A review by bookbelle5_17
Charlotte by Helen Moffett

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Review of Charlotte
By: Helen Moffett
            Charlotte willingly chose to marry Mr. Collins, despite not loving him, but she is actually contented.  Unfortunately, the couple’s only son doesn’t live past infancy, but the Collins are not grieving together.  After Lizzie Darcy has another miscarriage, she invites Charlotte with her daughters to stay with her for the summer for comfort.  While at Pemberley, Charlotte, meets the handsome and intelligent Jacob Rosenstein, the piano repair man, and she experiences a true romantic passion she never thought she could have.
            What Janice Hadlow did for Mary Bennet in The Other Bennet Sister, Helen Moffett did for Charlotte.  Charlotte is a character that made this desperate choice to marry a man she didn’t love. A man that was best described as odious and a bit of a sycophant.  Lizzie cannot imagine her friend being happy or even being contented with Mr. Collins, but she actually is.  The novel starts with the child’s death, but we get flashbacks of her life after she is married to Mr. Collins.  Like The Other Bennet Sister, “Charlotte” puts Mr. Collins in a new light.  Charlotte sees his merits and positive traits like how he is a good husband and father.  You find out he missed Charlotte and his daughters while they were away and learns to appreciate them.  The character of Anne de Bourgh, Lady Catherine’s daughter, also gets her due in this novel.  We see she feels trapped in her life and her only consolation is going abroad.  She is a fun and clever character that dresses as a man and finds ways to gain her freedom in the only way she can.  She plays the same role that Charlotte played in The Other Bennet Sister for Mary, an advisor, and a friend when she felt alone.  Jacob as a character is likable, reader, and has a passion for music.  He’s a character you would fall in love with and someone you could see Charlotte falling for.  He sees her beauty and what others fail to see.  The story also deals with grief in a very real way.  The couple doesn’t deal with it in a way they should.  They don’t grieve together, but Charlotte has friends and her daughters while Mir. Collins grieves alone.  He won’t talk to his wife, which isn’t helping him, and isn’t good for their marriage.   If cheating is a deal breaker for you, I warn you, it is in there.  We also get a miscarriage and death of a child.   This is a great story that looks at a character that makes a choice out necessity only and we see how it turns out.  
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