Ask the Author: Elisabeth Barrett
Answered Questions (2)
Elisabeth Barrett
I'm a huge Jane Austen fan, and one of my favorite lines in literature comes from Persuasion, a second-chance-at-love story.
In the book, wealthy Anne Elliot falls in love with Frederick Wentworth, a young sailor with modest prospects. She is persuaded to call off the burgeoning romance by a well-meaning family friend (as well as by pressure from her own family). Years later, Anne’s family is in reduced circumstances, and Wentworth returns, flush with experience and money from his time at sea. He’s Captain Wentworth now, and he’s never forgotten the bitter sting of Anne’s rejection so many years earlier. Anne confesses (on behalf of all women) to “loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone,” but Wentworth, too, has held a torch for Anne.
He pens her a letter in which he writes:
"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope ... I have loved none but you."
I swoon every single time I read that line. Every. Single. Time.
In the book, wealthy Anne Elliot falls in love with Frederick Wentworth, a young sailor with modest prospects. She is persuaded to call off the burgeoning romance by a well-meaning family friend (as well as by pressure from her own family). Years later, Anne’s family is in reduced circumstances, and Wentworth returns, flush with experience and money from his time at sea. He’s Captain Wentworth now, and he’s never forgotten the bitter sting of Anne’s rejection so many years earlier. Anne confesses (on behalf of all women) to “loving longest, when existence or when hope is gone,” but Wentworth, too, has held a torch for Anne.
He pens her a letter in which he writes:
"You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope ... I have loved none but you."
I swoon every single time I read that line. Every. Single. Time.
Elisabeth Barrett
Hi, Michele! I am very excited about the Return to Briarwood series. The books take place at the Briarwood Golf & Yacht Club, located in idyllic Eastbridge, Connecticut. Briarwood was once a great place to be a member, but unfortunately, the club has seen better days. The clubhouse could use an overhaul, the last official golf tournament was played nearly a decade ago, most of the club’s members are over sixty, and the place is hemorrhaging money. The series begins when three real estate investors buy Briarwood with the hopes of refurbishing it. Expect a colorful cast of characters which will include Eastbridgians, and Briarwood staff and members. The books will explore in depth the upstairs-downstairs nature of the member/staff relationships, as well as overarching issues of class, family life, and romance that permeate the characters’ lives. The first three books are slated to be released in 2015/2016, and there is always potential for more!
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