Jane (Cousins of Pemberley #4) by Linda O'Byrne
Genre: Historical fiction, Regency romance, Victorian era
Read: 22nd June 2023
Published: 10th December 2022
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Many years have passed since the dramatic events of Pride and Prejudice. In The Cousins of Pemberley series we follow a new generation of heroines - cousins with lives as different and interesting as those enjoyed by their mothers.
The Darcys have always worried about their daughter Jane. Gentle and delicate, she has been cosseted and protected from the world. But all the Darcy wealth and power cannot save Jane from heartbreak and betrayal.
Can she find a courage no one believes she has? Can she break free from the golden cage that imprisons her?
MY THOUGHTS:
The Cousins of Pemberley series is unique in that it is like a Regency romance yet set in early Victorian times that the two eras overlapped. The nuances and innuendos are what one would exepct from a Regency novel with its easy style and gentle pace. But what I have come to love about this series is that each of the leading ladies are different. Each has a different strength to draw on and yet their flaws are not dissimilar, I find.
JANE tells the story of the younger of the Darcy twins. She is the quieter more reserved of the two. She isn't outspoken or bold like her older twin Anne, and yet she has a gentle strength that even she didn't know she possessed. Jane is used to fading into the background, of being of no consequence, of remaining unnoticed. She has had someone take the lead for her all of her life having been the weaker of the twins, there was a danger that she may not survive at all. But she rallied although she was still the first to succumb to a cold or illness, her weakness being explained away as not being as strong as her sister.
The story begins in the wake of Miriam having left to sail the seas with her sea captain Nicholas Sullivan and hoping to marry at the first opportunity. That aside, Elizabeth Darcy's first concern is for that of her daughter Jane whose heart has been broken by the man she claims to have been in love with and him having proposed marriage to Anne instead! Heartbroken, Jane locks herself away in her room as Elizabeth worries about her constitution and how it would suffer such a heartbreak. Thus, it is decided that Jane will leave Pemberley for the confines of her beloved godfather's estate in Dorset, Deerwood Park. But still Elizabeth fears for her daughter and asks Susanna Courtney to accompany her. Jane is both annoyed and delighted. Annoyed that her family still see her as needing kid gloves and delighted that her friend will be joining her on the long journey south.
Their arrival in Dorset is met with a near accident and the irritating arrogance of Archer Maitland, who set Jane's teeth on edge almost from the first. If that wasn't all, upon arriving at Deerwood Park she finds that her god father Colonel Fitzwilliam is not alone but has a guest staying. Celeste is their distant Italian relative from Sicily, granddaughter to her father's disgraced younger sister Rose Fitzwilliam who eloped with an Italian groom at the tender age of 15...and without her father's consent. It seems Celeste is her granddaughter come to meet her English cousins after the death of her beloved grandmother. Jane, who normally has the Colonel's favour, finds that it is Celeste who now sits by his side and has taken her usual rooms. It seems her safehaven is hers no longer.
And just when things couldn't get any worse...Jane discovers that Archer Maitland and his friend Dr Andrew Moore are to be guests for dinner that night. Jane's knowledge of Archer is that he is a law man down in London and that her sister Anne has spoken favourably of him. It is therefore expected that he is to propose to Anne at any moment and Jane believes the couple to be perfectly suited. Both are stubborn and used to getting their own way. Anne loves the parties and high life of London, those which will come with being the wife of a man of law and aspiring politician. Jane, however, does not. She prefers a quiet life.
So why, whenever she is in his presence, does her heart beat that little bit louder? Why do her hands perspire at the mere thought of him? And why does she tremble at his touch?
So why does Archer look at her so intently? Why does he say things to her that surely cannot mean what he says? And why is he dragging his heels at proposing to Anne?
We are transported back in time to 1834 as we revisit the cousins of Pemberley once again. Although Pemberley features only a little in this tale, it lingers there in the background that is home to everyone. We spend most of the time in Dorset and in London this time as we follow Jane as her story entwines with the expected beau of her twin sister Anne. At first when I met Archer I thought "please no". He was arrogant and irritating but I knew from past experience that this nature would be turned about to reveal a more favourable one. And by the time I was halfway through I was hoping the two of them would quit dancing around what was clearly obvious. But of course in these times, it was not proper to behave so openly.
At any rate, JANE is a wonderful addition to the Cousins of Pemberley series that I would have gotten through a lot quicker had real life not gotten in the way. It has that easy style and gentle place and, unlike the old style of Austen, it is easy to read. It doesn't need full descriptions or to be too wordy to build the picture that readers can clearly see.
A delightfully fun read as with all in the Cousins of Pemberley series, JANE has the easy gentle pace that I love of this type of book. A must for Austen fans and those of "Pride of Prejudice".
I would like to thank #LindaOByrne, #SpellboundBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #Jane in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
I have been writing all my life in the time I could spare from having a “proper job”, mostly for children under the name of Linda Blake, stories of ballet dancers, pony riding and talking animals! Not all in the same book!
But my love of romance, a great tendency to say “What if..?” and the endearing characters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice have now resulted in a series of books that will take the reader forward to the next generation of heroines.
I am retired, live in Kent and am a keen member of my local drama group. Directing and acting take up a lot of my time - I have been given the onerous task of writing the Christmas pantomimes - but I still need to cope with a large garden, doing daily battle with the heron who thinks my pond is his own breakfast buffet and keeping in touch with friends and family scattered all over the world.
Social Media links:
What a gorgeous review to kick us off - thank you x
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