Stories about "what happened next" to the characters of Jane Austen's novels don't really do it for me. It's not like I object to pastiche*, because I love Sherlock Holmes stories in all their forms; I've just never felt that way about Austen. But I do like P.D. James's novels a lot, so I was excited about this one. I was a little let down not to love it, but I did like it.

*I apologize for using this oh-so-pretentious word, but I didn't want to keep writing "books-written-to-imitate-Jane-Austen-and-explore-what-happens-next." "Pastiche" sometimes has a negative connotation, as if referring to a pale imitation of the original, but I always mean it as a judgement-free description of a sub-genre.

It doesn't feel as though it's meant to be a strict imitation of Austen's style, probably because (as James admits in the introductory note) it's not a strict imitation of her content; no murder-thriller drama for Jane Austen. And maybe that's the problem; the characters all sound like themselves, but they're doing things they never would have done in Pride and Prejudice. I kept wondering how a real fan of Jane Austen pastiche would feel about it.

On the other hand, I think James meant this book to reach people who aren't readers of Austen and aren't familiar with Pride and Prejudice, because there's a lengthy and tedious introduction that recaps the bits of the story you'd need to understand who Elizabeth and Darcy and all the rest are. In that case, it's mildly brilliant. Brilliant, but I'm still not the right reader for the book.

I did like how characters from other Austen novels popped up in the background, like when Wickham was hired as a caretaker for a house belonging to Mr. Elliot (of Persuasion). It's fun to think of all those people potentially bumping into one another. And James's Darcy felt very realistic--every successor to Austen, whether developing P&P into a movie or writing sequels to it, has had to interpret that mysterious figure whose feelings we never see first-hand. Overall, it was an enjoyable book, and I think I may like it even better the next time I read it.