Presumption: An Entertainment - Sequel To Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice

Presumption: An Entertain...

by
Julia Barrett

published	1995 by Books on Tape, Inc.
binding	Audio Cassette
isbn	0736629548 (isbn13: 9780736629546)
date added	03-26-07 edit book

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Valerie rated it:

(review of isbn 0226038130)

01/18/08

Read in March, 2000

If you pick up this book *without* hopes of discovering Elizabeth and Darcy's "happily ever after" life (they are separated for most of the novel, and are not the main focus of the narrative), you may enjoy this sequel.

This was the first sequel to _P&P_ I read, so I had no basis of comparison, except for the original work. Undoubtedly, this is unfair to the author/s of this novel, so please read my comments with that in mind.

I was a bit nonplussed upon finding two factual erro...more If you pick up this book *without* hopes of discovering Elizabeth and Darcy's "happily ever after" life (they are separated for most of the novel, and are not the main focus of the narrative), you may enjoy this sequel.

This was the first sequel to _P&P_ I read, so I had no basis of comparison, except for the original work. Undoubtedly, this is unfair to the author/s of this novel, so please read my comments with that in mind.

I was a bit nonplussed upon finding two factual errors within the first 50 pages of the book:

1. On the very *first* page, the narrator describes how Georgiana was swept off her feet by a dashing lieutenant named Wickam. Um...didn't Wickam join the militia some time after this encounter? When we first see him in _P&P_ he is in non-military attire, having just accepted a commission in the corps.

2. And this is a small thing, but _Presumption_ ages Caroline Bingley. In Vol I, chapter 9 of P&P, Miss Bingley is referred to as Bingley's *younger* sister (making her about Elizabeth's age - 20). Presumption increases her age to 24 a mere 2 years later.

The errors themselves are troubling in a novel that I assume is well researched. But they rankle mainly because they yank one out of the story early on, turning what should be a delightful entertainment into an error-finding mission. It may be the authors intentionally erred for the sake of the sequel's internal logic (Georgiana falls once again for a military man, Caroline's age and the marital barriers it implies provide motive for her later actions).

I was also disturbed to see the character of Kitty transformed into the character of Lydia. Her character is more complex than this and deserves better.

The romantic entanglements of Georgiana (the central figure in the novel) are not very romantic. More promising is the first encounter between Kitty and her suitor (true to the predictions in final chapter of P&P). Sadly the narrator gives the couple little attention and we hear about their growing attachment in only a most indirect way.

I found the language to be true to the original, particularly Austen's method of representing a character's dialogue indirectly (i.e.; "Are you warm enough?" She replied that she was quite comfortable). More enervating is the authors' habit of using "dear" (dear Elizabeth, dear Jane, dear Georgiana).

Despite a the drawbacks mentioned above, I liked reading this novel. Unfortunately, I was never able to lose myself in it....less

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Presumption: An Entertainment - Sequel To Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice

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