Lizzy Darcy’s spring house party is becoming a Pemberley tradition. This year her family and friends will meet four-month-old Marcus Darcy, as well as celebrating Georgiana’s engagement to Dominic Sanford. Lizzy will have the pleasure of all her sisters’ company but is apprehensive at the thought of her mother and Lady Catherine being at Pemberley at the same time.
Richard Turner, recently … promoted to the rank of major, plans to propose to Kitty Bennet during the course of the party. His father makes the long journey to Derbyshire with disquieting news about their family’s future prospects, putting Richard under considerable pressure to marry a lady of his choosing. When his father accompanies him to Pemberley, Richard knows his preference for Kitty won’t meet with parental approval and that he must choose between his family and his heart’s desire.
Wickham resents being left to run Mr. Gardiner’s warehouse while his wife joins the rest of her family for the festivities at Pemberley. Worse, Lydia is increasing and the prospect of being tied down by fatherhood terrifies him. Backed into a corner, Wickham also goes to Derbyshire, determined to settle matters between himself and Darcy once and for all and insist upon the level of financial recompense befitting old Darcy’s favourite.
Tensions and undercurrents permeate the gathering as Lizzy struggles to keep the warring factions apart. When Georgiana’s ball goes off without a hitch, she thinks she might just have managed it, until Kitty disappears under mysterious circumstances.
Who could have taken her and can she be found before her reputation is compromised beyond recall…
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I am an avid Jane Austen fan, this is the 4th Book in the series of follow ups to Pride and prejudice by Wendy Soliman I just loved the book from start to finish, amazing escapism in the covid lock down crisis.
Be careful what you wish for. Life has a way of giving you what you deserve, not what you want.
This is Book 4/5 in the Mrs. Darcy Entertains series: [Book 1/5 Miss Bingley’s Revenge], [Book 2/5 Colonel Fitzwilliam’s Dilemma], [Book 3/5 Miss Darcy’s Passion], and [Book 5/5 Lydia Wickham’s Journal]
Once again there is a house party at Pemberley to celebrate the engagement of Georgiana Darcy and Dr. Sanford. It seems that every year, Mrs. Darcy is hostess to a group of people that somehow seem determined to cause mayhem, death and destruction. I think she is becoming famous for her house parties.
For some reason, this story wasn’t as smooth as the previous books. In order for it to be a stand-a-lone, there were now three prior books to summarize for the new reader. That was a lot of information. I kept wondering why [in the previous books] there always seemed to be someone in ignorance of the details. It is now clear that it is a writing ploy/device so that information can be conveyed to them and to the reader. In this case, it was Kitty who didn’t have a complete history of events, and had to be made aware of previous actions by certain characters. It worked, but was it at the cost of story time?
There were a lot of guests at this house party. Several were just present to add tension and color to the background. They didn’t even speak or do anything except make eye rolls, give disdainful looks or a haughty glare, or would sniff when it was appropriate to show displeasure. Most of the time we only heard what they did, but didn’t have to experience it firsthand. I actually preferred that instead of allowing something to drone on. In this case, it worked.
As a story, the further we move away from our core couple [D&E], the interest level wanes. I like the Kitty character; however, our author had to create a personality and characteristics for her. Kitty has always been a shadow of Lydia and followed her, for good or bad, in actions and deeds. Now, she has been away from her younger sister for several years and has had the calming influence of Jane and Elizabeth to help her forge a new identity for herself. So, when Lydia and her mother arrive for the house party, Kitty was a bit discomfited.
Mrs. Bennet was as clueless as ever and Mr. Bennet did nothing to rein her in [as per his want]. This was so unacceptable that it bordered on ridiculous. I simply wanted to shake her and him, and yet, she was allowed to embarrass her daughters, and shock and annoy everyone within hearing distance of her. Oh lawd!!
Stirring the pot, we had Lady Catherine, Caroline Bingley, the disagreement between Major Turner and his father, and Wickham who left London determined to get what was due him. This was a disaster in the making. Multiple story threads were running all over the place and it was hard to see just what the main story was.
Kitty suddenly went missing and it had to be kept quiet in order to preserve her reputation. If she was to ever marry Major Turner, there couldn’t be scandal associated with her name. The villain was a complete surprise. There were no clues, no foreshadowing and the author was really clever as she led a group down bunny trails and through false leads, as they tried to find her. It was interesting, as I worked through possible suspects, how the author was always one step ahead of me and would disqualify each one in turn. She was really good as she evaluated motives and why someone could or would kidnap Kitty. As each suspect was eliminated, I was totally stunned when their identity was finally revealed. It was shocking to say the least. Wow!
Wickham wanted something from Pemberley and he was willing to go and get it, knowing he was not allowed on Pemberley property. He was convinced that this piece of evidence would make his fortune. I really did not like this guy. We were in his head a lot but… in the end… it was necessary. There was a turning point that you don’t usually see with Wickham. That ah-ha moment, when his life passes before him and he can see what he really had. A good job at the Gardiner warehouse, a wife who [at one time] loved and adored him, and he lived in London where things were happening and he had a few friends. He was also cognizant of what he had done with his life and to those around him. This was the set up for the next book. I’ve waited for it. I’ve wanted to see what Lydia would be like. She has been through hell and back with Wickham and I wanted to know how she survived it. He has manipulated her at every turn, even putting her life, and that of her sisters, in danger. Yeah, a real prince of a guy.
The ending came so quickly. I wanted that part to be fleshed out a bit more. Wickham was such a sleaze. At his confrontation with Darcy, when things were presented to him [in review], even he could see his life in a new light. Not that he intended to change. He continued to work through all the angles. All he needed to do was escape and make plans for his next scheme to secure the Darcy funds he felt were due him. Yeah, he was on a roll. His luck was finally going to turn and give him what he deserved. And it did.
R-rating: PG-17 same as the others, only not as bad.