Reflections

Charlotte Collins has always been prudent and proper. Marrying Mr. Collins may not have led to a life of love and passion, but it was the careful thing to do. Now that Mr. Collins has died in an accident she would like to live a simple, quiet life in the cottage she’s renting from Lady Catherine de Bourgh. When her impulsive, marriage-obsessed sister Maria moves in with her, however, Charlotte must act as a chaperone and she finds herself attending all manner of social functions, including balls. Of course young, vivacious Maria attracts a lot of male attention, but to her surprise Charlotte finds herself catching the eye of not one but two gentlemen, a relation of Lady de Bourgh and a brazen American who is the uncle of the handsome man Maria has her heart set on. Charlotte’s desire to behave in an appropriate, society approved manner is thwarted, and personal disaster looms, when she discovers she is not the discerning judge of character she believed herself to be. Like her friend Elizabeth Bennet, Charlotte finds love and more happiness than she thought possible after reexamining the truth of circumstances she thought she understood completely. There are two Jennifer Becton re-imaginings of the characters from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice--a short story about the marriage of Charlotte’s sister Maria, and another book length treatment of how Caroline Bingley finds love, almost in spite of herself, after losing Darcy to Elizabeth Bennet. All three are available on Amazon in inexpensive, and occasionally free, Kindle formats.