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title: Pemberley Manor: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice continues...

author: Kathryn L. Nelson


first line : The morning that Jane and Elizabeth Bennet married Charles Bingley and Fitzwilliam Darcy might be seen by some as the end of a story of faltering and reviving passions, a tale of petty prides and prejudices solved and resolved into a loving state of eternal bliss for all.


published: April 2009

genre: historical fiction, regency

pages: 380

rated: 4 out of 5




This was my first time reading a Pride & Prejudice sequel. P&P is one of my favorite novels and in my opinion, it's the perfect love story. So when I began reading this book, I didn't know what to expect. Being a Jane Austen fan, i've been kind of wary of those many Pride & Prejudice sequels/spin offs out there. I kind of think P&P does not need a sequel, Elizabeth & Darcy lived happily ever after, Jane Austen never felt like writing a second book to it, so what's the point of a sequel?
Having said all that, I was curious to read Pemberley Manor and figured i'd give it a try. Live a little, right?



I really enjoyed reading Pemberley Manor . One of the reasons why I liked this book is
because Kathryn L. Nelson stays true to Austen's characters while inserting a few new characters into the storyline.



The book begins with Elizabeth's and Darcy and Jane and Bingley's double wedding. Bingley's sister, Caroline, is present and jealous of Lizzy and Darcy as always.
All the P&P main characters are there too, such as Elizabeth's parents and sisters. The story goes on to Darcy & Lizzie's married life. I was hoping there would be no sex scenes between the two, I think it would be obscene to write such a scene. And thank fully, there were no explicit love scenes between these two characters. But when Darcy finally kisses Lizzy, he does it feverishly, and grabs her. Elizabeth's reaction is to be terrified and cry. So of course, Darcy feels awful and runs out of the room. Now, I wouldn't think that would have happened between these two. I'd like to think Lizzy, as saucy and smart as Austen wrote her, would have loved Darcy to kiss her so passionately.



Before you know it, these two make up and begin thier lives together as husband and wife living at Pemberly. As the story goes on, Lizzy learns about Darcy's past, mostly about his parents. Turns out he has personal demons that he is dealing with, and that he hopes to overcome. Little by little, he shares the details of his past with his wife. And a visitor arrives, straight out of Darcy's troubled past, to stir up long ago buried emotions and anger.






Some of the passages that really stood out and seemed to fit seamlessly into what I would expect from Jane Austen's characters were:

Caroline Bingley's rage at the engagement of Fitzwilliam Darcy to Elizabeth Bennett was no trifling matter. The indignity of finding herself allied to a country simpleton with no social connections was galling enough, but the greater injury of losing her own hopes for an alliance with Mr.Darcy was sufficient to catapult her into an hysterical fury that had all but prevented her from attending the wedding.

Mr and Mrs Charles Bingley were passing a very agreeable fortnight engaged in respectful explorations of the delights of matrimony. Jane was, to be sure, a shy bride and Charles a nervous groom, and a little awkwardness marred their first days together, but they were so intent on pleasing one another in word and deed that very soon they found themselves quite easy together.

'When I came to Pemberly this summer, Mrs Reynolds showed us the portrait of you in the gallery. As I listened to her praise of you as the most generous of brothers and the kindness of masters, something stirred inside me that I could not name. When we met on the green, I think I saw you for the first time with my eyes really open, and I was overcome with shame that I had so misjudged your character. What you did for Lydia merely proved to me what I should have known from my own feelings, that you were the man I loved above all men.' -Lizzy speaking to Darcy

'I have you to thank, Bingley, for this happy change in my fortunes. I confess I little expected to enjoy any of the charms of Meryton when I first visited you there, and with my stubborn pride I came very close to missing what has proved to be the dearest treasure of my life. I had not thought it ever possible for me to ever feel as content as I do. And although I cannot truthfully say that I have learned to enjoy the company of Mrs Bennet, I must give her respect for producing two such magnificent daughters.'-Darcy speaking to Bingley

I found this to be an easy, fun read. I liked many things about this book. It was interesting to think of Darcy having that type of troubled past, and how Elizabeth, having come from a closer family, helps him overcome it and move on. I also like that Lizzy calls Darcy 'Will', short for Fitzwilliam. I enjoyed how the author brings Jane and Bingley into the story as well, since Lizzy and Jane are very close, you would imagine them being very much a part of each other's lives. I think the author got Catherine Bingley's behavior just right as well as the other Austen characters.


As I said before, I really like the dialogue between Lizzy and Darcy, it was very much how i'd imagine they would act. Even the little things, like her teasing him about what he said when he first saw her at the ball, and him just kind of enjoying her humor and just 'rolling with it'. Also how thier friends and family were surprised to see such a change for the better in Darcy.








If you're a fan of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, and are curious to see what ever happened after the wedding, grab a copy of Pemberley Manor and enjoy!





Author Kathryn Nelson stopped by my blog to chat, click here for that post.





Special thanks to Danielle Jackson at Sourcebooks for sending me a copy of
Pemberley Manor .