Miss Bingley Requests
A Novel
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
Revisit the world of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, through the eyes of the woman who is determined to win Mr. Darcy’s affections, in this sumptuous and romantic novel.
To Jane Austen’s faithful readers, it is a truth universally acknowledged that the hearts of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy are forever entwined. But if Miss Caroline Bingley has her way, all will transpire very differently.
Ever since she met him, Caroline has intended to wed Mr. Darcy. Intelligent and well educated, Caroline is an ambitious rising star in fashionable society―some might say conniving―but in Regency England, what can she do to better her situation but marry well? Surely, Mr. Darcy is aware that Caroline will make the perfect wife and hostess at Pemberley, his grand estate. Now, all she need do is await his proposal.
Caroline’s brother, Charles, takes a country estate, Netherfield Park, where he is drawn to Jane Bennet. To Caroline’s initial amusement, Mr. Darcy takes note of Elizabeth Bennet, but humour turns to concern when his interest increases.
At the same time, Caroline meets Mr. Tryphon, a young man new to London and introduced to society by Caroline’s friend, Lady Eleanor Amesbury. Try as she may, Caroline finds it well-nigh impossible to maintain her decorum in his company. Despite her growing feelings for Mr. Tryphon’s dark eyes, and the touch of his firm forearm beneath her gloved fingers, Caroline knows that her future life is entwined with that of Mr. Darcy. And nothing―not love, passion, friendship, or loyalty―shall stand in the way of Caroline’s aspirations in Miss Bingley Requests, Judy McCrosky’s richly romantic reimagining of Pride and Prejudice.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
McCrosky (Lifting Weights) retells Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of Mr. Bingley's unmarried sister, Caroline, in this ambitious pastiche, which takes some passages from the original and adds new material recounting the activities of the Bingley family apart from the Bennets, both in the country and in London. Familiar situations, such as Jane Bennet's illness at Netherfield, appear quite differently through Caroline's eyes, and the social machinations of Lady Amesbury, a sophisticated and well-connected widow who befriends Caroline and introduces her to a "recent but already dear, dear friend," Stephen Tryphon, enliven the London scenes. Stephen becomes Caroline's ardent suitor, though she has cast her eye on Mr. Darcy and becoming the mistress of Pemberley. Unfortunately, Caroline does not come off as a very pleasant character. Initially vain and self-satisfied, she becomes increasingly arrogant in an apparent effort to mask her insecurity. Still, Austen fans will likely enjoy this variation on a theme.
