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In The Phantom of Pemberley, Regina Jeffers, author of several books including The Scandal of Lady Eleanor, continues the much endeared love story of the key characters of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy. The Phantom of Pemberley takes place a little over a year after Elizabeth and Darcy’s wedding and both are happily settled in their match. The novel begins with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy getting ready to head into town to pick up Elizabeth’s sister, Lydia. Although Mr. Darcy still harbors bad feelings toward his wife’s sister, Lydia Wickham, and her husband, George Wickham, he makes an effort to welcome his sister-in-law sans her husband to his home for a short visit. If you recall, Wickham had convinced Darcy’s 15-year-old-sister, Georgiana, to elope with him in order to get his hands on her inheritance. As in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 4, “Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” Jeffers gives us a sense of forewarning when an impending winter storm arrives. After they set to town to pick up Lydia, the Darcys are forced to extend their home to a group of stranded guests due to an already fully occupied inn. While gracious in their roles of playing host and hostess to the group, the atmosphere in Pemberley takes a sudden change for the worse when a murder is committed. The realization that a murderer is walking among them has Mr. Darcy and his wife hurrying to find him or her before they strike again. Jeffers cleverly brings back Lady Catherine de Bourgh, adding a constant thorn at Elizabeth’s side, much to Mr. Darcy’s chagrin. However, Lady Catherine de Bourgh has her own problems, which is why she showed up at the Darcys, hoping to involve Darcy in preventing a scandal involving her daughter, Lady Anne. Jeffers commands the language of the period, gives us a fresh plot, and even weaves in pieces of Pride and Prejudice. Though I suspect Jeffers wanted to give readers who had not read P&P a little pre-history of the beginnings of Darcy and Elizabeth, I believe this was not crucial to the plot of her story. However, Jeffers does over emphasize Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy’s relationship, creating a constant overflow of sentimentalities between the two that can be distracting to the reader. I still enjoyed reading the book, especially experiencing the creativity of many of these writers. I love to see that both Lydia and Lady Catherine were up to their usual obnoxious selves, Jeffers captured their true nature. For all you fans that pitied Lady Anne and would have liked to have seen more of her, this is the book to read. Lady Anne eventually comes into her own right as she stands up against her bullying mother and finds happiness. Contrary to other reviews, I found the ending a pleasant surprise, especially learning the murderer was not whom I suspected. Anytime a book can surprise me is a great plus for me, besides shouldn’t reading be in the mind of the beholder—in other words we can’t always please everyone. Check out Jeffers’ The Scandal of Lady Eleanor. Though filled with explicit sex, the story was not only enjoyable, but fresh, including her brilliance in introducing the men of “The Realm”, a secret society of the British government. These are gallant men who not only fight for their country, but for the women who capture their hearts. Sincerely, Miguelina Perez

2020-08-17 08:16