It’s my pleasure to welcome Jessie Lewis to Diary of an Eccentric today to celebrate the release of her new novel, Mistaken, a variation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Jessie is here to discuss theatres in Regency England and the role they play in the novel, and there’s an excerpt and giveaway as well. Please give her a warm welcome!
Thank you, Anna, for hosting this part of the Mistaken blog tour. I’d like to share with your readers a scene from the early part of the book, in which a somewhat repentant Elizabeth has an unexpected encounter at the theatre, shortly after she returns to London from Kent.
Mistaken has its fair share of twists and turns, and it never hurts to drop a good plot bombshell in a public place—you know, to maximise the impact on your poor unsuspecting characters. The theatre might seem a clichéd choice of public venue, but in the absence of Netflix or Nando’s, it was popular evening entertainment for those reality-TV-starved Regency folk.
In order to make my theatre scenes credible, it was necessary for me to do a fair amount of research, and though most of what I learned has been relegated to a file buried somewhere on my hard drive or a long-forgotten bookmark on my browser, some of what I discovered was more memorable. So before I reveal Elizabeth’s encounter, I thought I’d share some of my own unexpected discoveries about the theatres of the Regency period.
The predominant trait I stumbled upon in my research was their propensity to burn down. With alarming regularity, the playhouses of London were reduced to cinders—a sight altogether greyer and less interesting to watch than the eponymous pantomime that occasionally graced the stages on those rare occasions when they were not engulfed in flames.
The Theatre Royal in Covent Garden burned down twice, as did Her Majesty’s Theatre in Haymarket. The theatre presently situated on Drury Lane is the fourth to have stood on the site, two having burned down and one having been completely demolished just for the fun of it.
All these pyrotechnic shenanigans make writing a historically accurate evening at the theatre during the Regency far trickier than it ought to be. Though I dug up all manner of information about which plays were billed at which times, starring which actors, I invariably found that on the night I needed my characters to attend, the theatre in question was either in the midst of a blazing inferno or the throes of a years-long reconstruction. Thus, other than Darcy’s one mention of “the new theatre on Drury Lane,” (which opened on 10th October, 1812 after—guess what?—a fire!), every other mention of theatres in Mistaken is hopelessly but deliberately vague.
That’s the buildings themselves covered; now onto what went on inside them. Far from the refined, elegant outing I had previously imagined, a typical Regency evening at the theatre seems to have been more akin to a pub lock-in. People arrived early, remained late into the night and consumed food and alcohol in copious quantities as they watched a whole succession of performances ranging in nature from high drama to the aforementioned pantomime.
It seems that by the beginning of the C19th, the theatre had ceased to be the bastion of the very rich (not that they were so very well behaved either, but that’s another story). Though the wealthy kept to their private boxes, the lower classes had begun attending in numbers too, squeezing into the gallery up in the rafters and filling up the pits in front of the stage. This led to a mix of people in the audience whose social conventions were rather at odds.
According to the British Library, prostitutes in the pits were a given, riots in the stalls were commonplace and heckling was routine. One doesn’t like to imagine the stately Mr. Darcy partaking in such bawdy behaviour, but it seems to have been de rigueur to hurl at least one “boo” and possibly a rotten tomato at the stage. People talked amongst themselves, sang along to popular songs, and came and went as they pleased throughout the performances—though another snippet of information I happened across led me to think people did not get up and go quite as often as they should have.
According to QI.com, people without the privilege of a box were so unwilling to give up their unreserved seats that they occasionally relieved themselves where they sat. Though such a practice would at least have offered some much needed protection against the constant threat of fire, the problem was so severe that in the mid C19th, a theatre in Newcastle was forced to line the floor of its gallery with lead to save the wealthy patrons in the boxes below from the “inconvenience” of being dripped on.
All in all, my research painted a very different picture of the theatre than I had previously imagined Darcy and Elizabeth might experience—a fact I think readers will see reflected in the theatre scenes in the book. Fortunately, the characters in Mistaken don’t behave quite as poorly as this. That’s not to say they all behave well, mind, as you’ll see in the excerpt I’m sharing with you today. I hope you enjoy this sneak peek, and thanks for visiting with me at Anna’s blog.
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An excerpt from Mistaken, courtesy of Jessie Lewis
Wednesday, 22 April 1812: London
The intermission came, more an interlude to Elizabeth’s tragic narrative than to Shakespeare’s, and Mr. Gardiner was sent for refreshments. The ladies had not long been alone when an altercation erupted between two men a short way off.
“Oh, dear! Let us move away,” Mrs. Gardiner whispered.
Elizabeth would have done so directly had not one of the men then mentioned he who had been uppermost in her thoughts all evening.
“…never known anybody so high in the instep. Well, fie on him and his righteousness! I say Mr. Darcy is a sanctimonious prig!”
She fixed her eyes on the clearly inebriated speaker, her lips pursed against all the things she should like to say but could not. True, she had accused Mr. Darcy of worse, but she was acquainted with him well enough to have received an offer of marriage. She sincerely doubted this horrid little man had any such claim to intimacy.
“I never said he was not, but he did not cheat you, Wrenshaw,” the other man replied, and it seemed very much as though it was not the first time he had said it.
“How is it then that we parted with the same piece of land within two months of each other, and he made a fortune while I made naught but a fool of myself?”
“Because you are reckless with your money!”
“Piffle!” the man named Wrenshaw shouted to the tittered delight of the growing crowd. “He took advantage of me, I tell you! He is cheat—a bounder! Do not be fooled by the stick up his bailey. No man can be that damned proper. I wager he has a whore in every bedroom at Pemberley!”
A squall of gasps flew up.
“Come away, Lizzy,” her aunt repeated, but she could not leave.
“Mr. Darcy does not deserve this! He is not a bad man!”
“I confess I am surprised to hear you defend him.”
“I know, but I was very wrong about him.”
“Here we are!” Mr. Gardiner announced behind them. Before either lady could do more than receive the drinks he had brought, he added, “Good gracious, is that you, Harding?” and walked directly to the pair of squabbling men.
Mrs. Gardiner groaned. Elizabeth felt nothing but relief that Mr. Wrenshaw would be silenced. Within moments, her uncle was gesturing for them to join him. He introduced the quieter of the two men as a business acquaintance, Mr. Harding, and the other as that gentleman’s friend, Mr. Wrenshaw.
“And this is my lovely wife, Mrs. Gardiner. She has spent a good deal of time in your part of the country actually, Mr. Wrenshaw, in Lambton. And this is my niece, Miss—”
“Lambton? In Derbyshire?” Mr. Wrenshaw interrupted.
“Yes, between Pemberley and Yewbridge,” answered Mrs. Gardiner, looking as displeased with his incivility as Elizabeth felt.
“I know very well where it is, madam,” he replied curtly. To Mr. Harding he said, “It was Lambton that Crambourne wished to bypass with his blasted railway. And since Darcy would part with nary an inch of his estate, the arrogant swine bought half of mine and sold that to Crambourne instead! Now tell me he is not a swindling bleater!” His voice grew louder as he warmed to the topic, recalling the attention of all the eavesdroppers who had begun to lose interest.
Elizabeth’s vexation flared. “Upon my word, you have been very free with your opinion of that gentleman this evening, sir.”
Mr. Wrenshaw looked at her sharply. “What of it? You cannot have any peculiar interest in him.”
“I daresay the energy with which you have maligned him has provoked us all to be a little curious,” Elizabeth replied, indicating with a glance the scores of inquisitive faces watching their exchange. “You are obviously keen that we should all agree with your estimation of his character, but none of us will be able to until you decide what it is you wish us to think of him.”
His countenance reddened. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“You have accused Mr. Darcy of being righteous and depraved. I have been used to consider those opposing qualities. I am afraid he cannot be both.”
“I merely suggested, madam, that the appearance of one often conceals the presence of the other.”
“Indeed?” Elizabeth resisted a smile. “Then, it is to all our advantages that there are respectable men such as yourself to evince the difference for the rest of us.”
“Lizzy!” Mrs. Gardiner hissed.
“Indeed!” Mr. Wrenshaw assured her airily, to all appearances satisfied with the turn of the conversation—until several people sniggered nearby and his brow creased in puzzlement.
His friend wasted no time engaging Mr. Gardiner on another matter. Elizabeth retreated, happy to observe the crowds and their interest dissipating and happier still when the second curtain call came and she was able to escape Mr. Wrenshaw’s odious company.
Doesn’t that sound fantastic? I can’t wait to read Mistaken. Thank you, Jessie, for sharing your fascinating research and this excerpt with me and my readers! I learned a lot about the theatre today that I’m not likely to forget. 😉
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About Mistaken
Fitzwilliam Darcy is a single man in possession of a good fortune, a broken heart, and tattered pride. Elizabeth Bennet is a young lady in possession of a superior wit, flawed judgement, and a growing list of unwanted suitors. With a tempestuous acquaintance, the merciless censure of each other’s character, and the unenviable distinction of a failed proposal behind them, they have parted ways on seemingly irreparable terms. Despairing of a felicitous resolution for themselves, they both attend with great energy to rekindling the courtship between Darcy’s friend Mr. Bingley and Elizabeth’s sister Jane.
Regrettably, people are predisposed to mistake one another, and rarely can two be so conveniently manoeuvred into love without some manner of misunderstanding arising. Jane, crossed in love once already, is wary of Bingley’s renewed attentions. Mistaking her guardedness for indifference, Bingley is drawn to Elizabeth’s livelier company; rapidly, the defects in their own characters become the least of the impediments to Darcy and Elizabeth’s happiness.
Debut author Jessie Lewis’s Mistaken invites us to laugh along with Elizabeth Bennet at the follies, nonsense, whims, and inconsistencies of characters both familiar and new in this witty and romantic take on Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice.
Goodreads | Amazon (U.S.) | Amazon (U.K.)
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About the Author
I’ve always loved words—reading them, writing them, and as my friends and family will wearily attest, speaking them. I dabbled in poetry during my angst-ridden teenage years, but it wasn’t until college that I truly came to comprehend the potency of the English language.
That appreciation materialised into something more tangible one dark wintry evening whilst I was making a papier-mâché Octonauts Gup-A (Google it—you’ll be impressed) for my son, and watching a rerun of Pride and Prejudice on TV. Fired up by the remembrance of Austen’s genius with words, I dug out my copy of the novel and in short order had been inspired to set my mind to writing in earnest. I began work on a Regency romance based on Austen’s timeless classic, and my debut novel Mistaken is the result.
The Regency period continues to fascinate me, and I spend a good deal of my time cavorting about there in my daydreams, imagining all manner of misadventures. The rest of the time I can be found at home in Hertfordshire, where I live with my husband, two children, and an out-of-tune piano. You can check out my musings on the absurdities of language and life on my blog, Life in Words, or you can drop me a line on Twitter, @JessieWriter, or on my Facebook page, Jessie Lewis Author, or on Goodreads, Jessie Lewis.
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Giveaway
Enter here for a chance to win one of eight ebook copies of Mistaken that are up for grabs as part of the blog tour. You must enter through the Rafflecopter link.
Terms and Conditions:
Readers may enter the drawing by tweeting once a day and daily commenting on a blog post or review that has a giveaway attached for the tour. Entrants must provide the name of the blog where they commented. Remember: Tweet and comment once daily to earn extra entries.
A winner may win ONLY 1 (ONE) eBook of Mistaken by Jessie Lewis. Each winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter and the giveaway is international. Good luck!
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10/03 My Jane Austen Book Club Vignette, Giveaway
10/04 Darcyholic Diversions Author Interview, Giveaway
10/05 Just Jane 1813 Review, Giveaway
10/06 Diary of an Eccentric Guest Post, Excerpt, Giveaway
10/07 My Love for Jane Austen Character Interview, Giveaway
10/08 Of Pens and Pages Review, Giveaway
10/09 From Pemberley to Milton Guest Post, Giveaway
10/10 Half Agony, Half Hope Review, Excerpt
10/11 Savvy Verse and Wit Review, Giveaway
10/12 So little time… Guest Post, Giveaway
10/13 Babblings of a Bookworm Vignette, Giveaway
10/14 Interests of a Jane Austen Girl Review, Giveaway
10/15 Laughing With Lizzie Guest Post, Excerpt, Giveaway
10/16 Austenesque Reviews Vignette, Giveaway
What a delightful excerpt of the theater scene. Oh, way to go Lizzy. Woohoo!! That guy didn’t know what hit him. I loved it. I can’t wait to read this. Blessing [afraid to say good luck] on the launch of this book. Thanks Anna for this post. Thanks Jessie for the generous give-a-way.
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My pleasure! Thanks for stopping by!
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Thank you, J.W.Garrett, I’m glad you enjoyed the scene. Elizabeth certainly takes no prisoners once they’ve crossed the line! And thank you again, Anna, for allowing me to share it with your readers today. 🙂
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My pleasure! Thrilled to have you as my guest!
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Gosh! Who knew the gentry needed to take an umbrella to the theatre to keep them from unwelcome secretions raining down from above their boxes?
And Elizabeth? Defending Darcy? Yes! Long may she continue – and I hope he gets to hear of it!
I am loving the sound of this book. Thank you so much for sharing both the excerpt and the research.
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I agree, Glynis, I raised my eyebrows when I read that snippet of information about the theatres as well! And we thought the queues for ladies rest rooms were bad nowadays! We can only hope that not all theatres were as bad as that one in Newcastle 😉 Thanks for popping in to join the chat!
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Very interesting post, thanks for sharing! I love history and learning something new through books I love is always great!
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I’m glad you enjoyed it, Maria. There are so many fantastic blogs out there with information about the Regency Era, but it was fun to share a few of the quirkier facts I happened across.
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Super excerpt Jessie and wonderful to hear some of the history behind it!
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Thank you, Amy! Thanks for stopping in to join the fun!
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Oh, those theatre fires were dreaded. Pit musicians lived in fear of them, or getting trampled trying to escape.
Great scene, and gear comeback from Lizzy. Sounds like a super story.
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Ah, thank you! Lizzy was pretty indignant that somebody should be saying bad things about *her* Darcy. Shame she doesn’t yet realise he *is* hers, eh? 😉
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Thank you for the research about theatres. I knew some of it, but did not realize what happened when people did not want to leave their locations! Lizzy is very defensive of Mr. Darcy. I wonder if that will get back to him. Thank you for the excerpt and giveaway.
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Elizabeth’s a fiercely loyal creature at heart. She sticks up for Jane and Wickham vehemently in canon – it was a joy to writer her sticking up for Darcy at last. Good luck with the giveaway!
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Definitely different from the theatre I always imagined as well. I can’t imagine Mr. Darcy or Elizabeth at such a place. Great excerpt, I love Elizabeth sticking up for him.
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I love her sticking up for him too! I’m glad you enjoyed the excerpt. I’m pretty sure that whatever box Darcy hired at the theatre would have been drip-free at his insistence!
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So Darcy is not beloved by many people then
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Well, Austen herself told us he was always giving offence. But give him time – in this part of the book he’s only just come back from Kent and has yet to assimilate the dressing down Elizabeth gave him at Hunsford. Poor boy! Thanks for stopping by to comment, Vesper! 🙂
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Enjoyed seeing Lizzy stand up for Darcy. Quite interesting. I’m eager to read more. intriguing indeed.
Now to the ‘enlightening’ information about the theatre, I must say, it is certainly not what I had imagined it to be either. Takes some of the glamour out of it, doesn’t it? Glynis, I think you hit it with needing an umbrella. Can you imagine the gentry in all their finery getting that ‘unpleasant’ rain during their evening out! Thanks, Jessie, for your revealing research. I will never read a Regency theatre scene the same again! lol
Thanks, Anna, for hosting! Great stop, ladies!
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It’s pretty disgusting isn’t it Janet! One can only hope that not all theatres were similarly afflicted. Thanks so much for organising the blog tour, and thank you Anna for hosting!
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My pleasure! Thanks for stopping by!
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Been following the book tour, would love to read it! Also, what a fun excerpt you shared. Thanks again for the giveaway
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Thank you, Priscilla! I really enjoyed writing this scene – Austen’s Elizabeth is so witty, yet never nasty – it’s fun letting her tease people without being scathing. I’m glad you’re enjoying the blog tour! 🙂
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Very interesting deets about a night at the Regency theater, Jessie. Your research and attention to detail is yet another reason I love your book. So happy to see you doing this blog tour! Everyone ought to be reading Mistaken- it’s pretty darn awesome!
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Gosh, thank you Debbie! I’m thrilled you enjoyed it so much. Researching the Regency Era is like going down a rabbit hole – there’s just so much fascinating information out there you can easily get lost for hours clicking through link after link. Though I do especially love it when I happen across a particularly silly or outrageous snippet like this 😉 I hope you will enjoy some of the other bits and pieces I’ll be sharing on the blog tour. Thanks so much for your kind words.
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Great excerpt! I’m looking forward to reading this one!
Congrats on your debut, Jessie!
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Thank you, Pam! Glad you enjoyed the excerpt 🙂
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Isn’t this Lizzy a force to be reckoned with? Someone to be admired and one you’d undoubtedly love to have in your corner!!
Her defense of Mr Darcy is a joy to behold!! Long may it continue!!
Wishing you the very best with your new book,Jessie.
Anna,cheers for such a great post!!
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Absolutely, Mary – Elizabeth defended Wickham and Jane and everyone else but Darcy so vehemently in canon, it was a joy to give her a turn defending him here. If only he knew she’d done it! Sigh. Thanks for your good wishes!
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My pleasure! Thanks for stopping by!
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Great post! This is such an important scene in the book. It was such fun rereading this snappy, witty dialogue again.
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Thank you, Claudine! It was a fun scene to write and I’m delighted you enjoyed it when you read the book. Thanks so much for stopping by to comment!
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I read this when it was unpublished and enjoyed it. I will reread it in the published version so I can post a review. Thanks for sharing.
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Thank you for dropping by to comment, Sheila. I look forward to your review!
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I knew all walks of life attended the theatre back then, but some of the details you provided had me squirming in my chair! Loved the excerpt and Lizzy’s defense of Mr. Darcy! I have heard rave reviews of your witty dialogue that I’m looking forward to reading your book! Thank you for hosting Anna!!
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Thank you Carole! I loved writing Lizzy defending Darcy. Putting that fierce loyalty to work on the good guy for a change was great! I hope you enjoy the book!
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My pleasure! Thanks for stopping by!
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LOL, I love Elizabeth delivering a witty setdown to a fool. Thanks for sharing.
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Ha ha, yes, Mr. Wrenshaw certainly is a fool – and Elizabeth is nobody’s fool 😉 Thanks for joining in the blog tour!!
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Great excerpt! This book promises such fun! I can’t wait to read it!
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Me, too, Joana! I’m dying to read it. Hopefully I will have time soon!
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Thank you Joana and Anna! I’m really excited to know what you both think. And Anna, let me take this opportunity to tell you how much I love your little icon monsters on this blog. They really make me smile!
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Thanks! They were the cutest of the available choices. 😉
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Loved Elizabeth’s dig on him and how she defended Darcy! Can’t wait to read your debut novel!
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This scene was such fun to write, Dung! Elizabeth is a genius at “winning” these sorts of conversations without giving offence. Such a shame Darcy wasn’t there to see it … 😉
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Thank you for sharing your research tidbits with us, Jessie. It’s good to hear that Elizabeth stand up for Darcy when his reputation was called into question.
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She’s excessively possessive of him in this scene – only she doesn’t really realise it, which is half the fun. Mrs Gardiner clocks it though, rest assured she won’t let it go without a few pointed questions 😉 Thanks for stopping by!
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I cannot wait to see what you think of this one.
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I’m looking forward to reading it!
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Ah, that’s great, Anna! I hope you enjoy it. Either way, I’m looking forward to hearing what you think 🙂
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