Today, I am delighted to welcome Juliet Mercer to Yarde Book Promotions to talk about her historical romance novel, Young Lady Catherine, the first book in her Pride & Prejudice Origins Series.
Readers of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice will undoubtedly remember Lady Catherine de Bourgh, the formidable and opinionated aunt of Mr Darcy, who has very definite ideas about social standing, marriage and how other people should conduct their lives. But was she always quite so certain of herself?
In Young Lady Catherine, Juliet takes readers back to a time before Rosings Park, when Catherine Fitzwilliam is a young woman struggling beneath the weight of family expectations and the demands of polite society. When a humiliating incident threatens her reputation, Catherine finds herself drawn towards Charles Ashcroft, a man whose position and influence represent everything she has learned to fear. Yet beneath his reputation lies a man with his own complicated past, and their growing attachment threatens to challenge everything Catherine believes about love, duty and her future.
Juliet joins me today to talk about the inspiration behind Catherine's imagined past, the challenges of writing a romance for one of Austen's most intimidating characters, and how she has remained faithful to Pride and Prejudice while exploring the untold stories behind its familiar faces.
But first, let's check out Young Lady Catherine
Publication Date: 3rd June 2026
Publisher: Akrose Holland
Print Length: 323 Pages
Genre: Historical Romance / Romance Adaptation
In the hidden love story before Pride and Prejudice, scandal binds young Lady Catherine to a man whose power embodies everything she has learned to fear.
Perfection is a lady’s only armor, but on the night of her debut, a public snub from the cousin she was raised to marry leaves Lady Catherine Fitzwilliam disgraced. Capturing the interest of the Duke's heir might be enough to repair the damage, but it's a dangerous move. With a father whose title shielded every cruelty, she knows the dangers of men with such unchecked power.
After dismissing Catherine as far too innocent for a man of his reputation, Charles Ashworth, Earl of Renault, discovers the ambitious lady has set in motion a scandal she may not survive. He steps forward to shield her from ruin, only to find his heart desperate to rescue her from the very life she leads.
In a world that never forgives, Catherine and Charles can outrun scandal only so long. But love proves as dangerous as the secrets they keep, and when the truth is finally revealed, will their love survive its second chance?
An emotionally rich historical romance, Young Lady Catherine tells the scandalous love story that shaped Austen’s unforgettable Lady Catherine, and reveals the woman you only thought you knew.
Readers of Pride and Prejudice meet Lady Catherine de Bourgh as a woman of enormous confidence, authority and certainty. What made you want to look beyond that familiar figure and imagine the vulnerable young woman she might once have been?
“Daughters are never of so much consequence to a father.” Lady Catherine says that impactful line in Pride and Prejudice, and it haunted me the moment I read it long ago. It is exactly Lady Catherine’s confidence and determination that drew me to imagine her origin story. Who was this woman with that kind of scar and still that kind of outward unflappability? There is almost a desperation in her in P&P, and I couldn’t help but think about where it came from, what caused it, and what story was hiding beneath her thoughts of her own father. Someone that dedicated to a purpose had to have something powerful motivating her, and I wanted to figure out what it was.
Catherine has learned that perfection is a lady's best defence, yet a public snub on the night of her debut leaves her reputation suddenly precarious. What interested you about beginning her story at a moment when the social rules she has been taught to rely upon fail her?
I think Catherine has felt like a fraud or a pretender her whole life. She has done everything she is supposed to, but she is constantly preoccupied with appearance and perfection because she is so afraid that she is going to be found out to be lacking. So I wanted to start the story in a moment that really tests her resolve: what lengths will she go to in order to hold onto that facade that is synonymous with her identity?
Catherine's understanding of powerful men has been shaped by her father's cruelty, which inevitably affects the way she views Charles Ashcroft. How did you approach exploring that part of her past while remaining faithful to the formidable woman readers know she will eventually become?
I see the powerlessness she felt as a part of her identity. Her father is two years passed when the book opens, so it’s her backstory even in the origin story. She would never call herself a victim of her father, she has far too much pride for that. In fact, I often describe her as the misused daughter of a penniless earl because I think that’s the word she would use. She views her circumstances as a consequence of society, but it’s a society she willingly embraces all the same. I borrowed from Austin’s own life a little here because there were many times when she was the victim of a society that was disproportionately unfair to women. Jane and Catherine, both found a way to navigate through it, and even thrive.
Charles initially considers Catherine far too innocent for a man of his reputation, yet circumstances draw him into protecting her. What did you want their relationship to reveal about Catherine that readers would never have seen at Rosings Park?
When it comes to Catherine and Charles’ relationship and their romance, I think of them as sitting at the grown-ups' table. Austen wrote Catherine as a larger-than-life character, and I tried to represent her that same way even as a young and uncertain woman. To effectively tell her story, she needed a larger-than-life backstory and romance. Charles is incredibly tender and protective, and mostly because he is singularly able to see through her pride to the vulnerable woman she is. He is also able to challenge her like no one else could.
Charles is also carrying his own burden of duty and loyalty to his late brother. How important was it that both Catherine and Charles should enter their relationship constrained by obligations that existed long before they fell in love?
Love is the ultimate inflection point. You go along with all these ideals and goals and then someone you feel so hopelessly drawn to forces you to question who you are and how important every one of your convictions are. Charles and Catherine really force each other to decide what love is worth. I like to think they bring a new level to fighting for love.
Scandal could have devastating consequences for a young woman of Catherine's position during the Regency period. With your academic background in history, how did you use the realities of reputation, marriage and social rank to shape the dangers surrounding her?
Sometimes it is so difficult for us to imagine the constraints on women during the late Georgian and early Regency. A scandal like the one Catherine faces early in the book was enough to change her fortunes irrevocably. And she knows the consequences of it better than most. As a historian and a storyteller I love exploring how women dealt with those limits, how they manage them, were challenged by them, and the beautiful stories that emerge from their strength.
Writing a prequel to such a beloved novel brings an unusual challenge: readers already know who Catherine becomes. How do you create genuine suspense and emotional uncertainty when her eventual place in the Pride and Prejudice world is already established?
Austen’s characters are so well-known they are practically historical figures; and I truly approach them that way. That doesn’t mean their stories can’t be satisfying. Staying true to P&P was my starting point. But even though it is an origins story, it is a romance, and so without giving away too much, I wanted to make it satisfying as a romance. The challenge was finding a way to do both, and it took time to find the right way to make that happen.
Your aim is to remain true to the characters and world Jane Austen created while exploring the stories Austen never told. Where do you draw the line between clues within the original novel and the imaginative freedom needed to create Catherine's earlier life?
I have studied Jane Austen’s life a great deal, and I try to see what parts of her own life come through her work when I’m trying to read between the lines and draw backstories. I view her books as the definitive what of the story. In my Origins Series I want to figure out the why, what brought them to those moments she created. I try very hard to use my understanding of her life and the clues in her books to inform my decisions. We know that Catherine is Darcy’s aunt, we know that she is the daughter of an earl, and we know that her sister is Darcy’s mother. Austen’s relationship with her sister Cassandra was something that influenced my writing because Austen beautifully portrays the strong bond between sisters in her works, and I wanted to explore the bounds of that loyalty with Catherine and her sister.
Young Lady Catherine is the first book in your Pride & Prejudice Origins Series. What possibilities attracted you to exploring the unseen histories behind Austen's familiar characters rather than retelling the events of Pride and Prejudice itself?
I was thoroughly committed to staying true to Pride and Prejudice, mostly because I am such a fan of it myself! I know lots of brilliant authors do an amazing job with P&P variations, but for me, I felt that if I allowed myself to create a different version where Catherine didn’t try to stop Darcy or become the woman Austen made her, then I would basically have been writing a different woman’s story, and I wanted to write hers, so sticking to P&P was non-negotiable. I also wanted it to be a genuine prequel to P&P, meaning that the events that take place in my Origins Series novels directly lead to the events that take place in Pride and Prejudice.
Many readers will begin this novel with very definite opinions about Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Without giving too much away, what do you hope they will think or feel the next time they encounter her in Pride and Prejudice?
First, I can’t wait to see the new Netflix movie. I hope when viewers see Lady Catherine in it, or the next time they reread P&P, they see the hint of a crack in that formidable exterior and the vulnerability that is underlying her confidence. I would love people to see that the responsibility Catherine feels to interfere in Darcy’s relationship with Elizabeth comes from a place of hurt and love she’s kept secret for decades. I want to invite everyone to discover her story, to trust that even she may be redeemed, and to meet the woman we only think we know.
A huge thank you to Juliet Mercer for joining me today and sharing more about Young Lady Catherine.
If you enjoy Regency romance, Jane Austen-inspired fiction, complicated heroines and stories exploring the secrets behind familiar literary characters, then Young Lady Catherine is certainly one to add to your reading list.
Pick up your copy of Young Lady Catherine HERE.
Juliet Mercer
Juliet Mercer writes historical fiction with a storyteller’s imagination and a historian’s curiosity, always searching for the untold stories tucked behind familiar faces, whether drawn from real history or the pages of classic literature. She holds a B.A. in Geology and an M.A. in History, where she specialized in Regency-era naval history, a field that fueled her fascination with the intricate world surrounding Jane Austen’s England.
Before writing fiction full time, she worked as an editor for an academic journal of history and published in both history and science, experiences that sharpened her love for research and the human stories that often hide between the lines. She is fascinated by the truth that every unforgettable character, whether drawn from real history or the pages of classic literature, is forged by the moments no one sees, and she writes to bring those hidden stories to light.
Her novels blend meticulous research with a love of character-driven storytelling, reimagining the heart, history, and hidden truths of Austen’s world, while always striving to stay true to the characters and stories Austen created. When she’s not writing, she can usually be found hiking with her six-pound Yorkshire Terrier, Madeline, who takes her role as muse, editor, and critter chaser very seriously.
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