In this continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, one of the best-loved novels in the English language, Elizabeth Bennet, now Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy and mistress of Pemberley, finds herself living a very different life of wealth and privilege. Writing to her sister, Jane, she confides her uncertainty and anxieties, and describes the every-day of her new life. Her first year at Pemberley is sometimes bewildering but Lizzy’s spirited sense of humour and satirical eye never desert her.
Incorporating Jane Austen’s own words and characters from her other works (who appear here with different names, either associated with Austen’s life, borrowed from another of her novels, or a word-play on their original name), Jane Dawkins pieces together a literary patchwork quilt to tell the story of Lizzy’s first eventful year as Mrs. Darcy. The result is an entertaining and satisfying tale that will surely delight Jane Austen fans everywhere.
This is the second P&P sequel I have ever read. It’s very different from the first one (Linda Berdoll’s sequel-also available from Sourcebooks). Letters from Pemberley is an epistolary novel and I found it made for a very quick read. I usually don’t enjoy this type of format, but here I did. We were given glimpses of Lizzy’s new life through the loving correspondence of her sister, Jane, also newly married.
