Jane Odiwe Jane Austen Sequels

Lydia Bennet's Online Diary. At this time of the year I always read Pride and Prejudice and I thought it would be fun to see what Lydia is thinking about all the goings on at Longbourn. Lydia's online diary starts just before Mr Bingley arrives and finishes where my novel, Lydia Bennet's Story, begins. Monday, November 16th 1801 Our cousin, Mr Collins, a hideously dull and ugly clergyman, arrived today. He is twenty five, but indeed looks much older and every time he opens his mouth, it is to deliver a sermon, or at least that is how it sounds to my ears. Mama declared privately that he is here to look over his possessions and chattels, for she says he will turn us all out as soon as my father is pronounced dead, as he is to inherit our Longbourn estate. I have taken steps to ensure that our paths will not cross very often. After dinner, it transpired that HE DOES NOT READ NOVELS and read from a set of Fordyce’s Sermons to my incredulous horror! I know I was more than a lit...

I've started a new book - well, I've written a synopsis and a couple of chapters and am feeling really excited at the prospect of immersing myself in the world of another Jane Austen sequel. It does feel like escaping to another existence, albeit a fantasy one, and I must admit, I did have more than a little chuckle at the first episode of 'Lost in Austen', because I could identify so well with with the heroine, (even if we know deep inside that we all much prefer the time we live in). Of course nothing can equal Jane Austen's writing, but we sequel writers are compelled to carry on with the lives of her characters, inventing new stories, even if we know they are not exactly what she might have chosen to write about herself. Can we have too much Pride and Prejudice? I don't think so, or for that matter, Sense and Sensibility, Emma, Mansfield Park, Northanger Abbey or Persuasion. On my northern tour with my sister, (well, it was just a long weekend really,) we st...

Two words - utterly brilliant! Well, I was going to leave it there, but I need to add that if you want Pride and Prejudice, read the book. If you want to escape to the imagined world of an alternative Pride and Prejudice, where the plot takes on a life of its own and where the laughs are abundant, then you will enjoy this series. I loved every single actor - you were all excellent, and the writing is so clever and funny. Sorry, Mr Darcy, you were good, but I've fallen in love with someone else. Mr Bennet, (Hugh Bonneville) I love you!