Helen Halstead, author: Books

A Private Performance or Mr Darcy Presents His Bride
A sequel to Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice
~read an excerpt~

A Private Performance, cover of first publication

Illustration by Fontaine Anderson

A Private Performance, cover of second publication

Helen Halstead self-published A Private Performance in April 2004. Later that year, she won the national Fast Books Award - Best Self-Published Novel of 2004.

The reader is taken into the world of the London Literati, as well as the gracious life at Pemberley. There is plenty of wry humour.

A Private Performance was picked up by Random House Australia, and republished in 2005, in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.

This edition is available in bookshops in Australia and New Zealand, and from Australian on-line book-sellers.

Retitled Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride, this edition was published in North America by Ulysses Press, in 2007.

New cover and title but the text is identical to the Random House Edition.

This edition is available at bookstores in North America, at Waterstones Bookstores in UK, and on Amazon.

"The characters remain to true to Austen's original creations and the novel is witty and entertaining with compelling storylines - a great read in its own right."- New Idea
Read reviews

The Imaginary Gentleman: A Regency Intrigue
~read an excerpt~

cover of The Imaginary Gentleman
The Imaginary Gentleman, published by Random House Australia in 2006

In 1806, Laura Morrison is alone on the wind-swept foreshore of Lyme, when she has a chance encounter with a mysterious gentleman. In minutes, he disappears so completely that no-one else will acknowledge his existence, and Laura must question her own sanity.
The Imaginary Gentleman is available in bookshops in Australia and New Zealand, and from Australian online booksellers.

"Halstead’s mannered dialogue, which also contains plenty of barbs, is aided by firmly defined characters." Dianne Dempsey, The Age, Saturday, 18/11/2006.
Read reviews