Fearful Symmetry by Gailie Ruth Caress

Hello All, and welcome back! I wish to welcome Gailie Caress and her book, “Fearful Symmetry” which is a P&P variation. I hope everyone is safe, and takes care during this pandemic, and I hope for my readers in America are okay after the horrid snowstorms and powerloss lately.

REVIEW OF THE BOOK; FEARFUL SYMMETRY

The book starts with a shout of “FIRE!” fire at Longbourn! I seriously broke out in gooseflesh! Darcy, of course, flies to the rescue, alongside all men from Netherfield. At Longbourn Lydia and Mrs, Bennet has shrieked all out of the house, but damn I nearly fell into pieces when Lizzie discovers that one of her sisters are missing outside of the burning Longbourn, namely Kitty, and runs into the burning home to find her younger sister! Which elder sister would not fall to pieces if one sister was missing in a fire!?! But luckily Darcy is hot on her heels and gets both sisters out of the building, injured but alive.

From there the drama unfolds as the Bennets lives at Netherfield, while they recover and takes stock of their new situation, I simply couldn’t help but be disgusted with Collins when he arrives, on the day after the fire and demands to live there. But Darcy quickly charmed me as a reader, and of course, the stay at Netherfield gives Bingley and Jane the chance to find their HEA. But sadly, one of my favourite characters took a dip in my liking, namely Mr Bennet. he didn’t give Elizabeth and Mary the acknowledgement they deserve as they help restore Longbourn – and that made me quite annoyed with Mr Bennet.

One part of the book which made me raise an eyebrow of interest was the visit of Mrs Jamieson to Darcy house in London since Lizzie are captured at Darcy’s London house during a visit to Georgiana. Especially, when Mrs Jamieson’s maid starts to read the hands of Lizzie and Georgie, especially as the title suddenly made sense. But I will not reveal too much, just that something makes sense.

During the expected visit to Kent for Elizabeth, my toes curled in expectations of the horrible proposal, but slowly I relaxed. During the book, Georgiana and Elizabeth are writing together. Georgiana helps the Bennet’s through her correspondence.
Soon Lady Catherine makes a nuisance of herself, especially as Elizabeth are quite emotional during the book, but it made sense after all she has been through. By the end of the book, I was ready to collapse in tears and happiness. All in all, a much-enjoyed book!

GREETING FROM THE AUTHOR;

Sophia, I am so honored that you offered to review my story, Fearful Symmetry!  I’m aware that I’m very much still in my growing stages as an author, so this kind of creative support and feedback from a discerning reader like you is so invaluable.

Since this is my *very first* full-length novel for publication, I have been calling myself a “baby novelist.” And I really am: most of my writing up to this point has been in a fact-based, journalistic or academic style that centered around my college English major or my career path around communications and marketing for nonprofits. But I’ve always had that rather stubborn “creative bent”, so this story felt like such a treat to write. It came into my mind and life at a time when I really needed the “safety net” of Jane Austen’s fictional world to build a story that would explore some difficult lessons I was learning in the real world. I think that for most of us, today’s world still feels like an uncertain and often unsafe place, so an escape into a familiar storyline that still holds the expectation of a happy ending can be healing and hope-restoring. I hope my new twist on P&P still offers that little gift of hope for readers like you.

Thank you again for taking such time and care to give us your thoughtful response to my book!

BOOK BLURB;

Darcy had never known such a woman, one who could rush into an inferno and emerge as bold and brilliant as burnished brass, bright as any mirror.
FITZWILLIAM DARCY HAD PLANNED TO LEAVE NETHERFIELD PARK and all thoughts of the enchanting Miss Elizabeth Bennet behind him—until one night when he saw smoke rising from Longbourn and realised she was in peril.
ELIZABETH BENNET FOUND MR DARCY ARROGANT AND INSUFERABLE right up until he became her hero, pulling her and her sister from the fire that devastated their home, and could have claimed both of their lives. Seeing how he put his own life at risk to pull her from the fire, how could she help but change her opinion of him?
THROWN TOGETHER AGAIN in the refuge offered at Netherfield, Darcy and Elizabeth’s unexpected bond gains strength. But disapproval, debts, and doubts all arise when the costs in time and expense involved in rebuilding Longbourn threaten to widen the gulf in standing between Elizabeth and Darcy in the eyes of society. Amidst these perplexities of destruction and decorum, can love’s courage overcome calamity?

AUTHOR BIO;

Gailie Ruth Caress, debut author of Fearful Symmetry: A Pride & Prejudice Variation, never dreamed of writing a novel in her own pleasure-reading genre when she was a no-nonsense, 4.0-chasing English major who won prizes for her academic essays in college. Forced to readily adapt after a pivotal loss in early adulthood, she became a dabbler in many forms of expression and relationship-building–from opera and ballroom dance to nonprofit education and mentoring. And yet, she *actually committed* mid-Pandemic to the challenge of completing the manuscript of the story that kept her up at night, driven by a need to borrow from the courageous vulnerability of her favorite Jane Austen couple in a landscape transformed by disaster.

Her everyday life continues to hold unexpected adventures. Her two small boys and a duo of sassy tabby cats run wild on the Illinois prairie around a parsonage, where they keep her busy alongside rural community and ministry work with her pastor-husband.

BUY LINK;

Link: https://www.amazon.com/DP/B08T6BLN8T