Pemberley Shades: Pride and Prejudice Continues

I greatly enjoyed this book and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to an Austen fan. The author writes in true Jane Austen style and the plot, while the mystery was somewhat predictable, was still diverting and can stand re-reading just for the Austen atmosphere and genuine characters it manages to successfully recreate.

I love Jane Austen books so this book that continues with the story was just what I wanted. great book.

I first read Pemberley Shades in 1977. I enjoyed it so much that I read it whenever I could get it out of the library. Bonavia-Hunt has a good feel for the characters and, unlike so many other sequels/retellings, her characters are actually recognizable as the ones I know and love. The story is, admittedly, somewhat predictable, but I still like it and I continue to re-read it whenever possible. I now own my own copy so it's much easier now!

This book is one of the better sequels to Pride and Prejudice, and worth having in one's P & P collection. It's quite consistent with the Austen style and does not regurgitate verbatim passages from the original P & P, nor does it sound extremely archaic despite the fact that it was first published in the early 1900's. Within the version I bought (which was just a couple weeks ago), there was a humorous foreword by the editor, who described the difficulties in finding this publication including having to photocopy the book from the NY library archives. The main plot focuses on the Darcys, now several years into their marriage, in search of a new parson. Included is a mystery, in which one of the characters was discovered by Darcy to be an impostor who had assumed someone else's identity intentionally. The development of this particular plot was quite good. At one point, this impostor professed his love to Elizabeth, who surprisingly did not tell Darcy. (This would be the only part that I'd wish the author had changed. It seems unlikely that Elizabeth would not share her secrets with Darcy.) For a gentleman who had much to do in terms of handling his estate, Darcy seemed to have a lot of time to take care of "everybody else's business". The Elizabeth portrayed in this book was quite proper and regal, very befitting as the Mistress of Pemberley. For those who's a fan of Darcy's sister, there's more character development of Georgiana Darcy in this book. Included were chapters about her infatuation/first crushes on a couple male characters, including one of Darcy's college friends. I really enjoyed this book and would give it 4.5 stars (if that were an option). Definitely glad I bought it!