Tag Archives: Gabrielle Malcolm

SISTER SCRIBES: CASS GRAFTON ON THE ENDURING APPEAL OF DARCY

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As the 18th century drew to a close, a young Jane Austen was busy writing the first draft of a novel called First Impressions.

A parson’s daughter, she was growing up in the country idyll of rural Steventon, Hampshire, surrounded by a lively and intelligent family. As the new century dawned, however, Austen’s life underwent significant change, and it was 1812 before she put the finishing touches to First Impressions, now renamed Pride & Prejudice (publishing it in January 1813).

In There’s Something About Darcy, Dr Gabrielle Malcolm delves with a steady hand into how Pride & Prejudice’s hero, Fitzwilliam Darcy, has endured across the centuries, inspired other writers and why he continues to hold such appeal (and not just for those who adore Colin Firth’s visual interpretation and that infamous wet shirt scene).

The opening chapters begin with a fascinating and insightful look at the progression of Darcy’s interest in Elizabeth Bennet. Malcolm’s exploration of the confusion and contradiction of Darcy’s feelings is both fun to read and enlightening. This is a thorough analysis of the man and what he is experiencing, and those who love getting inside Darcy’s head will relish these chapters.

Subsequent chapters go on to examine in great depth how Jane Austen’s depiction of Darcy has influenced other writers – even those who were not known for admiring Austen’s works. Well-researched and informative chapters explore and analyse Darcy’s descendants across the nineteenth century, through to the Regency romances, on into the twentieth century and onwards to the present day.

There’s a fabulous chapter about Darcy on screen, exploring the various adaptations and Malcolm’s in-depth study will delight fans of any or all of these productions, from Laurence Oliver, David Rintoul, Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen’s more ‘traditional’ – I use the word loosely – interpretations to the more diverse eg Elliot Cowan’s in Lost in Austen and Sam Riley in Pride, Prejudice & Zombies.

A further chapter probes the interest in and fascination for ‘more’ Darcy, with an endless stream of Pride & Prejudice-inspired prequels, sequels and what ifs out there, and more coming every day, from the many authors (and for the many readers) who just can’t get enough of Darcy. This includes well-established authors not normally known for writing Austen-inspired works, from re-writes of Austen’s classics by eg Joanna Trollope and Curtis Sittenfeld, re-imaginations such as Longbourn by Jo Baker, to Death Comes to Pemberley, a ‘what-if sequel’ from the pen of P D James.

The final chapter is fittingly called ‘Unwavering, Enduring: Darcy – a hero for all time’, touching upon the more recent incarnations, from Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’ Diary series, the time-travel escapism of Lost in Austen and onwards to Bernie Su’s award-winning YouTube adaptation, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

As Malcolm says in her book, ‘Darcy as the influence for other prominent writers cements his significance further in a commercial and cultural context.’

It seems extremely fitting that a character from a book with the working title of First Impressions has left such a lasting impression upon generation after generation of writers and readers.

A must-have for any dedicated Jane Austen fan, Dr Gabrielle Malcolm’s There’s Something About Darcy is an informative, fascinating read, and I highly recommend it.

 

There’s Something About Darcy is available for pre-order through this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Theres-Something-About-Darcy-bewitching/dp/1911445561/

Dr Gabrielle Malcolm is a freelance writer and artist. She edited ‘Fan Phenomena: Jane Austen’ (Intellect Books), wrote three plays for Moon On A Stick children’s theatre company, and writes scripts for web series and short films for international clients. Her forthcoming non-fiction book, ‘There’s Something About Darcy’, is released on 11th November 2019 with Endeavour Quill.

 

SISTER SCRIBES GUEST: GABRIELLE MALCOLM ON THE MYTHS OF A WRITING LIFE

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I’m delighted to welcome author, Gaby Malcolm as our guest! She’s an inspiration to me, and here she’s sharing her thoughts on juggling being a writer with home life!

 

When I was asked if I would contribute a guest post I was very eager. When I thought about it for a bit I became less eager, and then plagued with doubts, and then I realised I was running out of time, and then I thought ‘commit something to paper, Gaby, get on with it,’ and then I put the kettle on, and then the cat distracted me, and then I woke up at four o’clock in the morning, and then there was a really interesting item on Woman’s Hour (Jenni Murray is SUCH a good interviewer!), and then …. and then ….

This will be a very skittish and disjointed piece, therefore. Forgive me.

See what I did there? Classic. I call it the ‘Visitor from Porlock’ effect. That’s when you explain how you would have done a lot more, only you were interrupted and you lost your flow, but it was going to be utterly brilliant. Thanks, Coleridge!

There is also the ‘Shakespeare In Love’ Syndrome. That’s when writers depict to the rest of the world how the work just flows from their pen as they sit in their little room, once inspiration strikes. That inspiration does not have to involve sex with Gwyneth Paltrow disguised as a boy. Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it.

It’s great when writers portray their process as something strange, easy, or magical.

As a tutor of writing students one of my main jobs is to debunk all these myths about the process. Budding writers sometimes believe they have failed at it if they can’t create a perfect, clean manuscript with the first draft. They think they lack the skills to write if it doesn’t just flow out. LOL is all I have to add to that.

The day I knew I could be a writer was the day I found out I realised I loved re-writes and editing. It’s just the best. I love composition, but when I get to re-writing my brilliant prose, I am happier than a pig in poop! It took me a while. For years I had an academic teaching and writing career. I wrote my PhD thesis during that time and it was then I understood the sheer level of effort and time it took to produce 80-90,000 words. When it was all over, however, I missed it something terrible!

When my life changed, personally and professionally, and the time came to try and reinvent myself, writing was the logical choice. I set myself goals to establish a proper career plan. I aimed to get a full-length book published and find an agent within the first four years, that would see my littlest boy ready to go to school. However, I achieved it within the first two years. A book rapidly followed by representation.

So, I had to juggle and do as much as I could with the children in childcare or at school. That has shaped the kind of writer I have become, needs must. I hit the ground running by 9.15am, once I have the house to myself and work through until 3pm. In that way I have conquered any lack of confidence I had, and developed a ‘get it done’, finisher attitude. I have also grown a really thick skin! I ignore anything other than constructive criticism and have come to admire my own work. Hence, the ‘brilliant prose’ comment above. I like to read me.

 

Gabrielle Malcolm is a freelance writer and artist. She edited ‘Fan Phenomena: Jane Austen’ (Intellect Books), wrote three plays for Moon On A Stick children’s theatre company, and writes scripts for web series and short films for international clients. Her forthcoming non-fiction book, about Mr Darcy, is due for publication in December 2019 with Endeavour Quill.