Second Impressions

Written in the idiom of Jane Austen’s time, this sequel to Pride and Prejudice tells the story of the Darcy family, their friends, and their relations in the 10 years since the day Mrs. Bennet got rid of her two most deserving daughters. Drawing its history from the novels, maps, and other volumes comprising the Chawton House Library at the Center for the Study of Early English Women’s Writing, the novel explores questions of the characters’ potential lives beyond the close of the original masterpiece. With the Great French War over and peace come at last, what does England look like in the late Regency? And is there a place for Austen’s heroes and heroines in an England greatly changed by industrialization, with a new elite of fortunes made in trade and reformist politics?