Janespotting: Pemberley/An Unequal Marriage

I'm continuing my reading of "sequels" to Austen's work, in this case to Pride and Prejudice. British novelist Emma Tennant published these two works in 1993 and 1994, making them two of the first in the flood of Austen sequels. Tennant has a very good reputation as a writer, bringing feminist and fantastic elements to her work, but these sequels aren't thought of very well by Austen fans. Nonetheless, they're early and my library had them, so I thought I'd give them a try.

The first sequel, Pemberley, takes place about a year after Darcy and Elizabeth's marriage. Elizabeth is preparing to host the entire extended family for the holidays—all the Bennets, including silly Mrs. Bennet and flighty Lydia, as well as the snooty Lady Catherine de Bourgh. It's a challenge to Elizabeth as hostess, made more difficult by the fact that she has yet to bear Darcy a child, a fact everyone seems to be remarking on. In dealing with personality conflicts between her family and Darcy's, Elizabeth comes to believe that Darcy is hiding a secret from her. In the end, she discovers it has all been a misunderstanding, and all is resolved happily.

The second sequel, An Unequal Marriage, takes place almost twenty years later. Elizabeth is preparing to host most of the extended family for the wedding of Darcy's friend and cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, a task made more difficult by the fact that their son, Edward, has reportedly disgraced the family by incurring some gambling debts. In dealing with personality conflicts between Fitzwilliam's new bride and Darcy's family, Elizabeth comes to believe that Darcy has hidden the truth about Edmund, and is disinheriting him. In the end, she discovers it has all been a misunderstanding, and all is resolved happily.

Now, if what you loved about the original Pride and Prejudice was seeing Elizabeth agonize over misjudging Darcy, worry for pages and pages about her mistake, and then have it all resolved with one conversation, then you might enjoy these books. If you are like me, however, and find the characters' journey to be the interesting part of the original novel, you might not enjoy watching Elizabeth turn into a self-doubting, humorless worrywart who won't communicate with her soul mate for over 100 pages. After all, there was an element of truth to Elizabeth's original judgment of Darcy—he was too proud, and he changed to earn her love. In these books, Elizabeth's judgments are wrong, and everything is all a misunderstanding because she and Darcy don't communicate. So while these books do fairly well in creating the scenery and language of Austen's world, I find the characters too unlike the originals to really enjoy them.

That's okay, there are still two dozen more sequels for me to sample (although I'm not going to consume them all at once, just to preserve my sanity).