Loving Miss Tilney by Heather Moll - Excerpt and Giveaway

Today Heather Moll is dropping by with an excerpt from her new Austenesque novel. I am always especially pleased when an Austenesque book isn’t Pride & Prejudice-inspired, as although that’s my favourite Austen book, most JAFF is based on P&P so it makes a nice change to have one that comes from another story. As you may well have guessed from the title, Loving Miss Tilney has its roots in Northanger Abbey.

I’ve been lucky enough to read this book already, and I’ll share my review with you in the next few days.

Let’s look at the blurb and then I’ll hand over to Heather Moll for an excerpt of the book. Heather has also brought a worldwide giveaway with her!

Book Description

She’s forbidden to wed a nobody. He’s nothing in society’s eyes. Will their desperate schemes backfire before they find a way to be together?

Northanger Abbey. Eleanor Tilney can’t bear her lonely life any longer. Distraught when her tyrannical father throws her friend out of the house because the girl lacks an inheritance, the long-suffering general’s daughter decides anything is better than a future all alone. So in a frantic bid for freedom, she puts aside her tender feelings for a man of no standing to pursue a wealthy husband.

Philip Brampton understands that fortune is against him. And he tries gallantly to bury his distress and support his lonely beloved, even after she starts pursuing an arrogant buffoon. But when he catches the fellow about to kiss her, their resulting harsh words cause a heartbreaking rift.

Stiffening her spine in a world that refuses to acknowledge her value, Eleanor attempts to navigate the impossible situation without quashing her desires. And though his shy nature abhors a scene, Philip braces himself for a confrontation with her cruel and abusive patriarch.

Do these childhood sweethearts have any hope of achieving lasting happiness?

Doubt Not, Cousin by Barry S Richman - Blog Tour, Excerpt and Giveaway

Today I’m happy to be welcoming a new visitor to the blog as the blog tour for Barry S. Richman’s book, Doubt Not, Cousin drops by. This is a Pride & Prejudice variation. Let’s look at the blurb, after which I can share a very romantic excerpt and ebook giveaway with you, courtesy of Meryton Press.

Book Description

Darkness, in many forms, must be conquered to emerge into the light and embrace one’s happily ever after.

Fitzwilliam Darcy. Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam.
Two cousins, closer than brothers.
One finds love despite his inner demons; the other resists love because of them.

Elizabeth Bennet. Kitty Bennet.
Two sisters, strengthened by adversity.
One willingly yields to love; the other pridefully misinterprets it. 

An epic saga steeped in intrigue and gift-wrapped in romance, Doubt Not, Cousin chronicles the trials and tribulations of three extraordinary families during England’s Regency era. 

… But who is the girl with the violet eyes?

A Far Better Prospect by MJ Stratton - Except and Giveaway

MJ Stratton is visiting the blog today with a book which focuses on one of Jane Austen’s secondary characters; Mrs Hurst, formerly Miss Louisa Bingley, sister of Charles Bingley from Pride & Prejudice. 

We don’t see a huge amount of Mrs Hurst in P&P, and what we see isn’t necessarily to her advantage, although we have met her through the eyes of an unreliable narrator, so there is scope for her to be different to our perception. This is the heroine of A Far Better Prospect. Let’s look at the blurb and then I will hand over to M  Stratton for an except from the book and a giveaway opportunity.

Book Description 

Louisa Bingley had never defied her mother in her life, until she found something she wished to fight for. In love with a man with close ties to trade, Louisa refuses to give him up when her mother demands it.

But Mrs. Bingley is not to be reckoned with and through despicable means manages to force her daughter into a much more ‘appropriate’ marriage to a gentleman named Mr. Hurst.

Married to a man she does not love, the newly wed Louisa Hurst must learn to navigate her husband's expectations and demands while still holding on to the threads of herself. Through all of this she must also survive the malice of her younger sister Caroline, a responsibility thrust most unwillingly upon her.

Convinced contentment in life is all that she can expect, Louisa finds herself quite unexpectedly free to pursue her own happiness. But does she dare take the chance at allowing herself to feel again?

Along with Jane and Lizzy and all our favorites, Louisa Hurst gets her own happy ending in this Pride and Prejudice Vagary.

The Crimes of Elizabeth Darcy by Sophie Turner - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I’m happy to be welcoming Sophie Turner back to the blog with what sounds like a potentially very angsty new book, The Crimes of Elizabeth Darcy, which is already getting some great reviews. Sophie has brought us a guest post and giveaway. Let me share the book blurb and then hand over to Sophie for her guest post. 

Book Description

After a tragic accident, Fitzwilliam Darcy is left for dead. His grief-stricken wife vows to do what is best for their children, including an ill-advised second marriage in the peerage.

Years later, Will Trevills leaves his happy life in Cornwall to discover the truth about his past. Thrust into a strange world after life as a fisherman, he gains a family he cannot recall. Lady Neston becomes Mrs. Darcy once more, and is grateful for her escape. But her husband questions his purpose as a gentleman, and cannot remember the love they shared.

Charged with bigamy, she may face the ultimate punishment, while the family she sought to protect has never been in greater peril.

Part thriller, part romance, and part courtroom drama, this Elizabeth and Darcy story is a long, absorbing read.

Readers should be aware that this story contains scenes of rape and sexual assault as well as a depiction of an abusive marriage and more general physical violence.

Darcy in Hollywood by Victoria Kincaid - Guest Post, Excerpt and Giveaway

Today we're welcoming Victoria Kincaid back to the blog with her latest book. As you can infer from the title, Darcy in Hollywood is a modern Pride & Prejudice variation which sees Mr Darcy as a Hollywood film star. Victoria has brought us an excerpt of the book and has also shared her thought processes in transporting Austen's characters to modern-day Hollywood while keeping them true to the characters the readers know and love. Victoria is also kindly offering a giveaway of an ebook of Darcy in Hollywood to one of you. Read on for more details!

Book Description

Rich and arrogant movie star, William Darcy, was a Hollywood heartthrob until a scandalous incident derailed his career.  Now he can only hope that Tom Bennet’s prestigious but low budget indie film will restore his reputation.  However, on the first day of filming, he nearly hits Bennet’s daughter, Elizabeth, with his Ferrari, and life will never be the same.  Okay, she’s a little sarcastic, but he’s certain she’s concealing a massive crush on him—and it’s growing harder to fight his own attraction….

Elizabeth Bennet has a lot on her plate.  She’s applying to medical school and running the studio’s charity project—while hoping her family won’t embarrass her too much.  Being Darcy’s on-set personal assistant is infuriating; he’s rude, proud, and difficult.  If there’s one thing she dislikes, it’s people who only think about themselves.  But then Elizabeth discovers Darcy has been doing a lot of thinking about her.

She might be willing to concede a mutual attraction, but events are conspiring against them and Darcy subject to constant public scrutiny.  Do Darcy and Elizabeth have any hope of achieving Hollywood’s elusive happy ending?

The Meyersons of Meryton by Mirta Ines Trupp - Author Interview, Excerpt and Giveaway

Today I'm welcoming a new visitor to the blog, Mirta Ines Trupp. Mirta has written a book which brings a Jewish family into P&P. She has joined us today with an excerpt from The Meyersons of Meryton, an author interview and an international ebook giveaway! Let's take a look at the blurb first.

Book Description

When a new family, thought to be associated with the House of Rothschild arrives in Meryton, a chain of events are set in place that threaten the betrothal of Miss Elizabeth Bennet to her beloved Mr. Darcy.

Rabbi Meyerson and family are received at Longbourn. This inconvenience leads to misfortune, for when the rabbi disappears from the quiet market town, Mr. Bennet follows dutifully in his path.

Her father’s sudden departure shadowed by the Wickhams’ unannounced arrival has Elizabeth judging not only her reactions to these tumultuous proceedings but her suitability as the future Mistress of Pemberley. A sensible woman would give her hand in marriage without a second thought. Can Elizabeth say goodbye forever to the one man who has captured her heart?

The Meyersons of Meryton is a Pride and Prejudice variation. The narrative introduces Jewish characters and history to the beloved novel and, although there are some adult themes, this is an inspirational and clean read.

Guest Post from Elaine Jeremiah, Author of Love Without Time

Today I'm welcoming a new JAFF author, Elaine Jeremiah, for a guest post about what drew her to writing in this genre, and an excerpt of her book, Love Without Time.

I'll start by giving you the blurb, as usual, and then hand over to Elaine for her guest post:

Book Description

When Cassie Taylor meets an ordinary-looking man in a bookshop, the last thing she imagines is the encounter will lead to her time travelling to Regency England.

Jane Austen-obsessed Cassie would love a romantic hero of her own to sweep her off her feet, but meeting Ted is seriously underwhelming. Then everything is turned upside down when Ted saves her life – and she nearly ends his.

Guilt-ridden and panicked into saying she’s Ted’s girlfriend at the hospital, Cassie takes a walk outside at night, loses her way and finds herself in the past. She meets a young Regency woman, Isabella, who takes pity on her, allowing her to stay at the majestic Westerleigh Hall. But not everyone there trusts her and Cassie will find there are many pitfalls to be avoided if she’s to survive in this world.

Can this be real? Is she dreaming? Will she ever get home?

Guest Post from Elaine Jeremiah

I’ve been writing pretty much for as long as I can remember. Growing up, I wrote and told loads of stories. I wrote short stories at school, which people seemed to like – I won a competition – and told tall tales of warring cats and dogs to my younger siblings on long car journeys.

As I got older, I experimented with various genres. The first novel I ever wrote was called Fresher Girl, about a girl going away to university for the first time. It wasn’t great, but I kept persevering.

Five years ago, I self-published my first novel. But it wasn’t a Jane Austen fan fiction novel. It was more of a family saga, called The Inheritance, about two sisters – one who is sensible and works hard and the other who demands her inheritance from her father early, then loses it all in the space of a year.

It didn’t exactly set the world alight! I kept writing though and wrote two contemporary romances. Nothing that I’d written really felt right for me though, until my husband suggested I try writing Jane Austen fan fiction. I’ve been a huge Jane Austen fan all my life. I was lucky enough to grow up in the same county – Hampshire – that she did.

I’ve walked past the house in Winchester where she died many times and I ended up going to university in Winchester too. I have visited her cottage at Chawton a number of times, as well as Chawton House, where her brother lived. So I feel a real affinity with Jane Austen and when I started writing my first Jane Austen fan fiction novel, Love Without Time, I felt like I’d finally found my niche.

Love Without Time isn’t your typical Jane Austen fan fiction novel, as it’s not based around any of her novels. But it is about a girl who’s a huge fan of Jane Austen, who time travels back to Regency England, and all of the things that happen and problems she encounters there.

I thought it would be a fun idea to imagine what would happen if someone from the twenty-first century time travelled back to Regency England. What would it be like? What would they see/smell/touch? How would they react to their experiences?

I enjoyed writing the story so much, I decided to turn it into a trilogy and right now I’m hard at work on By Time Divided, the second book in the trilogy. I hope you enjoy Love Without Time if you get to read it. Big thank you to Ceri for featuring me on her blog.

Exerpt from Love Without Time

Just then I felt a wave of fatigue wash over me. And I had never been so thirsty in my life. I felt myself begin to sway, but a small hand which was surprisingly strong caught hold of me and set me upright. I looked to see who my rescuer was. It was the other young woman I’d seen, who’d been standing next to the woman who had questioned me. Her dark eyes regarded me with sympathy and I was comforted.

‘Miss Taylor, let me help you to a seat. And I shall get you something to drink. You must be so tired and thirsty after such an ordeal.’

‘Thank you,’ I said gratefully as she led me to a wooden chair at the side of the marquee. I sank down onto it; it felt like bliss to finally be seated and I also felt as though I really had been in an accident whilst on a long journey. I could sense everyone’s eyes on me again, but I ignored them as I closed my eyes. As I did so, my thoughts returned to my own time.

There was a sharp pain in my chest as I remembered Ted, as if someone had struck me. How could I have forgotten him, even for a moment? All my feelings of guilt for what had happened were renewed in my mind. I opened my eyes. I didn’t have much time to ponder this, as the young woman had returned with what looked like a glass of wine.

She stood in front of me with Isabella and the petite woman, who were watching me with concerned expressions. It was then that I noticed an older woman standing behind them, eyeing me as a hawk would a mouse.

‘Here you are,’ the petite young woman said with an anxious look, handing me the glass. I frowned for a moment – why were they not just giving me water – and then I remembered from my history books that very few people in Georgian times would drink water. It wasn’t safe.

I caught her eye; her expression had changed and she was giving me an odd look as if she’d seen my puzzled expression. But she didn’t comment on it. I took a sip of the wine and was glad I had, as I felt its warm tang soothing me from the inside out.

‘I’ve been very remiss,’ I said to her after a few sips of wine. ‘You know my name, but I have not enquired as to yours.’

‘Oh no, the fault is all mine,’ Isabella put in hurriedly, her face a little pink. ‘These are my childhood friends Eleanor Thorpe,’ she indicated the dark-eyed young woman, ‘and Mary Price. They are staying with me here at Westerleigh for a few months. And the two gentlemen you see here are my guardians’ son William Montague and his good friend Charles Radcliffe who is staying with us for a few days.’

Charles gave me a curt nod; he was the dark-featured gentleman I’d already spoken with. William looked friendlier, giving me a curious glance, which rather than making me feel scrutinised made me want to get to know him.  

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About the Author

Elaine Jeremiah lives in England with her husband and their golden retriever. When she was young she wanted to be a famous actress and win an Oscar. Sadly for her that never happened.

Instead writing took over. She has written stories from a young age, winning writing competitions at school and praise from her teachers. Growing up she continued to write, inspired by events in her life and even dreams she'd had. In recent years, especially since graduating from university with a degree in English, she has had more time to devote to writing.

She has now written and self-published four novels. Her latest, 'Love Without Time', is her first Jane Austen-inspired story, a time travel romance, and the first in a trilogy.

• Website • Goodreads • Twitter • Facebook

Buy Links

Amazon UK / Amazon US - this title is available for Amazon Prime Readers

Holidays with Jane: Summer of Love - Review

I was recently joined by Jessica Grey, one of the authors of the ‘Holidays with Jane’ anthologies. The summer-themed book ‘Summer of Love’ was released last month – you can see Jessica’s guest post about the book here, along with synopses of the short stories. Here’s what I thought about the book.

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The Unthinkable Triangle by Joana Starnes - Guest Post and Giveaway

Today I have the great pleasure of welcoming a visitor to Babblings of a Bookworm, the lovely Joana Starnes, writer of some wonderful Austenesque books. Joana has previously written a sequel to 'Pride & Prejudice' (which I reviewed for Leatherbound Reviews), P&P variations that also featured characters from 'Persuasion' and 'Sense & Sensibility' and taken our dear couple to Cornwall. This time her muse has conjured up a potentially problematic scenario; What if Colonel Fitzwilliam decided to propose to Elizabeth in Hunsford, and was accepted? Eeeep! Joana has brought us an excerpt to enjoy and she's offering a giveaway of a kindle version of 'The Unthinkable Triangle' to an international commenter here. Read on for excerpt and giveaway details.

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Review of Yours Forevermore, Darcy by KaraLynne Mackrory

Today the blog tour for 'Yours Forevermore, Darcy' stops here with my review of the book. Read on to see what I thought of KaraLynne Mackrory's latest release.

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Having thoroughly enjoyed KaraLynne Mackrory’s last couple of books (‘Haunting Mr Darcy’ and ‘Bluebells in the Mourning’) I was all anticipation for her latest ‘Pride & Prejudice’ variation, ‘Yours Forevermore, Darcy’. The premise of this book is that Mr Darcy has taken to writing letters to Elizabeth Bennet, to clear his mind and get things off his chest. He began the day after the Assembly in Meryton, and continued for some months. Obviously, he writes them with the intention that not a single soul will ever read them. But what if somebody did?

Interview with The Darcy Madness author S J Nixon

I thought it might be interesting to find out a bit more about what inspired the story 'The Darcy Madness' (you can see my review of it here), so I contacted the author, who has very kindly agreed to answer some of my questions.

This variation is extremely unusual, with the variation being that Mr Darcy is cursed, as are all Darcy men. Most of them are driven to madness by the curse and end up killing their wives and hence Darcy has decided never to marry and to let the curse die out with him. However, a faulty lock on the Netherfield Library door means that Darcy is forced to marry a woman he finds more than tolerable, though she is less than fond of him...

Here's the blurb (from Amazon):

Fitzwilliam Darcy is a man Cursed ...

Cursed to shoulder the burden of a dark insanity that has swallowed his ancestors whole...

Cursed to lose himself to a madness that will destroy everyone and everything he holds dear...

In this original retelling of Jane Austen's timeless classic Pride and Prejudice discover what happens when the Darcy family is afflicted with a dark, terrible secret that leads him to utter those fateful words ... 'Not handsome enough to tempt me,' and how an unforeseen twist causes his determination to avoid marriage at all costs to be unexpectedly thwarted by the compromise of a lady's reputation.

Can Darcy and Elizabeth resolve their differences to fall in love and live happily ever after, or will the Darcy Curse strike again...

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Thank you to author S. J. Nixon for joining me at Babblings of a Bookworm today! I'll get straight to the questions:

The Darcy Madness by S J Nixon

I originally read 'The Darcy Madness' as it was being posted on the Jane Austen fanfiction site A Happy Assembly. I signed up for notifications to the post so I'd receive an email telling me when a new chapter was posted so I could read each update as soon as possible. When I saw that the story was available to buy on Amazon I was really pleased because I'd enjoyed it so much, it's always nice to see JAFF that you’ve enjoyed reading available to a wider audience.

The madness in question is a curse, which is the affliction of all male Darcys, though the exact nature of the curse isn’t clear at first. This story is from Darcy’s point of view so we are privy to his private thoughts, hearing just how he’s affected by the curse. Darcy appears to be battling with himself all the time, against the curse within him that has led to so many of his forefathers descending into madness and killing their own wives. With such a frightening future in prospect, Darcy has decided never to marry and therefore let the curse die out. But then he accompanies Bingley to Hertfordshire and meets the alluring Miss Elizabeth Bennet. Darcy quickly recognises the danger she poses to his feelings, and bearing in mind the danger she would be in if they married, he goes out of his way to repel her, making sure she hears him comment that she’s not handsome enough to tempt him. However, fate takes a hand, and during the Netherfield Ball, a faulty library door leaves Elizabeth and Darcy trapped together and in the eyes of society, they must marry.

The Darcy Brothers - by Various Austen Variations Authors

Jakki of Leatherbound Reviews offered me the opportunity to review 'The Darcy Brothers' by Monica Fairview, Maria Grace, Cassandra Grafton, Susan Mason-Milks and Abigail Reynolds for her blog. It was originally published here, but in case you missed it, here it is.

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Last year, on the Austen Variations website, a serial story was posted, with the authors taking turns in posting chapters. At the end of the chapter there was a poll which gave the readers a choice in the direction of the story. This must have been such a challenge for the authors involved, picking up the threads of the story where somebody else has left it, and having to follow the readers’ choice of direction rather than the writer’s own muse. I read most of the challenge as it was being posted and was therefore really interested to see this published version of ‘The Darcy Brothers’ by Monica Fairview, Maria Grace, Cassandra Grafton, Susan Mason-Milks and Abigail Reynolds.

This is a variation on ‘Pride & Prejudice’ where the variation is a change to Darcy’s family. Here, he has a brother two years younger than himself, Mr Theophilus Darcy. The Darcy brothers unfortunately do not have the closest of brotherly bonds, and Theo has become Darcy’s scapegoat for a number of events including Georgiana’s failed elopement with Wickham, as Theo accompanied her to Ramsgate and was very close to Wickham. Darcy is paying his annual visit to Lady Catherine and has decided to take his brother with him, to keep him out of trouble. Darcy and Theo have a very unhealthy relationship at the start of this story. Theo craves his brother’s approval, but also derives great enjoyment from needling and annoying him, and a perverse pleasure in proving all his brother’s worst suspicions correct. At the beginning of the book I really didn’t like the side in each other that the brothers provoked (because anybody with siblings will know that they can bring out the absolute worst in you!); Darcy was more humourless, intolerant and unpleasant than I am used to, and Theo, while being amenable to others, was quite childish in his provoking manner. I found his childishness towards Lady Catherine much more amusing though:

‘Dipping a quill in ink, he began a sketch of his aunt with fangs and bat wings, then neatly labelled it ‘The Old Bat’.’

Theo has very keen powers of observation and is quite sure that something is wrong with his brother, who has, unbeknown to Theo, travelled to Kent under the spectre of dread that Caroline Bingley has put into his head that Elizabeth may have married Mr Collins. Being a person with an enquiring mind, and having nothing else to do in the country, Theo has decided to try and puzzle out what is preying on his brother’s mind:

‘A plan began to take shape in his head. True, it would mean undertaking several of his least favourite things – awakening early in the morning, attempting to be polite to his aunt and avoiding annoying his brother – but sometimes sacrifices must be made.’

Once Theo is on the case, it doesn’t take long for him to come to some quite accurate conclusions regarding his brother’s feelings, but unfortunately Darcy isn’t blessed with the same level of success in determining people’s feelings and he isn’t sure if Theo also has feelings of admiration towards Elizabeth. Elizabeth has even less reason to think well of Darcy in this variation, as she sees him add mistreatment of his brother to his list of crimes, not realising that Theo is extremely provoking to his sibling. With so much pushing them apart, is there a way towards happiness for Darcy and Elizabeth? And can the Darcy brothers ever bridge the gap between them and be brothers in more than name?

I thought this was an interesting idea for a variation because on the face of it, Darcy having a brother shouldn’t make much difference to his relationship with Elizabeth unless he directly interferes, but of course, having a different family dynamic would make Darcy a different person, and he is a sorely-tried man with a brother like Theo. The root cause of this isn’t Theo’s fault, he has been blamed unfairly by Darcy for a number of events, but he has perversely exacerbated the problem as much as possible, because, like his brother, he is a proud man, and will not admit that he wants his brother’s respect and love so their relationship has evolved into a bit of a vicious circle.

While at Rosings we see a very different side to Anne de Bourgh. I really enjoyed Anne’s character, and have never seen one quite like it in my Austenesque reading. Having been so secluded from society, Anne hasn’t learned the boundaries required for polite society, and is extremely outspoken and headstrong (I wonder where she gets that from?!), which I found very entertaining. She also wants to ‘help’ Darcy’s courtship of Miss Bennet, for her own reasons. I also liked the new character of Theo’s good friend, the genial man-mountain Sir Montgomery Preston.

Through the trials and tribulations they face, we see the Darcy brothers draw closer together and overcome the obstacles to true brotherhood that they’ve placed between them; it’s lovely to see them becoming closer and as they do, you can see Darcy changing to become more like the character that we know and love, and as Darcy changed I enjoyed the story more and more. This is a less romantic variation than some as the focus is more on the brothers, particularly Theo, but it was entertaining and interesting. There was a really interesting section relating to how wounds were dealt with which was fascinating to compare to medicine today.  I was also interested to see whether having this many authors would lead to changes in style throughout the book, but reading the published version I don’t think I’d have realised that there were so many authors involved in creating the story if I hadn’t have known the fact.

I don’t know whether it’s intended for this story to have a sequel but I think there is definite scope for it, and I’d love to read it if one is written. I would like to see what happens to Theo after the close of our tale! I’d recommend this to Austenesque readers, and I’d rate it as a 4½ star read.

*I was provided with a copy of this book to review for Leatherbound Reviews. 

The Beresfords by Christina Dudley

You may have wondered where I've been lately. Well, I had a netball injury which left me in hospital! I'm home now, but mostly chair bound for the next few months. I'm not happy about that at all, as you can imagine, but at least I can still read. Here is a review that I wrote before I was hospitalised but didn't get the chance to share with you.

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Last year, to celebrate the bicentenary of ‘Mansfield Park’ I embarked on a Mansfield reading challenge and found that there were slim pickings. I read a few Mansfield Park inspired books but they were all young adult. ‘The Beresfords’ is an updated version of Mansfield Park set in the 1980s and although our main character, Frannie Price is 14 when it begins I wouldn’t categorise it as YA.

Frannie went to live with her Aunt Marie’s family at age 6. Frannie’s mum was a drug addict, and so had brushes with the law and social services and Frannie’s aunt by marriage, Aunt Terri (the Mrs Norris character) suggests to her brother, Paul (the Sir Thomas Bertram character) that it would be the morally upright thing to do to bring his wife’s niece to live with them. Paul has 4 children from his first marriage, Tom, followed by Jonathan (Edmund), Rachel (Maria) and Julie.  Marie, Frannie’s aunt, is their step-mother. Marie has been in the Beresford children’s lives for around 13 years when our story begins and the Beresford children’s birth mother isn’t that interested in them, so they see Marie as their mother. Marie is very indolent, in a vague, ineffectual way, and though she is fond of them, she doesn’t put herself out much for anybody at all, so the raising of the children has mostly been done by Paul Beresford’s sister, Theresa, aka Terri or Aunt Terror. The only person who actually sees her as a terror is 14 year old Frannie, who Aunt Terri is always finding jobs for, when she isn’t reminding Frannie how much she owes her relatives.

Frannie is an interesting character. She’s so awkward, gauche and crushingly shy. She utterly adores Jonathan, who is the only person in the family who actually seems to care for her at all or see her as a person. Her other step-cousins resented her from the first, finding her uneducated and slow compared to them. They are all older than her, she’d had limited education before she’d come to live with the Beresfords and they are all academically more able than her. Jonathan dreams of becoming a pastor, and has instilled a lot of his beliefs into Frannie. The rest of the family are regular churchgoers but they only attend church because their strict father insists on it, it’s all lip-service. Tom is wild, always sneaking out to drink, and he’s gone away to college, where he has a pretty good time. One day, he brings home some friends from college, twins Eric and Caroline Grant (the Crawford characters). They are sophisticated and irreverent, and the Beresfords are immediately attracted to them, probably because they are just so different.

‘We’d never heard conversation like this before, and you could see us all draw nearer, like neighboring stars being sucked into a black hole.’

From the sidelines, Frannie resentfully watches as Caroline Grant casts her spell over Frannie’s beloved Jonathan while Caroline’s brother Eric toys with the affections of both Rachel and Julie, despite the fact that Rachel has a boyfriend, star of the baseball team Greg. Since Frannie is so overlooked, she is rarely noticed, which gives her an opportunity to watch the whole group closely. Although she is naive she sees the manipulations and the charm offensive that the Grants are pulling on the Beresfords, and mistrusts them accordingly.

I think all of the modern updates of 'Mansfield Park' that I’ve read have been young adult reads, and although you can see the events of 'Mansfield Park' they’ve not been anywhere near as complex. This was very different in that respect, I felt that it was easily the most faithful update that I’ve read. Frannie was so similar to Fanny Price – overlooked, seen as lesser by her stepcousins (here lesser in age and intelligence rather than social status) and by virtue of them all being so self-absorbed she is completely overlooked. In some respects she is quite ignorant and she is quite black and white in her judgements of people, but with her view of the Grants unobstructed by any attention to her from them she is able to make shrewd judgement of their characters. The downside for me of Frannie being so close to Fanny is that it took me a long time to engage fully with the book. Frannie isn’t really an engaging character! In ‘Mansfield Park’ there is a third person narrator making wry observations and intelligent comments but here it’s all from Frannie’s narrow and naive point of view which wasn’t as engaging.  Frannie is also very isolated which for me didn’t work quite as well in a modern setting. In ‘Mansfield Park’ Fanny doesn’t have much choice of companions. Her cousins aren’t interested in her, Fanny isn’t out in society and she would have had very little opportunity to meet people of a suitable class. Frannie could have met a much wider range of people, and if she wasn’t able to find many friends in school, she had other opportunities through church. Frannie comes across as quite a cold individual which makes her a little less likeable than Fanny Price, who had far less chance to find people to care for. Also, I felt that Fanny’s main weakness, being overly judgemental and not taking into account people’s backgrounds, is a fault that Frannie shared but never really overcame.

As I mentioned above religion plays a part in this book which people may not be expecting in a modern update. However, in my opinion it’s entirely fitting; in ‘Mansfield Park’, Mary Crawford is aghast at the thought of Edmund becoming a clergyman, and the difference in their spiritual viewpoint would be sure to take some bridging and compromise, and here it’s no different. Frannie being raised in an environment where religious teachings are given prominence also helps account for her attitude, which by modern standards is quite conservative. Conversely, rebelling against their religious upbringing also explains some of Rachel and Tom’s behaviour, and the fact that they keep it so secret from their father.

Once I got past the first third or so of the book I was really gripped, and very impressed by how closely the relationship dynamics followed ‘Mansfield Park’. Frannie’s feelings were represented well, and I thought some of the things which may not have made sense in a modern update without tweaking were well-accounted for (such as Eric Grant suddenly noticing Frannie as an attractive girl – here it’s because he hasn’t seen her in a few years and she has changed quite a bit in that time and suddenly seems grown up to him). As I said, this is easily the most faithful update of Mansfield Park that I’ve read and what comes parcelled with that is that the cast of characters aren’t the most likeable you’ll find, though I felt differently to some of them compared to their characters in MP. Aunt Terri is always nipping away at Frannie but she’s not the horrible woman that Aunt Norris is, and I always had a soft spot for the Crawford that I didn’t find for Caroline Grant, though I still managed to find some pity for her brother! If you’re looking to read a modern update of 'Mansfield Park' I’d certainly recommend this one, and I’d rate it as 4½ stars.

Holidays with Jane by various Indie Jane Authors

I saw this book featured on a few blogs and it sounded like something I’d really enjoy; a collection of contemporary short stories, each by a different Indie Jane author (Jennifer Becton, Melissa Buell, Rebecca M Fleming, Cecilia Gray, Jessica Grey, Kimberley Truesdale) and each focusing on a different one of Austen’s works. The stories have some linkage although they don’t cross over at all, for example, Catherine Morland runs a dressmaking business and she is making the Dashwood sisters’ dresses, Emma runs a gift shop where Edward buys a present for Elinor, and probably the strongest link is an Austen-themed coffee shop chain called ‘Mansfield Perk’. I really liked the fact that the stories were linked, it brought the book together nicely.

Here’s a quick rundown of the stories:

The Work of an Instant by Jennifer Becton, based on 'Persuasion'

Here, Dr Anne Elliot is a doctor on a naval base. She gave up her engagement to Frederick Wentworth 7 years ago, believing that she couldn’t bear the separations that would be inevitable once Frederick was working towards his dream of becoming a Captain. But Anne gets a chance, in the work of an instant, to realise that if she had her time again, she’d choose differently. This was a really lovely short story, which echoed back to the original in a number of ways. I particularly liked this part, showing the Miss Musgrove’s view of Anne, which I thought was really similar to ‘Persuasion’:

‘Of course, neither Louisa nor Henrietta had the least idea of what they had interrupted. They viewed her as some sort of asexual problem-solving machine. 

And perhaps that was all she was destined to be.

Well, if that were the case, then she would be the best asexual problem-solving machine possible.’

One thing that often doesn’t translate well to a modern update is Wentworth’s letter, which is possibly the most exquisite page of a book that I’ve ever read. This isn’t quite as delicious as that, but it was a very lovely and worthy letter, possibly the best modern update Wentworth’s letter I’ve read so far.

Mischief and Mistletoe by Melissa Buell, based on 'Northanger Abbey'

This was such a lovely story, featuring the sweet Catherine. She is the only daughter of a pastor, homeschooled, no TV and a small social circle which has resulted in her being extremely naive compared with most 18 year olds. However, Cate is a very talented designer and seamstress, running her own online business, ‘Cate’s Creations’. Most of Cate’s dresses are remade thrift store finds. Cate was taught to sew by her neighbour, Mrs Allen, who has taken her on as a bit of a protégé and given Cate a great opportunity - she is going to take on all the design work for costumes for a theatre production out of town. There she meets a young divinity student, Henry Tilney, whose sister Eleanor is going to assist Cate with the costume-making. The girls become firm friends, and when Cate needs to stay in the area longer than the Allens she arranges with Eleanor to stay at Northanger Estate. I enjoyed this story, but I would have liked for it to be developed a bit more.

A Tale of Three Christmases by Rebecca M Fleming, based on 'Sense & Sensibility'

This was a wonderful story, which made me both laugh and cry. The tears come from the situation Maggie Dashwood finds herself in. A few weeks before Christmas, Maggie’s father dies. She, her mother, and her sisters are probably going to have to move away from their family home due to an archaic clause which means that the property has to be willed, complete, to a male heir. Maggie goes up to her hideaway in the attic and finds a beautiful box. Inside is a notebook and a letter from her father, asking her to write a diary of the next three Christmases. It’s a beautifully thoughtful idea of her father’s, because not only does it give Maggie a connection to her father now he’s gone, but it also gives her an outlet away from the dysfunction that exists within her family, especially at a time of loss.

The laughter came from Maggie’s attitude towards her sister Marianne. I haven’t read Sense & Sensibility in a number of years, but I remember that I found Marianne unbelievably self-absorbed and tiresome... Maggie shares my view, and had a number of acerbic comments to make on it:

‘It’s not the trees’ fault that Marianne got lost, in the middle of a tantrum-induced walk, right as a March storm broke. If Wills hadn’t been having his own Byronic fit, she might have wandered all afternoon and into the evening, but he found her and was able to escort her home. From that point on? They were disgustingly inseparable.’ 

One thing I think is hard to update in 'Sense & Sensibility' is the Lucy Steele scenario, why Edward would stick with a relationship which he clearly wasn’t invested in, but here the author gave an explanation which I thought was really plausible. This was an excellent story.

With Love, From Emma by Cecilia Gray, based on 'Emma'

This was my favourite story of the collection, I just loved it. Emma runs a florist and gift store. She also keeps bees, from which she harvests wax for candles etc. We catch up with her at her best friend, Taylor’s wedding to West, which is being held on Christmas Eve. Emma is particularly proud of herself because she counts herself as personally responsible for making the match:

‘They all talk as if some celestial Cupid had been involved. 

Cupid wishes.’

Emma is joined at the wedding by her neighbour, Lance Knightley. He moved to the area about a year ago, and his bar is two stores along from Emma’s shop. Over a number of incidents throughout the last year, Emma and Lance have become friends. She is very attracted to Lance but is fighting it because she believes he sees her like a sister. Emma is constantly having to stop herself drooling at Lance, which led to a number of very amusing thoughts from her:

‘The man knew how to lean against a wall. Did models take classes in stuff like this, or did it just come naturally to attractive people?’

The thing I loved most about this story is that to me it captured the essence of Emma from Austen’s story – Emma was a busybody who felt she knew best, however, it was because she cared about people that she interfered and the fact that she did it with love always made me feel fond of her. This Emma has chosen to bring joy to the world through her gift store. I also liked the bee motif running through the story. Aside from keeping bees, Emma is also very much a queen bee herself. However, when Emma decides to match up Harriet with Elton she explains to Lance how a new queen bee is made, and it illustrates how she views her interference in others’ lives:

“That’s all it takes. A little extra nourishment and tenderness and you have a queen.” 

That’s always been the secret to my business. That anyone can feel like a queen, can be a queen, with the right love.’

Another thing I thought was a nice touch about this story is that Emma is quite a lonely person; although she mentions having friends the only one you really see is Taylor, and Emma’s parents are both dead. I think Emma Woodhouse was potentially fairly lonely, she has a very small social group and her socialising is curtailed somewhat by her father’s health.

I had to read this story twice, I loved it so much! It also hits a number of markers which exist in Austen’s story. Due to the shorter format, some of the characters from ‘Emma’ are absent, such as the Bates ladies and Jane Fairfax so we don’t have to see the bad side of Emma’s character that they bring out. Emma thinks back to a number of events throughout the year that she has understood one way when she could have interpreted them differently, for example:

‘For such a fancy car, he drove slowly and cautiously, taking full stops at every opportunity. You’d think a cop was following us. Or that I was his sister, I thought with a sigh. He probably drove like a hot-riding manic with women he actually wanted to date. 

Still the long drive gave us time to chat.’

Perhaps that was why he was driving slowly, you clueless woman!

It’s a Wonderful Latte by Jessica Grey, based on ‘Mansfield Park’

I was interested to see that Jessica Grey was writing the book based on ‘Mansfield Park’ because as far as I know, she really doesn’t like it! The story opens with Jane Austen and her sister Cassandra, sipping tea in the afterlife. Jane gets visited by another spirit, a Mr Clemens. I didn’t know what that name signified until Jane said this:

“Here to beat me over the head with your own shinbone, Mr. Clemens?”

And then it all became clear who Mr Clemens was, which gave me a giggle.  He has an assignment for Jane, down on Earth, like Clarence had in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’. Jane is sent to Mansfield Perk, where the manager, Evie, also dislikes ‘Mansfield Park’. On a personal note, I’ve only read ‘Mansfield Park’ twice – the first time as a romantic teen, and I really didn’t think much of it at all. I read it again a couple of years ago and I realised that it’s not a romance. There are romantic relationships, but that isn’t the main point of the book, and once I realised that I stopped being disappointed in the lack of romance and instead appreciated the book that I feel Austen intended to write. Funnily enough, Jane puts this view to Evie:

“...it’s Edmund Bertram I can’t stand.” 

Jane looked up from fiddling with the wallet with an amused smile. “Is that so?” 

“Oh yes, he’s a horrible romantic hero.” 

“Maybe it’s not a romantic book.” 

I stared at her blankly. “But-but-“ I spluttered. “Huh, I’ve never thought of that.”

Evie, who is the coffee shop owner’s granddaughter, works in the coffee shop with her cousin Izzy, and Frank, reliable Frank who is always there in the background. The store is visited by siblings Jake and Maggie Piper, who are new management of the mall the store is based in, wanting them to take part in a fund-raising celebration in the run up to Christmas. The fund-raising is for a theatre project, which isn’t a charity that’s close to Evie’s grandmother’s heart, but to paraphrase, ‘because Jake Piper was so ridiculously hot and Evie is so ridiculously shallow’ she convinces herself that it’s a good idea to support the project. Evie and Frank are usually in agreement on most things, but this time he feels that she’s not making the decision for the good of the store and it causes some friction in their relationship. Added to this, for some reason Evie doesn’t feel comfortable with Maggie Piper’s interest in Frank and his hot biceps!

There was an interesting point made, which I had never considered before:

“You are a bit like Edmund...or Emma. Emma was basically Edmund in a dress.”

I think there are definitely some similarities between the characters! Aside from these observations on Austen’s stories I also really enjoyed the tone of the story and the humour, Evie’s character was very likeable.

This story also contained my favourite quote of the book, which had me pausing my reading to share it on Goodreads:

“An angel?” I squeaked. “Like she’s on a mission from God? 

“No, that’s The Blues Brothers. But she could be an angel. A JANE-GEL.”

Pride & Presents by Kimberley Truesdale, based on ‘Pride & Prejudice’

In this story the Bennet family run the Longbourn Community Centre, which does a lot for disadvanted kids in the neighbourhood. Liz is trying to convince her father that she’s up to the job of taking over running the centre so that he can retire. She’s successfully secured a load of donations for the Christmas party, and is feeling pretty upbeat when two visitors arrive. Basketball star Charles Bingley and his friend, Will Darcy, who is a lawyer, would like to volunteer, because their community centre gave so much to them when they were growing up. Everybody loves Charles, but Will is cold and seemingly uninterested and Liz resents him for his moodiness. Lydia’s new friend Wickham is a real contrast to Darcy, he’s charming, outgoing and friendly and even agrees to be Santa for the kids’ Christmas party. However, Liz learns that first impressions can be deceptive, and that she has made misjudgements.

As part of the work Liz is taking over from her father, she’s spent a lot of time on the paperwork for renewing the lease and Longbourn’s non-profit status but around the time that Wickham dumps Lydia, the paperwork goes missing along with a flash drive containing the backups. Liz realises that she may have blown both the future of Longbourn and any kind of future for her and Will. Plus they don’t have Santa for the Christmas show. What Liz needs is a Christmas miracle.

This was an enjoyable short story. It was interspersed with the poem ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ and each line of the poem tied to a section of the story, which was a nice, Christmassy touch. I felt that this story might have benefitted from being a little longer. In ‘Pride & Prejudice’ the reader can see that Darcy is interested in Elizabeth before he asks her to marry him but here I don’t think it’s so clear. However, it’s still a story I enjoyed reading, and it was a nice festive way to round out the collection!

I really enjoyed reading this anthology. All of the stories were enjoyable, though I thought some worked better as short stories than others. Although they were all written by different authors, and so they are all slightly different in style they went together really nicely and I particularly liked the way the stories were linked, which I thought brought them nicely together into a collection. I can definitely see me picking up this book again when I want a quick fix of something Austenesque. I would recommend this book to anybody who likes contemporary-set JAFF. There are no sex scenes which may relieve you or disappoint you, depending on your view! I’d rate this as 4½ stars.

Haunting Mr Darcy by KaraLynne Mackrory

This Pride & Prejudice variation begins on New Year’s Eve. Darcy is in London, having fled Hertfordshire and the bewitching but unsuitable Miss Bennet. He has been making some laughable attempts to get over his infatuation with the Hertfordshire miss. Elizabeth is leaving an assembly in Meryton early with her upset sister and her thoughts touch on Darcy too – she is trying to cheer up Jane with a joke which refers to his comment about Elizabeth at the last Meryton Assembly. Just before midnight, both make a New Year’s wish. She wishes for Mr Darcy to want something he cannot have, while he wishes for the end to his search for somebody to replace Elizabeth in his heart, and to see her one last time.

When the carriage Elizabeth is travelling in crashes in the icy conditions and she suffers a head injury both of their wishes are granted. She finds herself in a wonderful, unfamiliar library (you can read an excerpt of this part here, where Elizabeth discovers the ability to read the books just by touching them, every bookworm’s dream for powering through our TBR lists!), and she is extremely put out at the sudden appearance of Mr Darcy in her ‘dream’.

‘This was her dream, for heaven’s sake, and who is to show up and ruin it? One Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley! It was just too much.’

However, this isn’t a dream; while Elizabeth’s body is in Hertfordshire, unconscious, her spirit is haunting Mr Darcy. Darcy, as can be expected, believes he has conjured the apparition himself:

‘He allowed himself to contemplate the truth of the matter before him. He was imagining her in perfect detail, and his infatuation with her had surely reached proportions beyond sanity.’

For the evening he is happy to believe it’s a dream, but when she’s still there the next day, and the next he genuinely fears for his sanity, and tries to rid himself of his ghost. When this doesn’t work, he again pays attention to Elizabeth’s spirit, and thus begins one of the most unusual courtships you are likely to read about. Elizabeth is unable to move more than 10 paces away from Darcy, which means she is in his company 24 hours a day. Seeing him live his life, watching his interactions with others and interacting with him herself leads Elizabeth to re-evaluate her views of Darcy. Being together so much also blurs some of the lines of propriety that Darcy would usually be so keen to uphold, and they become much closer.

‘Elizabeth’s heart began to beat unsteadily at hearing him call her the object of his admiration. Much to her dismay, the idea settled most stubbornly in the proximity of that traitorously beating organ.’

Sigh! But is it real or is it a dream? And how will Elizabeth’s body and spirit become reunited?

I was hopeful I’d enjoy this book since it comes from the author of one of my favourite Austenesque books, ‘Bluebells in the Mourning’ and I did, it was just beautiful. So, so romantic, humorous, with wonderful characters. Personally, I prefer characters to be as close as possible to Jane Austen’s creations unless their character change is part of the variation from canon, and I felt that this author did a very good job of it.  Obviously, due to the nature of the story Elizabeth and Darcy get the vast majority of page time, which is no bad thing, but the other characters that were present were affectionately portrayed and felt real to me. Mr and Mrs Bennet have their faults, but their love for their daughters was ever-present and I was very pleased to see some character growth for Lydia as she discovered some sisterly solidarity and decided to put sisters before misters for once! Colonel Fitzwilliam was in role as Darcy’s trusted advisor and did well in drawing him out, aside from a really amusing scene when he got drunk on Darcy’s port! I really enjoyed the portrayal of a somewhat more feisty Georgiana who is worried about her brother and determined that she won’t be shut out of helping him overcome the problems he is experiencing.

The only downside for me was that I was a little disappointed when Darcy retreats the instant he had a setback. One of the things I like best about Darcy is his persevering nature. In Pride & Prejudice when he first meets with Elizabeth at Pemberley he has very little hope, but yet he still keeps trying to see her, and even follows her later to Hertfordshire on the basis of what little hope he has. However, this really is a minor quibble.

For those of you who prefer to avoid sex scenes you will be pleased to know that there is nothing of that sort in this book and for those of you who like sex scenes, you may well not miss them when there is this much romance to enjoy! I would most definitely recommend reading this book, I thought it was wonderful!

Morning Light by Abigail Reynolds

This is the second book in Abigail Reynold’s Woods Hole series, the first being The Man Who Loved Pride & Prejudice, which is a modern version of Pride & Prejudice, telling the story of Cassie and Calder. In Morning Light we meet a friend of Cassie’s, Annie Wright. Annie runs an art gallery. Her late husband Paul was an artist. He was brilliant, but also had real problems, with depression and manic episodes which would lead to him doing almost unforgivable things which she’d forgive because he was genuinely under the influence of his illness and incapable of self-restraint at the time. Her feelings towards her husband are a mixed bag, partly because of the emotional fall out of his illness, partly due to the fact he committed suicide, and partly because she had very strong feelings for somebody else for the entirety of their marriage.

On the eve of their wedding Annie and Paul went out with a group and Paul went home early. One of Paul’s college friends, Jeremy, had flown in especially for the wedding. He got to the bar after Paul had left and started talking to Annie, not realising she was the bride. Annie and Jeremy had an immediate strong connection, but Annie put down these feelings to cold feet. Jeremy has a bit of a case of love at first sight and he is heartbroken the next day to see Annie marrying Paul. Since Jeremy works abroad it is easy for him to avoid the couple, but when he visits a few years later he realises that he didn’t imagine his feelings for Annie and he stops contacting Paul because it's just too painful to see them together.

Coming back to the present, when Jeremy is in the area and he and Annie meet unexpectedly it seems as though fate might be offering these two a second chance but once Annie finds out he’s kept something a secret from her things are not that simple. Annie has had a history of being abandoned, by her mother, then her stepmother, and then she had the difficult marriage with Paul, which took so much from her. She doesn’t know if she has anything left for a relationship with Jeremy, and there are other complications too.

This book has loose connections to Persuasion by Jane Austen. It differs mainly in that Annie was never persuaded to give Jeremy up, there are very few people who would have called off their wedding on the basis of an evening where nothing was said of any future relationship. There was also more fault here, as both Annie and Jeremy make decisions which are suspect. I felt a bit frustrated with them not talking to each other – she completely shuts him out, and I didn’t understand why he didn’t go to see her. If she’s ignoring phonecalls and letters then to me even if she rejected him he’d be no worse off than just waiting.

Quite a portion of page time is devoted to Cassie and Calder, so I’d recommend that you read The Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice before Morning Light. I was glad to see them, because both of them, although particularly Calder, had some serious family baggage left outstanding at the end of TMWLP&P so it was good to see them work through some of that, and to catch up with them a couple of years after their book finished.

I really enjoyed Morning Light. It’s not the most happy, light-hearted read, in fact for a while it is pretty sad, because there is so much unhappiness, especially for Annie. However, unlike TMWLP&P I didn’t feel like I’d had my emotions put through a mangle while reading! Also, to balance out the unhappiness there are also some really positive progress, as Annie finds out she was mistaken in some things she believed that she knew, and manages to put some of her issues relating to her marriage behind her.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet by Bernie Su and Kate Rorick

Some time ago the Austenesque world was abuzz with something new – a series of YouTube videos telling an updated version of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. I was sceptical, but I started on episode 1 and had a marathon watch-a-thon until I’d caught up. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries (or LBD, as many people shorted it to) moved the Bennets to modern-day California. The family consists of lovely sweet Jane, our somewhat snarky heroine Lizzie and the energetic younger sister Lydia. Lizzie is studying mass communications for her masters degree and is making a video diary as part of her degree. Like thousands of others, I tuned in twice a week for a 5-ish minute video with an insanely catchy theme tune, and caught up with a snippet of Lizzie’s life.

I thought this was such a clever series. It’s one thing doing a modern update; I’ve read plenty of those, but this also had to work within some limitations. Firstly, the perspective is quite limited – these are Lizzie’s videos and very much seen through her filter. Secondly, the videos were being posted online from the outset, which some people know, and others find out throughout the course of the videos. Some characters we don’t see in person, and Lizzie does some ‘costume theatre’ to play their roles, which I found really funny, particularly her interpretation of her mother, complete with hat.  There was also content in other platforms, such as twitter accounts of the characters that you could follow etc. Although obviously modernised, the main story points of Pride & Prejudice were all identifiable in the events the videos report.

When I heard there was a book of the LBD I wondered if it would bring anything new to the table, or whether it’d be the same as the videos but just in book form. The events of the videos are obviously discussed, but the book gave a bit of a fuller picture of things, and because it’s a private journal rather than a public video there are also some things which weren’t included in the vlog. The videos are very much from Lizzie’s point of view but there is very often somebody else on screen, so their views can come across too. In a journal everything is solely through Lizzy’s filter, which as we know, can be faulty.

For me, the aspect that changed most from the story Pride & Prejudice, which comes across particularly well in the videos, was the character of Lydia. She was a much more developed character than most Lydias in modernised versions. She’s a real party girl as you’d expect, but she takes her sisters’ opinions of her more to heart than they realise. She is loud, energetic and brash – but she is also funny, loving and observant and generally pretty adorable, if a little manic! She is quite lonely too, and is absolutely ripe for manipulation by George Wickham. He is completely ruthless here, and the majority of the blame for the event representing Lydia’s elopement in P&P lies with George. He is worse than Wickham in P&P in my eyes, as this George purposely intends to harm Lydia, which is a crime I would acquit original Wickham of, although his actions were obviously reprehensible. Lydia’s reaction to the event is very different to Pride & Prejudice’s Lydia too. This Lydia shows genuine remorse which goes a long way to securing your goodwill towards her, if you didn’t already love her.

Mr Bennet is represented via costume theatre in the vlog, but he makes appearances in Lizzie’s diary and his reaction to the Mr Collins situation renewed my appreciation for one aspect of the original Mr Bennet’s personality – the fact that he doesn’t try to force his daughter into marriage and actively discourages her from a match that will make her miserable. Here, the marriage offer is instead a job offer that would see Lizzy have to give up her degree in its final year. It would be desirable from a financial perspective as the Bennets are undergoing financial difficulties and Lizzie would no longer need to rely on her parents. LBD Mr Bennet’s support reminded me that, just as in Pride & Prejudice, Mr Bennet may not have done all the financial things as he should have but he doesn’t intend that his daughters should pay the price while he’s still able to prevent it.

Mrs Bennet was my favourite of all the costume theatre moments in the videos. Lizzie’s renditions of a southern belle who is determined to get her girls married off and popping out grandchildren were some of the funniest moments. In the book I felt her character was developed further by Lizzie’s diary entries. She is painted in an embarrassing but very affectionate light. In fact, the whole family has a bond that really comes across well.

Mr Collins is also reimagined from his Pride & Prejudice counterpart – rather than an unctuous sycophant he is here quite a sweet man, although he is still verbose and pompous. I got pretty fond of Ricky Collins, and you never expect to get fond of Mr Collins in Pride & Prejudice updates!

What about our beloved hero? Well, this would be my only real downside to this book, lack of Darcy time. At first Lizzie talks about the public reaction to Darcy’s portrayal on her videos but very little about him. Because the diary is so much more from her perspective and he is not important to her, he doesn’t get much page time. In Pride & Prejudice the narrator tells us that Darcy is interested in Lizzy, but since the narrator here is Lizzie, who has no clue, some things aren’t so obvious. Later, when Lizzie meets up with Darcy at his company I was hoping we’d get some of her feelings on the situation, since this is her personal diary, but it was glossed over pretty quickly. Her change in sentiment isn’t there in much depth at all, which seems an unusual choice as this is a diary. I would definitely have been interested to read that. There is also very little on Darcy at the end of the story; I’d have liked to have seen more of them together as a couple in the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The dialogue was often very amusing and was very identifiable as Lizzie’s voice from her videos. I thought it was an excellent enhancement to the original series. If you were thinking of getting the book and not watching the series I don’t think you’d be getting the full impact. Jane’s sweetness, Lydia’s excitable puppy quality and particularly things like the costume theatre have to be seen to be appreciated fully! The good news is that the videos, which have since won an Emmy Award, are available on YouTube so all you need to do is make the time to go and watch them! For those people who’ve already watched the videos there are couple of new videos to celebrate the release of the book so make sure you catch those!

My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing me with the ARC of this book for review.