Lydia Bennet is the flirtatious, wild and free-wheeling youngest daughter. Her untamed expressiveness and vulnerability make her fascinating to readers who’ll love this imaginative rendering of Lydi...

She really is the silliest girl in all England.

Thankfully, Odiwe doesn’t make her any less silly in this sequel, but you do understand why Lydia is the way she is and what motivates her rash decisions. This book is told in both journal and third person narratives, providing an interesting perspective on the events we know so well from Pride and Prejudice. The novel continues Lydia’s story after her marriage to George Wickham, which you’ll have to read if you want to see how it all turns out. Needless to say, it happens a lot as I imagined it would, except for the ending. Let’s just say, it was all tied up a little too "happily ever after" for me.

Lydia Bennet’s Story is a fun Regency period read. It was a little naughty for me in some parts, complete with heaving bosoms, but overall I found it enjoyable and true to the Austen spirit.

Lydia Bennet is not what one would consider an attractive character. “Vain, ignorant, idle, and absolutely uncontrolled!” her sister Elizabeth cries about her in a trying moment, and the reader tends to sympathize. Lydia does share DNA with Jane and Elizabeth, so it stands to reason that she must have some redeeming qualities; yet fan fiction writer after sequel writer (including your humble servant) uses Lydia only as a convenient punching bag and plot point. However, Jane Odiwe has given Lydia Bennet a plausible backstory that, if it doesn’t redeem her, at least gives her the benefit of the doubt; and a happier ending than one would expect, and happier than the cynical Janeite might think she probably deserves.

The first half of the book tells the events of Pride and Prejudice from Lydia’s point of view. She is wild for officers and sexually precocious. She fixes on George Wickham, and is disappointed when he goes after nasty, freckled Mary King and her ten thousand pounds. Wickham has much to answer for in this story. He awakens Lydia’s sexuality and takes advantage of a young girl in full hormonal overload. He knows exactly what he is doing, and while Lydia certainly knows better, anyone who remembers being fifteen and in the throes of one’s first relationship can perfectly understand how she is led astray by a manipulative, self-centered man. This part of the story is absorbing and well-written, sexy without being explicit, and like the best of such alternative-viewpoint Austen paraliterature, we get a new, thoughtful, and sympathetic perspective on a well-known, well-loved classic.

We all know the story: Lydia is married, her sisters are married, Mrs. Darcy and Mrs. Bingley live happily ever after and Lydia not so much. The End, right? But the tell-tale lack of compression of the pages tells us that the book is only half finished. There is more to come, and the second half of the book is where we fear some Janeites will have to work hard to suspend their disbelief. (We had to club ours into submission and lock it into the closet for a few hours.) The Wickhams’ marriage is much like one would expect: he gambles and whores around, and she alternates between self-delusion and pitching the occasional hissy fit. However, there is not much story there, so Ms. Odiwe tosses in a shocking twist that we’re sure Jane Austen never intended but allows her to give her heroine as happy an ending as she could want. While the second half is well-written and enjoyable, we fear many Janeites will find it too much out of canon. However, if the reader is comfortable with non-canonical Austen paraliterature, we think she will find Lydia Bennet’s Story an absorbing read; and those who think they are not comfortable with such stories might enjoy it in spite of themselves.

The flirtatious Lydia Bennet, the youngest sister in Pride and Prejudice, is the heroine of this delightful Jane Austen sequel. The first part of the book is a retelling, from Lydia’s point of view, of events already familiar to readers of Pride and Prejudice, including her stay with the regiment in Brighton, where, in one of Odiwe’s additions to the story, she flirts with a royal dragoon, and her elopement with the charming but unprincipled Mr. Wickham. In the second half, we follow Lydia to her new home in Newcastle, where her marriage rapidly deteriorates once she discovers her husband’s true character. Hurt by his many infidelities, she goes to stay at Netherfield with her sister Jane and her husband, Mr. Bingley. Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Caroline Bingley, and other characters from Pride and Prejudice also make appearances. While at Netherfield, Lydia meets the clergyman Alexander Fitzalan, who at first seems haughty and arrogant, but eventually proves to understand Lydia’s situation better than anyone else, since he himself has been disappointed in love. At a ball, a woman turns up who claims to be married to Wickham, and Fitzalan offers to help Lydia discover the truth about her situation.

Although Lydia Bennet’s Story lacks Austen’s wit and irony, it is a well-written sequel to Pride and Prejudice and an absolute delight to read. The narrative is interspersed with Lydia’s diary entries, which are hilarious. Lydia matures quite a bit through the course of the novel and at the end is no longer the self-centered flirt she was at the beginning. The author makes this transition gradual and quite believable. The new characters are all very much in the spirit of Austen. I highly recommend this book to fans of Jane Austen or Regency romances.


Readers of Austen will know that Lydia Bennet is the younger sister of Elizabeth and Jane, while never a major character she always left a major impact with her appearances. Crazy, wilful and out of control, she is much more like a wood nymph than a true lady. But that spark of wildness is exactly what made her character so enthralling. And now author Jane Odiwe has given Lydia a chance to shine in her very own book.

Lydia Bennet’s Story is a sequel to Pride And Prejudice, but in order to fully understand Lydia the book begins by going back to Pride And Prejudice and revisiting the events from Lydia’s point of view. From there it continues on as a sequel focusing on Lydia’s story.

It would be easy to dismiss Lydia as a stereo-typical teenager and little sister, acting out as either a way to gain attention or out of plain simple-mindedness. However, Jane Odiwe uses Lydia’s own journal writing throughout this novel to add a certain depth to Lydia’s character, allowing the reader to connect with her rather than pass her off as an annoyance.

The best part of Lydia Bennet’s Story, for me, was seeing that Lydia does realize that her actions and attitude are not proper. She might act righteous and seem to not care how people view her as a person, but the jottings from her personal diary show that she is thinking of these things. She knows when she could have handled things differently and that shows maturity and growth on her part.

Lydia Bennet’s Story is not only a terrific story but also a wonderful example of Jane Odiwe’s talent at character development. With just a bit of background she has transformed Lydia into a character worthy of her own novel. I believe this is a fantastic Austen sequel, because it changes nothing of the original Austen creations, instead it digs deeper and adds more personality to a secondary character creating a story line that veers in another direction.

Lydia Bennett elopes with Mr. George Wickham, but they do not marry. For Lydia’s sister’s sake, Mr. Darcy pursues Lydia and Wickham and makes Wickham marry Lydia. Lydia considers Darcy’s help as their due and thinks Wickham would have married her soon, anyway. Unfortunately, Lydia soon gets a big dose of reality and learns Wickham’s true character.

Lydia Bennett’s Story gives great insight into Lydia’s character and spins an entertaining tale of Lydia’s life. Lydia is a rather selfish, naive, young woman, who desires attention, especially from her father. This desire for her father’s attention and her mother’s focus on marriage for her daughters is probably the reason that Lydia is such a flirt. At first, Lydia has blinders on about Wickham’s true character, but slowly, she realizes what a scoundrel he really is. Lydia has to grow up, but she still retains her fun-loving qualities and has a promise of happily everafter. While I enjoyed this book greatly, I thought it ended a little too abruptly.

All in all, Lydia Bennett’s Story is an entertaining story, which shows Lydia in a sympathetic light. Ms. Odiwe does something, that I thought nearly impossible—redeem Lydia Bennett.

Marlene

It is my greatest desire to fall in love and catch myself a husband, yet, whilst I am truly proficient in the art of becoming enamoured, so far finding my partner in life eludes me, however vigilant I have been in the endeavor.
Lydia Bennet’s Story

As a true Jane Austen fan, I had until recently shunned all attempted "sequels" to any of Ms. Austen’s great works. Fearing disappointment, I did not want to sully what to me is the perfect novel: Pride and Prejudice. As it turns out, I need not have worried. The term "sequel," I am happy to report, has no application whatsoever to Jane Owide’s delightful novel, Lydia Bennet’s Story.

The novel explores the life of Lydia, the youngest and arguably most insipid Bennet sister. What if Lydia wasn’t as vapid as many surmised? What if she was just a silly young girl who made the typical mistakes of the young?

Author Jane Owide, thankfully, makes no attempt to be Jane Austen. Writing in third person with occasional glimpses into Lydia’s diary, Owide brilliantly takes a supporting character from a classic tale and uniquely makes it her own. Lydia is presented as a normal teen-aged girl with normal teenage concerns and immaturity and the unfortunate luck to cross paths with that infamous 19th-century player, Mr Wickham. This doesn’t mean she isn’t endearing: quite the opposite. After all, it’s difficult not to identify with thoughts such as

Mr Wickham will NOT be forgiven for his behaviour, though I can think of nothing else, playing over the scene in my head with a different ending each time. I now know just how I should have behaved and what I should have said which is vexing in the extreme.
Lydia Bennet’s diary, Lydia Bennet’s Story


By the end of the story, Lydia’s actions were quite forgivable in my eyes. She made mistakes many of us can sympathize with, having made many of them ourselves, albeit in a different century. Over-weening pride - an allusion to the novel from which she springs - only compouds her misjudgments.

The underlying seriousness of the follies of youth notwithstanding, the novel is lighthearted enough for enjoyable read and I was quite pleased to discover that it may be considered a stand-alone story, meaning that one need not be an Austen aficionado nor even to have read Pride and Prejudice in order to enjoy this book. If, however, you are a serious Austen fan and are loath to try reading one of the many "sequels," you can safely set aside that fear in this instance and sit down with a very enjoyable tale. Happy reading!

Rating: 5/5

"The true misfortune, which besets any young lady who believes herself destined for fortune and favour, is to find that she has been born into an unsuitable family." (pg. 9)

The opening line of Chapter 1 of Jane Odiwe’s sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice describes the character of Elizabeth Bennet’s youngest sister Lydia to a tee. In Lydia Bennet’s Story, Jane Odiwe brings to life Lydia’s lively, high-spirited character as we gain insight to her side of the Wickham debacle through her eyes - and her heart.

Lydia Bennet’s Story begins at the point where Lydia becomes increasingly involved with that dastardly rake, George Wickham. Lydia, who cares not to think beyond a new bonnet and how many suitors will ask her to dance at the next assembly, falls quickly under Wickham’s spell. To Lydia, who is high spirited and wants nothing more than to be married to a wealthy, handsome soldier, Wickham seems to be the man of her dreams. But she finds out the hard way that Wickham’s heart has never been hers and that he only wants her as a connection to Mr. Darcy and his money.

Odiwe weaves her fiction into Austen’s story seamlessly, as we follow Lydia through the aftermath of her marriage to Wickham and the subsequent scandals she is subjected to because of him. We also watch Lydia transform from a selfish girl into a mature young woman who wants nothing more than to love and be loved - in style, of course.

I enjoyed Lydia Bennet’s Story immensely. It was a fun story with everything I love about good Regency fiction - good writing, plenty of period descriptions and background information that lend authenticity, and romance that is exciting but not over the top. Odiwe did an excellent job of staying true to Austen’s style while creating new characters and plots to make the story fresh and interesting. She also gave me a new appreciation for the character of Lydia. In an age of numerous Austen sequels, this one is definitely worth reading.

Many thanks to Danielle Jackson at Sourcebooks for this opportunity!

Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe is a different type of sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice; it does not retell the lives of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy, their children, or modernize their story as a 20th century romance. Lydia Bennet’s Story transports the reader back to 19th Century England to tell Lydia’s woeful and headstrong tail of romance and intrigue, rather than the tales woven by Jane Austen for Lizzy and Jane Bennet.

We join Lydia on her journey from the balls at the Assembly in Hertfordshire, England, through Brighton, and Newcastle. Headstrong and willy-nilly Lydia is just as vivid in these pages as she is in Jane Austen’s novel. Although her character plays a minor role in Austen’s novel, she takes center stage in Odiwe’s, but with journal entries sprinkled amidst the storyline, the reader begins to see what motivates Lydia to act as she does in public and with the soldiers. As the youngest daughter in the Bennet family, she seeks acceptance and love in all the wrong places.

Once in Brighton, Lydia is shameless in her pursuit of a husband and begins lavishing her affections on George Wickham. Despite his declarations that he can love no one, Lydia will have none of it, shunning Captain Trayton-Camfield, who seems to truly care for her. Lydia and Wickham run off to London together, and she expects them to get married, though it only materializes when Wickham is pressured by none-other-than Mr. Darcy. This is where Austen’s Pride & Prejudice leaves Lydia.

Lydia Bennet’s Story does not miss a beat, Odiwe has a strong command of Austen’s language, style, and characters, but she puts her own flare on the wild maven that is Lydia. Despite winning her prize—Mr. Wickham—Lydia soon realizes married life to her charming soldier is not all she expected it to be as his gambling and womanizing continue. In a way, Odiwe’s Lydia continues to fool herself that Wickham’s character is merely misunderstood, but soon his character is undeniable, and she is forced to not only deal with her loveless marriage, but their poor station in life.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from Lydia is on page 290:

"Even in my reckless alliance, I believed I was in love and yes, a state of confusion it might be, but I submitted to it and felt my regard most wholeheartedly. And though I now believe my love was not truly returned, that I was mislead, I still believe in the power of true love."

Here Lydia expresses the evolution of her character and highlights how she has matured on this journey of love, hardship, and growth. She is no longer the silly, younger sister of Lizzy and Jane, but her own mature woman, though more bold than conventions are prepared to handle.

Readers of Jane Austen and Austen enthusiasts will enjoy this novel, but even those readers looking for a fast-paced "romance" will enjoy Lydia Bennet’s Story.


I wouldn’t say I’m a huge Jane Austen fan, but I’ve read a few of her novels and enjoyed them. Of course, Pride & Prejudice is a favorite of mine, so when Danielle Jackson from Sourcebooks gave me the chance to read Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe, I couldn’t say no.

Lydia Bennet has always annoyed me. She was selfish, self-absorbed, and most of all, naive. But I’ve always been curious about her quick marriage to that scoundrel George Wickham that took up a good portion of Pride & Prejudice and made Elizabeth Bennet see Mr. Darcy in a different light.

Lydia Bennet’s Story takes readers on the journey to Brighton, where Lydia’s romance with George Wickham begins. Most of the chapters end with a diary entry by Lydia, so you get a chance to see what’s going on in her head and understand that she was just a foolish child who always had to be the center of attention. She was boy crazy, and with a mother who did nothing but talk about marrying off her daughters, it’s easy to see why. I could sympathize with Odiwe’s Lydia; she fell in love with the wrong man and made numerous mistakes in the name of love.

Odiwe introduces some interesting characters: Captain Trayton-Camfield, who grabs Lydia’s attention when she first arrives in Brighton, and Isabella and Alexander Fitzallan, Lydia’s close friend and her brother who comfort Lydia and extend a helping hand when the truth about George Wickham is revealed.

Lydia Bennet’s Story leaves Brighton and follows Lydia through the ups and downs of her marriage, from visits with the Bingleys at Netherfield to the Darcys at Pemberley. It is not only a physical journey as Lydia travels to get away from talk about her husband, but also an emotional journey as Lydia learns the meaning of love and even grows up a little.

Other than some of the language being racier than what you’d find in Jane Austen’s novels (My favorite quote from one of Lydia’s diary entries after running away with Wickham: ’We have not stirred for days, and I do not think we will ever rise again—though for dear Mr Wickham rising often is never a problem!!’), Odiwe’s writing style made me feel almost as though I were actually reading Austen. I had to remind myself it was a sequel several times.

I know not everyone enjoys Pride & Prejudice sequels; there are a lot of them out there. But if you like Jane Austen and her heroines, I recommend Lydia Bennet’s Story. Lydia Bennet is not a name that comes to mind when thinking about Austen’s heroines, but Odiwe’s story of Lydia’s adventures shows her strength and shows that there’s more to the flighty Bennet sister than meets the eye.

The true misfortune, which besets any young lady who believes herself destined for fortune and favour, is to find that she has been born into an unsuitable family. Lydia Bennet of Longbourn, Hertfordshire, not only believed that her mama and papa had most likely stolen her from noble parents, but also considered it a small miracle that they could have produced between them her own fair self and four comely girls - Jane, Elizabeth, Mary and Kitty - though to tell the truth, she felt herself most blessed in looks. Chapter 1

It was no surprise to me when I discovered that Elizabeth Bennet’s impetuous little sister Lydia had been honored with her own book, Lydia Bennet’s Story, only amazed that it had taken so long for it to arrive on the Janeite bookshelf in the first place. Of all of Jane Austen’s characters in Pride and Prejudice, Lydia Bennet was one of the most intriguing creatures to recklessly flirt and scandalize a family; and for readers who enjoy a good adventure she is well worth her own treatment. In a bus accident sort of way, I have always longed to know more about her, and now we have been given our chance in this new edition available October 1st from Sourcebooks.

The novel can be categorized as a retelling and a sequel since the story begins about one third of the way into Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as Lydia’s older sisters Elizabeth and Jane are away from the family home of Longbourn respectively visiting the Collins’ at Hunsford and the Gardiner’s in London. The second half of the novel picks up after the conclusion of Pride and Prejudice when Lydia and her new husband George Wickham have moved to Newcastle. Interestingly, author Odiwe has chosen to tell the story by excerpts from Lydia’s journal supplemented by a third person narrative which Austen also employed allowing us the benefit of Lydia’s unbridled inner thoughts and a narrative of other characters dialogue and action to support it. A nice touch since both Austen’s and Odiwe’s Lydia are a bit over the top in reaction and interpretation of events, and the narrative gives readers some grounding for her breathless emotions.

And, reactions and emotions are what Lydia Bennet is all about and why I believe many may be intrigued by her. Just based on the fact that she is the youngest of five daughters raised by an indolent father and imprudent mother, one could be inspired to write psychological thesis on all the mitigating factors in her environment that contributed to her personality! However, what Jane Austen introduced Jane Odiwe has cleverly expanded upon picking up the plot and style without missing a beat. Not only are we reminded that thoughtless, wild and outspoken Lydia is “the most determined flirt that ever made herself and her family ridiculous,” we begin to understand (but not always agree) with her reasoning’s and are swept up in the story like a new bonnet bought on impulse. Oh, to be but sixteen again without a care in the world except the latest fashions, local gossip, and which officer to dance with at the next Assembly are a delightful foundation for this excursion into Austenland that is both an amusement and a gentle morality story.

Even though author Odiwe succeeded in delivering a lively rendering of an impertinent young Miss bent on fashion, flirting and marriage, she missed her opportunity of a more expressive title which should have read something like ‘Lydia Bennet’s Romantic and Sometimes Naughty Adventures’! Not only is Miss Lydia a professional flirt approaching Beck Sharpe of Vanity Fair’s territory, she gets to travel to Brighton, London, Newcastle and Bath and have a few escapades along the way. Her determination to follow her latest flirtation George Wickham to Brighton and then infamously elope with him is renowned. Her unchecked impulses continue as the novel progresses through their patched up marriage and her new life in Newcastle where her husband has sadly grown tired of her and moved on to the next romantic tryst. Months pass, and after visits with her sisters Elizabeth at Pemberley and Jane at Netherfield, the reality of her husbands faults and her rash decision to marry him became soberly apparent.

Wednesday, October 27th

I feel so wretched I think I might die. All my hopes of making George love me have been completely dashed. In my heart I known this is not the only time I have been deceived; the rumours I have heard are more than gossip. Misery engulfs me…I had imagined that life would be so perfect with George, but I now know that my marriage is a tarnished as the copper pans in my kitchen.

No, there is only one way to deal with this problem. There is nothing I can do but forgive him. I am far too proud to have anyone catch a sniff of scandal and am determined to carry in as though nothing has happened. After all, surely most me are tempted at one time or another. The risk of sending him running off into his lover’s arms is great, and I do not want that above anything else. My heart might be broken, but it is not irreparable.

And later, her hopes are entirely dissolved.

Monday, May 2

…There are few to whom I would admit these thoughts, and on days like this, when I am consumed with sadness for what might have been, I find it hard to be at peace. For my own sake, I keep up the pretence that I am giddy and lighthearted as ever; I would not give the world the satisfaction oh knowing anything else-in my heart, I am still the young girl who believes that perhaps my husband will realize that he has been in love with me all along and cannot do without me. But, I suspect, my longings are in vain.

How it all turns out for the young lady from Longbourn in Hertfordshire, I will not say. However, I will only allude that the concluding adventure of the most determined flirt to ever make her family ridiculous, might make Jane Austen smile. Lydia Bennet’s Story Adventure is rollicking good fun with a surpise twist. Now that my hope of a novel about her has come to fruition, it can only be surpassed by Lydia Bennet the movie. Imagine what folly and fun would ensue. La!

In this pleasant addition to the growing micro-genre of Austen knockoffs, Odiwe pays nice homage to Austen’s stylings and endears the reader to the formerly secondary character, spoiled and impulsive Lydia Bennet. Odiwe begins partway through the original tale, with Lydia heading to Brighton. Shifting between a third-person narrative and Lydia’s first-person journal entries, Odiwe grants readers unfettered access to Lydia as she flirts with her many beaus and falls hard for George Wickham, with whom she elopes. After the pair is married and settled in Newcastle, Lydia has a hard time keeping her jealousy in check as George, a notorious flirt, does not change his ways. Her marital discontent leads to frequent visits to her sisters, and it’s during one of these visits that a massive scandal befalls the Wickham household. In a pleasantly foreshadowed if too abrupt conclusion, a slightly matured Lydia finds true happiness in the most unlikely of places. It won’t convert anybody who doesn’t already worship at the church of Jane, but devotees will enjoy. (Oct.)

Lydia Bennett’s Story - Jane Odiwe
I am absolutely amazed at the seemingly never ending stream of books being published telling the story of nearly all of the characters in Pride and Prejudice. One sometimes wonders how many more the market can hold and surely these must come to an end soon. I cannot imagine that anybody would want to know about Kitty or Mary Bennett but I daresay they will soon have a book devoted to them. I do wonder about the perennial fascination with all things P&P. I fully understand that the BBC version of ten years ago simply swept everyone up and was sold worldwide, sparking off a huge upsurge in Austen interest but find it odd that these spin off books focus mainly on this Austen novel and none of the others. Amanda Grange has written a Diary Of series of the male protagonists in each novel which I have read and found very enjoyable (I have Colonel Brandon’s waiting me as I write), but there appear to be very few prequels and sequels involving characters in the other books. Joan Aiken wrote Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax but, unless I have missed them, other follows ups are lacking.

When I received Lydia Bennet’s Story from Source Books (and oh how I love receiving fed-ex book parcels at work - makes my day!), I was a little doubtful about it. I was pleasantly surprised. Jane Odiwe has caught Lydia’s gushing, breathless manner beautifully in those parts of the book which are purporting to be her diary. Too many explanation marks for my liking, but I daresay Lydia would have written like this, all dash and full of enthusiasm.

Lydia is thought of as the villain of the piece along with Wickham, the thoughtless, conceited younger daughter who was only interested in officers and flirting and getting married before her sisters and we forget that when this happened she was only sixteen years old. Precocious yes, but still young. the interesting thread in this book is the constant striving by Lydia to win her father’s approval and affection. She thinks of Jane and Lizzy as boring and proper and destined to be old maids, but it is clear that these are the thoughts of a childish and jealous younger sister who is aware that her father thinks she is one of ’the silliest girls in the country’ and that he is wrapped up in his close relationship with Elizabeth. Lydia adopts the attitude ’ok he expects very little of me so I will prove him right’ and continues to behave in a silly and outrageous manner hoping to gain his attention and is disappointed when she hopes, optimistically, that when she comes home with her husband, Mr Bennett will greet her and congratulate her on her marriage.

Lydia’s behaviour is classic look at me, attention seeking and outrageous, to obtain a reaction which never comes and I found myself rather warming to her as I read her Story. She is honest enough to realise that she has made a terrible mistake in marrying Wickham and to admit that she has nobody to blame but herself and to feel sadness at the obvious affection and happiness in her sister’s marriages which is sadly lacking in her own.

So, a story that turned out to be better than I thought, rather sweet and made me feel sorry for Lydia. A silly feckless mother and a father who ignored her, two elder sisters regarded as the beauties and best of the Bennett girls, no wonder she behaved as she did. I found it quite a coincidence that I finished reading this book the day before the papers were full of the hasty marriage of Peaches Geldof and the ensuing publicity. I found it rather sad that she left her new husband behind and rushed straight to see her father. One assumes to seek his approval. She certainly gained his attention.

A book that gave me more food for thought than I was expecting and, as will all those I have received from Sourcebooks so far, beautifully presented, lovely smooth paper and clear print which make it a pleasure to hold and look at as well as read.


Of writers of classic literature, few are more beloved than Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte. Their witty, mysterious, proud, and strange characters stay with readers like old friends. Indeed, these two authors have such a devoted following that a whole genre exists of sequels and retellings of their novels. This fall, three new sequels will be available to lovers of period fiction.

Because Austen presents such a narrow view in her novels—she usually focuses the point of view on only one character from a cast of dozens—the possibilities for sequels to her novels are endless. What is life like for Sense and Sensibility’s Eliza, Colonel Brandon’s ward? What kind of adventures does Pride and Prejudice’s Lydia have in Brighton? What happens to the characters after the stories end? These are the questions that a variety of authors seek to answer with the fifteen sequels published by Sourcebooks’ Landmark imprint.

Lydia Bennet’s Story (978-1-4022-1475-8) follows the youngest sister of Elizabeth Bennet, the heroine of Pride and Prejudice. Her infamous elopement with Mr. Wickham was the scandal which eventually brought Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy together. Here, author Jane Odiwe presents her version of what could have happened during Lydia’s vacation in Brighton to bring about their elopement, and a look at their life together after the wedding.

Odiwe’s Lydia is as wild and reckless as readers of Austen’s novel could imagine. It is satisfying to see a plausible description of their relationship and lifestyle during their marriage, and the few glimpses readers are offered of Elizabeth, Darcy, and other original characters is faithful to the original. Lydia’s story is told in narrative, and through letters and diary entries.

Part One tells the story that readers have already heard. Part Two is more inventive: Lydia’s wild actions were probably hard to imagine for Austen, who traveled little, and probably always in the company of respectable family and friends. Odiwe’s story takes Lydia sea-bathing where she watches half-clad men ride horses in the surf, and to parties where she has to fend off the advances of an over-eager army captain. Her new acquaintances are interesting and well developed, and Wickham is just as scandalous as ever. The ending will be a complete surprise.