New Fancies

If you read my blogs, then you know I am a devout devotee of Jane Austen's. So, I was very excited to receive an e-mail from Sourcebooks, Inc., a publishing company, asking if I would like to read a couple of books and review them. I replied that I would be delighted.

Here are the press releases for the books, which I will receive soon:

The First Jane Austen Sequel Ever Written is Finally Republished!


If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Jane Austen should feel adequately flattered by modern-day authors. However, the Jane Austen sequel is not a modern creation. The first ever Jane Austen sequel was published in 1914 and quickly became a hit among Austen fans eager for more. However, that once beloved first sequel has been unavailable to readers for nearly a decade.

Sourcebooks, Inc. is proud to once again bring the original Jane Austen sequel into the hands of Austen lovers, Old Friends and New Fancies: An Imaginary Sequel to the Novels of Jane Austen by Sybil G. Brinton (ISBN: 978-1-4022-0888-1; July 2007; $14.95 U.S./$19.95 CAN; Paperback)


Charles Wenz, Life Member of the Jane Austen Society, calls Old Friends and New Fancies “the ultimate Jane Austen sequel.” Unlike other sequels, which focus on just one Austen classic, Brinton’s novel impressively intertwines the lives of the most beloved characters from all six. Making use of references made to the characters by Jane Austen herself, documented in her nephew’s memoir, Brinton brings together all the characters left standing at the end of the novels—particularly the unmarried ones—for an inventive and entertaining story of matchmaking.

About the Author

Little is known of Sybil G. Brinton. It is believed that Ms. Brinton was born in England in the 1870s, and that she was in her late thirties when her book was published. She describes her work as a “little attempt at picturing the after-adventures of some of Jane Austen’s characters.”

And the second:

Letters from Pemberley

The Story Lives on in this Enchanting and Celebrated Sequel to Pride and Prejudice


Originally self-published, Letters from Pemberley achieved great success, selling over 8,000 copies and receiving four stars and 88 reviews on Amazon. Sourcebooks, Inc. is proud to finally give this book its proper place in the bookselling market so it can reach even more Austen lovers.

Letters from Pemberley: The First Year by Jane Dawkins (ISBN: 978-1-4022-0906-2; May 2007; $13.95 U.S./ $17.95 CAN; paperback) has been praised by Susan Watkins, author of Jane Austen: In Style as “[D]elightful . . . it is great fun. Well done, Jane Dawkins!” Susannah Fullerton, President of The Jane Austen Society of Australia calls the book “[A] pleasant and believable story . . . an enjoyable read.”

Rather than a sequel, this book more closely resembles an old-fashioned patchwork quilt, combining Austen’s ideas, language and historical context with Dawkins’s original story. Dawkins caringly gives Austen her due, incorporating a line or a phrase or a sentence from one of Jane Austen’s books or letters into every piece of her tale about Elizabeth Bennet’s first eventful year at Pemberley.

About the Author

Jane Dawkins has been an Austen fan most of her life. Born in Palestine, she grew up in Wiltshire, neighboring county to Jane Austen’s Hampshire. This book is a product of her curiosity about Elizabeth’s first days at Pemberley and her study of not only Austen’s life but also her times. Dawkins aspires for her readers to be as entertained by reading this book as she was by writing it.