Those familiar with Jane Austen’s writings will notice that along with the characters, events, and locations of her best-loved work, I have threaded phrases and words not only from Pride and Prejudice, but her other works and letters throughout my own novel. I hope that readers enjoy spotting these and identifying their sources. Even more audaciously, I have woven my own words through some of Austen’s passages so as not to lift the latter wholesale. I hope that the result is entertaining rather than heretical, and that purists forgive me for embellishing such an august and beloved source.

I have taken liberties not only with the text; although Pemberley is a fictional place, Jane Austen most likely based it on Chatsworth in Derbyshire, and I have done the same, while importing into its grounds the hawk house from Chirk Castle in Wales, and installing a maze some 140 years before it was actually planted. When it came to Rosings, I abandoned historical veracity and based it very loosely on the mansion at Stourhead. These are among the perks of being a writer of fiction.

READING GROUP QUESTIONS

1. What do you think of the novel as a retelling of Pride and Prejudice? Is Charlotte Lucas how you imagine her from Austen’s original?

2. Who was your favourite character? Whose reinterpretation from the original Austen did you most enjoy?

3. Has Charlotte changed your opinion of Mr Collins? Do you think Charlotte made the right decision in marrying him?

4. Throughout the novel, Charlotte is grieving for the loss of her son. In what ways does Charlotte explore grief and parenthood?

5. In what ways are Charlotte, Elizabeth, and Anne de Bourgh confined by the position of women in the early nineteenth century?

6. What brings Anne de Bourgh and Charlotte together? Why do they become friends?

7. Do you think Charlotte loves Mr Collins, as well as Jacob? How does the book explore different kinds of love?

8. Why do you think Charlotte is attracted to Jacob?

9. In what ways is Charlotte a feminist novel? In what ways was Pride and Prejudice one?

10.What do you think Jane Austen would have made of Charlotte?

FURTHER READING

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of Austen sequels, fan-fic renditions, plays, re-interpretations, films and television series to explore. Then there are the more academic works – entire libraries’ worth. It would be impossible to give a comprehensive reading list, or to provide more than a glimpse of all the resources I relied on.

However, I found the following works particularly helpful, and would recommend them to anyone interested in finding out more about Jane Austen’s world, and indeed the one in which Charlotte lived.