A Writer in the Making - A Novel

Margaret Dashwood, sibling to Elinor and Marianne from Sense-and-Sensibility fame, it seems, wanted to become a writer. She had written numerous stories and plays (her puppet shows were charming), and excellent poetry. However, when she turns to writing prose fiction, her work is not as well received. She keeps her novel (Two Sisters) secret for as long as she can, but when its existence becomes known, problems arise. Lord Langford, a wealthy admirer of hers with a stake in publishing, has had her poetry published, to considerable acclaim. But publishers in England are on a knife-edge, and her publisher, Mowbray & Myers, needs a best-seller to avert financial ruin. While some are desperate to see Two Sisters published, there are others who would rather see it destroyed. In a bid to escape, Margaret Dashwood flees to Bath where she meets the enigmatic Mr Faraday who ends up with her manuscript; and a while later she falls in with Lady Pemberley who becomes an intimate friend. In this novel we meet familiar Austen characters such as Mrs Davies (formerly Anne Steele), Mr Willoughby, and the people at Delaford and Barton Park. We also meet two influential Palmer families. And then there is Miss Eliza Williams’s daughter, Isabella.