I’m so excited to show you the cover of my new novella, Mrs Darcy’s Diamonds, that I first started on this website as Elizabeth Darcy’s Ring. It’s the first of a series inspired by jewellery – I’ve always really loved all kinds of jewellery from the very first piece I ever remember having as a birthday gift. It was ‘made’ by my darling Mum – a black velvet choker with a cameo brooch. I think it must have been some time in the 1970s, and I thought I was the ‘bees knees’ in it.
Just lately, after doing some research into my ancestry, I’ve discovered that on one side of my family, they were jewellers, silversmiths, and pistol makers, which in the Midlands and Birmingham where I come from, were the foremost trades from the 1550s, though I think my family were working with jewellery in one form or other from the 1800s. It’s fascinating to see how much English silver and jewellery were crafted in Birmingham, and now when I see a piece I wonder if one of my ancestors had a hand in making or selling it. So I think my love of jewellery must be in my genes! I particularly admire antique pieces and spend many happy hours when I’m in Bath going round antique shops – fortunately, I’m very happy to window shop …
Georgian jewellery is probably my favourite era though Edwardian comes a close second. With the wonder of the internet so many examples of the wonderful skill of the Georgian jewellers can be admired. Everything from the bling of fabulous diamonds to understated rings like the turquoise one Jane Austen owned can be seen and sighed over. At the beginning of Mrs Darcy’s Diamonds, Mrs Bennet is talking about her cut-steel jewellery, which was made to imitate the glitter of diamonds in candlelight. It’s still possible to find these pieces though some seem to be as expensive as real gems!
I really loved thinking about the diamonds that Mr Darcy might have given to Elizabeth, and I’ve been choosing some pieces on my Pinterest page for Mrs Darcy’s Diamonds. The jewellery isn’t the only thing I’ve had fun with – I’ve spent some time picking out portraits of all my characters – I hope you’ll take a look. It’s been a joy to write this novella – I’ve enjoyed fleshing out the story, and thinking about what comes next. It’s being published on Tuesday, September 2nd, on Kindle and Nook, and is available for pre-order on Kindle.
I hope you’ll join me here on 2nd September for the launch and a chance to win some jewellery prizes!
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I wish you the best for this new book!
tgruy-thank you for your lovely wishes!
Lovely cover, Jane. Is some of the artwork done by you?
Really enjoyed reading about your love of jewellery – I was lucky enough to win one of the brooches you offered last year when Project Darcy was released and I treasure it! My family heralds from Birmingham and I remember the strong link with jewellery making and particular diamonds. Can’t recall the main street name but it was something like Hatton Street I think. I grew up in Shropshire but even over there it was the place to go for your engagement ring!
Congratulations on the upcoming release! Can’t wait to read it!
Thank you, Cassandra. Look well if we’re related! Fascinating to find out that nugget of personal info, Cassandra-always think of you as another ‘sister’! I did the artwork and my husband put it all together for me. You might recognise some photos of Stourhead that helped produce my cover image!
I love that it’s your own artwork – I suspected it was! And I see the Stourhead bridge now I look more closely! Lovely job!
Thank you, Cassandra-I melded the two together-as you know, it doesn’t quite look like this in real life.
May I be one of the first to congratulate you on the impending publication of the novella, Jane? The cover is gorgeous and stunning. It’s fascinating to hear that jeweller’s blood run through your veins.
Thank you, Luthien84 for your kind wishes-I had a lot of fun making the cover. I knew my family had a connection with jewellery but I didn’t know until recently that it went back over 3 generations.
I am counting down the days. Thank you, Jane, for revealing both the cover and your love of antique jewelry. My Mom has a whole bedroom dedicated to the goodies she has purchased and been gifted over the years. I think it is genetic for me as well. Best of wishes for a successful book launch. Confetti, champagne, and chocolate for you.
Thank you, Joy for sending such lovely wishes-champagne, confetti and chocolate sounds wonderful! I think you, your Mom and I would get on like a ‘house on fire’!
Love the cover. I couldn’t wait and preordered the book the end of last week. Since you posted the first few chapters here a while back I have been impatiently waiting to read more. The story kept coming to mind. It’s going to be hard to wait, but I don’t believe I have a choice. Thank you so much for sharing and for writing. 🙂
Thank you, Deborah for all your wonderful support-I do hope you enjoy it!
Great news! I just pre-ordered my copy at Amazon. Thank you for letting us know that it was available. In just over a week I can drop everything and slip back into the pages of a wonderful book. Thank you for everything you do for those of us who love Jane Austen and now, Jane Odiwe. Your books are so wonderful, and I treasure them.
Mari, thank you so much for your kind words-I live only to write for my amazing readers and a little praise goes an awfully long way! I sincerely hope you enjoy Mrs Darcy’s Diamonds.
Oooohhh. Can’t wait loved the snippet we got to read! I’ll be watching for the novella! Yeahhh!
Thank you, Charlene-I hope you’ll get a chance to read it!
How exciting! Congratulations. The cover looks lovely. It looks like I have another book for my to-read list!
I stopped by your Pinterest link, too. I was very pleased to see a portrait of Mrs. Reynolds. The buckskin breeches ensemble and several of the fans also drew my eye. You’re making me want to do a Pinterest for my book, now!
Thank you, Amanda! I highly recommend Pinterest for inspiration for your books-it’s such fun to put together. However, I give you fair warning-it’s very addictive and hours will just disappear in the process.
Jane,
Congratulations on the lovely cover!! I’ve enjoyed reading several of the scenes you’ve shared, and I look forward to reading the whole story, too. I LOVE jewelry 🙂 . It was so interesting to hear about your passion for it and your family history, too. How exciting that this book will be out soon!!
Thank you, Marilyn-I LOVE jewellery too-I was so excited to discover my family history!
How exciting that you not only have your new book coming out but your ancestry sounds fascinating too! I love antique jewellery, especially rings. Is ‘Mrs. Darcy’s Diamonds’ only going to be in e-reading format or will there be an actual book? I love the cover and what we read here earlier, I would like to own the actual paperback book if there is one. I checked out your pinterest page and love the portraits…the one of ‘Anne deBurgh’ is how I picture her if she was healthy! Mrs. Bennet must have been overwhelmed with her bedroom too! Congratulations!
I’m so sorry, Carole but I’ve decided not to do a paperback as it’s a novella-but perhaps when I’ve done the next one in the series, I might consider putting the two together, but I haven’ any firm plans for that yet. I’m working on a novel for next year and that will be in paperback-probably in about a year’s time.
I’ve had such fun finding the portraits though sometimes when I think I’ve found the perfect one I go and spot another! Thank you for stopping by to wish me well.
No problem Jane, I will just order it for my Kindle! Then, if you do eventually put them in paperback format, I will buy that too!
Jane the cover looks wonderful! I’m off to preorder the kindle book right away! Bet wishes for the launch coming up! xx
Vee, thank you for all your wonderful support!
Congratulations on your forthcoming publication, Jane, and for doing the artwork yourself as well. Thought I recognised a resemblance to the bridge at Stourhead. I’ve never been there but, of course, have seen the 2005 film a number of times and many photos of the place.
Just been having a quick peek at the Pinterest board. Two pieces of jewellery I particularly like are the “en tremblent” flower brooch and the George III diamond necklace that you chose for Elizabeth. All of the portraits fit your characters to a T from what I remember reading the chapters you shared earlier in the year. I so enjoyed reading them and am looking forward to reading the complete work very soon.
Good look with the launch!
Thank you for your very kind sentiments and wishes, Anji-yes, I love the ‘en tremblant’ flower brooch-would love to see it in action. I’m so pleased you enjoyed the Pinterest board-I could happily while away many hours looking for portraits and pieces of jewellery!
I’m looking forward to reading your new novellla, Jane. I was very intrigued when I read the episodes here — I especially want to find out more about the mysterious cousins…
Love the artwork, Jane.
Author
Thank you, Monica-I hope you enjoy it! I had a lovely time designing the cover with my husband.
Beautiful cover and even more special you and your husband worked on it together. I loved reading the chapters of this story you posted here and can’t wait to be able to read the whole story all together. Did you change any of the chapters we have already read? I wondered if anything had to be changed once you had fleshed out the rest of the story.
Author
TLeighF – Thank you for your lovely comments about the cover. I did change a few things and fleshed out chapters where I thought they needed it-I wonder if you’ll spot the differences!
My very best wishes on your forthcoming publication Jane. I know your army of fans are going to love it!
I did wonder if that was your artwork on the cover 🙂 It looks wonderful.
I too had a black velvet choker with a cameo back in the 70’s. You see? We had the same tastes back in those days! Ha ha. It’s amazing that you’ve found out about your ancestors – how exciting!
Good luck for Tuesday x
Author
Thank you Lee for such kind comments and good wishes-I had a lovely time doing the cover! There were some interesting fashions in the 70s, weren’t there? Not all of them good, but I loved that whole ‘romantic’ look-long skirts, crushed velvet and cameo chokers! What a shame we didn’t know each other then!
I was lucky enough to visit the Cheapside Hoard last year, Jane, and I found it so interesting. Good luck with the novella. Anne Stenhouse
Author
Anne, I don’t know how I managed to miss that-wish I’d seen the jewellery! Thank you for your kind wishes.
If they display it again, you would enjoy it. It’s an earlier period than regency, of course, but they had curated the jewellery with contemporary portraits. It’s just great to see how the stuff was worn or, looking at it the other way, to see the stuff that the sitters were wearing. Anne