Please join us for a reading by Charles Swensen from his book, MISS AUSTEN'S MISTAKE, and a Q&A hosted by Book Passage for this event organized by the Left Coast Writers.

Jane Austen fans will find much to enjoy in Charles Swensen’s clever take on Sense and Sensibility. In Miss Austen’s Mistake the “real” Colonel Brandon—who is, incidentally, an actual friend of the “real” Miss Austen—reviews the novel’s events from an entirely new perspective, one he claims is much closer to the truth. Fact or fiction? It’s great fun and can leave heads spinning. —Linda Watanabe McFerrin, author of Navigating the Divide and Dead Love

Miss Austen’s Mistake, is a work of literary fiction which was listed as a finalist in the 2017 William Faulkner Wisdom Competition. It chronicles the story of the man who believes he served as the inspiration for Colonel Brandon in Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility. The novel, which unfolds from the “real” Brandon’s point of view, revisits events from a different perspective and we find certain differences from the way that Miss Austen told the story.

Captain Charles Swensen was born and raised in Marin County California. He attended Cornell University on an NRPTC scholarship. Upon graduation, he received a commission as a naval officer and went to sea. After thirty years of active and reserve service he retired as a captain. In civilian life, he pursued a career as a civil engineer. He published articles in the Proceedings of the Naval Institute and in trade journals before turning to fiction. He currently resides in Marin County in a home built by his grandfather nearly seventy years ago. He lives with his wife and continues to consult on engineering issues, although these days he devotes a great deal of time to writing and staying in touch with his son and two stepchildren.

Charles Swensen - photo credit - author.