The Trouble to Check Her: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (The Queen of Rosings Park Book 2) in Austen Variations

Jul 22, 2018 Ceri rated it it was amazing

Shelves: austen-sequel, austen-inspired, austenesque-no-sex-scenes, sweet-romance, 2016-austeneseque-challenge

This review was first posted on Babblings of a Bookworm.

This book is a follow-on to ‘Mistaking Her Character’, which is a ‘Pride and Prejudice’ variation that I haven’t yet read, but I understand that in that variation, Mr Bennet is Dr Bennet, the private physician to Anne de Bourgh. He is a harsher and less forgiving man than Mr Bennet of canon. Here, Lydia has had a failed elopement with George Wickham but this hasn’t led to their marriage. In ‘Pride and Prejudice’, Darcy admits that his origi This review was first posted on Babblings of a Bookworm.

This book is a follow-on to ‘Mistaking Her Character’, which is a ‘Pride and Prejudice’ variation that I haven’t yet read, but I understand that in that variation, Mr Bennet is Dr Bennet, the private physician to Anne de Bourgh. He is a harsher and less forgiving man than Mr Bennet of canon. Here, Lydia has had a failed elopement with George Wickham but this hasn’t led to their marriage. In ‘Pride and Prejudice’, Darcy admits that his original intention was to remove Lydia from Wickham, not bring about the marriage, so I thought this was an excellent springboard for a variation:

‘He saw Wickham, and afterwards insisted on seeing Lydia. His first object with her, he acknowledged, had been to persuade her to quit her present disgraceful situation, and return to her friends as soon as they could be prevailed on to receive her, offering his assistance as far as it would go. But he found Lydia absolutely resolved on remaining where she was. She cared for none of her friends; she wanted no help of his; she would not hear of leaving Wickham; she was sure they should be married some time or other, and it did not much signify when. Since such were her feelings, it only remained, he thought, to secure and expedite a marriage.’ – from ‘Pride & Prejudice’ by Jane Austen

At first glance Lydia doesn’t seem like heroine fodder; she is flighty, silly, selfish, and she has forward manners but I always felt a little sorry for her. In ‘Pride & Prejudice’ the direction of her life is changed forever by a foolish decision made at the tender age of just 15 – it’s a high price to pay for teenage stupidity. Whose fault is it that she is so forward and over-confident? Her parents of course. Personally, I think we can absolve Mrs Bennet from a lot of the blame; she is a person of little natural refinement or taste and genuinely doesn’t see Lydia’s faults, but Mr Bennet does see her faults and is too apathetic and indolent to take the trouble to check her. Had he done so, who knows how differently she may have turned out.

When we first meet Lydia, en route to Mrs Drummell’s school for girls she is feeling extremely hard done by and unrepentant.

“You do not know—”

“I do not need to. Every girl who comes to this school has virtually the same story. Any many who would put you in position to be sent here, is no gentleman.”

Lydia tossed her head and sniffed. “Well, you are simply wrong. I am not like any of the others.”

However, held in check by fear of corporal punishment she complies with the rules and little by little a different girl emerges. She starts to understand herself and is humbled by what she sees.

Applying herself for the first time, Lydia realises that she has untapped talents; she is a gifted artist and can be a competent musician. Most helpfully of all, she also begins to realise that the most fun and attractive people in company are not always the most faithful friends and those who seem more dutiful and less exciting at first may prove to be better friends in the long run.

I loved the gradual growth in her character as she matured from a heedless, silly girl into a woman humbled by the realisation of the magnitude of her previous actions.

‘Lydia’s cheeks burned. Once she had gone into town and Mama pulled her and Kitty aside, pointing out a group of very pretty girls surrounded by a cloud of young men. She warned them to stay away from those ‘ladybirds’ as their reputations were tarnished and they were not fit company for good society. Could that be what those women were saying now—or worse?’

Lydia begins to wonder whether she will ever be worthy of being loved, but with the regard of true friends, and a growth in self-esteem related to becoming an accomplished lady she at last learns how to be a true friend herself and put the needs of others before her own. This was a real coming of age story, and I very much enjoyed seeing the least promising Bennet sister finally tapping some of her potential. I’d recommend this book and I’d rate it as a 4½ star read.

*I was provided with an ebook of this story by the author for my honest review. ...more

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Sep 14, 2016 Anna added it

Shelves: austenesque

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Mar 13, 2016 Anji rated it it was amazing

Shelves: z-2016-austenesque-challenge, beta-proofread, austenesque-regency, austenesque-pride-and-prejudice

THE TROUBLE TO CHECK HER by Maria Grace

Like quite a few people, I first read this when it was posted weekly as a Work in Progress on Jane Austen Variations. It was then known as Mrs. Drummond's School for Girls. The events follow on directly from those in Mistaking Her Character. You don't have to have read that first but it does help to set the context. Instead of Wickham and Lydia being forced to marry, Darcy pays for her to attend a school for "fallen girls" for two years. Lydia is given the THE TROUBLE TO CHECK HER by Maria Grace

Like quite a few people, I first read this when it was posted weekly as a Work in Progress on Jane Austen Variations. It was then known as Mrs. Drummond's School for Girls. The events follow on directly from those in Mistaking Her Character. You don't have to have read that first but it does help to set the context. Instead of Wickham and Lydia being forced to marry, Darcy pays for her to attend a school for "fallen girls" for two years. Lydia is given the ultimatum of reforming her ways during that time or eventually spending the rest of her life as servant of some sort. This book is Lydia's story.

At the school, we meet an assortment of girls from privileged backgrounds who, for varied reasons, have fallen from the expected standards of their upbringing. Some are sympathetic characters, some aren't. The latter most definitely include Lydia at the opening of the book. She's still the silly, self-indulgent person we all know and (mostly) dislike from the earlier book and from canon.

At her very first meeting with Mrs. Drummond, the realisation begins to dawn on Lydia that life will never be the same again. No more balls and parties, no over-indulgent mother for whom she can do no wrong. Punishment for wrong doing at the school is caning. Right from the start, she discovers, to her horror, that she's expected to carry out household tasks such as cleaning her room! New girls have to wear mob caps and are called by their first names. They have to earn the right to remove those caps and to be called by the more respectful name of Miss ------. Her days are spent in a combination of lessons at the school and charitable works in the local community.

Some of her class mates, namely Joan and Amelia, are very like herself and can't understand why they're being punished in this way. Others are more sympathetic and Lydia discovers on her first night that her room mate, Joana, is pregnant. The events surrounding the outcome of Joana's pregnancy could so easily have happened to Lydia herself. Along the way, we also become acquainted with Lady Annabelle, another of Mrs. Drummond's girls, and Mr. Amberson, the music teacher who seems to have an insight into part of Lydia's character that even she herself doesn't understand.

Can Lydia see where she's gone wrong and make the necessary changes in herself? This book is that story. When I first started reading this as a WIP, I still wanted to give Lydia a good shake, or even a slap, as she was so annoying. However, Maria Grace gradually achieved the almost impossible task of making me root for her, wanting her to find herself and possibly even find love as well.

Personally, I think this is possibly Maria Grace's best work to date.

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