Book review: Introducing Mrs Collins
Author: Rachel Parris.
This spin-off from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice picks up the story of Charlotte Lucas, best friend of its lead character, Elizabeth Bennett.
We last see Charlotte in Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth leaves her newlywed friend’s cottage after an extended visit. This is an account of what happens to Charlotte and her husband, the comical cleric Mr Collins, afterwards.
Synopsis
The ever-practical Charlotte knows she is past her marriageable sell-by-date and very cunningly seduces Mr Collins, a cousin of Elizabeth, who had spurned his proposal.
Despite the mismatched marriage Charlotte at first finds herself surprisingly content until she develops a deeper friendship with another gentleman.
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A timely warning from an unlikely source puts Charlotte’s brief lapse of practicality back on track, and all should have then been well for the witty woman had not multiple doses of unexpected grief upended her happiness.
Reviewer’s thoughts
I really enjoyed this book, not only because I am an Austenite and enjoy the characters from Pride and Prejudice immensely, but also because this novel hits the hard-to-find Austen fan fic sweet spot of being both modern enough to intrigue while retaining enough of the original novel’s classic charm, not to cause an uproar among fans. Austenites are polarised when it comes to fan fics, but Parris gets it right by crafting an entertaining and satisfying follow-up without butchering the characters’ … well, um characters or deviating too far from the original story line.
I especially liked the extra layers Parris added to the peripheral Pride and Prejudice characters’ backgrounds, elevating them from plot devices, comic relief or low-key villainy to endearing main-character status.
I hope Parris picks her pen up again and tells us what Mary, Kitty, Maria and even Georgiana did next. Heck, I’d even like to know what her imagination makes the Bingley sisters get up to.
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