Dear all,
I am very glad to have a first Ausenesque novel by a new author: MJ Stratton. As you have read on the title, her first Austenesque baby is The Redemption of Lydia Wickham. What is there not to like? You may like, dislike, pity or even hate Lydia, however, she was too young and she was wild. I do not think that she can change a lot, but time and life experience will help. Don’t you think?
I may not be the most book-learned girl in the country, but I would like to think that I am wiser than I was, and much less silly.
Lydia Wickham used to think herself rather clever, having caught a handsome man and being the first to marry of her sisters. Soon, however, she finds herself trapped in a marriage to a man who is not what she thought him to be. Her pride keeps her from revealing her plight to her sisters and family, suffering in silence for years.
Unexpectedly, Lydia is freed from her marriage and begins life away from her misery in Newcastle. The changes in her are apparent to most, but there are those that resist seeing her for who she is and not who she was. As Lydia seeks to reconcile the girl she was with the woman she has become, she reunites with her loved ones and makes many friends along the way. But will Lydia get what she always wanted? Will she have what her sisters have, that which she craves desperately? Will Lydia Wickham find love of her own?
The Redemption of Lydia Wickham is a full length novel centered on the idea that even a foolish 16 year old girl can grow up and become wiser.
Warning: this book contains brief, non-graphic mentions of spousal abuse and assault
What do you think? The last question is key: will she find love of her own? I hope so.
MJ Stratton grew up in a small town in rural Utah, moving back in 2021 after being away for ten years. Her love of Jane Austen was born at a young age when she read Pride and Prejudice for the first time. Her first ever exposure to JAFF was watching Lost in Austen as a teen. MJ recently left her teaching job to be at home with her four children, and hopefully pursue her passion for writing more fully. After feeding her love of books by editing and beta reading for years, she hopes to commit more fully to penning her own stories. MJ loves food, growing things, and the quiet of the countryside. You can find MJ on Facebook and Amazon.
If you are already intrigued, you can buy the book here among other sites:
Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon ES Amazon DE
So much to discover! Follow the blog tour 🙂
…But do not Faint
Babblings of a Bookworm
So Little Time… So Many Books
From Pemberley to Milton
My Random Musings
Interests of a Jane Austen Girl
What can be more helpful than an inside to the book? That’s why I love exceprts so much. Moreover, here we have the beginning of Chapter 1. Have fun!
Lydia Wickham checked the marks in her journal once more. With more than three months since the last date indicating the arrival of her courses, she was now very sure of her suspicions.
The past weeks had seen a complete lack of appetite on her part as she battled a constant nausea. The smells of the horses in the street coming through her window were enough to cause her to lose the contents of her stomach when she did manage to keep something down. At twenty years of age, Mrs. Wickham was not ignorant of how a child was created. On the contrary, she knew the mechanics well since her husband could be somewhat demanding on occasion. The symptoms of pregnancy, on the other hand, were a complete mystery to her. If her aunt had explained the symptoms when Lydia married, the explanation had been quite cheerfully ignored.
Resolutely, Lydia checked the money left in their monthly household account. Due to her circumstances as the wife of a poor officer in the Regulars, she had been forced to learn economy. Her childhood habits of buying anything that caught her fancy had by necessity been put aside after the first few months of her marriage. To put it plainly, they simply could not afford much, especially frivolities. After counting the notes left in the account book, Lydia was relieved to find she had enough for a visit to the midwife that lived in Newcastle. Satisfied that the sum would not jeopardize her carefully planned household budget, she set out to see Mrs. Jones. After being examined by the midwife, Lydia’s suspicions were confirmed. She was with child.
She returned home filled with an odd mixture of feelings. There was some level of anticipation, along with distress and anxiety, and a little trepidation. Both Jane and Elizabeth had been blessed with sons within the first year of their marriage, and each had a daughter that came in the years after. On the rare occasion that Lydia received letters from her sisters, she read of the contentment in their marriages and the love their husbands had for them and her nieces and nephews. Lydia knew no such happiness. Maybe with this child, she might experience some part of what her sisters had.
I like this beginning and I want to know more of how she freed herself of her marriage, because there is only one way that comes to mind right now… Let’s just read the book! 🙂
MJ Stratton is giving away 3 ebook copies during this blog tour. Check the link below and follow instructions. All the best!
my vices and weaknesses 