Where Elizabeth and Darcy Have Kids and Grow Old

Gente de Pemberley by Marie-Laure Sébire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

[I read the Spanish version, but I'll do a lot better talking about it in English. As far as the type of language in the novel, I enjoyed it very much, and found it leaned more toward the descriptive than the lyrical, which was perfect for an imperfect speaker of Spanish.] :)

This is a very well-written, enjoyable novel, with a great deal to recommend it, but it is most outstanding as a fine example of a small class of books: Jane Austen sequels and variations. Out of all those books (and there are a surprising number, actually), the ones I most enjoy are the sequels which don't change the original story and keep the characters true to themselves. I don't really care for the variations--what if Jane married Darcy instead?--and I don't like the sequels where the characters change a lot. (Looking at you, Joan Aiken!) Here, we have a true sequel, following the lives of everyone connected with Pemberley in Pride and Prejudice, meaning mostly Elizabeth and Darcy, along with Georgiana and other minor characters from the original novel, along with their children and their families. And with only one exception, I feel like the characters really continued here in a way true to their personality, growing naturally over time, yes, but without doing any violence to the way we remember them, and that made this feel like the story really happened.

It felt like biography, in the best way.

(The only character--spoiler if you want to skip--who changed in an unexpected way, in my opinion, was Jane's husband, Bingley. He seemed to fall out of love with her and became inconsiderate and thoughtless, then was pretty much written out of the story. I wondered if the author had a plot reason for doing this--maybe to keep Darcy at home with his wife more instead of hanging out with the guys. I don't know. But this is the only noticeable deviation from the personalities as established in the original, which seems like a pretty fair percentage. I'll allow it.)

In many ways, this is the story of Pemberley, almost as if the property is a character, but at the same time it feels like Elizabeth is the heart of Pemberley, the physical manifestation of a happy home. Elizabeth includes her husband in that same thought near the end, when they've grown old, basically saying their happiness was going to haunt that house forever:

Lo sabes, no creo en fantasmas, pero pienso que cada uno deja una huella imborrable. La felicidad que ha sido nuestra aquí, el amor tan grande que nos unió, no desaparecerán con nosotros, persistirá en nuestros hijos y flotará para siempre entre estos muros. Me han dicho que, cuando se visita lugares donde los hombres sufrieron, están impregnados de ello y crean un malestar indefinible. Pues los que vengan a Pemberley se sentirán bien, sentirán esta felicidad que fue la nuestra.

English approximation (with apologies to the author):

You know I don't believe in ghosts, but I think that we each leave an indelible trace. The happiness that has been ours here, the great love that united us, will not disappear with us, it will continue in our children and will float forever within these walls. I have heard that when you visit places where men suffered, they are infused with it and create an indefinable unease. Well, those who come to Pemberley will feel good, they will feel this happiness that was ours.

That's a nice way to look at the story, I think. The story is about the love they share filling the place for a generation so that it lives on in each of the following generations.

The novel has a different scale and pace than the original, with chapters representing months and years rather than days and weeks, covering many decades in total, but it doesn't pass over their lives at too great an altitude. We still have many fine moments at celebrations and visits, and many well-conceived, satisfying romances, and lots of dramatic moments and conversations and events. Darcy and Elizabeth have children; the children go to school and grow up; they fall in love and marry; they have children. It's not all as simple and straightforward as that recitation, as there are disappointments and tragedies, the same as in every life. But we follow the characters mostly from one summer to another, from one wedding to another, from one trip to another, with each child and cousin finding their way in love and life. [Skip these spoilers if you prefer.] Their shy oldest son falls in love with a French girl--that's a fun story that could be its own novel. The second (outgoing) son and (kind and honorable) adopted son [who do we know from the original story that could have children but be incapable of taking care of them?--that's where the adopted son comes from] move to Boston and make their way there, trying to find success in a new country. Their brilliant daughter wants to make a difference in the world and struggles with the restrictions of the time. Each of these characters is very different, with very different arcs, but somehow they seem exactly like Elizabeth and Darcy's children.

Like I said, I believed this story. It's canon now. :)

It's a lovely way to see the continued lives of the characters from Pride and Prejudice, and I enjoyed it very much. It will almost certainly cause you some tears, so be prepared, but mostly it's joyous and sweet, and it's a lot of fun getting to know the children and their families. Highly recommended.

In French or Spanish, that is. :)

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