The Ladies of Rosings Park

Book excerpt: At first glance, Anne de Bourgh doesn't seem a promising heroine. But beneath that quiet exterior, there's a lively mind at work, imagining how one day she will escape her poor health and her mother's domination to find love and a life worth living. Now Anne finally gets the chance to speak her mind. But Lady Catherine demands equal time. Even Charlotte Collins and Mrs. Jenkinson get into the act. Chapter by chapter, these ladies of Rosings Park take turns telling the tale from the moment Elizabeth Bennet sets foot in Hunsford, changing everything. Is Anne heartbroken or relieved to discover Mr. Darcy will never marry her? As an heiress, even a sickly one, she must have other suitors. Does Lady Catherine gracefully accept the defeat of her original plan or keep conniving? Will Anne's health ever improve? And what really happened to her father? Complete in itself, this work expands The Darcys of Pemberley series laterally, beginning during the timeline of Pride and Prejudice and carrying beyond to reveal the rest of Anne's story. When a young lady is to be a heroine... something must and will happen to throw a hero in her way. (Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey)