• Welcome to BookAndReader!

    We LOVE books and hope you'll join us in sharing your favorites and experiences along with your love of reading with our community. Registering for our site is free and easy, just CLICK HERE!

    Already a member and forgot your password? Click here.

Readingomnivore Reviews

Meg Osborne's AN ASSEMBLY AT BATH is the second novella in her Three Sisters from Hertfordshire series of variants on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2018.

With Jane, Elizabeth, and Lydia all married, Mary, now engaged to Robert Ashton, and her parents are ensconced at Pemberley while Kitty visits London and Bath with the Gardiners. Kitty has observed the consequences of Lydia's behavior and decided to emulate her older sisters rather than her younger; in token of the change, she now prefers to be called Catherine. She's much enjoying Bath society under the leadership of her new best friend Isabella Pike, slightly older and infinitely more worldly. Kitty, encouraged by Isabella, is much attracted to new acquaintance Captain Simon Barton of the Royal Navy, a charismatic flirt. Through Barton she meets Matthew Knight, his childhood friend now taking the waters at Bath following a hunting accident that has left him with a permanent limp. Kitty enjoys Knight's kindness and attention, but he's not a romantic hero like Barton, who seems to have something covert going on iwth Isabella. What's going on?

The Gardiners are faithful to Austen's Pride and Prejudice originals, though others are similar to figures from other Austen novels. Kitty Bennet is a slightly more sophisticated version of Catherine Morland (Northanger Abbey). Both young women are seventeen-year-old country girls, naive and trusting, easily impressed and manipulated, grateful for attention. Isabella Pike's attitude toward Kitty is much the same as Isabella Thorpe's toward Catherine Morland, working her personal agenda on her unknowing friend. Captain Barton, on the other hand, is reminiscent of Frank Churchill (Emma), using bonhomie as camouflage.

Action is more reported than shown. Angst is minimal. The most dramatic event is Kitty's fall at a Bath assembly, from which she suffers a broken wrist and learns who her friends are. Osborne does not develop hints of Barton's intriguing back story, though to do so could have resulted in a stronger full-length novel. Following Kitty's accident, both Barton and Isabella disappear without further explanation. Kitty and Knight at the concert of music is a reminder of a similar scene involving Anne Elliot and William Elliot (Persuasion).

Editing is good, though some anachronistic words in dialogue slip through. The most obvious problem is the name of Matthew Knight's estate in Somerset. Is his home Larkspur House or Stainton Hall? AN ASSEMBLY AT BATH is a quick and easy read without being memorable. (C)
 
THE BLIND SIDE is the first book in Patricia Wentworth's Inspector Ernest Lamb mystery series, originally published in 1939. It was reissued in digital format in 2016. Wentworth's more familiar series features Miss Maud Silver who generally works in conjunction with Inspector Lamb and Sergeant Frank Abbott.

Many people had good cause to wish Ross Craddock ill. He'd threatened to sack Rush, porter at Craddock House; he'd served eviction notice to his elderly cousin Miss Lucy Craddock, who'd occupied a flat there for thirty years, and was doing his best to seduce her niece Mavis Grey. He'd been threatened by Mavis's sometime boyfriend Bobby Porter, and he'd tried to date rape Mavis. He'd threatened a suit for slander against Miss Wilhelmina Ethel Bingham, a gossipy Craddock House tenant. He'd abandoned Aggie Crouch, the actress he'd married during World War I and recently cut off the financial support promised her. Add into the list of possible suspects Peter Craddock Renshaw, home on leave from India, who's his next of kin and heir of his entailed properties, and Lee Fenton, who awakens from a nightmare to find blood on her feet and the hem of her nightgown. Who most wanted Ross Craddock dead?

In many ways, THE BLIND SIDE is a typical Miss Silver mystery, minus Miss Silver. In her absence, Peter Renshaw does much of the listening and connecting bits of information to identify the killer. He's in love with distant cousin Lee, whom he's determined to protect. Suspects' movements in the early morning hours during which Craddock was shot resemble a Punch and Judy show with people popping in and out of his flat, a timeline conundrum common to many Golden Age mysteries. The rising action plateaus several times before the climax of the plot, followed by a brief, unsatisfying denouement. Most of the action occurs at Craddock House, so there's little sense of place.

Characterization varies from good to lacking. Neither Inspector Lamb and Frank Abbott is taken much beyond physical description. The other personnel are stock characters familiar from Miss Silver's stories: the independent ingenue, her masterful love interest, the bright young thing, the victim who deserves what happens, the faithful and not-so-faithful servants. They can be moved from book to book without change except names and appearance. Best developed are Miss Bingham and the char Mrs. Green, both revealng their personalties in conversation with Lee and Peter and in police interviews. An interesting but very dated read. (C)
 
A STAY AT PEMBERLEY is Caroline Bryant's novella variant on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2017 and 2018.

While the Gardiners and Elizabeth Bennet holiday in Lambton, Elizabeth receives a letter from Jane saying that George Wickham has eloped with Alice Long, who'd accompanied Mrs. Forster to Brighton when Mr. Bennet forbade Lydia to go. Her father's decision came only when Elizabeth revealed, with pleas for absolute secrecy, Wickham's attempt on Georgiana. To quieten his wife's protests, Mr. Bennet shares the story, and Mrs. Bennet, gleeful at good gossip about the hateful Mr. Darcy, spreads it throughout Meryton. Elizabeth knows that, if Darcy learns of the scandal, he will know she's broken his confidence. Invited to stay at Pemberley while they remain in the area, she and the Gardiners join the house party, where Darcy and Elizabeth are clearly courting. She does not tell Darcy about the scandal before Caroline triumphantly reports it to the Darcys. Can Darcy forgive Elizabeth's breach of confidence?

Characters are reasonably faithful to Austen's creations, though Elizabeth's hoping the gossip will dissipate without Darcy learning of it is naive. She pulls a major TSTL when she attempts to spare Darcy's feelings following the disclosure. Mrs. Gardiner's plan to combat the scandal seems unlikely to succeed. Action is predictable, reported rather than shown. Seemingly the scandal in Hertfordshire and London just goes away, since its existence is not noted after Elizabeth tells Darcy why she'd broken secrecy. Falling action continues to the point of anticlimax.

Editing is good, with few anachronistic words or situations. I do have one reservation. Bryant has Darcy riding through pre-dawn darkness, jumping fences on a stallion that is not only barebacked but unbridled. Shades of Gandalf on Shadowfax in Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers!

A STAY AT PEMBERLEY offers gentle reassurance that Darcy's judgmental arrogance has been discarded. (B)
 
"Three Daughters Married" is Renata McMann's short story variant on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2014.

~~~SPOILERS~~~

The morning Fitzwilliam Darcy hands his letter of explanation to Elizabeth Bennet, Anne de Bourgh is found dead in her bed at Rosings. Lady Catherine, acting out her grief and anger, blames Darcy for not having married Anne years before. Darcy, trying to comfort her, explains that he'd loved Anne too much to marry and subject her to childbirth that would kill her. Lady Catherine hears this as a declaration of his deep romantic, not cousinly, love for Anne, and concludes his devotion must be rewarded with a happy marriage to a woman capable of providing him children. Knowing that Darcy had been attracted to Elizabeth Bennet, she decides they must marry. Elizabeth, in the meantime, reads Darcy's letter and realizes that, although she still dislikes him, her judgment of his character had been erroneous. He is a good man, worthy of respect. Using her money and control of Rosings and counting on Darcy and Elizabeth's sense of responsibility for others, Lady Catherine ensures their agreement. Can the couple find happiness in a marriage so arranged?

The speed and depth of change in Lady Catherine is unbelievable. Anne's body is discovered in the early morning. Before noon that same day, Lady Catherine has put aside her grief, formulated her plan, presented it to Elizabeth and Darcy, and secured their engagement; all of this occurs before she considers any funeral arrangements for Anne. She dictates immediate marriage by special license, with an understood proviso that Elizabeth become pregnant immediately thereafter. This "new" Lady Catherine is not in character with Austen's original, though other personalty traits are unchanged. She remains rude to Elizabeth and her family, appearing unexpectedly at the wedding in Meryton "to see that it is properly conducted," and at the wedding breakfast disclosing to all how she brought the marriage about, detailing her plans to govern the younger Bennet sisters' behavior; she dictates policy and expands the Darcy charities; she dictates Elizabeth's fashion choices.

I'm troubled by Elizabeth and Darcy's compliance with Lady Catherine's scheme. On the one hand, it's believable that both are susceptible to pressure to benefit people and causes for which they feel responsibility. To moderns, their devotion to duty seems excessive, though not so much in the Regency context of marriage more often based on monetary and social benefit than romantic love. On the other hand, it's difficult to believe that Elizabeth and Darcy's independent spirits, knowing Lady Catherine's control issues and dictatorial behavior, subject themselves for life to her arbitrary whims. After all, she who gives can also take away.

There is a disconnect between Lady Catherine's arranging the wedding and the marriage that follows. Much of "Three Daughters Married" deals with Elizabeth's distress by Darcy's continued aloofness in company and his distaste for her family. The reported incident that prompts his determination to change seems too insignificant to produce such dramatic alteration in his personality. The premise of the story is intriguing but its development insufficient. (C)
 
DEATH IN TRANSIT is the fifth and apparently final book in Keith Moray's Inspector Torquil McKinnon police procedural series set in Kyleshiffin, on West Uist in the Hebrides. Originally published in 2013, it was reissued in digital format in 2018.

West Uist is overrun with "star people" drawn by the island's lack of light pollution to observe a rare transit of Mercury across the face of the sun and the even more rare planetary conjunctions that form a Grand Cross. Both astronomers, most notably Murdoch Jamieson, presenter of Scottish TV's Heavens Above, and astrologers, most notably Dr. Janet Horne, who sees the Grand Cross as a portent of cosmic events, are well represented, neither group tolerant of the other. Also on hand are the West Uist Astrological Society, sponsor of Dr. Horne's lecture, led by local New Age healer Dr. Melissa Mathieson, and bestselling authors on the paranormal, Rose Barton and Jerome Morton, accompanied by their agent Henry Dodds. After a confrontation between Jamieson, Barton, and Horne at her lecture, Horne is found dead in the harbor, killed by massive force blunt trauma to the head. Nearby on the sea wall is the star sign for Aquarius, the Water Carrier. Following a seance by the WUAS to contact her spirit, Henry Dodds is found dead on the moor, shot in the chest with a speargun. Nearby is a stone on which is scratched the star sign of Sagittarius, the Archer. Can the police catch the Zodiac Killer (as dubbed by the West Uist Chronicle) before more deaths ensue?

Ultimately DEATH IN TRANSIT is a disappointment. Its unusual setting, the particular circumstances in which the crimes occur, and believable negative history between the incomers bode well. Unfortunately, handling does not measure up to the promise. Characterization of the continuing persons seems cut and pasted from previous books in the series; some are extraneous to this story line. The incomers are better sketched, though key details in their pasts are withheld. Sense of place, so strong in earlier books in the series, is largely absent.

The plot moves along at a reasonable pace with several individuals who have plausible motives, then Moray suddenly brings in a previously unsuspected killer with an entirely different reason. There is NO foreshadowing the killer's identity or motive. Falling action and denouement feel rushed, "let's get it over with." McKinnon's explanation of his thought processes in arriving at the killer's identity is unsatisfying. (C-)
 
TEACHINGS OF HIS FATHER is Kate Speck's novel using names and a few personalities from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in print and digital formats in 2018. Speck changes to the story line and most major characters are too extensive to classify it as a variant.

~~~SPOILERS~~~

George Darcy is NOT dead. There can be no doubt whatsoever about that. He arranges his 23-year-old son Fitzwilliam's tenure as a clerk to Edward Gardiner, to learn how other classes live; he forbids Lady Catherine to pressure Fitzwilliam to marry her daughter Anne; he encourages his son's relationship with 15-year-old Elizabeth Bennet, first on sisterly, then romantic terms, and facilitates their relationship before Fitzwilliam leaves for his secret mission to the Continent with Colonel Fitzwilliam. He initiates an agreement with Mr. Bennet to support Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth's devotion during the separation, and he enlists the Matlocks to sponsor Jane and Elizabeth's entrance into London society. In many ways, he is more the protagonist of TEACHINGS OF HIS FATHER than is his son.

Having Fitzwilliam work for Gardiner and associate with tradesmen and the Gardiner family means that few negative traits impede his relationship with Elizabeth. He's still uncomfortable and shy in company, masking his unease with aloof withdrawal, but he's much influenced by the young Elizabeth, who does not hesitate to criticize and correct his behavior. She must mature both physically and emotionally before their relationship can advance. Georgiana, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Caroline Bingley, and Lady Catherine are reasonable extrapolations of Austen's originals, but most others become improved versions--even George Wickham reforms.

As for the plot itself, Speck piles up action of varying degrees of believability. Setting up the relationship between Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth takes up two-thirds of the novel. The exact timing of Fitzwilliam's assignment begins at six months, then expands to a year's preparation with two years or more on the Continent; Speck gives little information on his role before his departure and offers only a few details after his return to Netherfield with a great surprise. Much of this latter action is more contrived than an organic component of the plot. I do appreciate the ironies of Caroline Bingley's eventual marriage. Karma rules!

TEACHINGS OF HIS FATHER is much more modern than Regency in tone. Use of Christian names and terms of endearment, gifts, physical touching, periods of unchaperoned privacy between an unrelated and unmarried young man and woman, all are anachronistic. Introduction of a female Spanish partisan leader essential to the British war effort is more so. Even worst, Fitzwilliam asks Elizabeth to advise Georgiana about menstrual pain, and George Darcy publicly reveals that Anne de Bourgh could never bear an heir to Roisings because she suffers from amenhorrea. Speck names Lady Isabelle Chatsworth as the unmarried second daughter of the Duke of Devonshire. However, the Cavendish family has held the dukedom since the sixteenth century, so the lady is properly Lady Isabelle Cavendish. Chatsworth, in Derbyshire, is the principal seat of the Duke of Devonshire. Historic personages lend verisimilitude only when used correctly.

Speck introduces many intriguing possibilities in TEACHINGS OF HIS FATHER. It's too bad that most are not actualized. (C)
 
Kara Louise's CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCE is a novel-length variant on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2017.

When Charles Bingley arrives at Netherfield, Jane Bennet is touring with the Gardiners in the Lake District, where Jane meets, is attracted to, and attracts, Jacob Marshall, eligible son of her aunt and uncle's friends. in Hertfordshire, Bingley meets and immediately falls in love with Elizabeth Bennet, who likes Bingley but is not convinced, despite Mrs. Bennett's enthusiasm, that he's the man for her. By the time Darcy arrives, Bingley is ready to propose, leading Darcy to hide his developing love for Elizabeth with his usual aloof, disapproving behavior. Elizabeth soon decides Bingley is a match for Jane though she continues to encourage him, both to vex Darcy and Caroline and to avoid Collins's attention. The arrival of George Wickham in Meryton precipitates Darcy's abrupt departure from Netherfield the morning after the ball; he does not know of Bingley's change of "angel" to Jane, so when he receives Bingley's largely illegible letter announcing his engagement to "Miss Bennet," he assumes the betrothal is to Elizabeth. He decides he must marry his cousin Anne, ignoring Georgiana's advice to talk to Elizabeth before making the proposal. He doesn't listen and, by the time he learns of Elizabeth's love for him, he's engaged, with Lady Catherine planning the most elaborate wedding ever held in Kent. How can the mess be straightened out?

Louise has an interesting premise with the mix-up of the canonical pairs of lovers, and the changes in the story line make sense though many depend on coincidence and false assumptions. Most of the characters are reasonable extensions of the originals. Lady Catherine sounds like a hoarder, with the interior of Rosings crowded with generations of furnishings (190). Elizabeth has no problem using Bingley as a shield or manipulating Mary and Collins into courtship and marriage. Most changed is Darcy who, in response to his frustration over his perception of the Bingley-Elizabeth situation, punches himself in the chin repeatedly with his fist (163), pounds the wall with his fists (167), and suffers an anxiety attack (179). Where is Dr. Phil? Most of both Darcy and Elizabeth's angst is self-imposed.

Editing is adequate, though matching opening and closing of quotation marks is sometimes erratic. Louise includes the scene from the 2005 film adaptation in which Elizabeth twirls herself on the swing. Lydia's behavior is heinous but, as usual, she suffers no consequences. I can't visualize the Rosings manor house with a post to hitch horses at its main entrance. Even more, I can't accept that Darcy and Elizabeth, walking in the woods, see a raccoon. Raccoons are New World mammals not indigenous to the British Isles. While there currently may be a small breeding population arising from raccoons escaped from zoos and those accidentally or intentionally released by pet owners,* it's highly unlikely that they see one scampering around in Hertfordshire on a sunny afternoon in the early nineteenth century. Raccoons are also generally nocturnal. (Yes, I am picky, but it's important to be at least plausible.)

CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCE requires some suspension of disbelief, but it's above average. (B)

*https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ea...-Bushy-tailed-bandits-ready-to-go-native.html
 
CONSEQUENCE OF JEALOUSY is Aubrey Anderson's variant on Jane Austen's Pride ad Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2017.

Elizabeth Bennet spends a week at Netherfield to tend her ill sister, staying in Jane's bedroom as much as possible to avoid the criticism and scorn she feels from both Caroline Bingley and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Yet before the end of the morning of her and Jane's return to Longbourn, a vicious rumor spreads throughout Meryton that Elzabeth and Darcy had been caught in flagrant compromise. Darcy, an honorable gentleman, immediately offers marriage and Elizabeth, aware that her ruined reputation would end her sisters' prospects of marriage, must accept. Secretly pleased because he's in love with Elizabeth and their situation means he will not have to explain his feelings, Darcy believes Elizabeth also welcome their marriage. He expects her to approve his plan to separate her from all her low, vulgar, social-climbing relatives, none of whom will ever be invited to their home and with whom he will never associate. Instead of assistance from Mrs. Gardiner for her wedding dress, Darcy orders Elizabeth to stay with the Matlocks, whom she's never met, and allow his aunt to supervise her trousseau. Elizabeth refuses to accept these edicts, yet knows she must enter the marriage. Wedding preparations continue despite their estrangement. Can there be hope for a happy marriage after such an engagement?

Anderson's opening with Caroline Bingley's fantasy of herself as Mrs. Darcy establishe her as delusional, hearing and seeing through the lens of her obsession, ignoring good advice from Louisa Bingley Hurst, continuing her campaign for Darcy after his betrothal. Anderson presents the Hursts as deserving sympathy, themselves compromised into marriage through a vicious trick. Mr. Bennet becomes a more responsible parent, while Mary's personality is enhanced. Other secondary characters are faithful to the original.

Elizabeth dithers, confused about her feelings for Darcy and the circumstances of their upcoming marriage, She over-thinks, creating much of her own anguish. Darcy's an emotionally constipated arse, complacent about saving Elizabeth's reputation and improving her life, until his hypocrisy in condemning the Bennets when his own connections include Lady Catherine de Bourgh is pointed out. There's not much sense of physical chemistry between the two.

CONSEQUENCE OF JEALOUSY reads as if never edited. Dictation to a voice-recognition program may explain word choice, while other omitted and/or added words suggest changes not completely carried through. Many anachronistic words (i.e., morphed, faux, uppity) and slang expressions (i.e., twit, bunk down) jar. Breaks in the story line are annoying. The Hursts' townhouse in London has been rented out since before their marriage, yet Caroline calls on them there. Georgiana is said to travel from London to Longbourn with Jane, Elizabeth, and Mary Bennet in the Darcy carriage, but also to ride with the Gardiners and Darcy's cousin, Viscount Abbington, in the Gardiners' coach. Food choices are for modern, not Regency, meals. Anne de Bourgh is styled Lady Anne, though "the honorific prefix of "Lady" is used for the daughters of dukes, marquesses and earls. The courtesy title is added before the person's given name, as in the example Lady Diana Spencer. Because it is merely a courtesy with no legal implications, the honorific persists after the death of the holder's father but it is not* inherited by her children." (Wiki strikes again!)

The potential in CONSEQUENCE OF JEALOUSY is substantially negated by the sloppy editing. It may be fan fiction, but if it's going to published, it should be done right. (C)

*emphasis mine
 
RACK, RUIIN AND MURDER is the second title in Ann Granger's Campbell and Carter police procedural series. Originally published in 2011, it was reissued in digital format in 2018.

When elderly recluse Monty Bickerstaffe returns to his dilapidated home Balaclava House, he discovers a man's body on the sofa in the drawing room. He's never seen the man before. Inspector Jess Campbell spots oddities that lead her and Superintendent Ian Carter to treat the death as suspicious--anything that might help identify the body has been taken, there's no vehicle in which he'd arrived, and his shoes show he'd not walked in. Autopsy shows he'd died of a massive dose of sleeping pills combined with alcohol. Search of the house reveals an upstairs bedroom, for years inaccessible to Monty with his arthritis, has been cleaned and used regularly as a love nest; it contains no fingerprints or DNA evidence. Who is the dead man, and why was he dumped at Balaclava House?

Characterization is good in RACK, RUIN AND MURDER. It provides some back story on Ian Carter, his failed marriage, and his relationship with eleven-year-old daughter Millie, as well as some insights into Jess's relationship with her mother. Working relationships between Carter, Campbell, and Sergeant Phil Morton are believable. Individuals involved in the case are well-drawn with plausible motivation for their actions. Much depends on the history of the Bickerstaffes and their hereditary ties to neighboring ne'er-do-well Colley and respectable Sneddon families.

An experienced reader may discern the circumstance that involves Monty in a murder plot and, once that connection is made, the killer becomes obvious. Identification of the connection depends on a coincidence, as does the twist in the conclusion. Neither is impossible, yet both seem unlikely. The first is essential to Jess's breaking the case, but the second seems just for fun, serving no necessary purpose.

Granger is good at creating vivid word pictures to describe places. "[Balaclava House] was like a mausoleum: chilly, dank, dusty and musty-smelling. It must be Victorian. The flight of stairs to the upper floors was wide enough to allow for the passage of crinoline skirts. Above, the gloom of the landing was unexpectedly broken by light from a stained glass window. Patches of red and yellow fell incongruously across the carved wood and blackened oil paintings. It added to the atmosphere; she felt she was in a memorial chapel. She missed only the smell of stale flower water and smouldering candles."

I like that Campbell and Carter depend more on old-fashioned detective work than on forensics. So far, a good series. (B)
 
STEADY TO HIS PURPOSE is Cassandra B. Leigh's novel-length variant on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2015.

STEADY TO HIS PURPOSE is written in three parts, the longest covering the compromise to forced marriage of Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, the second the adjustment period their marriage and Elizabeth's introduction to London Society, and the third their happiness through the birth of their second child, son Bennet Fitzwilliam Darcy. A motif of Meryton commentary and speculation on the Bennet scandal connects the first two parts, while the third is not closely tied except by chronology.

The story pushes many of my buttons. Editing is minimal. Problems include plurals and possessives, anachronistic words, commas omitted around nominatives, overuse of words (i.e. gush, effusive, smirked), questionable word choice, case of nouns and pronouns used with infinitives and gerunds, and plain old typos. Food service is modern rather than Regency, with coffee as the drink of choice for breakfast. Elizabeth's wedding dress and discussion of her menstrual period are twentieth-century. Attitudes toward individuals in and from Trade vary wildly. The wedding date is 27 December 1811, but is the weekday Friday (as originally set by Darcy and Mr. Bennet) or Monday (as published)? Research pads STEADY TO HIS PURPOSE with full texts of every letter received or sent, toast given, banns called, Christmas carol sung, poem quoted, announcement printed, and dream experienced. The touchscreen control to call up the end notes does not work.

~~~POSSIBLE SPOILERS~~~

Other reservations concern characters and events. I do not believe that Caroline Bingley's role was unintended in creating the scandal, nor do I believe that she, at Netherfield until the morning after the ball, does not know of Darcy and Elizabeth's engagement until it's published in the London newspaper. I do like the irony of her fate. Likewise, with Collins at Longbourn well acquainted with the circumstances and the wedding announcement published, it is unbelievable that Lady Catherine does not learn the situation until after the marriage. Knowing villagers' distrust of outsiders, Meryton's vicious rejection of Elizabeth and the Bennets seems unrealistic, based as it is on a tale told by an uppity London lady's maid against a well-respected girl they've known all her life. Whispered gossip, yes, human nature what it is; shops refusing service, the cut direct, boycott of the wedding, not so likely. I also like Darcy's handling of the rumormongers.

Darcy and Elizabeth frustrate me. Most of their angst in STEADY TO HIS PURPOSE is self-imposed, created because at no point before their marriage and only slowly afterward, do they talk openly about their situation. Each makes assumptions about the other's feelings, Darcy explaining nothing other than he's an honorable gentleman doing the right thing, and Elizabeth asking no questions about his motives, expectations, or behavior. Both Darcy's shaking Elizabeth to the point of bruising her arms (even if she had pulled a TSTL) and her quick "he didn't mean to do it" forgiveness are offensive.

STEADY TO HIS PURPOSE needs at least one more thorough revision with the assistance of a skilled editor. (C)
 
DARCY'S MELODY is Jennifer Redlarczyk's novel-length variant on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2018.

Jane and Elizabeth Bennet, in London visiting the Gardiners, assist their Aunt Madeline Gardiner's charity work with Lady Eleanor Fitzwilliam, Countess of Matlock. The Countess is raising funds for the London Hospital to build a new wing dedicated to treatment of wounded soldiers; Mrs. Gardiner and her nieces do most of the work to organize various fundraising events and volunteer work with the patients. Now stationed in London with the Secret Guard, a military intelligence unit, Colonel Fitzwilliam, occasionally using his cousin Fitzwilliam Darcy as a courier, works closely with Edward Gardiner, whose Continental and shipping contacts are vital; Mr. Gardiner occasionally uses Elizabeth Bennet to transmit messages. Darcy and Elizabeth meet through a drop at Ballard's bookshop and are thrown together by her work with his aunt's charity. Love ensues, threatened by Elizabeth's low connections, the Countess's insistence on the preservation of rank, and espionage.

Story line changes and the elaborations on Austen's original are reasonable, though the number of introduced characters exceeds those required for the plot. Lady Matlock, often portrayed sympathetically in Austen fan fiction, uses Mrs. Gardiner and the Bennets to do her charity committee's work but refuses to respect them as individuals; her condemnation of any connection between Darcy and Elizabeth surpasses Lady Catherine's outrage. None of the introduced characters are much developed.

The plot reads as an uneasy splice of unrelated stories--espionage and the Darcy-Elizabeth relationship. The first one-sixth sets up the counterintelligence component, the central two-thirds covers the lovers' trials and tribulations and ignores the spying, then the espionage plays out. Resolution of the espionage depends largely on the coincidence that servants happen to be siblings of a wounded soldier rescued by Colonel Fitzwilliam. All the action is reported, rather than shown.

Constant, almost verbatim repetition of Darcy and Elizabeth's thoughts, feelings, and doubts, becomes tedious. Use of flashbacks is excessive and awkward. The story feels padded because the text of every letter, song, and poem is included. Details of Elizabeth's wedding and later her delivery of her first child are more modern than Regency. Word choice--Mr. Bennet's giving Elizabeth a chaste kiss on the cheek when he gave her away--is questionable. What other kind of kiss would the father of the bride offer? Georgiana's examination of her souvenirs of George Wickham's "courtship" is reminiscent of Emma's Harriet Smith going through the items cherished from her infatuation with Mr. Elton.

The ideas behind DARCY'S MELODY are intriguing, but the storytelling is lacking. (B-)
 
COLONEL FITZWILLIAM'S DILEMMA is the second book in Wendy Soliman's Mrs. Darcy Entertains series of variants on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2018.

When Lady Catherine de Bourgh writes to announce her imminent visit to Pemberley, ostensibly to congratulate the Darcys on Elizabeth' pregnancy and heal the breach between families, her genuine purpose is to implement her plan for daughter Anne to marry her cousin Colonel Joshua Fitzwilliam. With the Fitzwilliam fortune almost gone, he more than ever must marry a wealthy woman. Traveling with the de Bourghs is Anne's newly hired tutor Pierce Asquith, recommended by Lady Catherine and Sir Lewis's childhood friend Sir Marius Glover, now a wealthy plantation owner in Jamaica; Sir Marius had fostered his steward's son on the death of Asquith's parents and provided him a gentleman's education in England. To dilute Lady Catherine's acid personality, the Darcys quickly assemble a small house party with frequent visits from neighbors Lord and Lady Briar and her sister, Mrs. Celia Sheffield, wealthy and beautiful, widowed a year before and newly returned from Jamaica. Complications ensue as couples pair off but not as Lady Catherine directs.

Canonical characters are mostly reasonable extrapolations from Austen's creations, though Anne is not yet 21 years old. Soliman's depiction of her gradual emergence from the passive shell of obedience to her mother's dictates is well done. Though usually shown as older than Darcy, Soliman's Colonel seems younger, initially as duty-bound and conflicted as Darcy had ever been. It is Elizabeth who devises the plan by which Percival Sheffield is thwarted, while the colonel reveals a lack of foresight inconsistent with his military experience. Lady Catherine is uncharacteristically subdued at Pemberley, especially in dealing with Asquith, with only minimal explanation given in the denouement. The introduced characters are more types needed to make the plot work than actual persons.

Editing disappoints. Word use problems include homophones, spelling, anachronisms, slang, and just plain poor choice. Plurals and possessives of names are formed incorrectly. At a formal dinner party, guests serve themselves family style rather than food being presented by footmen or maids. Rehearsal for the play brings to mind Lovers' Vows in Austen's Mansfield Park.

Perhaps the most interesting feature in COLONEL FITZWILLIAM'S DILEMMA is the brief discussions of Jamaican slaves' treatment and the increasing agitation in England for the abolition of slavery in the Empire. (B)
 
ENCOUNTER AT PEMBERLEY is Margaret Gale's variant on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2018.

When Fitzwilliam Darcy meets Elizabeth Bennet as she and the Gardiners visit Pemberley on their tour of Derbyshire, both regard it as a second chance. Darcy, based on Elizabeth's accusations in her refusal of his proposal at Hunsford, is eager to show he's changed; Elizabeth, better informed by his letter, wants to apologize for her own pride and arrogance. They reach an understanding, and Mr. Gardiner in loco parentis consents to their courtship. Happiness lasts one day until Jane's letter summons them away--Lydia has eloped from Brighton with George Wickham, and Mr. Bennet is in London, searching for the runaways. When the travelers arrive in Gracechurch Street, Lydia's situation is soon put right but, when Darcy asks Mr. Bennet's consent to court Elizabeth, he's refused. Thomas Bennet is vehemently opposed to Elizabeth's marriage, and she's eight months from her twenty-first birthday. Must they wait, or can Elizabeth devise a cunning plan?

Plurals and possessives, anachronistic words, homophones, slang expressions, and poor word choices are jarring. As Gale develops it, the Lydia-Wickham elopement scheme is neither adequately motivated nor believable, though Wickham's karma definitely works. It's Lydia who runs away to London, but it's Jane whom Mr. Bennet sends back to Longbourn with Elizabeth.

ENCOUNTER AT PEMBERLEY opens with Darcy cooling off with a refreshing swim in the lake at Pemberley, immediately after which he meets an embarrassed Elizabeth who doesn't know where to look. This episode from the 1995 miniseries starring Colin Firth as Darcy is now a cliché in Austen fan fiction. We really do not need to know that Darcy dreams and daydreams of Elizabeth and becomes so aroused it's difficult to walk. Too much recapitulation of Elizabeth and Darcy's emotions slows the flow of the story, though both are reasonable elaborations on Austen's original characters.

~~~WARNING--HAZARDS AHEAD~~~

While most fan fiction makes Thomas Bennet at least well-intentioned toward Elizabeth even if he ignores his other daughters and makes fun of his wife, Gale's version is a thorough villain. Since she was three years old and refused to wear a ruffly dress, her father has deliberately alienated Elizabeth from her mother, educated her like a son in the classics and estate management, and shaped her judgments and responses to people to fit his own views, planning that she will never marry. Instead, when Mrs. Bennet has married off the other daughters, he will send her to live with one of them while he and Elizabeth remain at Longbourn, where Elizabeth will manage the household, handle decisions and accounting for the estate, and keep him entertained with chess, books, music, and conversation. His parenting of Elizabeth is reminiscent of a pedophile grooming a child for sexual exploitation. He explicitly says he's creating her to be his helpmeet ("a helpful companion or partner, esp. one's husband or wife"--New Oxford American Dictionary*). He lies, manipulates, and threatens legal action to prevent Elizabeth's marriage and, when she refuses to obey, disowns her, refuses to see her again, pronounces curses on both Darcy and her, spits on Darcy, and ill-wishes their marriage. He does not change or apparently ever regret his behavior, which spoils ENCOUNTER AT PEMBERLEY for me. (D)

*emphasis mine
 
THE PLUMLEY INHERITANCE is the first book in Christopher Bush's Golden Era mystery series featuring Ludovic Travers. Originally published in 1926, it was reissued in digital format in 2017.

Demobilized in July 1919, Major Geoffrey Wrentham returns to London in time to be present at the public suicide of Henry Plumley, head of City Corporations, Ltd., in which the whole of Wrentham's wealth is invested. Plumley, formerly director of the Publicity Department of the War Office, employed Wrentham's childhood friend Ludovic Travers first there and than as his social secretary. Travers tells him of Plumley's inexplicable behavior in the past three months of his life, including a list of odd information and items to be obtained and the withdrawal of £100,000 in banknotes. The money is missing. Wrentham hopes to find it, knowing that finders are not keepers but, at home in Hainton, the site of Plumley's country estate Hainton Hall, he's determined to look THE PLUMLEY INHERITANCE includes a clue in Plumley's dying words; a hidden cryptogram; a hidden treasure; a mysterious female artist Sylvia Forrest with free access to the Hall; a ne'er-do-well son George Plumley married to an ex-chorus girl; two other secretaries, one of whom ends up dead; and various gardeners and other menials up to cricket, poaching, and no good.

THE PLUMLEY INHERITANCE is fairly standard Golden Age fare, and it has not aged well. The only two characters much developed are Wrentham and Travers, and both are more types than individuals. Wrentham in his financial naiveté and susceptibility to damsels in distress is reminiscent of Captain Arthur Hastings, longtime colleague of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot. Travers is said to deserve the middle name "Sherlock" and seems cut from the pattern of Lord Peter Wimsey. Wrentham does most of the actual detecting, with the action seen through his eyes. There are no developed female characters. The explanation of events in the story comes from a letter written by the escaped criminal, its surprise component unsatisfying. Sense of place is the strongest element of the story, more prominent than usual in crime fiction of the era.



Some problems bother me. One is common sense. The story is set in mid to late July, but the weather is cold enough that Wrentham wears his trench coat and Mss Forrest her furs. England's climate is supposed to be chancy, but blimey! Another is the dead man's transportation--within one paragraph it's called a motorcycle and a bicycle; a couple of paragraphs later, it's a motorbike, and further references give it both a chain and an engine. So what is it? More importantly, Bush uses an intrusive narrator, which becomes tiresome. I'm not terribly impressed. (C)
 
THE WAGER is the first novella in Kate Bedlow's FOUR OBSTINATE LADIES anthology of variants on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2018.

Mary Bennet is the protagonist in THE WAGER, the canonical lovers playing secondary roles. Judgmental, convinced of her own insight and wisdom, she condemns Elizabeth's refusal to marry Mr. Collins: "...it had never seemed real. The possibility of Mary, her mother, and sisters being turned out of Longbourn had been a vague scenario belonging to some far-off future, a story Mrs. Bennet told and retold out of habit. Watching Charlotte Lucas walk away with the catch on her line, Mary at last understood her mother's frenzied nerves. She would never understand--and perhaps never forgive--Lizzy for leaving them all in this precarious position. Elizabeth had no right, no matter how clever she was or how dear to their father. She had trespassed on being his favorite to the detriment of everyone else." She's even harsher on her father: "...Mr. Collins, in his willingness to marry one of them--for all his otherwise self-congratulatory nature, slow wit, and unfortunate manners--had shown more care for their welfare than their father ever did. In that moment Mary realized that her father did not love any of them. Oh, he tolerated Lizzy for the diversion of her wit. But that was not love." Charlotte invites Elizabeth and Mary to visit Hunsford and, when Elizabeth stays in London with Jane and the Gardiners, Mary goes ahead with the Lucases. At Rooings, Mary meets Major Carleton Quartermaine of the 15th Dragoons, Lady Catherine's nephew by marriage--Quartermaine's mother Bathsheba had been Sir Lewis de Bourgh's sister who broke with the family to marry a clergyman. He's handsome, charismatic, wealthy, a talented singer, and, with the death of his father, heir to a Viscount. Love strikes both but, with Mary's lack of self-esteem, her critical nature, and her tendency to jump to conclusions, its course does not run smooth.

The change in Mary's character is too much, too soon from her original mindset of self-pity and determined discontent. Her thought processes are not detailed; we're simply told she's changed. She interacts litle with Quartermaine until he sings, then suddenly they're in love. There's no sense of chemistry between them, and the important action happens off-stage, reported rather than shown.

A couple of minor issues bother me. Mary's fist glimpse of Quartrmaine is the now-obligatory hero dishabille scene, his manly throat and chest exposed to the fascinated gaze of the palpitating heroine. Enough, already! It's been done to death. Quartermaine tells Mary about Darcy's interference between Jane and Bingley, then in the next paragraph Colonel Fitzwilliam is the source. Who talked?

My major issue is Bedlow's failure to develop a summary into a full-fledged novel. She has great material--Quartermaine with a detachment of dragoons is stationed at Red Hill, Nottinghamshire, to protect a mill from Luddite riots and destruction of its weaving machines. Quartermaine's widower father is a ringleader in the protest movement. Burning a hay rick results in two deaths and Quartermaine's rescue of an injured Colonel Fitzwilliam, which brings him into the orbit of the Fitzwilliams, Lady Catherine, and Mary Bennet. Between the potential for the Luddites and the Quartermaine family drama, as well as the developing relationship between Mary and Quartermaine, Bedlow could have produced a unique reinterpretation of Austen's original. (B-)
 
NOT ROMANTIC is the second novella in Kate Bedlow's FOUR OBSTINATE WOMEN anthology of variants on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was published in digital format in 2018.

The story is pleasant enough. Characters are reasonable extensions of Austen's originals. Only two major characters are added--Major Carleton Quartrmaine (The Wager) and Lord Archer Boldan. Changes in the canonical story line are minimal.

Charlotte Lucas, acutely aware of he lowly status as an unmarried 27-year-old woman of plain looks and no dowry, judges and criticizes in her own mind best friend Elizabeth Bennet's decision to refuse William Collins's marriage proposal. Desperate to escape Lucas Lodge for her own establishment, she comforts and pays encouraging attention to the rejected clergyman, winning engagement and marriage. Charlotte's pleased by Hunsford, though not Lady Catherine's control of every detail of their daily life; she avoids conflict by going along with Lady Catherine. She's reasonably content with her life until a chance meeting in London with charismatic Lord Archer Bochland, anonymously playing Romeo in a Hyde Park production of Romeo and Juliet, awakens her and leads her to rebel against Lady Catherine, establishing herself as mistress of the parsonage and of Mr. Collins's heart.

~~~REVELATIONS AHEAD~~~

I do have some problems. One is a break in continuity between The Wager and NOT ROMANTIC. In The Wager, Quartermaine saves Colonel Fitzwilliam's life in Nottinghamshire, NOT ROMANTIC in Lincolnshire. If stories are linked by characters and events, the accounts should be consistent. Action is described, not shown. Another problem is the time between Charlotte's meeting Archie in London in the spring and her learning of his death in August, No way could he have arrived in India, died, and news be returned to England in that brief period. Mr. Collins's being turned into a Peeping Tom, spying on his tenant and a maid making love in a haystack and, in effect, taking notes on technique, is distasteful.

I dislike use of an unreliable narrator: "Everything was the same. Everything was different. Perhaps it was because Archie's outrageous flirting had opened a new chamber in Charlotte's imagination. Perhaps it was because spring had come to Hunsford, the season bringing warmth and light and every kind of new life... Charlotte didn't know why, and she didn't care, but her marriage had metamorphosed into a love affair." This evades the necessity of accounting for her change of feelings. (B-)
 
MRS. HURST AND THE HUNTSMAN is the third novella in Kate Bedlow's FOUR OBSTINATE WOMEN anthology of variants on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. More accurately, it uses her characters' names. It was published in digital format in 2018.

Louisa Bingley Hurst, visiting Pemberley with her family while Elizabeth Bennet and the Gardiners are in Lambton, is miserable in her almost-unconsummated marriage to Rackham Hurst. Marrying him to please her parents (he is, after all, the third son of a baron) and because she loves him, the fiasco of their wedding night has not been repeated. Intrigued by stories of a beast-man inhabiting Pemberley Woods and desperate to escape the confines and company of the house, she drives out on the estate alone where a fallen branch knocks her unconscious. She's rescued by the wild man, who decides to keep her.

Point of view shifts between Louisa and Rackham Hurst. Back stories help explain how their marriage came about, though flashbacks to the Devonshire House ball impede the flow of the action. It's difficult to believe that a married couple, even in the more formal Regency period, would endure seven celibate years after their failed wedding night without discussing the problem. Though propriety and female modesty were highly regarded, human sexuality has not changed that much.

~~~DEFINITE SPOILERS AHEAD~~~

I give up approximately three-quarters through MRS. HURST AND THE HUNTSMAN. Bedlow turns Austen's Louisa into the victim of a soft-corn porn fantasy of forcible seduction and captivity. The fact that she'd been attracted to Lord Rydalsea at the Devonshire ball before he'd introduced her to Hurst seems added to justify in some way their actions. With widespread sexual exploitation and prevalence of rape as an instrument of control, I find MRS. HURST AND THE HUNTSMAN intensely offensive. I resent what Bedlow has done to Austen's characters. No grade. Nasty!
 
FOUR OBSTINATE WOMEN is an anthology of four novellas by Kate Bedlow, each using characters from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. I have published separate reviews of each novella. It was released in digital format in 2018.

The collection includes THE WAGER (Mary Bennet), NOT ROMANTIC (Charlotte Lucas Collins), MRS. HURST AND THE HUNTSMAN (Louisa Bingley Hurst), and AN AFFECTIONATE HEART (Georgiana Darcy). The first three cover the same period, the summertime visit of Elizabeth Bennet and the Gardiners to Pemberley, while the fourth occurs during Advent of the same year. Each makes a minor character from Austen the protagonist of her own romance as she struggles with roles proscribed for Regency women. Bedlow's development of these characters is sketchy at best, and she ignores intriguing opportunities for appropriate story lines. Contrast between the soft-porn sexuality of MRS. HURST AND THE HUNTSMAN and the other three heightens its offensive content. Time on this anthology would be better spent reading the original or even Georgette Heyer. (D-)
 
"What Happened in Lambton" is a short story variant by Jennifer Kay on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. It was released in digital format, not dated.

Change from the original story is minimal. Elizabeth and the Gardiners are on holiday in Lambton, Elizabeth and Darcy have accepted their second chances, then news of Lydia's elopement with George Wickham comes. Darcy, comforting the weeping Elizabeth, kisses her and promises to help find the runaways. When Mr. Bennet returns to Longbourn and Mrs. Gaardiner departs for London, she takes Elizabeth with her, to get her away from Mrs. Bennet's histrionics and, if Lydia is recovered, to help supervise her younger sister. The other change is that, after Lydia and Wickham's marriage is arranged, Darcy sends Elizabeth a letter apologizing for his ungentlemanly behavior when she was distraught; she interprets it as his ending their developing relationship. It is not until he returns to Netherfield with Bingley that the misunderstanding is put straight.

"What Happened n Lambton" is a comfortable quick read though a couple of Spell Check errors and misused apostrophes in plurals and possessives slip through. Characters are faithful to the original. I do wish somebody might give Lydia a smack for her irresponsible behavior, tell Mrs. Bennet to put on her big girl knickers and deal with life, and point out to Mr. Bennet that fatherhood involves more than donating sperm, but I digress. There is so little new or different in the story that I don't see the point for writing it. Except money, of course. (C)
 
THICKER THAN WATER is the first novella in Michael McDonnell's mystery series featuring Dermot O'Hara, of the Kenmare, County Kerry, Garda. It was published in traditional and digital format in 2012.

Dermot O'Hara is an attractive protagonist, a village policeman who seldom deals with major crime, a dedicated angler who refused transfer with a pay rise to remain on the coast with its fish. I like O'Hara's ability to devise a win-win solution for a village problem, reminiscent of Martin Walker's Bruno. O'Hara has a cadre of locals to provide background, two subordinates (not introduced), a skillful pathologist, and an Assistant Commissioner with whom he's not on the best of terms. I look forward to getting to know them.

The plot in THICKER THAN WATER is simple. Dead Iowa Democratic Senator Mark Shaughnessy's body is found at Coomnakilla with no apparent injuries, but preliminary autopsy findings suggest murder by injection of his heart medication Digoxin. Frank McMahon, an American guest in Joanna O'Hara's holiday rental, provides the unexpected information that the Senator leaked classified military information to the Soviets; local history links Shaughnessy to the family of Jim Kellcher, the pathologist who performed the autopsy. Surprisingly, the final autopsy report concludes that the Digoxin had been injected postmortem, thus is not the cause of Shaughnessy's death. What is going on?

I noted two editing problems. Commas do not set off nouns of direct address in the text. The second apparently results from formatting the digital edition. Paragraphs are not indented or separated vertically, making for large chunks of text in which it's easy to lose one's place. My major problem is that the plot turns on history between three individuals, information that is not disclosed until the denouement. No fair!

I enjoy the sense of place and history McDonnell evokes: "The road to Coomnakilla took Dermot across the new bridge and up a long rough track. Gaggles of hikers straggled along the road, red-faced in the unseasonal heat. Turning off the track, a bumpy, steep, grassy lane led onto the mountainside then gave way to scrub and bracken leavning drivers to steer by local knowledge. That knowledge had to be good. All around were peat bogs that could swallow a walker or even a four-wheel drive vehicle. Dermot noticd a small group ahead on the right, just a few yards from the empty shell of an old farmhouse. Looking at the place O'Hara imagined the family driven by starvation from these strong walls and the beauty of this setting to the squalid, overcrowded brownstone tenements of New York. They hadn't even run to a better life, just a better chance of survival." (9)

I've already downloaded the second book BANSHEE. (B)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top