GUEST REVIEW: Introducing Mrs. Collins by Rachel Parris

ABOUT THE BOOK

Just in time for Jane Austen’s 250th birthday comes the story of Elizabeth Bennet’s best friend, Charlotte Lucas, in this heartfelt and mesmerizing sequel to Pride and Prejudice.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a woman deserves to be the heroine of her own story. 

Charlotte Lucas has never been a romantic. Practical to a fault, she accepted Mr. Collins's proposal with clear eyes and a steady heart, trading passion for security. Life at Hunsford Parsonage may be quiet and predictable, but it is hers to manage—and she's determined to make the best of it, whatever her friend Elizabeth Bennet may think. 

That is, until an unexpected guest at nearby Rosings Park turns Charlotte's careful world on its head. He sees her, challenges her, and a spark is lit. 

Torn between what she must do and what she truly desires, Charlotte finds herself at the center of a story she never expected to be hers. A tale of love, loss, and second chances, Introducing Mrs. Collins is for anyone who wondered if there was more to the sensible character we met in Pride and Prejudice. It is the story of a woman who had written herself out of her own life and is only now daring to want more.

OPENING LINES

“…Charlotte had lived for twenty-seven years doing the right thing. She had been, at varying times, dutiful, obedient, prudent, and polite – at least in public. Whether or not this was the right thing was yet to be determined, but it was her choice, and hers alone, and that in itself gave it merit.”

Introducing Mrs. Collins: A Novel by Rachel Parris

GUEST REVIEW by Sophia Rose

Charlotte shines in author Rachel Parris’ debut novel, Introducing Mrs. Collins. Charlotte is the voice of every woman in history who had to set her dreams aside for the practical, and her story was well told.

Beginning at the point in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice when Charlotte Lucas says yes to a man who would only be anyone’s idea of a prize on paper.  And that was exactly how prosaic Charlotte chose, too. Collins is not a bad man; he’s not hideous in appearance, he comes with a home, an income, and a future inheritance. She regrettably sets aside the aspects her friend Lizzy refused to stomach and takes the one chance she suspects she’ll ever have for security and a home of her own.

Introducing Mrs. Collins, like Charlotte, is not romantic in the traditional sense. There is the bittersweet taste of having to settle, but also a gentle note of hope that builds within this mismatched pair who are not only what they have been led to think.

I was delightfully surprised to see other integral characters fleshed out and given voice: Charlotte’s mother who grieved that her favorite child wasn’t getting a love match; Mr. Collins who is not the usual buffoon depicted in the screen adaptions and Austenesque variations and is a shy, socially awkward man with a sad past (as Austen wrote him, actually); and Lady Catherine who is the autocratic lady–and something else.

Charlotte learns that romantic love is a real thing and feels the force of it with a man she can’t have, who truly sees her and sees a woman of some beauty, talent, and intellect. She is a woman who must face the temptation and choose.

This was an achingly beautiful tale because prose and style were all they ought to be. Rachel Parris made Charlotte and the fully fledged characters who shared her story people I wanted to know and read about in a quiet, unputdownable way.

Rachel Parris, author, BAFTA-nominated comedian, podcaster, and founding member of the improv group, Austentatious.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rachel Parris is a BAFTA-nominated comedian, podcaster, and founding member of the improv group, Austentatious. She is the author of Advice from Strangers: Everything I Know from People I Don’t Know, a comedic advice book for living in the modern world. Introducing Mrs. Collins is her debut novel. She lives in London, England.

ABOUT SOPHIA ROSE, Guest reviewer

Sophia Rose, reviewer

Sophia is a quiet, curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants, and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and a loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, baseball, cats, Scooby Doo, and chocolate. As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. In 2012, she submitted her first book review and is currently an associate reviewer.

Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener, which allows her to experience many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction, particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Sorry, no horror...or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby. Connect with Sophia via FACEBOOK GOODREADS TWITTER