Widowhood and Second Chances at Love - an Editorial Review of "Marianne: A Sense & Sensibility Sequel"

Book Blurb: Coming soon!

Book Buy Link: Follow the author for this release at www.alicemcveigh.com

Author Bio:

Alice McVeigh has been published by Orion/Hachette in contemporary fiction, by UK's Unbound in speculative fiction (writing as Spaulding Taylor) and by Warleigh Hall Press in historical fiction. Her books have been in the last seven for the UK Selfies Book Award (2024), been a runner-up for Foreword Indies' "Book of the Year" and joint runner-up in Writers Digest International Book Awards. Three of her novels have been Publishers Weekly's starred "Editors Picks" - one was a BookLife quarterfinalist. McVeigh's multi-award-winning Austenesque series won First Place for Book Series (historical) in Chanticleer's International Book Awards 2023.

A long-term Londoner, McVeigh was born in Seoul, South Korea, and grew up in Thailand, Singapore, and Myanmar, where her father was a US diplomat. After spending her teenage years in McLean, Virginia, and achieving a degree with distinction in cello performance at the internationally renowned Jacobs School of Music, she came to London to study cello with William Pleeth. McVeigh spent over fifteen years performing worldwide with orchestras including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic, and Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s Orchestre Revolutionaire et Romantique.

She was first published in the late1990s, when her two contemporary novels (WHILE THE MUSIC LASTS and GHOST MUSIC) were published by Orion Publishing to excellent reviews, including: “The orchestra becomes a universe in microcosm; all human life is here . . . McVeigh succeeds in harmonising a supremely comic tone with much darker notes”(The Sunday Times). And: “McVeigh is a professional cellist and is thus able to describe with wry authority the extraordinary life of a London orchestra. This is a very enjoyable novel, and not quite as light as it pretends to be” (The Sunday Telegraph). Inspired by her life as a touring cello professional, both novels have been recently released in completely new editions on Smashwords.

Alice has long been married to Simon McVeigh, Professor Emeritus at the University of London; their daughter Rachel has a Presidential Scholarship at Harvard in Chinese Lit. (Ph.D). When not playing cello or writing, Alice is generally smiting tennis balls at the Bromley Tennis Centre. (Often far too hard. As Rachel observed when aged four, “My mum hits the ball farther than anybody!”)

Editorial Review:

Title: Marianne

Author: Alice McVeigh

Rating: 4.5

"Marianne" by Alice McVeigh is a captivating historical romance that is set in early 19th-century England, detailing the customs, fashion, and social constraints of the time. Through its protagonist, Marianne Dashwood, Colonel Brandon’s young widow, it focuses on widowhood, second chances, and the possibility of a second love.

‘I knew the Colonel well, at one time,’ said Crawford.

Very eagerly, ‘Did you, sir?’

‘Long before your marriage, we were often together, at Brooks’s and at my uncle’s house.’

‘How strange,’ cried Marianne, who had taken an instantaneous dislike to Admiral Crawford, ‘that I never heard that your uncle and Brandon were acquainted!’

‘It was many years ago. How long do you intend to remain in town, if I may ask?’

‘Long enough to attend some concerts and plays – and to make a change from the country.’

‘I trust that these will answer – yet dare not detain you longer, when so many must be longing to renew your acquaintance!’

The dialogue here depicts Marianne's unguarded eagerness and the still raw feeling she has for her late husband and how much of an emotional trigger this still is. Her response here raises the question of whether she will be able to maintain her defensive walls against potential love suggestions. The statement "Long before your marriage" feels manipulative in the most socially acceptable way while also revealing the speaker's careful connection with the protagonist. Here, the author uses complex sentences that feel strategic while employing a structure that introduces doubt and social friction. the pacing here is swift, and the dialogue feels designed to give the reader a very clear and immediate impression of both characters.

"And that thought shocks me more than all the rest. Crawford behaved, by Mrs Rushworth, much worse than Willoughby ever had towards me! I was never seduced, abducted, ruined!

Oh! – what kind of reprehensible person am I that such wickedness should possess such appalling appeal?"

This is a pivotal moment of internal crisis for the protagonist that is dominated by exclamation marks which mimic a gasp or a cry, and which then translates emotional pain directly onto the page. It hinges on the juxtaposition of opposing concepts: "wickedness" and "appeal," modified by the intensely negative adjective "appalling," creating a powerful paradox that is core to the protagonist's future decisions. This is a passage that is designed to evoke a specific emotion in the reader through the impression that she is terrified by her own capacity to be attracted to this man.

"In either case, Crawford will never return. And he has been, of late, so very strong and sure a friend that I cannot bear the thought! – Yet while I suspect that I have always understood Willoughby, I find Crawford almost impossible to read. What his expression meant… I cannot tell! He might care for me, or he might be merely amusing himself – with the drama of the trial,

as well as with me. A man such as Crawford might possess a heart, but it is certainly not an organ to give him much unease. Nor is he always entirely serious… Despite all this, I must

admit, I do care for Crawford. But I cannot be in love with him – else Willoughby could never so powerfully have affected me yesterday! (Or was that only the resonance of the past?)"

This is an entry that revels Marianne attempting to use logic to disses her feelings, only to find herself more entangled and confused than ever. The entire passage is built on a framework of contrastive conjunctions: "that," "yet," "or," "but," "else," "despite," which pit clauses and ideas against each other. Each of her positive thoughts about Crawford ("strong and sure a friend") is immediately countered by a doubt ("Yet... impossible to read") and each admission of care ("I do care for Crawford") is instantly qualified by a denial of love ("But I cannot be in love with him"). Here it is clear that her thoughts are not linear but make up a series of conflicts and corrections. The pacing is that of frantic internal debate and the reader is shown that this is no longer a simple choice between a good or bad man, but a choice between two different parts of herself.

"Marianne" by Alice McVeigh is a real standout that uniquely tackles a more complex and often overlooked period of life after the happily ever after. Its theme on breaking out of widowhood gives it a depth and emotional weight that goes beyond a simple romance or a fan fiction. Of worth mention is that it unites Jane Austen's characters into a single, believable world. This aspect makes it top tier in its genre and a masterpiece that respects and expands upon its source material. Any devoted Jane Austen fan who has ever longed to step back into her world shouldn't miss it.

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