For fans of Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen devotees everywhere, a charming and delightful novel for anyone who has ever wondered what the Darcy children might be like. Picking up twenty years after Pride and Prejudice left off, Mr. Darcy's Daughters begins in the year 1818. Elizabeth and Darcy have gone to Constantinople, giving us an opportunity to get to know their five daughters, who have left the sheltered surroundings of Pemberley for a few months in London. While the eldest, Letitia, frets and the youngest, Alethea, practices her music, twins Georgina and Belle flirt and frolic their way through parties and balls, while Camilla—levelheaded and independent—discovers what joys and sorrows the city has to offer an intelligent young woman. Readers will delight in the return of such beloved Austen creations as Elizabeth's old nemesis Caroline Bingley (now Lady Warren), the ever-reliable Gardiners, and wayward Aunt Lydia. Charming, beautifully written, and full of societal intrigue and romantic high jinks, Mr. Darcy's Daughters is a tale that would please Austen herself.
"Those with a taste for the balance and humour of Austen will find a worthy companion volume."—Book News The weddings are over. The guests (including millions of readers and viewers) wish the two happy couples health and happiness. As the music swells and the credits roll, two things are certain: Jane and Bingley will want for nothing, while Elizabeth and Darcy are to be the happiest couple in the world! The couples' personal stories of love, marriage, money, and children are woven together with the threads of social and political history of nineteenth century England. As changes in industry and agriculture affect the people of Pemberley and the neighboring countryside, the Darcys strive to be progressive and forward-looking while upholding beloved traditions. Rebecca Ann Collins follows them in imagination, observing and chronicling their passage through the landscape of their surroundings, noting how they cope with change, triumph, and tragedy in their lives. "A lovely complementary novel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Austen would surely give her smile of approval." —Beverly Wong, author of Pride & Prejudice Prudence
An extraordinary woman in a turbulent era "Jane Austen herself would have been very well pleased." Beverley Wong, author of Pride & Prejudice Prudence The bestselling Pemberley Chronicles series continues the saga of the Darcys and Bingleys from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice and introduces imaginative new characters. Charming, beautiful, and intelligent, Cassandra Darcy is undeniably her father's daughter. When her brother Julian falters in his responsibilities as heir to Pemberley, Darcy and Elizabeth turn in desperation to their daughter, and Cassy is thrust into the role of surrogate heir. It will take all of Cassy's inner strength and ingenuity to raise Julian's son, attend to her own happy marriage and children, and keep Pemberley's tenants satisfied. When she is faced with a series of crises—her daughter appears to be involved in an unsuitable affair and her son is unwittingly drawn into a murder investigation—Cassy must act before circumstances spin out of control. Set against a vivid backdrop of dramatic political and social changes sweeping England during the Victorian era, Mr. Darcy's Daughter is the remarkable story of a strong-minded woman in a man's world, struggling to balance the competing demands of love and duty as a daughter, wife, mother, and sister. "With her crisp style, lively dialogue, and a seasoning of gentle humour, Ms. Collins's latest contribution should keep her readers well satisfied." Book News
Alethea, the youngest, most talented and high-spirited daughter of the Darcys, has married too hastily on the rebound. She soon discovers that her husband is not only a brute but that he has bizarre ideas about a wife's duty in the bedroom. She will have to flee, yet she knows he will pursue her. She must take drastic measures to foil his plans and protect herself. Thus she sets out to cross the Channel, masquerading as one Aloysius Hawkins, gentleman. Accompanied only by her redoubtable maid, Figgins, her plan is to join her elder sister, Camilla, in Italy. But events - always dramatic and at times life threatening - conspire to keep the sisters apart. Until the mysterious Titus Manningtree, in Italy to pursue a lost Titian painting - takes a hand in her complicated affairs ¿ Elizabeth Aston presents an array of memorable nineteenth-century characters - beautiful, naïve, mischievous and downright wicked - in this deliciously witty Regency comedy.
A Young Woman Longing for Adventure and an Artistic Life... Because she's an illegitimate child, Eliza is raised in the rural backwater with very little supervision. An intelligent, creative, and free-spirited heroine, unfettered by the strictures of her time, she makes friends with poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge, finds her way to London, and eventually travels the world, all the while seeking to solve the mystery of her parentage. With fierce determination and irrepressible spirits, Eliza carves out a life full of adventure and artistic endeavor. PRAISE FOR JOAN AIKEN "Others may try, but nobody comes close to Aiken in writing sequels to Jane Austen." PublishersWeekly "Aiken's story is rich with humor, and her language is compelling. Readers captivated with Elinor and Marianne Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility will thoroughly enjoy Aiken's crystal gazing, but so will those unacquainted with Austen." Booklist "...innovative storyteller Aiken again pays tribute to Jane Austen in a cheerful spinoff of Sense and Sensibility." Kirkus Reviews
Elizabeth would never admit that woman was really her mother... Two months after Elizabeth was born, Mr. Bennet discovered Mrs. Bennet in the midst of an affair with her father's clerk. And two nights later, the woman who had been his wife fled north with her lover and Jane, tearfully leaving behind little Elizabeth with Mr. Bennet.Mr. Bennet dedicated his life to raising Elizabeth the best he could. He loved her. Mr. Bennet had loved Elizabeth, far more than he ever loved Jane, from the first time he picked his little girl up and she grabbed at his sideburns.When the new tenant of Netherfield arrived in the neighborhood, Elizabeth began to fall in love with the mind and thoughtful frowns of his friend, Mr. Darcy. He made her heart flutter. But what will happen when Elizabeth's long departed mother returns with her sister Jane to Meryton after being absent for twenty years?A heartwarming and romantic novel about true family and love from the author of Mr. Collins's Widow.
* * New cover - content unchanged * * When Colonel Fitzwilliam's disclosures are interrupted by the bearer of distressing news from Longbourn, Miss Elizabeth Bennet is compelled to accept an offer she would have otherwise dismissed out of hand. An offer of marriage from the all-too-proud Mr Darcy. Yet how is she to live with a husband she hardly knows and does not love? Will she continue to feel trapped in a marriage of convenience while events conspire to divide them? Or would love grow as, day by day and hour after hour, she learns to understand the man she married, before she loses his trust and his heart? Given the 'early marriage' premise, the issue of growing affection and intimacy is central to the story. The relevant scenes are not graphic, but the novel does address mature themes. Excerpt from 'Mr Bennet's Dutiful Daughter' - a journey from duty into love. His hand came up to cup her cheek, his fingertips stroked her hair and he smiled again. A heartbreakingly warm smile. "There is so much I do not know of you. What joy it will be to discover." "And I of you. It was quite a surprise to hear you were contemplating kissing me as far back as November." "I should have. What a foolish waste of five months of happiness." "I am very glad I make you happy," she said quietly, and found with some surprise that she was in earnest. "You know you do. More than I ever thought possible," Mr Darcy whispered hoarsely and reached to lift her off the sofa and bring her close, ensconced in a tight embrace. Elizabeth wrapped her arms around his neck, abandoning herself to his kisses, only to find guilt welling afresh when his lips left her skin just for long enough to whisper, "My love, you are everything." 'Do not say it, oh, do not say it!' she felt the strongest urge to caution him. 'Do not give me so much power over you.' How unspeakably odd it felt to hear him openly avow it, after his reserve of full six months' standing. It was as if everything he had held in check was now offered without hesitation, unstoppably coming out in one rush after another, now that all reason for concealment was removed. It was overwhelming to discover that all this wealth of feeling had been there for so long, and she had noticed nothing. Her heart twisted in sudden compassion - the last sentiment she had imagined Mr Darcy would inspire in her, and for the least expected reason. Did he not see it was dreadfully unwise to reveal quite so much of himself to her? That it would make him vulnerable in the extreme and put him in the greatest danger, were she so heartless as to use it against him? Surely he did not think her equally in love, to trust her so implicitly with every formerly hidden feeling! What blow must it be to him, were the truth of her deep-held reservations ever to come to light. What burden of responsibility on her, to carefully conceal it from so astute a man. Unspeakably odd too that she should fret so much over sparing Mr Darcy's feelings, after spending months with the firm conviction he had none. Not for her, nor for the world in general. How aptly he had put it, all that time ago, when he had remarked that her greatest fault was her propensity to wilfully misunderstand...
From the author of Mr. Darcy’s Daughters, the delightful escapades of the Darcy family continue with an enchanting story set at Pride and Prejudice’s Pemberley. When Phoebe, a young niece of Pride and Prejudice’s Mr. Darcy, is shattered by an unhappy romance, she retreats to Pemberley and is joined by kindhearted Louisa Bingley, unmarried after three London seasons. Once the young ladies are situated in the house, several handsome strangers also arrive—all hopeful of winning the girls’ hearts. As preparations for the ball which Mr. and Mrs. Darcy are to give at Pemberley gain momentum, mischief and love triangles abound, making life as difficult as possible for anyone connected with the Darcy family. Populated with authentic characters firmly rooted in Jane Austen’s mores and stylistic traditions, Mr. Darcy’s Dream has an unforgettable combination of romance, societal scandals, friendship, family, and marriage.
The Mother-Daughter Book Club says bon voyage to Concord and bonjour to France! It’s a dream come true for Megan, who’s jet-setting to Paris for Fashion Week with Gigi. Meanwhile, back in Concord, Mrs. Wong decides to run for mayor, so Emma and Stewart team up to make her campaign a success. Jess and Cassidy are also hoping for victories, Jess in the a cappella finals with the MadriGals and Cassidy in the national hockey championships with her teammates. In the midst of it all, the girls—along with their Wyoming pen pals, who drop in for a visit over Spring Break—dive into Charlotte Brontë’s classic Jane Eyre. Some real life romance follows, as Becca may have found a Mr. Rochester of her own. And then there’s the matter of a certain wedding. The book club girls, their families, the British Berkeley brothers, and even Annabelle Fairfax (aka Stinkerbelle) will be attending the ceremony, which means there might be some bumps before the bride waltzes down the aisle…
