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sumatra_squall 's review for:
Death Comes To Pemberley
by P.D. James
I've only ever read one book by PD James - it must have been almost two decades ago. I can't remember the title of the book and I can't have found it a great read since I was never tempted to pick up another PD James novel again. Until Death Comes to Pemberley. Because I LOVE Pride and Prejudice and hoped that this book, like the splendid BBC production of the novel, would allow me to extend the romance.
Alas, Death Comes to Pemberley fell short of what were, admittedly, high expectations (I wonder why PD James, who has a well established reputation, decided to do a sequel to this well-loved tale? It's not as if she needs to ride on Austen's popularity to sell books). Yes, the familiar characters - Elizabeth, Darcy, Col Fitzwilliam (now the Viscount Hartlep), Jane, Bingley, the Gardiners and yes...Wickham and Lydia are here. But part of the magic of the original Pride and Prejudice was how Austen recreated Regency era society with all its codes and strictures through the dialogue of the characters. And the dialogue in Death Comes to Pemberley comes across as stilted and wooden by comparison. PD James' Elizabeth lacks the wit and vitality that made the character in Austen's novel. And so much of the dialogue in the first half of Death Comes to Pemberley, in particular, is purely functional - to get those who are not familiar with Pride and Prejudice up to speed with the developments in the original novel - and lacks the vividness and spark of the original.
I might have liked it better had PD James written a straightforward murder mystery set in the Regency period. But whether out of intellectual conceit or other reasons, she has chosen to centre her novel around Austen's most famous couple (and even tries to weave in some characters from Austen's Persuasion, which also upset me inexplicably). I'm admittedly not a neutral reader but I think her gambit failed and it cheapened the novel somewhat. Read only if you're a non Austen fan. You're better off re-watching the BBC production if you want to recapture some of that Pride and Prejudice magic. Or better yet, read Pride and Prejudice again for the nth time.
Alas, Death Comes to Pemberley fell short of what were, admittedly, high expectations (I wonder why PD James, who has a well established reputation, decided to do a sequel to this well-loved tale? It's not as if she needs to ride on Austen's popularity to sell books). Yes, the familiar characters - Elizabeth, Darcy, Col Fitzwilliam (now the Viscount Hartlep), Jane, Bingley, the Gardiners and yes...Wickham and Lydia are here. But part of the magic of the original Pride and Prejudice was how Austen recreated Regency era society with all its codes and strictures through the dialogue of the characters. And the dialogue in Death Comes to Pemberley comes across as stilted and wooden by comparison. PD James' Elizabeth lacks the wit and vitality that made the character in Austen's novel. And so much of the dialogue in the first half of Death Comes to Pemberley, in particular, is purely functional - to get those who are not familiar with Pride and Prejudice up to speed with the developments in the original novel - and lacks the vividness and spark of the original.
I might have liked it better had PD James written a straightforward murder mystery set in the Regency period. But whether out of intellectual conceit or other reasons, she has chosen to centre her novel around Austen's most famous couple (and even tries to weave in some characters from Austen's Persuasion, which also upset me inexplicably). I'm admittedly not a neutral reader but I think her gambit failed and it cheapened the novel somewhat. Read only if you're a non Austen fan. You're better off re-watching the BBC production if you want to recapture some of that Pride and Prejudice magic. Or better yet, read Pride and Prejudice again for the nth time.