Pride & Property by E Bradshaw ★★★★★
Excellent
The day after the Hunsford proposal, news comes of the sudden death of Mr and Mrs Bennett. Elizabeth and her sisters face an uncertain future.
Unsurprisingly, Elizabeth is outraged when her uncle accepts. The first meeting
of Elizabeth and Darcy is fraught with anger and distress.
We learn that the Hunsford proposal was made even more distressing than the
canon verbal interaction. In the 2005 Pride and prejudice film, there is a
moment when Darcy looks seconds away from kissing Elizabeth, at the height of
their passionate argument.
In this story, not only does Darcy forcibly kiss Elizabeth, her gown is torn in
the ensuing struggle.
So Darcy has a long way to go to gain Elizabeth's trust and affection.
Darcy slowly and carefully works to earn her respect, while helping save
Longbourn.
As he unbends, he shows the Bennett sisters how amiable and funny he can be.
I really appreciated the way Darcy values the intelligence and opinion of
Elizabeth, on the management of Longbourn. Indeed, he teaches the Bennett
sisters to manage the property for themselves. The independence does wonders
for their self-esteem.
So the younger girls become more mature and Jane gains some serious backbone.
When Bingley returns, he has to work to gain her esteem.
The cast of characters is much narrower than usual. Caroline, Lady Catherine,
Wickham and Colonel Fitzwilliam are mentioned but play no part.
Mr Collins is vile, but once Darcy convinces him to rent (the near bankrupt)
Longbourn to the Bennett sisters, he stays in Kent.
A thoroughly good read. As I have found all the authors books.
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