Letters from Pemberley

Author: Jane Dawkins
Published: May 2007 (Sourcebooks)
Category: Fiction
Rating: 7/10

Dawkins really captured the feeling of Pride and Prejudice in Letters from Pemberley, especially Lizzy's wit and sense of humor. A bit of warning to the future reader though - this isn't really a book with a goal in mind.

Dawkins offers a peek into the new Mrs. Darcy's letters. Just imagine a time without phones and e-mail, when your correspondence is a part of your daily routine, reading letters over breakfast and responding to them. Maybe I'm just old fashioned like that, as I still enjoy writing and receiving snail mail. The action doesn't focus on Lizzy and Darcy; it just gives the reader the details of the year after their marriage, introducing some new characters while staying true to those we've already met in the original novel.

One of my favorite parts of this book was when Lizzy described Darcy's attempt to obtain the services of a certain artist to capture her likeness for the Pemberley gallery. She jokes to Darcy that the artist probably considers his skills above capturing "merely tolerable beauty." Darcy then fires back that in response to this, he would write to the artist:

On the contrary, his wife's incomparable perfections are marred only by a head filled with fanciful nonsense, the result of an excellent memory and a cruel fondness for teasing an adoring Husband who surely deserves better treatment at her hand.

It's really an interesting book to read, as it really does feel like the way Lizzy would write and I'm glad Dawkins didn't dishonor the tone of Pride and Prejudice. I would sometimes think that I'd like to read a "Letters from Netherfield," but it wouldn't be as amusing because Jane's too nice to poke fun at people.