I'm Monica Fairview and I'm delighted you made it here to my website. I write Regency romance and Jane Austen "sequels", so if you're looking for something that will transport you to that by-gone era of elegance, you've come to the right place.

I've loved Pride and Prejudice for many years, ever since I read it -- and loved it -- at school. It never occurred to me then that there would come a point in my life that I would draw such inspiration from Jane Austen that I would want to write a sequel.

I have since read Pride and Prejudice so many times that the characters have branded themselves on my mind. Who could resist Eliza Bennet, intelligent, fearless, and very much Mr Darcy's equal? And isn't Mr Darcy the prototype of the rich powerful prince with the heart of gold? That he has to work to get Cinderella's attention is all the better, because as it turns out Cinderella isn't exactly a pushover. She resists him, to his utter disbelief, and he has to prove himself worthy of her affection. Such a wonderful story!

But that isn't all. Austen manages to add to it the irrepressible Bennet family, the amazingly obtuse Mr Collins, the sneering Lady Catherine, plus a great deal of social commentary and a caustic tongue. It's a book that has it all. No one can accuse Austen of not wrapping up Pride and Prejudice well. Why, then do we feel it isn't enough? To me it was always about the characters. I couldn't quite get myself to say goodbye to them.
 
I would probably have left well alone if it wasn't for the fact that two adaptations of Pride and Prejudice piqued my interest so much that I kept wanting to revisit the novel.

The 1995 adaptation with Colin Firth remains the one I prefer, because to me Firth remains the embodiment of repressedpassion, his dark glances hinting at so much he practically burns up the screen. But the 1995 version brings to us a more haunted Mr Darcy, with Matthew Macfadyen providing a more angst-ridden hero whose appeal lies in his vulnerability.

You pierce my soul...

Henry Tilney brings a laugh to Northanger Abbey as he monkeys around. I like it when gentle men climb trees and defy the stereotype of the starched shirt. Except, of course, that it wasn't a stereotype. They did have very starched shirts.

Which is what is so amazing about Jane Austen. Each successive adaptation of Jane Austen brings her work to life in a new way, so it is hardly surprising that a number of writers have felt that they, too, want to express their own interpretations of Jane Austen's writings.

In my case, I would certainly say that the many recent adaptations of Jane Austen's have kept my fascination with her novels alive, since they provided me with a variety of different perspectives on her works.

Most recently, the new Emma apealed to me a great deal with its probing into the psychological background of Emma and her obsessive matchmaking. Before that I'd loved the Gweneth Paltraw version as well as that of Kate Beckinsale. It seemed as if ITV and BBC were competing to outdo each other as they vied for attention over two alternative screenings of Sense and Sensibility. Persuasion, too, took on a new life.

 
And, lest we forget Pride and Prejudice for a moment, there was the Bollywood-style version: Bride and Prejudice, full of colour and sly humour. Then again, for a spoof/adaptation/time slip version, you can't beat Lost in Austen, with a new Mr Darcy in the figure of Elliott Cowan.

Finally, it seemed, I had to do it. I had to write my own version of the 'happy ever after' that Austen hints at so well in Pride and Prejudice. But because I was as interested in all the characters as in the two main couples, I found mysef wondering about Miss Bingley's fate, and before long I was lost in the 'what if?' What if Miss Bingley were to encounter someone who would challenge the way she thought and behaved and threw her into confusion? The American Mr Darcy materialized, and The Other Mr Darcy took off as they came to loggerheads at once.

Aishwara Rai is the gorgeous but defiant Lizzy in this hilarious and lively version, directed by British director Gurinder Chadha who adapted P&P for Bollywood by "swapping corsets for saris." Brilliantly done.

Lost in Austen isn't everybody's cup of tea, but I thought it was very sharp. It's a spoof, of course, so it does make fun of the original. Not for the purists, then.