Status
Available
Publication
University of Chicago Press (1995), Edition: 1, 240 pages
Description
This witty sequel to Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice follows the fate of Georgiana Darcy, Mr. Darcy's younger sister, who must choose between two suitors, a well-placed navy captain and a brash young architect. Masterfully adapted to Austen's original nineteenth-century style, Presumption brings back to life the book's most memorable characters, the Bennets, Darcys, Collins, and de Bourghs."An elegant emulation and continuation of Pride and Prejudice. . . . Jointly composed by two admirers of Jane Austen, the book often achieves crisp replication of her style. . . . Presumption shows how sequel-writing can, like parody, be a sharp exercise in literary appreciation."-Peter Kemp, Times Literary SupplementJulia Barrett is a pseudonym for Julia Braun Kessler and Gabrielle Donnelly.… (more)
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User reviews
LibraryThing member PuddinTame
When reviewing a book like this, I don't expect the author to fool me into thinking that it is Jane Austen. I just want it to me readable and not a travesty. Readers should be aware that this is not a true sequel, in the sense that Elizabeth and Darcy become secondary characters and Georgiana Darcy
I've only read a couple of other attempted sequels to P&P, but I think that this is much better than Emma Tennent both for attempting to maintain the style of writing and the integrity of the characters. Occasionally, I found a sentence that was so convoluted I don't think that I could have made word by word sense of it, but for the most part, Barrett has captured the very formal prose that somehow results in a light and sparkling story and the sense of irony.
I have one problem with it, and that is in the relationship of Georgiana Darcy and and her brother's "improver" James Leigh-Cooper. The latter is supposed to be a man of an unspecified modest background who has a positive genius as an architect/landscape designer. He is touchy about, but doesn't apologize for his origins. He and Georgiana are supposed to have an often combative relationship in the beginning, but it simply isn't done convincingly. It is difficult to understand why Georgiana, who has never been portrayed as particularly snobbish, flies into pets over his rather low-key "insolence" to provoking people, particularly just before she asks a question that assumes that he is a member of the gentry.
The only time that I think she is understandably annoyed is when he goes ballastic over a banal inquiry about his possible relatives. I am no expert, but I thought that English people usually hyphenated their names to acknowledge/qualify for a substantial inheritance, like Jane Austen's older brother who became James Austen-Leigh. One would therefore suppose that Leigh-Cooper would be either of the gentry, or at least, like the Bingleys, of the wealthy middle-class.
Still, I enjoyed the book and it certainly beats most of the JA imitators that I have read.
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is the main focus. Readers should be aware that the author "plays it safe" in plotting by shuffling elements from P&P, Jane Austen's life and other works. I know that some people find this annoying, and it leads to some unfortunate plot choices and lapses in characterization. The actions and reactions of Mrs. Hurst & Caroline Bingley in Chapter 36? I don't think so. I've only read a couple of other attempted sequels to P&P, but I think that this is much better than Emma Tennent both for attempting to maintain the style of writing and the integrity of the characters. Occasionally, I found a sentence that was so convoluted I don't think that I could have made word by word sense of it, but for the most part, Barrett has captured the very formal prose that somehow results in a light and sparkling story and the sense of irony.
I have one problem with it, and that is in the relationship of Georgiana Darcy and and her brother's "improver" James Leigh-Cooper. The latter is supposed to be a man of an unspecified modest background who has a positive genius as an architect/landscape designer. He is touchy about, but doesn't apologize for his origins. He and Georgiana are supposed to have an often combative relationship in the beginning, but it simply isn't done convincingly. It is difficult to understand why Georgiana, who has never been portrayed as particularly snobbish, flies into pets over his rather low-key "insolence" to provoking people, particularly just before she asks a question that assumes that he is a member of the gentry.
The only time that I think she is understandably annoyed is when he goes ballastic over a banal inquiry about his possible relatives. I am no expert, but I thought that English people usually hyphenated their names to acknowledge/qualify for a substantial inheritance, like Jane Austen's older brother who became James Austen-Leigh. One would therefore suppose that Leigh-Cooper would be either of the gentry, or at least, like the Bingleys, of the wealthy middle-class.
Still, I enjoyed the book and it certainly beats most of the JA imitators that I have read.
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LibraryThing member readgrrl
This isn't the worst sequel to Pride and Prejudice I've ever read but it certainly isn't an A-level piece, either. At best, it provides enough escapist diversion to make it worth reading...if you're into Janeite literature. Unfortunately, if you're looking for a Lizzie/Darcy-centric sequel, this
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isn't it. This one focuses more on Georgiana than anyone else, although I do credit the novel with managing to give some page time to all of the major characters from the original novel. The depiction of Mr. and Mrs. Collins is particularly entertaining and Lady Catherine de Bourgh is, as usual, in top form. Be forewarned that there are some quite outlandish plot twists that seem downright silly. But all-in-all, it's worth a read. But only if you're into this sort of thing..... Show Less
LibraryThing member krsball
I love Jane Austen and I really enjoyed this book.
LibraryThing member whitreidtan
know I've harped on my adoration of all things Jane Austen and my inability to leave well-enough alone, eschewing all but the originals on here before and this is another instance of me happily reaching for an Austen sequel. This time the obsession paid off nicely though as the writing team who
Many of the characters from P&P make appearances here although they re-enact the original with different characters in the leading roles. Georgiana Darcy is faced with two very different suitors and she must determine which is the honorable man and which the charlatan. Having repented of her youthful folly with Wickham, she is determined not to offer her heart to the wrong man, only occasionally confiding in sister-in-law Elizabeth as she navigates the potential pitfalls of courtship. The plot unfolds in ways that keep it true to Austen's own future vision of her characters as laid out at the end of Pride and Prejudice but getting to that ending parallels, extremely closely, the plot of Pride and Prejudice.
I didn't go into this expecting Austen. No thinking reader would. And the authors who write as Barrett are neither of them Austen. But they have done a creditable job in setting the stage and evoking the language of the time. They have not strayed too far from the comedy of manners that defined Austen and while I would have liked to have seen more of Elizabeth and Darcy's life together, it is perhaps more fitting that they turned their authorial lights on Georgiana instead. There are moments where it seems that beloved characters act out of character from the original and that can be disconcerting indeed but for the most part, they've created an entertaining sequel to one of the most beloved books in the English language.
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comprise author Julia Barrett have crafted a novel similar in scope and tone to the original Pride and Prejudice, if somewhat lacking in plot originality.Many of the characters from P&P make appearances here although they re-enact the original with different characters in the leading roles. Georgiana Darcy is faced with two very different suitors and she must determine which is the honorable man and which the charlatan. Having repented of her youthful folly with Wickham, she is determined not to offer her heart to the wrong man, only occasionally confiding in sister-in-law Elizabeth as she navigates the potential pitfalls of courtship. The plot unfolds in ways that keep it true to Austen's own future vision of her characters as laid out at the end of Pride and Prejudice but getting to that ending parallels, extremely closely, the plot of Pride and Prejudice.
I didn't go into this expecting Austen. No thinking reader would. And the authors who write as Barrett are neither of them Austen. But they have done a creditable job in setting the stage and evoking the language of the time. They have not strayed too far from the comedy of manners that defined Austen and while I would have liked to have seen more of Elizabeth and Darcy's life together, it is perhaps more fitting that they turned their authorial lights on Georgiana instead. There are moments where it seems that beloved characters act out of character from the original and that can be disconcerting indeed but for the most part, they've created an entertaining sequel to one of the most beloved books in the English language.
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LibraryThing member emanate28
Charming. The authors do a good job in recreating Jane Austen's tone. But overall the story was (as such spin-offs tend to be) disappointing and the ending entirely unconvincing. It was fun encountering Mr. Collins again though :)
LibraryThing member Karen5Lund
A creditable imagination of the next stage in the lives of the Bennetts after Pride and Prejudice, focusing mainly on a false imprisonment and Georgiana Darcy's love life. Mostly satisfying (to this Jane Austen fan): Mr & Mrs Darcy enjoy wedded bliss (as do their neighbors the Bingleys), another
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Bennett sister marries, the wicked Wickham sinks even lower, and Miss Caroline Bingley gets the husband she deserves. (Spoiler?) Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
240 p.; 5.25 inches
ISBN
0226038130 / 9780226038131