The Varens Obsession by Shady Cosgrove

We have had this in store for a while but hadn't had the chance of publishing it yet. We were sort of looking for an excuse to do so. Well here it is:

The University of Wollongong will be giving a lecture on May 17 on How NOT to write a best-seller. One of the speakers will be Dr Shady Cosgrove who, for several years now, has been writing a Jane Eyre prequel, which seems now to be finally completed. The title of the novel varies. We think the old title was The Golden Courtesan and the new one is The Varens Obsession.

Shady has also just completed her first novel 'The Varens Obsession'. Set in the 1830s, it responds to Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre in a Rhysian tradition by exploring the life of Edward Rochester's mistress, Céline Varens. Excerpts have been published in Southerly, Hecate and Antipodes.

We have tried to locate those excerpts and we have actually found them but - alas - a password is required to read them and those on bugmenot.com won't work this time around. Is it too cheeky of us if we ask that if anyone happens to be in possession of a username and password of highbeam.com they kindly forward these articles to us?

Here are the brief excerpts (of excerpts) we are allowed to see:

Chapter 4 published in the Southerly magazine (22-9-2004)

CELINE VARENS, LATE OCTOBER, 1833.
As a courtesan, there is always a tension between your suitors and your past. I am an actress; I have always acted. How could you believe I am not acting now? Could you set ...

Chapter 5 published in Hecate (1-10-2003)

A few nights later, around eleven, I heard Rochester arrive. I was closing my window against the chill when his horse pulled up. He had been to dinner. I had been invited, but declined because of rehearsals.
I was ...

Chapter 6 published in Antipodes (1-12-2003)

In this excerpt, Celine and Rochester have been engaged in a turbulent affair and Demi, a rival dancer, has just told Celine of Rochester's wife, Bertha/Antoinette. Celine is also pregnant with Rochester child.
Celine ...

So here's one more writer who chooses to believe that Adèle was actually Mr Rochester's child.

We look forward to hearing more on this novel, so we will keep an eye on it.

Categories: Sequels, Jane_Eyre