Interludes and Imaginings
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Source: Review Copy from Author
OVERVIEW:
This anthology is a collection of sixteen short stories inspired by Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. These stories mostly include vignettes that take place during the timeframe of Jane Austen’s novel, sort of like behind-the-scenes “interludes.” There are also a couple variations, some lovely sequel scenes that take place post-Pride and Prejudice, and a modern adaptation. The stories range from seven to thirty-seven pages in length and are suitable for all audiences (no profanity or mature scenes).
Below you will find a breakdown of my top five favorites from this lovely anthology:
APRIL FOOLS (A CONFLUENCE OF COINCIDENCES)
- The Premise: Always one to poke fun at his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam decides to send Darcy (whom he knows to have developed a tendre for a certain lady) a letter requesting a secret rendezvous in the gardens of Rosings. Fitzwilliam’s plan is to lure his cousin to a meeting where he (Colonel Fitzwilliam) will be dressed in the disguise of a woman!
- My Favorite Part: I love how Colonel Fitzwilliam’s plan backfires and the joke ends up on him! The letter he intended for Darcy’s eyes only is viewed by more than one other person and Colonel Fitzwilliam receives quite a shock when he shows up for this secret meeting…
HEDGING
- The Premise: Finding herself alone with a couple unoccupied hours, Charlotte decides to venture to her favorite secluded bench in the gardens of Rosings Park and bask in the beauty of a glorious Spring day. Because of the bench’s hidden location, Charlotte is well-concealed by the garden’s tall hedge, and by chance overhears several conversations as people walk by.
- My Favorite Part: I thought this story was exceptionally clever! It was plausible and entertaining to see how Charlotte gained all her knowledge and insight about her friends and neighbors.
PEMBERLEY BREAK
- The Premise: Darcy needs to conduct some business in the nearby village of Castleton and Georgiana agrees to accompany him and enjoy a day of sightseeing and exploring. The trip ends up being the beginning of a new chapter in their relationship as Darcy realizes that Georgiana is now a young lady.
- My Favorite Part: Such a sweet and endearing story! I loved the excellent visuals Tess Quinn created with this story, Castleton sounds like such a charming village! In addition, I enjoyed the relationship shift between Darcy and Georgiana. I wouldn’t mind seeing this story developed into a full-length novel!
ANNIVERSARY SONG
- The Premise: An adorably romantic Darcy sets up trail of riddles and hidden clues that lead his his wife to her anniversary present.
- My Favorite Part: How cute is Darcy!?! I love how Darcy’s clue send Elizabeth on reminiscent tour of their first year of marriage and his love letter at the end of it…*sigh*… so beautiful and tender!
WORST IMPRESSIONS
- The Premise: Fast-forward to present day, readers drop in our heroine, who works at a military academy, on a day she is in a black mood and bad temper. As she relates the reason for her black mood, readers may notice some parallels with a storyline in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.
- My Favorite Part: This is a modern-day vignette was a nice change of pace! I like the idea of a Pride and Prejudice story taking place in the military field (we’ve already seen it take place in a courtroom, hospital, and on stage…) I especially enjoyed how the story started without much of an introduction. I wasn’t sure if our heroine was Jane, Elizabeth, Charlotte, or Lydia!
CONCLUSION:
I found this charming compilation of short stories to be delightful! With some stories, I did feel that the narrative was a little too wordy and the exposition a little too lengthy, but other than that I thought this diverse assortment of stories was well-written, creative, and most deserving of praise!
16 out of 30 completed!
Lovely review! I wouldn’t mind reading this one, it sounds like the type of thing I’d enjoy. There are no reviews for it on Amazon UK and only a couple on the US site so it’s interesting to have more idea of what the book is about. I have loads of luscious books waiting for me on my kindle at the moment but next time I’m buying more treasures I’ll certainly consider adding this one to the trove.
Thank you for your kind words, Ceri! I’m so glad my review was helpful to you! I’m sure you will find much to enjoy in this book if you get to read it!
Ceri, thanks for being interested! Not being a household name (yet?) I do suffer for not having a lot of reviews — but I hope that if you do try my book, you will offer one yourself. It not only helps discerning readers, but it helps me improve as a writer as well!
I loved your review, Meredith. So glad that you enjoyed Tess Quinn’s anthology, too. It was delightful, wasn’t it. Some of my favorites were the same as yours, especially, Anniversary Song! Oh my…
Thank you, Janet! You are so kind! I think I melted into a puddle by the time I finished Anniversary Song! Mr. Darcy is quite the “hopeless romantic!”
Thank you, Janet! Great to ‘see’ you here.
I love the idea of making up some behind the scenes moments. Thanks for sharing about this new anthology.
I loved how Tess Quinn’s “behind the scenes” moments fit well with the original plot…kind of like they were deleted scenes that Jane Austen decided to “lop’t and crop’t!”
One can never get enough ‘moments’ between our favorite couple and their friends and relations, can one? Thanks for commenting, Sophia Rose! I hope you’ll decide to take a peek at a few of my moments…
Great review! I too loved Anniversary Song, Janet!
Another fan of Anniversary Song – and this is the one that Tess described as “pure schmaltz!” I guess we three love us some schmaltz!!!
Well, I must admit that one is a personal favorite as well; so make that at least four people who love us some schmaltz! Thanks, Cassandra, for commenting on this lovely review.
I want to read this one even more now! I may have to bump it up on my to-buy-list.
Lovely review, as always!
LOL! Thank you, Monica! I hope you get the opportunity to read it soon! 🙂
Well, whenever it reaches the top of your list, Monica, I hope you’ll enjoy it too! Thanks for the interest! (And I agree, the review was quite lovely.)
I was just looking at this one on Amazon yesterday and seeing a positive review has persuaded me it’s worth picking up! This sounds like such fun and like it has a couple of inventive premises for vignettes!
Thanks so much for the comment and interest, Trai. I hope if you do pick it up, you’ll not want to put it down again —
Inventive is definitely a word I’d use to describe this anthology! I can’t imagine it being easy to come up with 16 different types of stories! I hope you enjoy this one as much as I did, Trai!
Great, thoughtful review, Meredith — nicely articulated and balanced (in my humble opinion, LOL.) Thank you so much for it! Some of your favorites are also my own, for the very same reasons. (“Anniversary Song” will always be close to my heart, which is nine parts out of ten ‘schmaltz’.)
Thank you, Tess! It is was a pleasure to read and review your anthology! I look forward to sharing our chat with everyone tomorrow and to seeing more of your works in print! Wishing you all the best!