Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart

Mr. Darcy Broke My Heart

After agreeing to present a paper to a summer symposium at Oxford on her ailing sister's behalf, Claire Prescott is thrown into an adventure with a bunch of Jane Austen-loving women searching for their Mr. Darcy, but when she meets a mysterious women who claims to have an early version of Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Claire learns that love isn't logical and that a true hero can appear in the most unexpected of places. Original. 50,000 first printing. $50,000 ad/promo. The follow up to Jane Austen Ruined My Life (2009) finds recently unemployed Claire Prescott heading to England to give a paper for her sister at a Jane Austen seminar. Not an Austen scholar by any means, Claire feels out of place at Oxford among the learned Austenites until she’s approached by elderly Harriet Dalrymple, who claims to be in possession of a partial manuscript of First Impressions, an early version of Pride and Prejudice. When she shows Claire the manuscript bit by bit, Claire is surprised to find a very different love story for Elizabeth Bennet unfolding on the page. Claire is questioning her own relationship with her stable but sports-obsessed boyfriend, Neil, while engaging in a serious flirtation with James, a handsome, inscrutable publisher. When Claire presents her sister’s paper and finds some startling parallels to her own life in it, she realizes she has some serious reevaluating to do. Readers who enjoyed Pattillo’s debut will find many similarities (and one familiar character) here, while Claire’s journey of self-discovery is undeniably enjoyable. --Kristine Huntley Beth Pattillo's love for Jane Austen was born when she studied at the University of London, Westfield College, for one glorious semester. Her passion quickly became an obsession, necessitating regular trips to England over the past twenty years. When not dreaming of life 'across the pond,' Beth lives in Nashville with her husband and two children.