Happy
New Year to you all! 2020 was really quite a year, wasn’t it! Unprecedented in
so many ways. While New Year’s Eve is never an event I look forward to (because
deep down I want to go to one of those huge, swanky 1980s parties that you see
in films, like the one in
When Harry Met Sally) I actually love the New
Year itself, as it’s such a time for reflection and hope for the future.
I
found 2020 a mixed bag because on the one hand it was very trying; the stress,
the worry about one of us potentially catching Covid and becoming really ill,
the home-schooling, the isolation, the worry about the potential effect on my
kids’ mental health from being away from school for months, all took a burden
on my mental energy. Like many people, I spent the majority of the year feeling
like a wrung out dishcloth! I also found working at home while the kids were
homeworking really difficult, so hard to concentrate! This meant by the end of
the day I was pretty much only good for zombie time in front of the television.
On
the other hand, I don’t think I have ever had a year when I have spent so much
time feeling grateful for what I have – mine and my family’s continued good
health, our lovely home, the fact that I have a job which continued to employ
me right through the pandemic and allowed me to stay at home, meaning that I
didn’t have to send my children to the hub schools for keyworkers. I was so
grateful for the company of my family too, that I wasn’t living alone. Although
I became sick and tired of walking in my local area, I also appreciated that we
have green space close to where we live to walk around. So, although I found
2020 taxing I also found it a very rewarding year in some ways.
However,
one way in which 2020 was entirely dreadful was the effect on my reading. If I
am stressed I find it difficult to immerse myself in the written word. My audio
reading time was cut overnight to pretty much zero as I used to listen on my
commute and during solo lunchtime walks in my work lunch hour, and I lost both
of those times. I didn’t get anywhere near my modest reading target for 2020.
This is something that I need to rectify in 2021, I want to read more this
year.
Although
I didn’t get anywhere near as much reading done as I wanted, in terms of
quality of reading, I was lucky, because the books I did get to read were good
ones! So here’s my pick of the year:
First
up was Thaw by Anniina Sjöblom. This is a forced marriage scenario which
diverges early on from Pride & Prejudice. Here, Elizabeth marries Mr
Darcy after a compromise, which was entirely innocent. It’s told in the form of
letters from the new Mrs Darcy to various people, and we see her icy
relationship with her husband begin to ‘thaw’. I thought this was a wonderfully
charming story, and you can read my 5 star review of it here.
My
next 5 star read was
1932: Pride & Prejudice Revisited by
Karen
M Cox. This was the second edition of the book, and it’s had a number of
improvements to an already excellent story. This is a P&P inspired story
set in 1932 in Kentucky. Mr Darcy is a well-to-do farmer, and the Bennets have
moved to the same town, having fallen on hard times. The thing I probably enjoyed
most about this story is Mr Darcy, who first manages to delude himself as to his
feelings, and then lets his pride get in the way. You can read
my full review
of the second edition of1932 here.
Miss Austen
by Gill Hornby is a story about Jane Austen’s elder sister Cassandra. This
lady, as you may know, undertook an editing of the documents left after Austen’s
death. In this story we see Cassandra visiting a family connection in order to
try and get hold of letters that Jane would have sent some 20 years ago before
they are re-discovered. While finding the letters Cassandra looks back at the
events laid out in the letters. I absolutely loved this story, and heartily
recommend it as a 5 star read. You can read my review of Miss Austen
here.
Now
for a complete change of scene – modern times in New England!
Sanctuary
by
Cat Andrews is a
Pride & Prejudice flavoured modern read
rather than adhering closely to the plot of P&P. It tells the story of two
people who have been hurt by life in different ways and have moved to an island
off the coast of Maine for a fresh start. Elizabeth Bennet moved there to make
a new life after the end of an abusive marriage, Will Darcy and his son Jack
are making a new start after the death of Jack’s mother. It’s a story in 3
parts. You can see my
5 star review of the first part of Sanctuary here. I read
all three books but haven’t posted reviews of part 2 and 3 yet.
The
last of my 5 star reads in 2020 was
Amy D’Orazio’s
A Wilful Misunderstanding which is a
Pride & Prejudice variation.
Here Elizabeth and Darcy didn’t get off to a bad start, but instead married
after a whirlwind romance. When doubts are planted in Darcy’s mind about his
wife’s fidelity a rupture is caused between the couple. When they meet again a
few years later there is a lot of lost ground to be made up. This is a story
with a good pinch of angst which kept me glued to the page! You can read my
review of the story here.
Given
that my concentration wasn’t up to much in 2020, the anthology
Elizabeth:
Obstinate, Headstrong Girl made for nice, small reading chunks. This
anthology brought together short stories from some of my favourite Austenesque
authors, edited by
Christina Boyd. They were all inspired by the heroine
of P&P. Some explored variations on Austen’s story, others took Elizabeth
to another time. You can read
my 4½ star review of the anthology here.
I
love a forced marriage scenario, and
Being Mrs Darcy by
Lucy
Marin is a fresh take on it. So often Mr Darcy is madly in love and
Elizabeth hates him. Here, the couple meet earlier, when Georgiana visits
Ramsgate. Impulsively intervening in a twilight meeting of Georgiana and Mr
Wickham, Elizabeth and Mr Darcy are strangers, forced to marry. You can
read my 4½ star review here.
With
Kara Pleasants’ Disenchanted we find ourselves in a
Pride
& Prejudice variation set in a world where magic exists! I loved how
magic was intertwined with several of the events and characters of P&P, and
there are also some mysteries to unravel. This was a 4½ star read for me, and you
can
read my review here.
In
another change of scene,
The Jane Austen Society by
Natalie
Jenner takes us to Chawton, Jane Austen’s last home, just after WWII. In this
story, a group of otherwise disparate people are brought together by their love
of Austen in order to save her home for future generations. This was a story
that really drew me in. You can
read my 4½ star review of it here. If you
choose to read it and like the audio format, please note that the audio of this
book is narrated by Richard Armitage!
The
last of my pick of the year is
A Timely Elopement by
Joana Starnes
which picks up at Hunsford Parsonage. Mr Darcy is proposing, but just as Elizabeth
is about to reply they are interrupted by the news of an elopement and the
story takes a turn. This was a lovely story, which took turns that I wasn’t
expecting, always refreshing in the a variation of P&P when you have read
so many! I rated this as a 4½ star read and
you can read my review here.
So,
this is my pick of 2020! I recommend each and every one of these books to you
if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading them already.
How
was your 2020? Please let me know in the comments! If you’d like to recommend
one of your 2020 reads to please do! I have a rough idea of some of the books I’d
like to read in 2021, but I am always open to suggestions!
Note about comments: If you have any problems
adding your comment please contact me and I will add your comment for you :)
Also, if you're on Goodreads and you'd like to join an Austenesque readers' group, Sophia Rose has set up a group for 2021, the Austen Lovers TBR Challenge 2021. It's a lovely, welcoming group, but you will find your to be read list growing rather than shrinking!
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