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This Dream Team of authors--Elizabeth Adams, Karen M Cox, J. Marie Croft, Amy D'Orazio, Leigh Dreyer, Jenetta James, Christina Morland, Beau North, and Joana Starnes--joined me on another adventure with no promise of success but countless hopes. I am forever indebted for their creativity, inspiration, great suggestions, and adherence to schedule.
In my previous anthologies, we were blessed to have such stellar Austen academics like Dr. Claudine DiMuzio and Dr. Devoney Looser write our forewords, and it was doubly important to find someone who really understood Austen, especially Elizabeth Bennet, for this project as well. I had heard that New York Times bestselling Regency romance author Tessa Dare had once upon a time written Jane Austen fanfiction. Beau North suggested we ask her to write the foreword. You might say we were audacious to even ask but, in the temperament of Lizzy Bennet, our "courage always rises..." Tessa's love of Elizabeth Bennet and her deft understanding for the scope of this anthology left me wholly gratified, knowing we asked the right person to introduce this fifth anthology of the QuillCollective series.
Please accept these stories in the same affectionate spirit they were written. Elizabeth:Obstinate Headstrong Girl is dedicated to "the Elizabeth Bennet in all of us" —I'd like to think she resides in our hearts, even only a little spark of courage, wit, loyalty--and whether we reveal her to the outside world or not, she is there inspiring us to find our own felicity and dignity. --Christina Boyd, editor
Reviewed by Heather Stockard for Readers' Favorite
Elizabeth: Obstinate, Headstrong Girl by Tessa Dare, Joana Starnes, Amy D'Orazio, et al. is a collection of short stories that retell, in part, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Written by ten different authors, the stories place Elizabeth Bennet and her friends and family in various time periods, including Austen’s own, and in various circumstances. Each story presents a different take on Elizabeth and Darcy’s romance. Some authors place them in modern times and places, while others leave them in Regency England. Elizabeth is, in one story, a stage actress in the 1930s, and in another, a waitress working her way through college in modern Oklahoma. The stories set in Regency England often explore alternate paths Elizabeth and Darcy’s courtship could have taken.
This anthology comes from the pens of ten established and talented romance authors, many of whom have published Austen-related works before. The stories are all beautifully written. Each one feels true to the time in which it is set. The language and speech patterns all feel authentic and natural, which can be a difficult thing to accomplish. In all the stories, both Lizzie and Darcy are, for the most part, well-drawn and realistic. The supporting cast of Jane, Bingley, Collins, the Bennet family, Georgiana, etc. are used well too. It isn’t Jane Austen and hardcore Austen fans might not appreciate some of the liberties that were taken with the personalities and time periods, but less picky readers will appreciate and enjoy Elizabeth: Obstinate, Headstrong Girl for what it is: a fun and interesting collection of stories that take a different look at characters we all know and love.
