Mr. Darcy's Daughter
by Rebecca Ann Collins
Darcy's Daughter
Paperback - 243 pages    2000
Snap Printing Dot Com
Website

            Review by Claudia Taylor, April 2, 2001
Rebecca Ann Collins could not let the 225th anniversary of Jane Austen's birth (December 1, 2000) pass without a personal tribute to her favourite writer.
It comes in the form of a fifth novel in the popular Pemberley Series- titled- Mr. Darcy's Daughter.
Instead of doing as many sequel writers have done, and producing yet another bizarre tale of melodrama and intrigue, with increasingly improbable sexual adventures thrown in for good measure, Ms. Collins uses accurate historical material and he thorough understanding of Jane Austen-s characters and values to weave an interesting, credible story with an authentic 19th century flavour.
The novel develops the character and tells the story of Cassandra Darcy, daughter of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, a very Austenian young woman, with a personality not unlike her mother.
Married to Richard, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, she has a family and problems of her own. How she deals with them and maintains the warmth and strength of her own relationships is the heart of the story.
Ms. Collins makes us realise that life was not necessarily a bed of roses, even for the beautiful and accomplished daughter of Mr. Darcy.
A crisp style, lively dialogue and a seasoning of gentle humour should keep her readers well satisfied.
        Review by Mary Anne Jones, April, 2001
        Melbourne, Australia
Austen enthusiast and teacher of English literature.

Dear Rebecca Collins,
When one of my pupils brought in a copy of Mr. Darcy's Daughter, I thought, "Oh, dear God, NO! Not another rotten sequel to one of poor Jane Austen's books!"

You can imagine, that having seen some of the very worst pieces of plagiarism and pastiche, passed of as sequels, I could not bear the thought of another.

However, my 17 year old high school student persuaded me to try it. I started to read it on the train going home and could not put it down till I had finished it at 2 am in the morning! Since then I have borrowed and read and later purchased my own copies of all five books and am re-reading Mr. Darcy's Daughter this week. It remains my favourite, but I love them all.

Thank you very much for your Pemberley Series.