Recently rebitten by the Jane Austen bug after reading Regina Jeffer's novel Darcy's Passions, I discovered a veritable wealth of literature based on the novel Pride and Prejudice. How to sort through the good, the bad and the ugly? I began by reading the synopses and reviews of the sequels on Amazon, using the "look inside" feature when available. I then looked at the author's websites for those versions that sounded interesting.
What I discovered is that many of these sequels were not enjoyed by readers, mostly because the authors did not stay true to the personality and values of the characters. Some were criticized by readers for having very little plot. Others followed the romance novel format too closely. Readers wanted to read more about Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy rather than the minor characters or the next generation of Darcys. Versions that were too far removed from the core values and style of the original did not fare well. Just as readers do not enjoy movies that stray too far from the book versions they are based on, so it is with Pride and Prejudice or Jane Austen fanatics.
Some of the most highly recommended novels were:
The Darcys and the Bingleys: Pride and Prejudice continues by Marsha Altman
The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Mary Street
Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy: Two Shall Become One by Sharon Lathan (She has also written other sequels such as Loving Mr. Darcy.)
Pemberley Manor: Darcy and Elizabeth, For Better of for Worse by Kathryn Nelson
Next stop - the library, so I can make my own judgement on the quality of these sequels.
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