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Pride and Prejudice 'sequels' and spin-offs

44 replies

FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 12/07/2021 12:06

Currently reading The Other Bennet Sister which is about Mary from before and during P&P and also after Mr Bennet's death. It's absolutely brilliant!

Has anyone read any others? Charlotte is supposed to be good?

I've also read Death Cones To Pemberley but wasn't that impressed TBH

OP posts:
ParsleyDill · 12/07/2021 12:12

The only modern Austen sequel I've read that wasn't wrong in all kinds of ways is Joan Aiken's sequel to Mansfield Park, Mansfield Revisited, which is light but clever, and judges tone very well, while subverting some of the assumptions of the first novel and rehabilitating the villains.

plixy · 12/07/2021 12:18

I've just started longbourne, which is about the Bennett's servants. Only started it yesterday so can't say if it's any good!
I saw the other bennett sister on Amazon this morning and was wondering whether to buy it.

Rollergirl1980 · 12/07/2021 12:20

I loved Longbourne.

Zerogravity · 12/07/2021 12:22

I loved Longbourne too.

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 12/07/2021 12:23

I read a good one which was not a sequel but a retelling set in Pakistan. Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal

I'm going to check out The Other Bennet Sister. I always thought that Mary should have married Mr Collins. But actually it probably worked out for the best as I expect that Mr Collins ends up with the living near Pemberly so that Charlotte and Lizzie can meet each other regularly.

ParsleyDill · 12/07/2021 12:31

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar

I read a good one which was not a sequel but a retelling set in Pakistan. Unmarriageable by Soniah Kamal

I'm going to check out The Other Bennet Sister. I always thought that Mary should have married Mr Collins. But actually it probably worked out for the best as I expect that Mr Collins ends up with the living near Pemberly so that Charlotte and Lizzie can meet each other regularly.

I doubt it, as he's going to inherit Longbourn as soon as Mr Bennet dies, so will presumably live there? (Even if he is also an absentee vicar of some parish where he pays a resident curate to take on his duties...?)
StitchesInTime · 12/07/2021 12:35

I quite liked The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet by Colleen McCullough.

Although it is a bit silly in places.

BlackAmericanoNoSugar · 12/07/2021 12:40

Mr Bennet isn't that old though, if he had Jane at around 30 then he's still only early 50s. There was nothing negative in the book about his health so he could potentially live to 70s or even 80s. So there could be a long wait for Mr Collins to get possession of Longbourn and he'll be wanting the best possible parish in the meantime. It's what Charlotte wants too, when she first realises that Mr Darcy might fancy Lizzie (when Lizzie is visiting Charlotte and he keeps calling to visit Lizzie) she does consider Mr Darcy's ability to gift a very nice living.

Tairbear · 12/07/2021 12:57

Oww thank you for the recommendations.

Unfortunately lone parenting between preschoolers and newborn, reading has become a luxury long forgotten. However audio books are now my friend, while I potter around after bedtime.

My question is, which order should you read "longbourn" and "The other Bennett sister"?

ParsleyDill · 12/07/2021 13:17

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar

Mr Bennet isn't that old though, if he had Jane at around 30 then he's still only early 50s. There was nothing negative in the book about his health so he could potentially live to 70s or even 80s. So there could be a long wait for Mr Collins to get possession of Longbourn and he'll be wanting the best possible parish in the meantime. It's what Charlotte wants too, when she first realises that Mr Darcy might fancy Lizzie (when Lizzie is visiting Charlotte and he keeps calling to visit Lizzie) she does consider Mr Darcy's ability to gift a very nice living.
Well, we don't know how old he is, other than that he is presumably rather older than Mrs Bennet, as men tended not to marry until they could support a family and were usually older than their wives.

But even given the average life expectancy in England in, say, 1800 (c 40 -- though that obviously is massively skewed by infant mortality) that's not factoring in the chancier risks like epidemics, accidents and diseases then untreatable by medicine that made sudden death something Austen's period had to factor into their plans more than we do. I mean, one does see the point of Mrs Bennet's anxiety to marry her daughters before Mr Bennet dies and leaves them in reduced circumstances in which making a good match will be much harder.

Which is a long way round of saying that while Mr Collins might have decades of parishes, it wouldn't be that unlikely for him to inherit Longbourn quite suddenly, either.

For comparison, John and Fanny Dashwood, discussing whether to give the 40 year old Mrs Dashwood an annuity in Sense and Sensibility, say this:

“To be sure,” said she, “it is better than parting with fifteen hundred pounds at once. But, then, if Mrs. Dashwood should live fifteen years we shall be completely taken in.”

“Fifteen years! my dear Fanny; her life cannot be worth half that purchase.”

“Certainly not; but if you observe, people always live for ever when there is an annuity to be paid them; and she is very stout and healthy, and hardly forty."

I do entirely sympathise with Charlotte, though -- she's married purely so as not to spend the rest of her days a resented drain on her brothers' resources, so she understandably wants Mr Collins in the best possible financial position.

Beamur · 12/07/2021 13:18

The zombie and sea monsters ones are best avoided...

ditalini · 12/07/2021 13:22

I really liked Longbourne and The Other Bennet Sister.

The Emma Tennant ones are a bit rubbish.

AnnaBegins · 12/07/2021 13:43

I loved longbourn too!
Mr Darcy's daughters and The Exploits and adventures of Miss Alathea Darcy are quite fun.
Also loved The Forgotten Sister which is about Mary Bennett.

MartyHart · 13/07/2021 11:00

Death comes to Pemberley was not good. Sorry PD James.
I enjoyed Longbourne.
Has anyone watched Wickham? I keep getting ads for it on Facebook

FrangipaniDeLaSqueegeeMop · 13/07/2021 11:25

@MartyHart I haven't but the kids are at their dad's at the end of the month so I'm going to get a takeaway and treat myself to an undisturbed viewing. It's supposed to be very good and I love that the original Mr Wickham stars in it

OP posts:
MartyHart · 13/07/2021 11:53

I think I'll take the plunge. Can't resist that Mr Wickham, as Mr Bennett says he simpers and smiles and makes love to us all!

Rollergirl1980 · 13/07/2021 12:01

Curtis Sittenfeld has a book called Eligible which is a modern retelling of P&P. I wasn't a fan though.

upinaballoon · 13/07/2021 13:23

A few years ago I read "Mr. Darcy's Diary" by Maya Slater and I quite liked it.

DamsonJammyBastard · 13/07/2021 13:28

I enjoyed Longbourne but it made me feel exhausted just thinking about being a domestic servant. Up at 5 in the morning and a constant grind until bed time. Cooking, making soap out of fat, washing the girls' menstrual rags.

I must try one of the others mentioned here.

DamsonJammyBastard · 13/07/2021 13:29

@MartyHart

Death comes to Pemberley was not good. Sorry PD James. I enjoyed Longbourne. Has anyone watched Wickham? I keep getting ads for it on Facebook
Oooh I haven't heard of this. Must investigate!
AncientandFabulous · 13/07/2021 13:33

Checking in Grin

Did anyone see Death comes to pemberley? Anna Maxwell Martin just wasn’t Lizzie to me. Felt sad for the maids in Longbourne.

spinningspaniels · 13/07/2021 13:35

I read one called Mr Darcy takes a wife. It was rather smutty if I recall, and the author just kept churning more variations out. Linda Bardoll or similar was her name.....

Loved Longbourne.

DamsonJammyBastard · 13/07/2021 13:38

I enjoyed the TV show of Death Comes to Pemberley as a standalone costume drama but I didn't believe for a second they were their P&P characters. Although Matthew Goode made a convincing Wickham.

I loved Lost in Austen, from about 10 years ago, and would really enjoy seeing that one again!

IsolaPribby · 13/07/2021 13:39

@Tairbear The Other Bennett Sister is excellent in audio book! The narrator manages to make Mrs Bennett sound exactly like Alison Steadman in the definitive BBC adaptation.

Duckyneedsaclean · 13/07/2021 13:45

What is Wickham on? Can't find it via Google