There is an awful lot of Jane Austen fan fiction and some of it is absolutely dreadful. This is actually pretty good although not quite living up to the promise of the early chapters. I’m always interested in hearing what may have happened to the minor characters and I’ve always felt that Mr Collins couldn’t have been quite as dreadful a buffoon. as he was portrayed. I always had a soft spot for Charlotte Lucas and her pragmatic approach to marriage in an era when women had so few choices. The book started well dealing with a particularly sad situation for the Collins family. Unfortunately it gradually became less engaging and the introduction of a painfully-perfect possible lover quite ruined the whole thing.. Whether Charlotte succumbed you will have to read for yourself to find out. Did enjoy the dramatic trajectory of Anne de Bourgh and the humanisation of Mr Collins. In the acknowledgements Ms Moffet speaks of Jo Baker’s Longbourn as a influence and an exemplar of alternative views of Pride and Prejudice . This book doesn’t quite rise to the heights of Longbourn. It is however reasonably entertaining though some of the language seems anachronistic. If you enjoyed this book ( or the idea of it) you may also enjoy Janice Hadlow’s The Other Bennet Sister which is about Mary and also offers an interesting alternative view of Mr Collins and Charlotte