I now have a publication date for Colonel Brandon in His Own Words. It’s June 28th! But next to the debut of the book itself, the cover reveal is the most exciting. Don’t you agree? That’s scheduled for June 1st at Austen Variations. For my own subscribers, however, I have a teaser today. Strip by strip, I’ll be peeling away layers of the onion, exposing Colonel Brandon, the man, along with his cover!

Colonel Brandon is such an intriguing character. Rather mysterious, in part because there’s a lot Jane Austen doesn’t tell us about him. I’m glad, though, because that left so much scope for my imagination as I wrote this book! I wanted to get to know him better and flesh out his story, to fill in all the blanks in his character, his past, and his courtship of Marianne. Still, especially since I wasn’t planning on changing any of the given facts of the original story, I started by gleaning every morsel of information I could about the colonel from Sense and Sensibility.

Colonel Brandon… was silent and grave. His appearance however was not unpleasing, in spite of his being in the opinion of Marianne and Margaret an absolute old bachelor, for he was on the wrong side of five and thirty; but though his face was not handsome his countenance was sensible, and his address was particularly gentlemanlike.  – Sense and Sensibility

This is most of what Jane Austen tells us when we first meet Colonel Brandon. And we know by how he behaves that he’s an honorable man. He appreciates music, too, and he has a sad history. We eventually find out that he loved a girl named Eliza once – a distant cousin and his father’s ward. However, she was forced to marry his brother instead and she later died. And we know that Colonel Brandon has now finally found another young lady that interests him – Marianne Dashwood – but the outlook there isn’t good either, because she prefers the younger livelier Mr. Willoughby.

The missing information? Well, for one thing, nowhere in the entire book is his first name ever mentioned! He’s just “Colonel Brandon,” “the colonel,” or occasionally “Brandon.” That worked fine in S&S, but it wouldn’t do for an entire book where he’s telling his own life’s story. So as I now reveal this first part of the cover – the main title – I will also reveal how I addressed that issue. Removing strip number one!

In the very popular 1995 film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, he’s called “Christopher” Brandon. Since that given name is not from the book, I could have rejected it, called him something else, and not been technically wrong. But it would have sounded wrong anyway, because so many have grown accustomed to thinking of him as Christopher. So why fight it? Christopher it is!

Next, if clothes make the man, what does Christopher Brandon’s wardrobe say about him? Let’s take a look. Removing strip number two!

Although we see him here in a casual moment, with coat off, these are definitely the clothes of a gentleman. Colonel Brandon was born into a family of landed gentry – a younger son. He had an older brother, and, as I have it, two older sisters. He’s the baby of the family, in other words, with no expectation of inheriting Delaford, the Brandon family estate.

So, after losing Eliza, he took a commission in the army to establish a life for himself. But was it really his choice or was he somehow forced? And why the military rather than the other standard option for a second son: the church? And why India? What he did and saw and experience during those five years away from England, profoundly changed him. But how? Removing strip number three!

Never fear! Colonel Brandon will answer all our questions in his own words, as the rest of the title reveals. Here the official book blurb:

Colonel Brandon is the consummate gentleman: honorable, kind almost to a fault, ever loyal and chivalrous. He’s also silent and grave, though. So what events in his troubled past left him downcast, and how does he finally find the path to a brighter future? In Sense and Sensibility, Jane Austen gives us glimpses, but not the complete picture.

Now Colonel Brandon tells us his full story in His Own Words. He relates the truth about his early family life and his dear Eliza – his devotion to her and the devastating way she was lost to him forever. He shares with us a poignant tale from his military days in India – about a woman named Rashmi and how she likewise left a permanent mark on his soul. And of course Marianne. What did Brandon think and feel when he first saw her? How did his hopes for her subsequently rise, plummet, and then eventually climb upwards again? After Willoughby’s desertion, what finally caused Marianne to see Colonel Brandon in a different light?

This is not a variation but a supplement to the original story, chronicled in Brandon’s point of view. It’s a behind-the-scenes look at the things Jane Austen didn’t tell us about a true hero – the very best of men.

Now I suppose you’d like to see the last two strips removed and the full cover exposed. I did tell you, though, that this post was a teaser, didn’t I? A lot has been revealed (about the book as well as the cover), but a little something has to be left to the imagination. You will have to wait a few more days to see the rest. Visit Austen Variations June 1st, or return here that same day, when I will replace this big, fat question mark with the final cover – stripped bare, no more teasing! And here it is:

UPDATE: Colonel Brandon in His Own Words is now available for pre-order here!