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A review by philippakmoore
Charlotte by Helen Moffett
4.0
As a die-hard Pride and Prejudice (and Jane Austen in general) fan, having adored the story and characters since I was a child, I have long resisted any sequel or fan-fic by modern writers that involves reimagining this beloved story in any way. It felt like dangerous territory to me, best left alone.
However, after reading Charlotte, I'm beginning to think I've missed a trick. This book very convincingly reimagines that beloved world and characters, through the perspective of a minor character. And it really works.
Charlotte gives us, as the title suggests, the untold story of Charlotte Lucas and her marriage to Mr Collins. I have long been fascinated by the character of Charlotte, whom many feminist scholars have held up over the years as a character that represents the reality that faced the majority of women, including Jane Austen herself, during that period. As appalled as Charlotte's best friend Elizabeth Bennet is at her decision to marry Mr Collins, a man Lizzy herself has rejected as repulsive, Charlotte's choice is entirely understandable. Whether she loved Mr Collins or even liked him was rather immaterial - for a 'plain' woman, marriage was her ticket out of spinsterhood, being a burden to her family (particularly her brothers who would be honour-bound to support her after the death of their father) and having an insecure future. Love was for those who could afford it.
Charlotte ends up having a very fulfilling life as mistress of her own domain, Hunsford Parsonage, and she and Mr Collins, while still over-effusive and odd, do become a good team, in marriage, life and parenthood. The details of her housekeeping and the fruits (and other products) of the estate are so interesting and enjoyable to read. And there are flashbacks to the scenes we all remember from the original told from Charlotte's perspective (and I appreciated the author's note as to why she reimagined some scenes in a certain way), so this tale is very much anchored in that universe and convincingly so. I particularly enjoyed the reappearance of Lady Catherine de Bourgh and the evolution of Anne de Bourgh's story, another minor character from the original who is brought to life and given a lot more to do in this story. It was also highly amusing to hear the fate of Lydia Bennet/Wickham!
This book was 5 stars until almost the end. On a month or so long visit to her friend Mrs Darcy at Pemberley, Charlotte becomes acquainted with Jacob Rosenstein, an instrument repairer and talented musician from Austria, hired by the Darcys to fix their very expensive pianoforte. They spend a lot of time together, and Jacob becomes very much a part of the Darcy family for the duration of Charlotte and her daughters' visit. For most of the book, it appears that this spark between Charlotte and Jacob, while felt strongly by both, culminated in an intense embrace towards the end of the visit but nothing more. So I presumed. And, to be honest, I would have preferred that. I felt it would have been more realistic, and more true to Charlotte's character, had the connection never gone any further than some intense moments of unexpressed longing, and the meaningful embrace. There is something in choosing not to take a spark or connection further, to preserve the preciousness of what you already share with the other person. I realise those moments are not always what great novels are made of....but perhaps they should be.
So I was disappointed that it is eventually revealed that Charlotte and Jacob did indeed succumb to temptation - and the sex scene is quite jarring to read. It felt very out of place with everything that had gone before - but perhaps that was the intention, to reveal a lustier, more human side to Charlotte, the dutiful clergyman's wife and doting mother (it should be noted that for all of the book she is grieving the loss of her youngest child who dies as a toddler, so perhaps this strange act is mean to be reflective of that, I'm not sure). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for an erotic scene - this just really didn't work for me, given everything else that I'd read and enjoyed up to that point.
The above is the only reason that Charlotte gets 4 stars from me and not 5 - otherwise, it is a wonderful, enthralling read that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves Pride and Prejudice but, like me, feared that reading a reimagined version of it might ruin the original. Far from it. For these strange times, stepping into a beloved familiar story again is a great deal of fun and much-needed escapism.
With many thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.
However, after reading Charlotte, I'm beginning to think I've missed a trick. This book very convincingly reimagines that beloved world and characters, through the perspective of a minor character. And it really works.
Charlotte gives us, as the title suggests, the untold story of Charlotte Lucas and her marriage to Mr Collins. I have long been fascinated by the character of Charlotte, whom many feminist scholars have held up over the years as a character that represents the reality that faced the majority of women, including Jane Austen herself, during that period. As appalled as Charlotte's best friend Elizabeth Bennet is at her decision to marry Mr Collins, a man Lizzy herself has rejected as repulsive, Charlotte's choice is entirely understandable. Whether she loved Mr Collins or even liked him was rather immaterial - for a 'plain' woman, marriage was her ticket out of spinsterhood, being a burden to her family (particularly her brothers who would be honour-bound to support her after the death of their father) and having an insecure future. Love was for those who could afford it.
Charlotte ends up having a very fulfilling life as mistress of her own domain, Hunsford Parsonage, and she and Mr Collins, while still over-effusive and odd, do become a good team, in marriage, life and parenthood. The details of her housekeeping and the fruits (and other products) of the estate are so interesting and enjoyable to read. And there are flashbacks to the scenes we all remember from the original told from Charlotte's perspective (and I appreciated the author's note as to why she reimagined some scenes in a certain way), so this tale is very much anchored in that universe and convincingly so. I particularly enjoyed the reappearance of Lady Catherine de Bourgh and the evolution of Anne de Bourgh's story, another minor character from the original who is brought to life and given a lot more to do in this story. It was also highly amusing to hear the fate of Lydia Bennet/Wickham!
This book was 5 stars until almost the end. On a month or so long visit to her friend Mrs Darcy at Pemberley, Charlotte becomes acquainted with Jacob Rosenstein, an instrument repairer and talented musician from Austria, hired by the Darcys to fix their very expensive pianoforte. They spend a lot of time together, and Jacob becomes very much a part of the Darcy family for the duration of Charlotte and her daughters' visit. For most of the book, it appears that this spark between Charlotte and Jacob, while felt strongly by both, culminated in an intense embrace towards the end of the visit but nothing more. So I presumed. And, to be honest, I would have preferred that. I felt it would have been more realistic, and more true to Charlotte's character, had the connection never gone any further than some intense moments of unexpressed longing, and the meaningful embrace. There is something in choosing not to take a spark or connection further, to preserve the preciousness of what you already share with the other person. I realise those moments are not always what great novels are made of....but perhaps they should be.
So I was disappointed that it is eventually revealed that Charlotte and Jacob did indeed succumb to temptation - and the sex scene is quite jarring to read. It felt very out of place with everything that had gone before - but perhaps that was the intention, to reveal a lustier, more human side to Charlotte, the dutiful clergyman's wife and doting mother (it should be noted that for all of the book she is grieving the loss of her youngest child who dies as a toddler, so perhaps this strange act is mean to be reflective of that, I'm not sure). Don't get me wrong, I'm all for an erotic scene - this just really didn't work for me, given everything else that I'd read and enjoyed up to that point.
The above is the only reason that Charlotte gets 4 stars from me and not 5 - otherwise, it is a wonderful, enthralling read that I would highly recommend to anyone who loves Pride and Prejudice but, like me, feared that reading a reimagined version of it might ruin the original. Far from it. For these strange times, stepping into a beloved familiar story again is a great deal of fun and much-needed escapism.
With many thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.