Rational Creatures Blog Tour: Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

Following the official launch of Rational Creatures yesterday, we are joined by prominent Austenesque and newest member of Jane Austen Variations, the one and only Joana Starnes. As you know, Joana has been a regular visitor to My Love for Jane Austen with four visits and counting including today's guest post. Check out her short introduction and a brilliant excerpt from her story called Charlotte's Comforts. Then be sure to comment in order to participate in the awesome giveaway below. Welcome back, Joana!

Guest Post

       Rational Creatures — what a great theme for Christina Boyd's latest anthology! The Austen heroine I chose to write about was Charlotte Collins née Lucas, and at a first glance we might wonder, is Charlotte a truly rational creature, or just a coldly practical one? Is marrying a pompous and selfish fool like Mr Collins a rational choice?

       Perhaps not — but what other choices did Charlotte have? She could become a fool's chattel or remain a spinster in her father's house, with no other expectations for the future than to be tolerated in the home of one of her siblings when her father passed away. So, wasn't it a rational choice for her to try to better herself by any means possible? Mr Collins would inherit Longbourn, and until then, he could offer her just what Charlotte told Elizabeth she wanted: not romance, but a comfortable home.

       Eventually, the comfortable home is hers, and Charlotte sets about to manage it, and manage her weak-minded husband as well. So, rather than playing the part of the archetypal Regency female who sees marriage as her only object in life (however unappealing the partner and however small the chances of happiness), Charlotte is a Rational Creature who uses any means at her disposal to fight the system from within and carve a place for herself in a world that left but few places for women.

Excerpt

       The world is misaligned. It has not changed in the two decades that have elapsed since Miss Wollstonecraft penned her courageous writings, and who knows if it ever will? Until it does — if it does — the only way women can rise in the world is by marriage, and those of us who cannot boast an independent income, or a large dowry have but our charms to recommend us.

       What is to be done when one has no charms to speak of? What of those who, like me, enter the marriage mart with no dowry, no gift for witty repartee, a figure resembling a freshly-hewn plank, limp, sandy hair, a poor complexion and features as plain as they come? What should those wretched creatures do but grab the first eligible option that comes their way? And if he should be tedious, selfish and weak-headed, at least one might take comfort in the fact that he is neither cruel nor vicious, and that he shows himself eminently manageable by a keener wit and a careful hand.

       'Tis no concern of mine that Elizabeth's new husband is endowed with very different qualities, and thus her domestic joys will be of a vastly different kind. I shall be happy for her. I shall, so help me. And I shall make the most of what I am given. Who can be expected to do any more than that?

Book Blurb

"But I hate to hear you talking so, like a fine gentleman, and as if women were all fine ladies, instead of rational creatures. We none of us expect to be in smooth water all our days." — Persuasion

Jane Austen: True romantic or rational creature? Her novels transport us back to the Regency, a time when well-mannered gentlemen and finely-bred ladies fell in love as they danced at balls and rode in carriages. Yet her heroines, such as Elizabeth Bennet, Anne Elliot and Elinor Dashwood, were no swooning, fainthearted damsels in distress. Austen's novels have become timeless classics because of their biting wit, honest social commentary, and because she wrote of strong women who were ahead of their day. True to their principles and beliefs, they fought through hypocrisy and broke social boundaries to find their happily-ever-after.

In the third romance anthology of The Quill Collective series, sixteen celebrated Austenesque authors write the untold histories of Austen's brave adventuresses, her shy maidens, her talkative spinsters and her naughty matrons. Peek around the curtain and discover what made Lady Susan so wicked, Mary Crawford so capricious and Hettie Bates so in need of Emma Woodhouse's pity.

Rational Creatures is a collection of humourous, poignant and engaging short stories set in Georgian England that complement and pay homage to Austen's great works and great ladies who were, perhaps, the first feminists in an era that was not quite ready for feminism.

"Make women rational creatures, and free citizens, and they will become good wives; — that is, if men do not neglect the duties of husbands and fathers." — Mary Wollstonecraft

Book Links

Amazon  |  Kindle

Author Bio

Joana Starnes lives in the south of England with her family. Over the years, she has swapped several hats — physician, lecturer, clinical data analyst — but feels most comfortable in a bonnet. She has been living in Georgian England for decades in her imagination and plans to continue in that vein till she lays hands on a time machine.

She is the author of eight Austen-inspired novels: From This Day Forward ~ The Darcys of Pemberley, The Subsequent Proposal, The Second Chance, The Falmouth Connection, The Unthinkable Triangle, Miss Darcy's Companion, Mr Bennet's Dutiful Daughter and The Darcy Legacy, and one of the contributing authors to The Darcy Monologues, Dangerous to Know and the upcoming Rational Creatures.

Author Links

Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Facebook  |  Twitter

Giveaway

One massive grand prize is offered for this worldwide giveaway as part of the blog tour. The 21 lovely items are:

• Winner's choice of one title from each authors' backlist in any format (16 paperback/e-book/audiobook editions)
• The Quill Collective anthologies (e-books/audiobooks) comprising The Darcy Monologues, Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen's Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues and Rational Creatures
• Our bespoke T-shirt/soap/candle
• A brick in the winner's name to benefit #BuyABrick for Chawton House

All that is required of you is to leave a comment on any one of the scheduled stops including this post. You are welcome to comment on all of the blogs participating in the tour as it will certainly increase your chances at winning. After the conclusion of the tour, Random Name Picker will be used to pick the lucky winner.