at any price.

Jane Austen is often celebrated as one of the original “women’s fiction” writers. Which Austen novel is your favorite, and why?

Pride and Prejudice is my favorite because the characters’ strengths and flaws are so well-matched. The manner of discovery and resolution of those flaws leads the reader to know that Darcy and Elizabeth’s marriage will be one of equals not only in wit and intelligence, but in humility, grace, and love. They will do very well!

We hear that you owe your marital happiness to Jane Austen. How did you meet your husband?

I was living in Georgia and halfway through the online writing of the second book in my trilogy, Duty and Desire, I received my first fan letter from a man. I had received many letters of appreciation, but this was the first from someone who communicated appreciation and criticism in a very thoughtful, insightful manner. He lived in Idaho and his fascination with Austen had begun just before the A&E movie came out when one of his daughters strongly suggested he read Pride and Prejudice. He did and then eagerly devoured her remaining books and fell in love with the movie. He then began to search the Internet for more about Austen, discovered my work at The Republic of Pemberley, and wrote of his pleasure in my story. I wrote back thanking him for his male perspective, especially as I was presuming to write from a man’s point of view. His next communication to me was written as Darcy! What a shock to open up an e-mail from my own character commending me on the job I was doing creating his life! We continued to correspond about the story (Michael writing as himself) and then eventually on a personal level for almost four years before we ever met. A year after we met, I moved from Georgia to Idaho and we were married. We share so many things and are extremely happy with each other! Women have asked me where to find a Darcy; I tell them he’s already taken!

What can readers expect to see from you next?

Many readers have begged for more about Darcy and Elizabeth, of course, but they have demanded more about the characters which I have created as well. It is my intent to explore Lord Dyfed Brougham’s mysterious life and his intentions toward Georgiana Darcy in the midst of the changes brought by the end of the Napoleonic Wars and its effect on the entire Darcy family.