A Woman of Influence

In the ninth of her 10-book series, author Rebecca Collins gives us a closer look at her namesake - an original character created for the Pemberley Chronicles series. Modern women can easily identify with Rebecca "Becky" Collins Tate - daughter of the lovable Charlotte Collins and her "somewhat less lovable" husband, Rev. William Collins of Hunsford Parish. To those around her Becky seemed to lead a charmed life. Married to a wealthy and successful newspaper owner, Becky had many unique opportunities for a woman of her era. She wrote and published articles; she traveled the country, interacting with interesting and powerful people. And she used her intelligence, charm, and tenacity to effect social change. Becky was the sort of Victorian woman that other intelligent women of her day must have envied. For some time Becky was content with her life. But the truth will eventually surface. And the death of her beloved daughter changed Becky, shook her confidence, and caused her to rethink her own place in the world. When we meet Becky Tate in Volume Eight of the series (Recollections of Rosings), she is seeking to fill the void in her life with social-climbing and busy-bodying. Through a series of events, Becky begins to see that her life has become one of idle gossip and vapid relationships. A renewed relationship with her sister Catherine helps her to turn that corner and begin to view life with new optimism. Throughout A Woman of Influence, we learn how Becky has come to be so unhappy, and we walk beside her as she bravely navigates her middle years - trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life. She has become rather lost. Fortunately, her sister Catherine, with quiet strength and calmness of temper, helps Becky put things back into perspective, including her once well-honed sense of social justice. Becky throws her energy into helping Alice Grey, a young woman whose husband is the victim of gross injustice. Through her efforts Becky manages to bring restitution to Alice's family and a deep sense of satisfaction for herself. The book brings back many favorites. The Darcy and Bingley families figure prominently throughout the book (Jonathan Bingley in particular), reminding Becky directly or indirectly that her life has indeed been one of influence for good. The causes that she and her husband championed in their younger years were meaningful and important. And, finally, we witness a new romance for Becky - the return of an old flame. And so her life comes about, full-circle. Once again, I'm deeply moved by the author's ability to draw the reader into the lives of her characters. I have loved this series and getting to know its cast. It will be difficult for me to read Book 10 (the final in the series) and to say goodbye to the "family" I've come to know so well.

I have read all Rebecca Collins' Pemberley Chronicles. I love them all but 'A Woman of Influence' was the best so far. It was time for Becky Tate to have some happiness and she surely found it in this book! Well written, throughly enjoyable...I want more, more more! I read this in one 24 hour period.

In the spring of 2008 Rebecca Ann Collins began authoring a 10-part series of novels, sequels to Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. * The Pemberley Chronicles (Apr 2008) * The Women of Pemberley (Apr 2008) * Netherfield Park Revisited (Sept 2008) * The Ladies of Longbourn (Oct 2008) * Mr. Darcy's Daughter (Nov 2008) * My Cousin Caroline (Sept 2009) * Postscript from Pemberley (Dec 2009) * Recollections of Rosings (March 2010) * A Woman of Influence (June 2010) * The Legacy of Pemberley (Nov 2010) Clearly, Ms. Collins' pen is quite prolific. I marvel at her ability to frequently bring these stories to her readers, and I wish I'd been aware of the series at its inception two years ago. As it is, I begin my experiences with The Pemberley Chronicles in the ninth installment, A Woman of Influence. The title character is Becky Collins Tate, daughter of the ostentatious Reverend Collins of Pride and Prejudice. In her 40's, Becky is now a widow, striking out into the world on her own, liberated from an unpleasant marriage. She's had her share of tragedy and personal missteps, but she's ready to begin a new life in her newly purchased home, Edgewater, in the county of Kent. Set in the mid-1800's, A Woman of Influence is only somewhat distanced from the events in Austen's original novel. Many of her characters are in attendance, but they rarely take center stage in this narrative. However, their presence was very helpful. They provided the bridge needed to connect the reader to the next generation of characters, the children and grandchildren of the Darcys, the Bingleys and the like. There are two main story lines in Collins' novel. One involves Becky's involvement with a young woman who has been unjustly separated from her husband, charged with a crime he didn't commit. Mrs. Tate uses her compassion, intelligence and influence to come to the aid of this victimized family. While the truth might be on their side, politics and covetousness have the upper hand, making Becky's task a difficult one. Another plot line concerns the heart of Becky herself. After years in a dispassionate marriage, Becky is not only pleased with her new life of freedom, but she also feels disinclined to ever open her heart and become someone's wife ever again. Although I came to The Pemberley Chronicles near the conclusion of the series, I did enjoy A Woman of Influence as a standalone title. There were times when unfamiliar plot points from previous books both helped me and hindered me in understanding the history of the characters. Ultimately it was my knowledge of Pride and Prejudice that was the most helpful factor in grasping the story. Collins is clearly a well-educated lover of Austen's work. Her manner of writing is very similar to Austen's, although slightly updated. Her character development is deliberate, allowing each individual to be well understood. While there were two main story lines, they were well balanced within the entire narrative,

Rebecca Ann Collins's A WOMAN OF INFLUENCE is Book 9 of THE PEMBERLEY CHRONICLES, the PRIDE AND PREJUDICE sequel which follows that book's characters and their offspring into the Victorian era. This installment chronicles the midlife romance of Becky Tate, the second daughter of Elizabeth Bennet's friend, Charlotte Lucas, and the Reverend Mr. Collins. The now widowed Becky is at last free of her long, unhappy marriage. Her husband, while providing money and prestige, did not love her. Thinking love would come, adolescent Becky married him and used her considerable intelligence, charm, and tenacity to help her rich, powerful husband expand his commercial empire. But their business-arrangement marriage did not survive the death of their daughter, which her husband blamed on her. Acutely aware of the plight of women, Becky encounters a young woman whose husband was falsely accused of a crime and imprisoned. In helping the woman, who reminds her of her lost daughter, she encounters a man from her past who may give her the love she craves. I like honorable, decent men as my heroes, and Ms. Collins has a knack for writing them. In Book 8, RECOLLECTIONS OF ROSINGS, the hero was the marvelously appealing Mr. Frank Burnett, who also appears here. In A WOMAN OF INFLUENCE, she has created the equally wonderful Mr. Aldo Contini. He helped Becky in the dark days when her husband abandoned her after their daughter's death. Now he returns, hoping the love they felt then but could not act upon can at long last be fulfilled. Becky could be difficult and headstrong, and she has suffered unhappiness, some of her own making and some not, but her pain makes the ending sweeter. For a good view of Victorian life, and a happy ending with true love between two wonderful people, try A WOMAN OF INFLUENCE. ARC provided by Sourcebooks

A Woman of Influence is book #9 in the series of books by Rebecca Collins. Based on Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice this book is another winner. I think I enjoyed this one more than #8. Becky Collins is a very independent woman of her time. After having a loveless marriage and being widowed at a young age intends to enjoy her freedom to pursue her interests such as writing. Her home Edgewater, was purchased by her with the proceeds after the sale of her home in London, against her greedy son and daughter-laws wishes. Her servants find a woman and her son hiding out in one of her outbuildings on her property. She takes them into her home and comes to find out that the woman Alice's husband has been unjustly accused, tried and convicted of a crime he did not commit. After having some acquaintances check the woman's story and finds that she is telling the truth, she wants to do whatever she can to find the husband and see that he is pardoned.So with her numerous connections she sets out to do just that. As the story goes on Becky comes to realize that she has strong feelings regarding someone from her past. Among the characters in the story are Jonathan Bingley and his wife Anne, Catherine Burnett, Aldo Contini,and the Darcy's from Pemberly.The story of course ends on a happy note. Excellent writing by the author creates a fun story to add to the Jane Austen sequels. I found my self at times chuckling at the story. If you like Jane Austen and have read the previous books in this delightful series you will like this one..