(Article from the Waverly Newspaper)



For Nacie Joy Mackey, one could say her life began with a novel as her mother chose her name. The fourth of six children, she began reading as an escape from her every day household pandemonium. At the age of twelve she became a “veracious reader” with the goal of reading all the classics. Finishing Pride and Prejudice sealed her fate as a lifelong Jane Austen fan.



Mrs. Mackey’s ultimate homage to Ms. Austen culminated in her recent publication of a sequel to Pride and Prejudice entitled A Woman Worthy. A Woman Worthy picks up where Austen left off when Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy began their married life.



Explaining why she wrote her book Mackey says, “There are always other events in life; a wedding is never the end of a story.” Focusing on this ideal couple in literature, as she describes, showcases their “intelligence, sensibility, yet they clash and make life interesting.”



Writing a Regency period book did present some challenges for the author. “In Regency times a villain was different,” she explains, “just having bad character made you a villain.” “It was also challenging trying to think of the male point of view.”



To dig further into her research, Mackey journeyed to England with her husband Bard in 2004. One highlight of the trip was visiting Lime Park, the location used as Pemberly in the 1995 A&E movie version of Pride and Prejudice.



“This really put things into proximity for my book.” Seeing the landscape made it easier for her to write specific scenes and as she says “map it out in her mind.”



Her 552 page sequel took her two years to write. She spent her summers off from her job as a Teaching Associate on the Bremwood Campus of the Lutheran Services of Iowa, penning it in her den. She is already hard at work editing the next sequel Regard and Regulation.



Mackey is excited to be hosting a book discussion and signing at the Waverly Public Library as part of their National Library Week celebration. On April 16th from 6:30-7:30 PM, Austen fans are invited to join in the discussion centered on the characters from Pride and Prejudice. Mackey will also be on hand to personally sign copies of her book A Woman Worthy. Her book is available for purchase through her website www.naciejoymackey.autumnnightbooks.com.



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