Meryton Vignettes

Tales of Pride and Prejudice

By: Elizabeth Adams

Narrated by: Brigid Lohrey

In this collection of six short stories, the people of Pride and Prejudice move on, grow up, and explore paths not taken. Time leads these beloved characters down roads of self-discovery, courage, and heartbreak. And sometimes the journey takes them to surprising places.

©2016 Elizabeth Adams (P)2017 Elizabeth Adams

Questions We Ask Ourselves in the Shower

5 stars, no notes.

Ha ha. I'm only slightly kidding. This one is wonderful, especially if you like short stories. This is not a happy collection, but it is a very good one that explores the kinds of questions we ask ourselves in the shower after contemplating the time and world these characters inhabit. The cruel limitations of social rank, the precarious position of women in marriage, the dangers of childbirth, the ignorance of sexual realities, and the pitfalls of choosing poorly are all examined in these stories with a brutal honesty softened by...well, I think the best word for it is "whimsy."

If you love JAFF, you are very likely to enjoy this one. The narrator is one of my favorites from this genre, and I recommend this title with open enthusiasm.

The stories are as follows (no spoilers):

1.) Charlotte Collins
The opening story describes Charlotte's early days as Longbourn's new mistress, The mixture of sadness, nostalgia, regret, and ambition that our practical Charlotte experiences turns this short little snapshot into a thought-provoking set of questions that I sat with for several days after reading it.

2.) Caroline Bingley
I laughed out loud with this one, and more than once. The single-minded determination of a thwarted Miss Bingley is dealt with in full. We get to watch her petulance and anger become resolve and acceptance as she faces a future without Mister Darcy.

3.) Elizabeth Bennet
This is a very well-written and melancholy vignette about a friendship from her childhood that forms the basis of Lizzy's beliefs about social station, unequal marriages, and the behavior of a good man who knows what it means to truly love a woman.

4.) Mrs. Bennet
A look at the special fears and vulnerabilities for women "of a certain age." It's very good. That's all I can say without ruining it.

5.) Elizabeth Collins
A what-if scenario about an unwanted wedding night. This story contains the only overtly sexual content in this collection, and it is done discreetly. It explores a few of the questions modern readers might ask of the period, the sexually suppressed culture, and the limits of a woman's power in the marriage bed.

6 & 7.) Lydia Wickham
A 2-part look at the potential realities of marriage to a man like George Wickham in a time when domestic battery was not a crime and a wife was her husband's property. The first part explores the aftermath of domestic abuse and the second part gives us hope for the future. There is no graphic detailing of violence in this story, but the resulting injuries and devastation of abuse are described with excruciating frankness.

Wonderful

This is a wonderful collection of stories. I truly hope that more books are available from this author soon.

Too short.

I enjoy short stories, but most of these ended too quickly. And kind of pointless. I didn’t like how quickly the women came to the decision of how to take care of Wickham. Way too far out of character. All in all, not much redeeming value.