New Friends, New Discoveries, and New Romances in Highbury!

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Source: Austsenesque Jolabokaflod

TYPE OF NOVEL: Emma/Pride and Prejudice Mash-Up Variation

SERIES: Highbury Variation #1

THE PREMISE: Mrs. Bates’s passing brings Miss Bates’s cousin – who just happens to be none other than Elizabeth Bennet – to Highbury to offer solace and support during her bereavement. And coincidentally enough, Mr. Knightley’s friend, Mr. Darcy – who attended school with Mr. John Knightley – has also come to visit at the same time. What will this mean for our Highbury friends? What does this visit – which takes place post-Netherfield Ball – change for Darcy and Elizabeth…

WHAT I LOVED:

• “But Ah! United”: This is the crossover episode of my dreams. I adore Highbury and all the people who live there, and I love the idea of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy – not only having connections to these characters – but visiting Highbury at the same time. I am thrilled to witness both the new relationships that develop between these novels and the new experiences Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth share in this different locale and circumstance.

• Love Is in the Air: Two new eligible prospects come to the village of Highbury and the gossip-mill is bursting with new speculation. Did you see Mr. Knightley walking Elizabeth home? And did you hear about Mr. Darcy’s aunt paying Miss Woodhouse a call? Oh yes, there is some mix-ups, entanglements, and new pairings to explore in this book which make it unpredictable and exciting.

• Emma/Elizabeth Dynamic: This relationship is just full interesting facets to delve into. Emma and Elizabeth are wonderfully well-matched in their friendship – they are both clever, enjoy liveliness, and find Jane Fairfax’s reserve a little frustrating. But they have their differences too – especially when it comes to Harriet and her affair with Robert Martin. However, they both share the same inability to refrain from meddling and matchmaking… More so than Mrs. Weston, Jane Fairfax, and Harriet Smith, it was interesting to see Emma have a friendship with someone who matches her strength, her independence, and her wit.

• Brilliantly Blended: Overall, I’m just so impressed with how well these characters and storylines intersected each other so perfectly. There is the exciting external events happening at Highbury – Mr. Elton’s marriage and Frank Churchill coming to town being mixed with the internal developments – Mr. Darcy continuing to battle his feelings for Elizabeth and Mr. Knightley becoming aware of his feelings for Emma. These characters were intertwined so skillfully. I loved the friendships, the entanglements, and the new understandings their relationships created.

• Perceptive Parallels and Clever Comparisons: Corrie Garrett’s talent for combining these two beloved worlds really shines in how she had her characters make important discoveries about themselves through observing the similar situation or behavior of another character. For Elizabeth to see Miss Bates’s situation and to understand the possibility of it potentially becoming her own…😮 For Mr. Darcy to hear Mr. Knightley’s lamentations about Emma’s misguidance and interference with Harriet Smith and to connect it to his own friendship/intervention with Charles Bingley… 🫢  And to see what these characters do with these new insights… 🤯

WHAT COULD’VE BEEN BETTER:

• Small Quibbles: I don’t mind characters having impulsive natures, but a few times some relatively non-impulsive characters made very precipitous and reckless decisions in this book, and I found their actions a little hard to buy into. But I did for the sake of the plot. In addition, it seemed a little too familiar and unnatural for so many new acquaintances to refer to Elizabeth as Lizzy Bennet.

NOTE: While there is a conclusion at the end of this story for some characters, the paths of other characters are still left unresolved. So be prepared to follow them in the next book of the series – From London with Loyalty.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

👯  With the handsome, clever, and likable Elizabeth Bennet, maybe Emma  Woodhouse has met her match!

📖  One of the most skillful, astute, and thoughtful Austenesque crossovers I have read.

➡️  I adored spending the winter season in cozy Highbury, but now I must follow several of these characters to London and see what happens next!

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