Freedom & Mirth: Or, A Pride and Prejudice Serio-Comic Journey Book One

Darcy and the gang as you’ve never seen them before—in this, a poignant and hilarious romp through the land of Austen and beyond. Love child? Duels? Opium eating? Thievery? Disguises? What if the main characters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice misbehaved in ways that revealed their eccentricities, their strengths and their weaknesses and made them even more human, more real to us? This variation of Pride and Prejudice features a motley group of characters, many of whom are familiar to you, and introduces some new and unforgettable ones, including a mystical, beautiful nun, an irrepressible little girl, an enigmatic pirate and a strong-minded widow.The story picks up during the action in Kent, England, after Elizabeth Bennet has soundly rejected Fitzwilliam Darcy’s third-rate marriage proposal. Now enter another dimension, where our down-and-out manly trio—Fitzwilliam Darcy, Charles Bingley and Colonel Fitzwilliam—are slumming it in Sherwood Forest, disguised as laborers, and enjoying many a rough and tumble. Next, it’s the ladies’ turn, where Elizabeth Bennet takes on Caroline Bingley in a petticoat duel that Longbourn will never forget. Meanwhile, Colonel Fitzwilliam and his new sidekick embark on a journey to Lisbon, Portugal, to search for something he has lost. But then, a tragic event in London changes all, whereupon the second half of the story takes many an unexpected twist and turn.Some of the characters have a hidden self, but due to the rigidity and rules of polite society during the Regency Era, they must keep things on the low down. But secrets are meant to be divulged. Written in a unique voice using the vernacular of the Regency Era, with a tinge of modern sensibility, Freedom & Mirth mixes the buffa and seria, the underlying question being, can people really change themselves by summoning the courage to live the lives they are meant to live?