Netherfield Park Revisited

As with the first book in Ms. Collins series, this book continues the Pride and Prejudice saga with style and wit. I enjoyed this book Ms. Collins writes in the style of Jane Austen and never moves to far away from the orginal. I have read a few of the homages to Jane Austen and Ms. Collins books are by far the best I have read. Give the series a try I think you will enjoy them.

Just love this series! As one reviewer advised take a moment before you start to read these sequels in order...can definitely understand why one reviewer would be totally lost because Rebecca Ann Collins not only satisfies the desire for "and then what happened" but she adds tons of new characters, various offspring and relations so in that sense it's more like Jane Austin meets The Forsythe Saga. Just love Kindle 2 because without being able to download a sample I'd have been skeptical of ordering this series...after the sample I was hooked.

Of all the attempts to provide a continuation of the characters and events of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Ms. Collins has done the best job. Her style is more authentic, and there is very little adjustment to be made, and she is careful to keep the traditions, the mannerisms and the politics genuine.

Ms. Collins has done it again, writing yet another fine companion novel to Pride and Prejudice, third in her series. Having read both The Pemberley Chronicles, and The Women of Pemberley (respectively), it was a thrill to delve yet again into the lives of our beloved characters and their families, as the continuing story unravels in Netherfield Park Revisited. Collins has given Pride and Prejudice lovers a chance to learn what has happened to their favorite characters after the famous Austen ending. Just as enjoyable is the story-telling involving the "next generation" of characters - as the author brings their experiences tto life. The existence of Jonathan Bingley is one of change, that will keep you reading until you're finished.

Netherfield Park Revisited brings us back once again to the familiar haunts of Hertfordshire, Kent, London, and Derbyshire. In this volume, young Jonathan Bingley has grown into a fine man, an excellent father, and an earnest if imperfect husband. Like his mother Jane, Jonathan sees only the good in those he loves. And like Jane he strives to please everyone. Unfortunately, his ability to be all things to all people proves faulty. And we are then witnesses to a sad and crumbling marriage as well as of the concentric ripples of pain which emanate from it, engulfing his children, his parents, and even Darcy and Elizabeth. However, before we can sink too far into melancholy, our author presents us (as she has in her previous books) with yet more proof of the remarkable resiliency of the human spirit. Despite his sadness, Jonathan never loses hope that better times will come, and he continues to seek the good in all around him. Jonathan's spirits are continually shored-up by the strong and caring women in his life, including his mother, his aunt Lizzy, his eldest daughter, Anne-Marie Bingley, and a new character - Miss Anna Faulkner - whose strength and friendship open up new worlds for him. Jonathan's reward is a second chance at happiness, and that candle, once lit, warms the souls of many. This time our story is set not against a backdrop of political change (although it continues to take place), but rather the changing movements in European art and culture. The Impressionist painters are making their way onto the art scene. It is no surprise that the traditionalists are unable to appreciate the interpretive lines of this new school. The realism of their age is giving way to the ideas, as expressed through Impressionism, that nothing is perfect and nothing is strictly good or bad. Rather, most things are open to interpretation, and most things are as changeable as the shifting of light and shadow. Netherfield Park Revisited is a beautiful story about imperfections - even in those whose lives seem perfectly charmed. Okay, Ms. Collins... I'm hooked. What's next in the saga?