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Excerpt from the Prologue:

Jessica Courtney could recall very clearly the moment that had changed her life. It had come upon her quite without warning and had caused her to regard very differently the course that her life might take in the following years.

While it did not bring either immediate or unalloyed happiness, Jessica realized that it could have been much worse, and she could have been drawn into a period of self-indulgent depression and complaint about the vicissitudes of life. But, despite her youth, for she was only eighteen years old, being possessed of both sense and sensibility, Jessica determined not to allow herself that dubious luxury.

It was all very well for heroines in popular novels to spend hours, days, months even, surrendering themselves to the melancholy contemplation of what might have been, she thought—they did not have a school to run.

The previous year, 1865, had not been an easy one for any of them, more particularly for members of the family of Mr and Mrs Darcy at Pemberley. Since the beginning of the year, news of the problems, which beset the marriage of their son Julian Darcy and his wife, Josie, had been filtering through to them in letters and whispered conversations. Not everyone was agreed upon who was to blame in the matter, but almost everyone had claimed to know something was amiss.

Jessica's mother, Mrs Emily Courtney, was too deeply involved in her commitments to the hospital at Littleford and her charitable work for the poor of the parish of Kympton to participate in such gossip, but whenever her aunt Caroline Fitzwilliam or their young cousin Lizzie Gardiner visited, they would share their news with her. They had no doubt at all that Julian and Josie were not happy. Jessica had not wished to ask too many questions, lest they thought she was prying. Which was why she had been wholly unprepared for the dramatic news when it came, late one afternoon, that Julian Darcy had arrived from Cambridge at the home of his sister Cassy and Doctor Richard Gardiner, bringing with him his son Anthony and young Lizzie Gardiner, who had been staying with them in Cambridge at the time.

As her aunt Caroline told it, it seemed his wife, Josie, had left their home and had gone to live with a Mr Barrett, who had supposedly promised to publish her book! Incredible as it seemed, that was what Caroline had learned from her brother Richard Gardiner.

"It must be true, Dr Gardiner would not repeat such a story if it were not," thought Jessica. So appalled was she, that she had spent the rest of the evening in a state of shock, unable to speak of the disastrous news to anyone, while the rest of family had expressed consternation and grief.

On the following day, Jessica had gone into the village and met young Lizzie Gardiner at Mrs Hardy's bookshop, whither they had both gone in search of copies of a new novel by Mr Dickens. After making their purchases, they had repaired to a tea shop, where, as they took tea and sampled the shortbread, Lizzie was more forthcoming than Caroline had been.

Her aunt Caroline had been quite critical of Josie, especially of her decision to desert her little boy.

"It is beyond belief that a woman would leave a kind husband and her young child in this way," she had said, but Lizzie, with the advantage of having spent most of Spring in Cambridge with Julian and Josie, seemed to have more understanding of the reasons for her conduct. She knew more also about Mr Barrett, who had been a frequent visitor to the couple's home.

"I do not believe that Josie has done this lightly and only because of wanting to have her book published," she had said, adding, "I could not help feeling that Josie had been lonely and rather neglected by my uncle Julian, whose concentration upon his research work, almost to the exclusion of every other interest, may have left her open to deception by Mr Barrett and his friend Mr Jones, who are both guilty of great duplicity."

Jessica found it easier to ask her cousin the questions that had occupied her mind for some hours.

"And Julian, do you believe he still loves her, Lizzie? Will he have her back, do you think?" she asked.

Lizzie's answer had been unambiguous. "I am certain of it—he never looks at anyone else. He does love her, but is so completely wedded to his work, he has little time to tell her so or to pay any attention to her interests. Poor Josie, she cares little about the strange microscopic creatures he examines in his laboratory and I am convinced she felt she was no longer loved, when the opposite is probably true."

Though Lizzie's explanation would have been more painful for Mr and Mrs Darcy to bear, it made more sense than the notion that Josie, who only a year ago had appeared to be a loving wife and mother, could have been so altered in character as to behave in such an outrageous fashion. Lizzie had also revealed that Josie had left a note for her husband, in which she had declared that she did not love Mr Barrett, but needed the freedom he had offered her from her unhappy marriage.

Jessica had expressed disbelief at this, but this time Lizzie had been sympathetic to her uncle. "I have never seen anyone so distraught as my uncle Julian, when he read it. It was as though he had been struck dumb. He did not say a word against her—it was so sad to see him accept it, as though he believed he deserved it," Lizzie had said as they walked home, leaving Jessica wondering at the reasons behind it all.

Writing in her diary, to which alone she confided her innermost thoughts, she mused:

Poor Josie, what could she have wanted? How much unhappiness must she have suffered to leave her husband and son for a man she did not love? I cannot even begin to comprehend her mind. As for Julian, how wretched must he feel to accept without protest such a situation, and yet he still loves her and would have her back! Love seems such a complicated emotion; I wonder if I shall ever understand it.

The shock and pain this unfortunate episode had inflicted upon Mr and Mrs Darcy, Jessica had seen firsthand. She had gone to Pemberley, to the church where she had promised to help the rector with the choir, and there she had met Mrs Darcy coming away from the rectory, a veil concealing her tear-stained face.

They had embraced without saying a word, but Jessica's warmth and sympathy had drawn Elizabeth out, and she had told her as much as she had learned from her son.

Postscripts from Pemberley is the seventh book in The Pemberley Chronicles series written by Rebecca Ann Collins. From the moment I began reading, I could tell that the author has stayed true to much of Austen’s original writing style. The feel of the Victorian era remains throughout, though Ms. Collins has some new material to work with.

The story revolves around the generation of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s grandchildren. The Austen characters also appear at times, and are still a large part of what happens, yet not the principles here.

What’s new to the mix are the storylines involving politics, chiefly the rivalry between Benjamin Disraeli and William Gladstone, as well as Charles Darwin’s The Origin of the Species, which had just been published and was a very hot topic at the time. I’m not sure that Jane Austen would have gotten away with writing about these in her day, but for Ms. Collins it adds some definite substance to the book, making it about more than just gossip or proper etiquette.

All these things aside, Rebecca Ann Collins also has some insightful things to say. I’m always envious of the people that can readily pick out quotes from books that are meaningful, yet I read the same material and seem to skip over these. Not so with Postscripts from Pemberley! A few pages into the main story I found this: "Remember only, Dear Jessica, that life is best enjoyed at leisure, without undue haste or desperation, with time for judgment and discrimination as well as enjoyment. We are not all blessed with the capacity of John Keats to drain life’s cup to the lees in a single draught." I thought it was a point well made, well phrased, and very much as relevant today as it would have been in the mid-1800’s.

I was immediately engrossed in the story and liked the characters almost as much as Austen’s (though I feel no one can touch the original Mr. Darcy). For lover’s of Jane Austen or any other historical fiction, this is truly a book well worth reading!

I read this without having read Pride and Prejudice or any of the other six in Rebecca Ann Collins’ series. This did make it a little difficult to keep everyone and their relationships to each other straight, but not so much that is impeded my enjoyment.

You may be asking yourself why I requested this particular book. When I was offered it I was intending to read Pride and Prejudice. I did start it, but the writing got to me. I’d love to read P&P, but the language gets to me. (The same thing happens when I try to read Wuthering Heights.) Postscript from Pemberley is written in more modern language which made it so easy to read.

As mentioned in the blurb above, Postscript from Pemberley is about Darcy Gardiner and Kate O’Hare. There is another couple that figures prominently in the novel. Julian Darcy (uncle to Darcy Gardiner) and Jessica Courtney. I can’t compare or relate Postscript from Pemberley to P&P or any of the others in the series, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time with the two couples, their families and assorted friends. I’m going to have to check out the others in this series!

I found Postscript from Pemberley delightfully readable and difficult to put down. In fact, I read it almost at a sitting, over a weekend and enjoyed very much the new characters of the younger generation- Darcy Gardiner, Jessica Courtney and the glamorous Kate O’Hare- whose energy and vitality seem to have breathed new life into the Pemberley story. It was good to meet up again with our favourite characters from Pride and Prejudice too.

As usual, Ms Collins’ intriguing storylines and engaging narrative style combined to make for a thoroughly satisfying reading experience for an Austen fan like me. Congratulations once again to this very talented author!


I can’t quite believe it, but I think I have a new favorite! Postscript from Pemberley, Book 7 in the Pemberley Chronicles series, takes a departure from its predecessors –- delving less frequently and less deeply into the socio-political and economic realities of late 19th century England. Instead, Postscript moves at a very fast pace, from attraction to affection to love and then marriage, with a bit of tension and a hint of mystery, just for good measure.

The story focuses mainly on two young couples. Julian Darcy is the tragic youngest son of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Having grown up in the shadow of his elder brother’s memory, Julian’s first marriage ended with the death of his unhappy wife Josie. His guilt and his grief over her demise led him to renounce his claim to Pemberley in favor of his very young son Anthony. But Julian does come to Pemberley to heal his aching soul. And there he meets his younger cousin Jessica Courtney, daughter of Rev. James Courtney and Emily Gardiner Courtney (and granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Gardiner of Gracechurch Street and later Lambton). The two develop a close friendship which gradually turns to love, and eventually leads to a very happy marriage. Supported by all of their family and loved ones, the perfectly suited Julian and Jessica set-off together for Africa – he in pursuit of his professional dreams and she with the desire to support her husband and experience new adventures of her own.

Meanwhile, Darcy Gardiner, son of Cassandra Darcy Gardiner and Dr. Richard Gardiner, and grandson of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, is looking for a love interest of his own. Darcy Gardiner has left London and politics behind to help manage Pemberley while young Anthony grows to adulthood. Loved by all in the neighborhood, Darcy is still recovering from his disappointment at failing to secure the hand of Jessica Courtney, when he meets a newcomer – Kathryn O’Hare, a charming and accomplished young lady from the neighborhood who becomes a close friend of Jessica’s. But, it turns out that Kathryn has a bit of a “past.”

While serving in the household of a powerful titled family, Kathryn is swept up in the illicit affairs of the Lady of the house. Kathryn’s own reputation is on the verge of ruin, because she’s decided that she will not be a party to the aberrant activities taking place in the household. She leaves and returns to her family, but trouble follows her –- even to Derbyshire. Her knight in shining armor takes the form of Darcy Gardiner, who uses his fierce loyalty, clever mind, and rolodex of powerful allies to ensure Kathryn’s well-being. Who would not be swept away by this dashing hero?

The book brings back many favorites including the Bingleys and Darcys and their wonderful children, and Mr. Michael Carr, the charming Irish-American husband of Darcy Gardiner’s sister Lizzie. It also brings back a few not-so-favorites like Robert and Rose Gardiner who continue to suffer from a chronic case of supercilious sour grapes; and Lydia Wickham, who hasn’t changed a bit. At one point, a very clever and humorous scheme is devised to keep Lydia from attending (and ruining) a family wedding.

I am happy to report that with the exception of Mrs. Gardiner’s passing, the story ends on a happy note, but with a bit of a “cliff hanger” in the form of a mysterious letter from an unknown sender delivered to Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. The reader cannot mistake the importance of this letter, but to what??? I sincerely hope that our esteemed authoress will resolve this mystery in Book 8. Hurry Ms. Collins! This reader is longing to know… What’s in that letter!


This is one of my favorite series ever…excluding Sookie Stackhouse and Anne of Green Gables. Odd combination, I know. This series is not simply a Jane Austen sequel. It is so much better. It is historical fiction, romance, social history, and comedy all mixed into one.

This one was one of my favorites in the series. I loved that it focused a bit on Julian and gave him the happy ending he deserved. I thought that Jessica Courtney was the perfect match for him. I also enjoyed the story of Darcy Gardiner and Kate albeit not as much as Julian and Jessica’s but enough that the story maintained an interest level even when Julian and Jessica’s story was over and Darcy and Kate’s began.

My favorite part of the book is how historically rich the novel is (and by extension the whole series). I love how Collins expects something out of her readers. Yes, we do read Jane Austen sequels for the smushy romance but she never talks down to us. I really appreciate that because it would be very easy to just focus on the romance and nothing else.

I really love this series and I can’t wait to continue it with the next book.

Grade: A


Postscript from Pemberly is book seven of the Pemberley Chronicles. Unfortunately, I haven’t read any of the previous six books. Well, that’s not entirely true. I did read the “look inside” of the first book a while back and put it on my wish list on Amazon; but with the height of my TBR pile…. But, when I got the chance to read Postscript from Pemberley, I wasn’t going to be stopped by the lack of prior book knowledge (and you shouldn’t either). The book, you see, has an appendix that lists the major characters and their family relationships. As you can probably imagine by the seventh book, we’re into cousin and grandchildren territory.

The main point of view character is Jessica Courtney. Jessica is the daughter of Rev. James Courtney and Emily Gardiner Courtney (the daughter of the Gardiners — Elizabeth’s and Jane’s Aunt and Uncle Gardiner). Jessica’s parents run the church and parish at Kympton. When the book opens we learn that Julian Darcy, the oldest son of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, is having problems. His wife, Josie, has left him and their son to run off with a man who has promised to publish her book. We later learn that the book never got published, Josie got left on her own, and is very ill. Josie doesn’t recover and dies. Julian returns home to leave his son with his sister and her husband before going to France to continue his research.

All this is in the first few pages but it sets up the relationship that develops between Jessica and Julian as they become friends. Whether this relationship will develop into anything more is anyone’s guess as Julian is much older (Jessica is eighteen). Besides, Julian is headed to Paris for more study and Jessica is offered the chance to run the expanded and upgraded school on the grounds of Pemberley.

Mr. Darcy, ever concerned for the people that look to him for their livelihood, has decided that the current school at the church and at Pemberley is not educating the children for anything other than menial jobs and he wants to do better. Jessica is hired (and moves into Pemberley) to run the school and hire two additional teachers to develop a course of study that will better prepare the area’s children.

Thus we have at least two plot lines going. Actually there are several other plot threads in this volume. Will Jessica and Julian fall in love? Will they remain friends? Will the school work out? Will Jessica find qualified teachers? Will bringing two people in who have not been part of the previous books cause problems? What other family squabbles and events will occur to stir up the family.

What’s a novel without some conflict? Not very interesting, actually. Luckily for us, Rebecca Ann Collins knows that we need to have some conflict and some ambiguity in our reading and she provides it. Told mostly from Jessica’s point of view, we learn about the ups and downs of the now fairly large cast of characters. Jessica being the kindhearted person she is tends to be the one that her cousins turn to when they need advice or just to talk candidly without rumors spreading. Jessica listens, seldom judges, and knows how to keep secrets — especially her own. One interesting choice is that some of Jessica’s interior thoughts are told from snippets from her journal and from letters written to her and from her to others.

When a young lady with impeccable teaching credentials returns to live with her parents, Jessica finds not only an exceptional teacher for the school but a friend. However, Jessica is not the only person with secrets. Remember too that while we’ve reached 1866 — the times are not our own and in many ways the rules of behavior in that period of time make it difficult to understand the utter devastation that can be done to someone’s reputation for behavior that in our time wouldn’t even lift an eyebrow. Women were kept to a strict standard that most of us would rebel against with all our might today.

Postscript from Pemberley is fine addition to the growing list of Pride and Prejudice sequels. A marvelous book to curl up with on a rainy day with a hot cup of tea, to sink into a time and place so different from our own and visit people who seem so familiar. There’s no explosions or car chases, but there is tension and conflict and people we care about and hope will turn out happy at the end. It’s a book that when you finish you give a sigh of satisfaction and perhaps turn back to page one and start over.


Postscript from Pemberley
Rebecca Ann Collins
5 Stars

Ms. Collins has done it again! The seventh book in the series, Postscript from Pemberley, was all I was expecting, and then some. The story follows two Darcys as they find love and fall into it; Julian Darcy, and young Darcy Gardiner.

Kate O’Hare, a new character in this chapter of the series is introduced to Darcy Gardiner and their relationship unfolds. I found myself in love with Kate and her new views and opinions that she brought to the family and series. She really was like a breath of fresh air and I was thrilled that Darcy was able to find love with her.

As Ms. Collins stated in an authors note at the beginning of the book, Julian Darcy couldn’t be left out in the cold, thus he was brought back in this book and was able to find love himself as well. I was particularly happy for this, I always felt that while he did seem to work so much, I pitied him when his wife Josie left. I felt that Emily was such a perfect fit and I loved the love letters that they wrote back and forth, it was such a tactful way to have him fall in love and build a solid relationship once more.

Postscript from Pemberley was a fantastic installment in this series, it offered love, mystery, a little action as well as some twists and turns I didn’t expect. I have always thoroughly loved every book in this series and continue to rave about it any possible chance I get.

I always get excited when I discover a Rebecca Ann Collins novel in my mailbox. There is always a great reading treat in store for me. I know that not only will I be reading a wonderful tale about the characters that Jane Austen created and Rebecca Ann Collins has developed, but a beautifully written historical romance as well.

Rebecca Ann Collins is back and bringing the magic of her Pemberley Chronicles series with her latest release, Postscript from Pemberley.

In Postscript from Pemberley we follow the young Darcy Gardiner, grandson of the beloved Mr and Mrs Darcy, as he falls in love with newcomer Kate O’Hare.

I just adored Postscript from Pemberley. I love the way that Rebecca Ann Collins has taken the characters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and weaves new storylines and characters so seamlessly.

Kate O’Hare is such a beautiful character. She is so unlike the many women of her day, and is instead full of independent thought, that creates a charm all of her own. I had so many “toe-curling” moments as I watched Kate and the young Darcy interact.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Postscript from Pemberley. It was another very enjoyable story in the Pemberley Chronicles, and I’m looking forward to Recollections of Rosings, which is due to be released in 2010.


Number seven in The Pemberley Chronicles series, Postscript from Pemberley follows the further adventures of the children and grandchildren of Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy, as imagined by Rebecca Ann Collins.

In this sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, a number of single young people are in want of wedlock. Son Julian Darcy’s marriage has ended unhappily, while grandson Darcy Gardiner is discovering the charms of women. Jessica Courtney, the vicar’s daughter, has accepted a position managing Pemberley’s parish school. As the story continues, she consults with Mr. Darcy on the advisability of hiring a new school teacher "of exemplary character and experience." The following page introduces the excellent Kathryn O’Hare, whose interest in Darwin’s theories introduces a flavor of the larger world to Pemberley.

While Austen’s vocabulary and syntax are fairly faithfully reproduced, this novel is otherwise quite different in style from Pride and Prejudice. Austen’s characters are replete with amusing flaws, while in Postscript from Pemberley, Kathryn is not the only paragon of virtue. Plot complications rarely trouble the serenity of the characters’ lives within the flow of the story, though tribulations of the past are recounted. The few villains whose motivations and activities are less than admirable are, for the most part, kept offstage, the reader being apprised of their doings through exchanges of letters or in reports from characters of finer moral fiber who have temporarily departed from Pemberley and the novel’s pages to prevent difficulties from arising. It’s refreshing when, in the last few chapters, the ever-appalling Lydia Wickham makes a personal appearance and Elizabeth Darcy devises a clever, if naughty, scheme to prevent her sister from clouding the impending marriage celebrations.

Readers who enjoyed installments one through six of this series will undoubtedly want to read Postscript from Pemberley to keep pace with the Darcy descendants’ sedate and kindly progress. (2009; 306 pages, including a list of characters)


Postscript from Pemberley. Rebecca Ann Collins. Sourcebooks, $14.99 paper (336p) ISBN 9781402224324
In book seven of a well-researched ten-book sequel series to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Australian writer Collins examines two couples’ long march to the altar. Although the book lacks the sprightly wit of the incomparable Austen, Collins does successfully capture U.K. courtship rituals of the 1860s. The first match runs rather smoothly: Jessica Courtney, Reverend James Courtney’s daughter and manager of the Pemberley Parish School, falls in love with widower Julian Darcy, whose unfaithful wife, Josie, died after a scandalous affair. Julian, a scientist headed for Africa on a research trip, courts her with frequent letters. The second couple is more problematic: wealthy Darcy Gardiner, Julian’s 26-year-old nephew, is a sought-after bachelor besotted by school teacher/governess Kathryn "Kate" O’Hare. Not only is Kate from a lower class, but she has a secret connection to Gordon Hartley-Brown, the cousin of her former employer Lady Denny, that could threaten her future with Darcy. Collins painstakingly recreates pitch-perfect Austen period notes which her fans will relish, though her story can drag. (Dec.)

“In this, the seventh volume of the Pemberley Chronicles series, Rebecca Ann Collins demonstrates that she is much more than a writer of sequels to Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. She successfully stakes her claim to be seen as a storyteller in her own right, with inventive plot lines, credible characters and an engaging style. Add to this an enviable knowledge of the history and culture of the period and a sensitive appreciation of the values and traditions that underlie the novels of Jane Austen and it is not difficult to understand the popularity of her work.” Book News