GRAND PRIZE WINNER, 2024 CHANTICLEER INTERNATIONAL BOOK AWARDS, SHORTS (NOVELLAS, COLLECTIONS, ESSAYS)
B.R.A.G. MEDALLION HONOREE

To be mistress of Pemberley is certainly something …

Derbyshire, Summer 1826. Sofia-Elisabete, the sixteen-year-old daughter of Colonel Fitzwilliam, is initiated into the idyllic, genteel world of her cousin-in-law, Elizabeth Darcy, mistress of Pemberley and mother of five. Lizzy, as she prefers to be called by her intimates, seems happily established in domestic country life and, naturally, still in love with Mr. Darcy. With beguiling candor, Sofia narrates how the two ladies quickly become close friends—despite the misgivings of Sofia’s father.

… but there are secrets in all families, you know.

Soon, however, Sofia witnesses the trials of parenthood and signs of simmering conflict in Lizzy’s traditional marriage to Mr. Darcy. She senses that things are not quite right. The mystery deepens when others reveal tidbits concerning a connection between Lizzy and Sofia’s uncle, Lord Scapeton, who has sorely wronged Sofia herself in the past. As the ladies’ lives and secrets intertwine that long, hot, sultry summer, Sofia discovers something about Lizzy that threatens to upend their newly blossoming friendship.