Book Blurb:
Easter of 1799 has arrived and a jolly gathering at Netherfield is anticipated of Elizabeth, Darcy and Georgiana together with the Bennets, Gardiners, Philipses, Colonel Fitzwilliam and others. But when Darcy and Bingley visit London, Darcy returns a day early and is evidently out of sorts. Elizabeth puzzles over Darcy’s obvious disquiet but he doesn’t explain himself.
A visit from Caroline Bingley, her friend the raffish Viscount Cedric Morley and Lydia adds to the puzzle. Darcy’s unsettled mood continues. He and Bingley appear to be having a lot of quiet chats, and plan another visit to London.
Since Darcy neglects to tell her what is going on, Elizabeth looks for signs and formulates her own theories. Darcy is much engaged over his intention to start a papermill in Derbyshire and to that end he visits a mill in Hertfordshire and plans visits to a mill in Kent as well as to London, ostensibly in connection with the sale of his London house. Elizabeth is discomfited by his absences and feels that she is being deceived. Her imagination starts to run riot.
As the festivities at Netherfield continue, the romances of Colonel Fitzwilliam with Elizabeth’s friend Harriet Layham, and between Lieutenant Colonel Harvey and Kitty progress and Georgiana attracts an admirer. Meanwhile, Elizabeth frets and the mystery deepens.
Written in a classic, easy-to-read, literary style, ‘Easter At Netherfield’, the third book in the Elizabeth Bennet series, is another well-researched account of life in the late eighteenth century for the landed gentry and others and again is a tribute to literary icon Jane Austen for creating such interesting characters.
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/B8rbU
Author Bio:
I was a practising solicitor for several decades and at various times worked in most of the basic areas covered by general practice in England (crime, family, employment, civil litigation, wills, probate and property). I ran a small solicitor’s practice from my home near Colchester until 2020 when I retired and since then have concentrated on writing and promoting my novels. I’m a member of several writer's groups in Essex and Suffolk. Some of my earlier novels were originally published under the pen name of Julie Langham.
My love of reading led to writing informally on and off during the 1990s and 2000s but I thought the "day job" didn’t allow time for me to write more seriously. In about 2012 I made a firm decision to find the time and started work on a romantic/crime novel set in a solicitors' practice, ‘The Ardent Intern’ (previously titled ‘Internment’). This turned into 5 novels in the same series, Colchester Law World, charting the lives of different characters over about 10 years: "As The Clock Struck Ten" followed, a novel involving a family's difficulties after a separation whose lives take an unpleasant turn when a character decides to upset everything.
The next novel, "The Unreliable Placebo" is purely humorous and doesn’t involve crime. Instead it documents the path of a separated woman trying to sort out her life.
My third stand-alone novel is ‘Class of ’97’, a mystery with several powerful themes: obsession, nature–v‒nurture, the human condition and how past events can spectacularly affect the present.
I can guarantee that you won't be able to predict the outcome of the past events or the ultimate
position in which the main characters are left, revealed at the very end of the book.
Next, I went back to a series. It’s a cosy crime series featuring a Detective Inspector, Roz
Benedict, who, after leaving the force, starts a detective agency with her friend and neighbour,
Kate. While still a DI, Roz struggles in ‘Compromised’ with her attraction to a solicitor
acquaintance from two decades ago who has secrets she’s afraid to acknowledge, after the
murder of a Romanian girl. Five more novellas followed in this series.
Having never seriously written historical fiction, in 2022 I decided to write a novel based on ‘Pride & Prejudice’, my favourite Jane Austen book. I wanted to make it as authentic as possible both regarding Georgian/Regency period and the content of ‘Pride & Prejudice’, never realising quite how much research would be involved. My lifetime job as a solicitor helped with the plot. The result was a ‘Pride & Prejudice’ prequel entitled ‘Intrigue At Longbourn’. I was ready to publish it in June 2023, by which time I had almost finished a sequel ‘Menace At Pemberley’ which I published in July 2023 and which takes up the story of Lizzy and Darcy immediately after they are married. A further sequel, ‘Easter At Netherfield’, was published in January 2024 and my latest book, ‘Georgiana Darcy’s London Season’ is nearly finished and should be published by the end of 2024.
It has been an immense pleasure and honour to be able to work with such an outstanding novel as ‘Pride & Prejudice’ which provides endless strings to develop into new plots and add a few new characters.
I quite frequently blog and post about the research I’ve done and continue to do, mainly on
various Facebook groups connected with Jane Austen/’Pride and Prejudice’ and these blogs also appear in my website.
Now back to me. I don’t like the pigeon-holing and restrictions of genres. Good writing can be in any genre. A sci-fi novel which I started I regrettably abandoned though it’s not the only false start. If time allowed, I’d go back to all of them and try to finish them.
I live in North Essex and have two grown up sons. The writers' group Write Now! based near Bury St. Edmunds has proved so helpful over the years in getting me to the point where I can accept myself as an author, and not just someone who scribbles secretly in their spare time under cover of darkness. Being a solicitor has proved useful in coming up with ideas and backgrounds, but the main source of my work is the imagination, a place which knows no bounds and offers endless unexpected scenes, characters and settings. There's no other place in the universe like it!
Editorial Review:
“Elizabeth found that all of her anger had suddenly abandoned her. She studied her hands as she turned them in her lap. The subject embarrassed her, she felt like a child who had been caught out. But really why should she? If anyone should feel ashamed, it should be him. Should she evade answering this precise question yet again? Should she respond indignantly that he had created this problem, that he could not now twist everything to make it appear that she was somehow at fault?
“Easter at Netherfield” is Book Three in Gill Mather’s Elizabeth Bennet series. It can also be read as a standalone novel, as this reviewer has very happily done. The great advantage of reading a Pride and Prejudice variation is the longed-for opportunity to follow Elizabeth’s married life with Darcy on the written page, where situations and conversations continue to develop and provide more insight into Austen’s legendary characters. Who among us has not secretly wished that Austen had added just a few more chapters to her iconic book? Mather’s writing is detailed, and the scenes she has created allow the reader to see more deeply into the emotions and personalities of all of the familiar characters, particularly Elizabeth and Darcy.
Elizabeth and Darcy are newly-weds, and Elizabeth has recently confirmed she is expecting a baby. But a situation from Darcy’s past causes tension between Elizabeth and Darcy, and Darcy’s business hopes mean that he must also focus on those plans. There is still much love between them, but absence and assumption cause misunderstandings (in ways that readers of Pride and Prejudice may be familiar with!). An Easter gathering acts a catalyst and wider family drama adds to Elizabeth’s concerns. There are appearances by Caroline Bingley, and dare this reviewer say it, the first traces of sympathy may be evoked in the reader for Elizabeth’s (and Jane’s) nemesis. It is also a highlight to read of Georgiana again, and the younger Bennet sisters who are finding their own paths. For those readers who against their better judgment require an update on Mr Collins (he of the ill-fated proposal), he is now a doting father.
As with any new book that expands on characters already so firmly set in every reader’s mind, there may well be differing views as to the faithfulness of Mather’s interpretation and development of personality and the continuation of the storyline – but that is a subjective decision for every reader. At times Elizabeth appears reticent and also petulant; these were not traits that were readily noticeable in the original work. At other times her depiction as a newly-wed, settling into life with her husband and managing her ongoing family concerns is highly compelling. There is also an extensive focus on Darcy’s business plans and the related technical details. Mather has clearly undertaken in-depth research to ensure the accuracy of the storyline she has chosen. This does provide the reader with a wider view of Elizabeth’s times, but also takes the reader away from the social intrigues and family interactions that were the hallmark of Austen’s book.
“Easter at Netherfield” contains a range of conversations, and Mather uses this dialogue to progress the storyline. This can mean that some of the dialogue tends towards exposition, but other exchanges contain wonderful wit and sharp observation, in the best traditions of Austen:
“Caroline, if I could speak a little more plainly, your conduct towards me and my family demonstrated very clearly that you held us in low esteem. Some of the things you said were scornful. It is a form of cruelty, and, I would submit, not an obviously attractive feature. A man observing you might well be repelled. Of course, I have not made a close study of you. I have had no cause to. But you may have similarly treated others and therefore unwittingly portrayed yourself as unkind or appeared so in the eyes of others.”
The character arcs within the novel are authentic, and the storyline is well-paced. Pride and Prejudice has a wide cast of characters and Mather introduces more, yet the relationships and connections between them are clearly apparent to the reader and skilfully woven together by the author. There is a happy ending, and also an intriguing bonus chapter which demonstrates that Book Four will be another great read for those of us who love to travel to Austen-land!
“Easter at Netherfield” by Gill Mather is a stand-out for this reviewer as an addition to the genre of Pride and Prejudice variations/continuations. Mather has shown Elizabeth and Darcy in the early months of their marriage, in highly relatable circumstances. They are preparing for parenthood, with both business and family concerns. On top of that, Darcy is grappling with an issue from his past and his inability to confide properly in Elizabeth leads to misunderstanding and further miscommunication. It is a daunting task to delve into one of English literature’s legendary marriages and Mather succeeds in this with aplomb, showing how even two people so much in love still have lessons to learn. And now to Georgiana and that bonus chapter…
*****
"Easter at Netherfield" by Gill Mather receives 4 stars from The Historical Fiction Company
To have your historical novel editorially reviewed and/or enter the HFC Book of the Year contest, please visit www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/book-awards/award-submission
Comments