Sonderbooks Book Review of Pride and Prescience

Reviewed July 7, 2004.
Forge Books (Tom Doherty Associates), New York, 2004. 287 pages.
Available at Sembach Library (F BEB).
Sonderbooks Stand-out 2004, #7, Mystery and Adventure

After reading The Jane Austen Book Club recently, I was definitely in the mood for some Jane Austen. This new book caught my eye, and, even though it wasn’t actually written by Jane Austen, it filled the bill.

Carrie Bebris beautifully captured the spirit of Jane Austen’s writing in a mystery story involving the newlywed Darcys of Pride and Prejudice, taking up where that book ends, at the double wedding of Elizabeth and her sister.

At the wedding breakfast, Caroline Bingley announces her engagement to a wealthy American, with the wedding to take place the next week. Not long after the wedding, the new Mrs. Parrish begins acting strangely. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy are pulled into the events and the whole group ends up spending time at Netherfield.

I found this book delightful. The author isn’t Jane Austen, but she does capture the spirit and flavor of Jane Austen’s books, and I enjoyed spending more time with Elizabeth Darcy. As the book went on, a supernatural element was introduced that seemed a bit out of place. Call me a logical skeptic like Mr. Darcy, I guess. Anyway, other than that, I found this book completely delightful. I can’t help hoping there might be more with the same characters, or perhaps a revisiting of some characters from Jane Austen’s other books. Emma would make an excellent detective, would she not?

Review of other books by Carrie Bebris:
Suspense and Sensibility
North by Northanger,

Austenalia

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Book Reviews by Sondra Eklund

****Pride and Prescience*

(Or, A Truth Universally Acknowledged)

A Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery

by Carrie A. Bebris