death comes to pemberley

I am a huge Jane Austen fan. When I read Pride and Prejudice I wished I could be Elizabeth Bennet.  I fell in love with John Knightley just as Emma did. I longed to be loved by Edward Ferrars just as Elinor Dashwood did. When I read Jane Austen the pages come to life and I am in Jane Austens' England and all the magic she places there.

The thing about Austen is that it always ends with a "happily ever after", which I am totally game for. I'm all about a happily ever after, in fact I'm waiting for mine. After finishing a book that ends like a fairy tale I always wonder and day dream about what happens to the characters. Is it really happely ever. Are their lives really swept up in perfection. What does their future hold, or is there no future for them.

Did Jane Austen ever think about Mr. Darcy as an old man? What stuggles do Edward Ferrars and Elinor Dashwood encounter in their life together? Did Emma really stop attempting her match making? Was it all truly a happily ever after.

P. D. James has come up with a possible solution to Pride and Prejudice six years after Jane Austen ended her classic novel. James really did a great job of emulating Austen's writing style. I had no problem imagining myself in the story, jumping right into the England that Jane Austen creates.

It was an interesting take on the after story. Yes Mr Darcy and Elizabeth, Mr. Bingley and Jane were all still happy. They were living the fairy tale, just as you always wished they would. Raising their children and having dinner parties. Well... I won't spoil any more for you. 


I think the long and the short of it is I enjoyed the book, being the the world that Austen and James created. And just like always, it ended happily ever after.