Memphis Reads Archive

Fiction/Historical

Heather Lawson reviews PRESUMPTION: An Entertainment by Julia Barrett (M. Evans, 1993):

For anyone who has wondered what happened to Elizabeth Bennet Darcy after the closing of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, there is a sequel. In Presumption, we find that Elizabeth must deal with Darcy’s neighbors and relatives who are not willing to accept someone from a lower position in society. Georgiana Darcy, the main focus of the book, is now seventeen and still has not recovered from her experiences with Lieutenant George Wickham. She finds herself drawn to Captain Thomas Heywood, but is James Leigh-Cooper, a brilliant architect, a more honorable man?

Overall, this is not a bad attempt to recreate Jane Austen’s novels with their light irony, humor, and depictions of contemporary English country life, but readers need to realize that few copies are as good as the original.


Heather Lawson, Adult Services


More information:

Did you know that you can search the Library Catalog for books featuring your favorite fictional characters? For example, a SUBJECT search for "Bennet Elizabeth" will reveal other "sequels" to Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

Labels: Historical Fiction, Reviews by Heather Lawson