Product Description

Sixth in the bestselling Jane Austen sequel series from Australia

In this installment of The Pemberley Chronicles series, Mr. Darcy's cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth's cousin Caroline Gardiner take center stage.

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, Caroline develops from a pretty young girl into a woman of intelligence and passion, embodying some of Austen's own values. Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth, Jane, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, and the Wickhams all move through the story as Caroline falls in love, marries, and raises her children. Caroline rejects the role of a compliant Victorian wife and mother, instead becoming a spirited and outspoken advocate of reformist causes in spite of the danger of scandal.

Caroline's advocacy of reform, undaunted by criticism, demonstrates strength in a time when a woman's role was severely restricted.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #52242 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781402224317
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
Austen fans are treated to a novel that contains something of the appeal of the original, while at the same time adding much that is uniquely that of the author as well as plenty of appeal for the modern female reader. (Rachel A. Hyde Historical Novel Review 20090831)

I could go on and on writing about "My Cousin Caroline." I loved this book. Rebecca Ann Collins' sequel to "Pride and Prejudice" is just overwhelmingly spellbinding. (Leola Norman Living Life and Reading Books 20090813)

I really liked how the author really made you feel like you were reading the recorded history of these people. She made them seem real. (Bridget Locke Good and Bad Books )

Keeping with the same pace and style as Jane Austen, this book flowed beautifully. (Jaime Huff Book Nerd Extraordinaire 20090902)

Ms. Collins brings in her talent for relating what is going on with the times to the story. (Brian Hitchcock The Last Word 20090914)

Ms. Collins has another winner in this series that gives us life with all its ups and downs.
(Dee Dailey The Romance Studio 20090825)

The only way this book could be better is if Austen wrote it herself. (Debbi Christiansen My Reading Spot 20090908)

This book was a four and half star read, and it will certainly appeal to fans of Austen, P&P sequels and spirited, outspoken women alike.  (Trish Ramirez Horror and Fantasy Books 20090914)

This is a sweet romance book that an Austen fan should not miss. (Shoshana Ashley This Book For Free 20090915)

[A] book I'm sure Ms. Austen would appreciate. (Barbara Davis Everything Victorian 20090901)

[A]nother wonderful reading experience! (Amy Zelenka )

[M]y absolute favorite in the series... it is on my list of favorite Jane Austen sequels. (Grace Loiacano Grace's Book Blog 20090831)

[R]eaders, grab yourself a comfy spot on the couch and a nice cup of tea, and dig into the latest from Rebecca Ann Collins. You definitely won't be disappointed. (Bella McGuire A Bibliophile's Bookshelf 20090914)

an excellent example of the way Ms Collins skilfully blends people, locations and themes from "Pride and Prejudice" with her own cast of characters and a range of issues that were part of the historical context of Georgian and Victorian England. (Mary Anne Jones Reader Review 20090813)

About the Author
Rebecca Ann Collins is the pen name of an Australian lady who has written a series of 10 sequels to Pride and Prejudice, introducing new characters and bringing them into a new historical era. Thoroughly researched and beautifully written, this series has been extremely successful in Australia with over 80,000 books sold.

Customer Reviews

A Remarkable Woman - Ahead of her Time
My Cousin Caroline, Book Six in the wonderful Pemberley Chronicles series by author Rebecca Ann Collins, tells the story of Caroline Gardiner Fitzwilliam, daughter of original cast members Mr. and Mrs. Edward Gardiner of Cheapside and later Lambton; and wife of Col. Richard Fitzwilliam, Mr. Darcy's cousin.

Influenced by her elder cousins Lizzy and Jane, and romantically inspired by their loving relationships with Darcy and Bingley, Caroline (who first appeared as a child in Book One of "The Chronicles") has come of age. She's grown into a smart, strong, and tenacious woman (like so many of Jane Austen's characters). Married to "our favorite Colonel," Caroline has, unsurprisingly, known great joy in her life. She's also experienced tremendous sorrow. Both helped to make her a role model for her extended network of family and friends.

Readers of the series will recognize many of the plot lines and events which take place in this book from previous volumes. However, seeing them here, viewed and experienced through a different lens, affords the reader a sort of emotional validation. For me, it was like watching a wall of video screens whose cameras were all trained on the same location, but placed at different angles. Hence the viewer (or reader in our case) sees events on-screen unfolding from a variety of slightly different perspectives.

Caroline Fitzwilliam's complex character had been hinted at, touched upon, and alluded to in previous books in the series. But those references only teased this reader into wanting to know more about her. Caroline had been a peripheral character in Books 1 - 5, but here, she is a shining star - taking control of her life as she falls in love, marries, raises her children, supports her husband in his political career and helps run her father's business, when he falls ill. This is not your typical Victorian housewife.

Readers of the series will know that there are some difficult parts to read, which deal with the loss of two beloved children. I was reluctant to read them myself. However, like Lizzy at the piano, I managed to "fudge and slur my way through the difficult passages," to arrive at another wonderful reading experience!

Series readers will undoubtedly be pleased at the reappearance of Mr. Bennet and Mr. Collins in a humorous episode at Pemberley, where Mr. Bennet enjoys baiting his pompous, self- important and completely unwitting cousin, in much the same ways that he did in the original Pride and Prejudice (and to the great amusement of the rest of the company.)

For readers new to the series, the book can easily stand on its own, but I must warn you... the characters (new and old) are addicting! You'll want to read more... and luckily, there are many more volumes in this series to read--both before and after My Cousin Caroline.

If You Like Austen- You Will Like This
Written in much the same style and tradition of her predecessor, Jane Austen, the author brings to life the endearing love story of Caroline Gardiner and Mr. Darcy's cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam.

The novel takes place in a time of tremendous upheaval in England; a time of great economic depression and public unrest. Due to the writer's vast knowledge of the political history and cultural norms of that period, the reader can glean a wealth of insight into the era, while enjoying the familiar characters found in Jane Austen's original classic novel, Pride and Prejudice.

As an Austen fan, I found this masterfully written and historically interesting. It's a book I'm sure Ms. Austen would appreciate.

Austen fan? My Cousin Caroline carries on the story of beloved characters - a must read!
Synopsis:

My Cousin Caroline builds on two well liked characters in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Colonel Fitzwilliam, cousin to Fitzwilliam Darcy, who had been portrayed as an agreeable and attractive gentleman who only lacked wealth to be considered an eligible bachelor discovers, woos and marries Caroline Gardiner, cousin to Elizabeth Bennett Darcy.

In Pride and Prejudice, the Gardiners stood out as a sensible and refined middle class family, the family that Elizabeth enjoyed visiting and trusted to help when her sister Lydia eloped. Caroline carries on these sensibilities - she is educated, sensitive, generous, and interested in the world around her. My Cousin Caroline covers Caroline's life from a young girl to her growth through the years. We learn of her reformist tendencies, her support of her husband's political aspirations, and involvement in the suffrage movement, the difficulties that she faced raising her children, her involvement in her father's trading business, and her constant love and friendship of the Darcys.

Review:

My Cousin Caroline is an enjoyable extension of the adventures of the characters from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. We glimpse enough of Elizabeth and Darcy to know that they are a central part of the action but Caroline and her husband remain the lead characters in the novel. This allows Rebecca Ann Collins to develop a fresh new story altogether while retaining the flavor of Pride and Prejudice. My Cousin Caroline covers a much longer period and brings a sense of the sort of life the Colonel and Caroline as well as Darcy and Elizabeth might have had as they became grandparents surrounded by large and loving families.

Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (September 1, 2009), 352 pages.
Courtesy of the publisher and author.