✨ Discover a New Twist on a Timeless Classic! ✨

Step into a reimagined world where pride meets persistence in Passion and Persistence, a thrilling variation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. This captivating novel dares to ask: What if Mr. Darcy refused to let go after the infamous Hunsford proposal?

In this enthralling tale, Mr. Darcy's unyielding pursuit of Elizabeth Bennet defies the constraints of social norms and personal pride. After a crushing rejection, Darcy's determination to win Elizabeth's heart takes center stage, leading to a story filled with wit, emotion, and unexpected turns.

💫 What You'll Find Inside:

• A New Angle on Love: Witness Darcy's relentless pursuit as he navigates societal expectations and his own mistakes, offering a fresh perspective on the beloved romance.
• Dynamic Characters: Experience the growth and evolution of Elizabeth and Darcy in a way you've never seen before, with deeper insights into their struggles and desires.
• Rich Regency Atmosphere: Immerse yourself in the elegance and tension of Regency England, beautifully rendered to enhance the romantic drama.

Fans of Austen's classic will be captivated by the renewed passion and persistence that defines this engaging reimagining. Whether you're a longtime admirer of Pride and Prejudice or new to Austen's world, this novel promises a compelling journey of love and redemption.

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Since its first publication, the text has undergone a significant edit. I added elements where I felt they were needed to give the text more depth, incorporated more descriptive phrases and speech tags for a better reading experience of the dialogues, and revised some sentences to eliminate monotone structures and modernisms. If you downloaded the novel from Amazon before 12/2024, it may be worth downloading it again.

Although I received much positive feedback on the images, they were removed because, I learnt, most people do not like to see the characters other than in their minds. The new images of characters and illustrations may be found on the Illustrations page here.

The ebook/pdf of Passion and Persistence can be bought (cheaper, mind you, than on book retail sites) on this website in the ALL PRODUCTS menu on the top.

Devil, Darcy's horse

Mentioned in the Prolouge

Rotten Row, London

Rotten Row was established by William III at the end of the 17th century. Having moved court to Kensington Palace, William wanted a safer way to travel to St. James's Palace. He created the broad avenue through Hyde Park, lit with 300 oil lamps in 1690– the first artificially lit highway in Britain. The lighting was a precaution against highwaymen, who lurked in Hyde Park at the time. The track was called Route du Roi, French for King's Road, which was eventually corrupted into "Rotten Row".

Mentioned in Chapter 1

Hyde Park at the edge of the city

Today, Hyde Park is embedded in London that covers all the area on the map and more.

https://penandpension.com/2017/02/15/the-purposes-of-the-grand-tour/

During the 17th and 18th centuries, rich young Englishmen finished their education by going on The Grand Tour — an extended cultural and collecting trip through continental Europe. You can think of it as a 'finishing school' for the sons of the gentry.

More in the link
Mentioned in Chapter 1

During the regency era, courtships were the equivalent of modern-day dating. A young man would visit a young lady at her home, escort her on walks and promenades – always properly chaperoned, of course – and send her flowers after dancing together at a ball.

https://alwaysausten.com/2023/05/09/the-language-of-flowers-in-regency-times/

https://regrom.com/2016/06/08/regency-culture-and-society-the-language-of-flowers/

The pansy flower represents the thoughts of lovers, shared before a word is spoken. Named for the French word for "thought" (pensee), the pansy was said to be a charmed flower, possessing telepathic magic. Attending to the plucked bloom, you could hear your lover's thoughts.

Forget-me-nots mean true love. While traditionally this flower represents remembrance, they also carry several other meanings including true love, devotion, and royalty

The Georgian Almond Cheesecake

https://janeausten.co.uk/blogs/desserts/let-them-eat-cheesecake

Chapter 8

Jane's speciality

Let them eat stale bread. The diet of the poor in the Regency

Chapter 11 

Britain was running out of bread in 1800. The Napoleonic blockade was beginning to have an effect, and British domestic production had not yet started to increase. Bread filled the bellies of the poor; children had dry bread for breakfast; workers had bread and cheese for their lunch; the workers' wives had bread and lard; drinkers had a salted herring and a slice of bread in the pub; everybody had bread was the main accompaniment for scraps of bacon. Only on Sunday afternoon did bread not rule the house.

Read more at:

https://about1816.wordpress.com/2016/07/15/let-them-eat-stale-bread-the-diet-of-the-poor-in-the-regency/

The Regency Barouche

Chapter 11 

Darcy's dog - the Hungarian vizsla

Chapter 14

I hope the readers will indulge me as I slip something Hungarian in the novel; I am a Hungarian by origin. It is plausible that Darcy could have picked it up in Vienna on his Great Tour.

Hussar - the dog's name

The Hungairan Hussar  - the expression means to us, Hungarians a national emblem representing the rebirth of the ancient Hungarian horseman in the era of firearms. A Hungarian hussar is a member of the light cavalry who, in the past half millennium, demonstrated prowess in the wars with the Turkish to defend his hearth and home, or to assert his national rights in the wars of independence against the Habsburgs (The Austrian royal family), or to fight in dynasty wars waged by his ruler. A Hungarian hussar is a cavalryman who wears a busby with a bag or a plume, richly braided dolman jacket and tight trousers, colourful braided belt, short boots with spur and a richly braided pelisse slung over his left shoulder. He also wears a sabre and a sabretache on a shoulder belt and has a carbine on the saddlebow and a pair of pistols at hand. 

Wrotham Park mentioned in

Chapter 15

17 miles from Hyde Park Corner

https://www.wrothampark.com/history.php

Darcy's carriage

From Chapter 16 - below is an extract from the upcoming novel

So it happened that the three Bennet daughters accompanied the gentlemen back to Netherfield in a half hour.

'This is a very comfortable carriage, Mr Darcy.' Elizabeth commented as she fidgeted in her seat and looked around. She was sitting with her sisters in a row and did not feel cramped at all. Her legs had enough space, a miracle since the gentlemen were tall. The inside was luxuriously fitted with heavy silk of cream, and the seats were cosily padded. 'Is it new? It has this new smell.'

Darcy chuckled.

'New smell? Yes, as a matter of fact, it is quite new. I bought it before I went to Rosings.' Darcy adjusted his body in his seat at the possible negative associations.

'I think I can smell it, too.' Phillip demonstratively smelt the air, making the ladies laugh.

Picnic

I thought I share this lovely painting of a picnic, called 'Majális' May celebrations. This is probably the most known Hungarian painting by Pal Szinyei Merse, 1873

The necklace Elizabeth liked

Chapter 27

Darcy's mother's favourite piece of jewellery - a pearl necklace with moonstones.