Excessively Diverted: The Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice [Paperback]

Juliette Shapiro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2002

Newlyweds Mr and Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy begin their married life at Pemberley quite blissfully but it is not long before the tranquillity they relish is cut short by a series of traumas. The formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh makes little attempt to hide her distain for her nephew's wife. She is joined by Caroline Bingley, as sharp tongued and resentful as ever, in the shared amusement of criticising Elizabeth. But the new mistress of Pemberley soon has more pressing matters on her mind, the fact that she is carrying the Darcy heir being the most pleasant of them. The sudden return of her sister Lydia brings cause for concern. Alarming reports of a seduction, blackmail and the need to keep news of another's confinement secret dampen even Elizabeth's notoriously high spirits and Darcy shows his true character when faced with the most difficult decision of his life. Has he been softened by his love for Elizabeth or is his former remoteness about to be resurrected?

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One event is unique to this sequel; a relationship treated differently from any other that I have read." -- Linda Waldemar, August 31, 2002,The Republic of Pemberley

About the Author

Juliette Shapiro writes for Verbatim, The Language Quarterly, QWF,The Nexus Media Group and The Jane Austen Magazine. She lives in a Sanditon-like town in East Sussex with her family. Excessively Diverted is her first book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 236 pages
• Publisher: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing (September 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1589392647
• ISBN-13: 978-1589392649
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (55 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,437,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Excessively Messed Up, March 6, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Excessively Diverted: The Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (Paperback)

It started out well enough with a touch of wit and irony. Everything else went downhill from there.

The author mentioned at the end that she tried to stay faithful to Jane Austen's ending. I respect her for that, but some of the other ideas did not come together to make a good novel.

1. Lady Catherine accepts Mary Bennet as companion to Anne while still estranged with her nephew.
2. Mr. Collins loses Lady Catherine as his patroness. How the Lucases were able to support the whole Collins family and the rest of the Lucas brood I know not.
3. Mrs. Bennet proposes that Mrs. Darcy take in Lydia's child as her own and Lizzy agrees.
4. All these rushed weddings at the end - Col. Fitzwilliam married Maria Lucas. How is that possible when he couldn't make an offer to similarly fortune-less Lizzy?
5. Lydia and Lizzy go into labor almost at the same time.
6. Wickham actually shows up at Pemberley when Jane Austen mentioned that he was never welcomed there.
7. Wickham cries, Darcy forgives and Lizzy is in doubt.

The book is in need of a good editor, too. In an effort to write like Jane Austen the author ends up writing things like "the scandals that were germinating within the Bennet family." It's an easy read, but not a diverting one.

36 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pleasent and enjoyable!, January 21, 2005

By 

K. Nesler "Hopeless Romantic" (Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Excessively Diverted: The Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (Paperback)

Actually, I would give this 4 1/2 stars if I could, but I thought I would give it the benefit of 5 stars since so many others so strongly disliked it.

I found it to be a pleasent read. Was it Jane Austen? No, but it came pretty close.

It was a little lighter in the narrative than Austen. Which made it a quicker read than Austen's works.

It might have touched on subjects in a minutely more up-to-date manner than Austen. But, none felt out of place or inappropriate.

I felt Juliette Shapiro did a good job of bringing together both the original Austen work and the A&E 6 hour mini-series. She says that this was one of her goals in writing the book. When I read the book, I could really imagine Colin Firth saying those lines as Mr. Darcy.

Maybe some of it was a little contrived. Mary, Kitty, Maria Lucas and Georgiana all find husbands by the end of the book. But, as a hopeless romantic, I liked that. The story was optimistic and the ending saw a change in attitude in a key character (Austen's plot style as I recall).

It wasn't as heavy as Austen. You knew you where reading another author's work. I still liked it and felt Jane Austen might have been happy with the working of the characters.

If you really want something that reads like Jane Austen, I would suggest "Sanditon". Jane actually wrote the first few chapters and the author of the rest of the book (who remains anonymous), does such a good job with the rest of the novel, that you really can't tell where Jane Austen left off and the new writer started. I would give that one 6 stars. It's like having another Austen novel on my shelf.

Of the Pride and Prejudice sequels I have read, this is one I would like to have on my bookshelf and I wouldn't feel disloyal to Jane by putting it next to her novels.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Excessively Disappointing...., July 25, 2004

By 

M. Chavis "bibliophile, book seller, and amat... (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Excessively Diverted: The Sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (Paperback)

I have long admired Austen's exquisite creation, 'Pride and Prejudice'. As a result, I enjoy exploring the various sequels which exist for this timeless classic. However, I was highly disappointed with this poor attempt to recreate my favorite literary characters. Austen's unique style and delicate prose would be difficult to replicate, and unfortunately, this author tries to remain precisely loyal to the original work without Austen's own flair for plot, entertainment, and character development. The book would have been much better had Shapiro taken a note from other successful sequels by following her own path instead of attempting a poor copy of a great original work.

The plot was boring. The character alliances were beyond redemption. The language was simply too much. Moreover, Lizzy and Darcy were rendered one-dimensional and absolutely boring. I couldn't have been more disappointed. I DO NOT recommend this book.