Customer Reviews

Pemberley

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Pride and Prejudice is my absolute favorite book. Therefore, I read all the sequels to PnP. This one is without a doubt one of the worst if not THE worst. Incidentally, this was the first sequel I had ever read and was so upset after I read it that I was apprehensive to read any others. Thankfully, I have read sequels since that are much better. The author's portrayals of the Darcys and the Bingleys are so off that it is disturbing. It makes me wonder if she even read PnP. Through about two-thirds of the book, it is also incredibly boring. As if she wrote the last third in a hurry, Tennant crams in so much ridiculous nonsense to end the book. Since I can't let myself not finish a book once I start, I was happy when I finally got to the end and the misery was over.

This, people, has to be the single most horrible sequel to pride and prejudice EVER written. Do I have something to back this up except my own feeling of boredom and disgust? Yes, I do! So, hang on tight, it might get ugly!

Every piece written has a timeline, no matter how you play with it, it does have a sequel of events. P&P's goes like this: Michealmas (sept. 29 or oct. 10-11 depending on the history, so let's say early october.) Bingley and friends take up Netherfield Park, They meet oh... Mid october. The Netherfield party is gone by the end of november. Lizzy goes to Kent around end of march. Darcy propose early to mid-april. They meet again in Pemberley at the end of july, beginning of August. Lydia leaves Brighton at around the same time. She is married by early september. Bingley goes back to Netherfield Say mid october, everyone is married by christmas. Are we all agreed? I thought so, except for this author. Because at the time where the story starts, Christmas time, it has been almost a year since Darcy and Elizabeth have been married, that means Jane also, right? Apparently not, cause she already has a child of over a year and is ready to pop with her second. That means Bingley would have had to get her pregnant on their first encounter, way before they were married and... You get the point. Lydia, who got married three months before her sisters is pregnant with her fourth is less than four years... Or so says Mrs. Bennet. Can anyone spot a mistake in there somewhere? Me too.

Now, the characterisation is laughable. Lizzy is meek and afraid of Darcy because she feels constantly in his debt. She doesn't talk to him, the teasing and liveliness of her spirit has apparently been lost somewhere along the 'I will' and she's so insecure that The amazing Elizabeth bennet becomes annoying. Darcy barely talks to Lizzy about anything. He's reverted to his old self. Georgiana is the biggest brat I have ever read of. All the other characters are caricatures of their personalities in the book. It`s almost unbearable.


The story is... Well, there isn't that much of a plot really. It's Christmas and the Darcy's welcome their family to Pemberley (both sides, include Darcy's equivalent of Mr. Collins) and it turns into a nightmare. Add in an imaginary lost love, illegitimate child, Elizabeth's failing has a woman (i.e., Darcy hasn't gotten her pregnant yet) and you have a big fat pointless mess. The end has been cut short like the author ran out of ways to explain herself and just wanted to get it over with. that or nobody could get the end and she just slapped something there to make it look finished. It isn't. It isn't anything in fact. I've read much better fanfics for free on the net. Don't spend your money on the book, you'll be sorely disappointed.

Oh! and to those who love her Elizabeth is Lizzy, not Eliza! That was also annoying.

So all things considered, is there are word worse than terrible? Troll?

My main question is what are all those acclaimed reviewers smoking? I buy the book, loving practically all of Jane Austen's work, because there is a quote from the New York Time Book Review saying "The text virtually breathes Jane Austen." Can I just say the text of this book probably has Jane Austen rolling in her grave. Emma Tennant did not do justice to ANY of the characters.....stay far far away from this book.

This book was not what I was expecting. The author does convey the same basic style of writing as Jane Austen, but the characters are really two-dimensional and this novel just seems like a photocopy of the other modern romances on the market today. Elizabeth was portrayed in the original as a strong and self-confident woman who would speak her mind. Yet in Pemberley, she's too afraid to approach Darcy about children. She assumes things about him and his actions that are false while failing to communicate with him directly to discover the truth (which is what I picture Elizabeth actually doing). There was also a plot twist at the end concerning Mr. Bingley that was completely out of character, at least based on what we learn of him in Pride and Prejudice. That plot twist was exceedingly disappointing. Overall, if you fell in love with the characters from Pride and Prejudice, you will be disappointed in Pemberley. If you MUST read it, check it out from your local library, but don't waste your money to purchase it.

I've never been tempted to throw a book out until I read this one. This book is not just disappointing because it mutilates Jane Austen's characters, it is simply not well written. It seems to me that the author determined she could make a few bucks quick bucks off of Jane Austen fans, or suckers -like me- who are always looking for all-things-Austen.

Ugh. To mention this book in the same breath as Pride and Prejudice is utter insult to Jane Austen. It would have helped if the author had actually *read* P&P before this pile of tripe was written. Thank heavens that I have just read that there are better sequels. I must agree with the other reviewers! The mess of the timeline regarding children was particularly awful. This book is not worth the paper on which it is printed.