Ersatz Austen

One of my first entries on this blog (1/25/10) was about Jane Austen, whose books I have read and reread so many times. Because I love her work so much, I even occasionally read the “sequels” and other novels based on Austen’s books. I just finished “Presumption: An Entertainment: A Sequel to ‘Pride and Prejudice’” (University of Chicago Press, 1993), by Julia Barrett. It tells the imagined story of what happens after Elizabeth and Darcy marry. The setting is, of course, Pemberley, and the main character is Darcy’s sister Georgiana. Other characters from “Pride and Prejudice” in “Presumption” are Elizabeth's parents and sisters, Lady Catherine De Bourgh, Mr. Collins, and more. New characters include two young men who vie for Georgiana’s affection. There are flirtations, romances, crises, two new babies, deceptions, betrayals, realizations, and other events. Naturally, after some manufactured suspense and a couple of surprises, all ends well. This novel, like some of the other sequels, prequels, and offshoots, is fun to read, and a chance to reconnect with Austen’s world. But because no writer can even pretend to be in Austen’s league (and to be fair, these authors don’t pretend that, but rather bill their novels as tributes to Austen), reading “Presumption” and other such novels is a bit like eating mediocre chocolate; it tastes OK, but it definitely isn’t the “good stuff,” the real thing.