The third novella in the Seasons of Serendipity sees the Bennet sisters divided by countries, not counties. Still struggling to find family stability after the death of Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth joined with her new husband, Fitzwilliam Darcy, converts her honeymoon in Scotland into a mission of hiding Lydia’s scandal. Jane Bennet, under the wing of Lady Matlock, learns that taking on the mantle of … family champion comes with tight corset strings attached. Saving face in soirees with the Ton, Jane must fend off the talons of society’s climber and discovers she has a much deeper decision to make about her own future.
This novella is similar in length to other books in the series, approximately 170 pages in paperback.
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Emotional impact is powerful, extremes of anger, frustration, excitement, bouts of laughter and tears
This is the third novella in the Seasons of Serendipity Series [year one]. It is the continued story of the Bennet sisters as they go through a year in their lives. The emotional impact makes it tough to read at times. We are led to extremes of anger, frustration, excitement, bouts of laughter and of tears, and jaw dropping horror as the events unfold.
Elizabeth and Darcy: We finally have the wedding we’ve waited for, but our couple rushes from the church [don’t even get their wedding breakfast] as they remove Lydia from London. The Darcy’s, with Lydia in tow, head for a Darcy holding in Scotland for their honeymoon.
Mrs. Bennet and Lydia: These two are the WORST. Mrs. Bennet is impossible and Lydia ruins everything for everyone and doesn’t realize what she has done nor does she care. Our H&h have to quickly rush Lydia out of London to hide her condition. It was not uncommon for a sister to accompany a newlywed couple [ex: The Bertram sisters in Mansfield Park]. As her pregnancy progresses, Lydia becomes a tyrant and shrew. She is simply awful.
Jane: London Society is not for the faint of heart. Jane meets the rakes and scoundrels of the Ton and discovers she is just another beauty among many beauties in London. She also struggles with what she knows of herself, her heart, what she realizes are her expectations and those of Mr. Bingley and his sister Caroline. She has a decision to make and you will LOVE what she does. Way to go Jane. I really did not like Bingley in this version…but, it goes along with what Darcy always said in P&P when he said he had seen him in love many times. Bingley’s inconsistency is very apparent in this version.
Mary: I love this Mary as we watch her evolve and deal with her own struggles, in deciding who she really is, with knowing her heart, her feelings about society and love, her place and her position in life. She too has decisions.
Kitty and Georgiana: These two are sort of lumped together and Lady Matlock intends to launch them into society the next year. We see Collins briefly, he causes a problem for Georgiana that I felt was unnecessary and I question Darcy sending her such a letter or that Darcy would even consider anything Lacy C or Collins had to say. How they were even able to contact Darcy so quickly was a mystery.
We have a traffic jam of characters and plots that cross and crisscross and at times become too congested to follow. That is life. Even in our own families…while this is happening here, over there something else is happening and farther still other things are happening. It can be difficult to follow but it is manageable. After all, we are following the Bennet sisters…all of them.
Wickham and Mrs. Younge are finally located. We learn from Colonel Forster the extent of Wickham’s debts and theft when he abandoned his militia position. He and a troop of militia soldiers assist Colonel Fitzwilliam with the capture and justice is served.
I was an emotional wreck by the time I finished. I held back the tears as I approached the ending…I knew, I just knew what was going to happen, and as I lost my battle with the tears, it was still a shock when the ending came. What a way to end it. Well done, Ms. West.
There are always going to be editing errors, no perusal of a document will catch them all. They were minimal. If the next novella is the last of their year, there are a lot of plot threads to be completed. I look forward to the completion of their year. I am exhausted as I’ve read them back to back.