More Letters from Pemberley...Review

About the book:
Letters from Pemberley, Jane Dawkins's popular continuation of Pride and Prejudice, described Elizabeth Bennet's first year at Pemberley as the newly wed Mrs. Darcy. More Letters from Pemberley picks up the story in 1814 and follows the life of one of literature's best loved figures for another six years to the twilight of the Regency period in 1819.

Again incorporating Jane Austen's own words and characters from her other works (who appear 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 has pieced together another literary patchwork quilt. The result is an entertaining and satisfying tale which …will surely delight Jane Austen fans, and please the many readers of Letters from Pemberley who asked for more.

I enjoyed this book much more than the first one. The story picks up where the previous one left off, in 1814 and follows Elizabeth and Darcy for another 6 years. The letters are written by Elizabeth to her sister Jane, her Aunt Gardiner, and Charlotte Lucas, among others. In this story, Elizabeth has matured and grown in her roles as wife, mother and mistress of Pemberley.

The story has more drama in it, but birth and death are a part of life and, for the most part, I felt the situations created here were plausible. Darcy's accident was a bit overly dramatic, but not distracting. No one can replace Jane Austen, and no one can recreate the voice of Elizabeth Bennet. However, this is a charming book and very easy read. I think it might have been richer though, if we could have read the responses to Elizabeth's letters.

My only complaint is the same one I had with the first book. Jane Dawkins thought it would be interesting to incorporate some of Austen's other characters into both novels. All have different names and I found it confusing and distracting. With some, it was obvious as who they were supposed to be, but with others is was more annoying. Again, a cute idea that fell flat.

Overall, an easy enjoyable read.

Thanks to my local library for having a copy I could borrow.  You can purchase your own copy here.

Read 11/08

* * *

3/5 Stars