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The Elizabeth Bennet Series #1
Intrigue At Longbourn: A Pride & Prejudice Prequel
…Imagine how it was before Netherfield is let.
‘Intrigue At Longbourn’ is probably the most authentic ‘Pride & Prejudice’ derivative you will ever read.
Elizabeth Bennet enjoys a lively six months before Netherfield Park is let at last. She is appalled to learn that a pregnant teenage kitchen maid, Alice, was dismissed from Longbourn House eight or nine years earlier with no thought for her welfare or that of her unborn child.
Unable to involve her family on the occasion, she approaches the recently arrived, handsome, young rector of Longbourn parish, Mr Wilde, and he agrees to assist her in secret. Their apparently clandestine association is noticed and misinterpreted by some.
Meanwhile, to secure the family’s future, Mr Bennet embarks on a complicated, high-risk scheme which is ultimately in danger of spiralling out of control.
Holidays provide welcome diversions and the social scene is enhanced by a young scientist named Julius Fairweather.
Nevertheless, father’s and daughter’s separate manoeuvres inevitably clash, stoked up by a jealous mischief-maker, as the summer races inexorably towards Michaelmas of 1797 when a young man of large fortune named Bingley first enters the neighbourhood.
…Become better acquainted with the characters in Jane Austen’s magnificent ‘Pride & Prejudice’ and prepare yourself for the sequel, ‘Menace At Pemberley’…
…Witness the first encounters between Elizabeth and Darcy…
…Read the first chapter of ‘Menace At Pemberley’ which begins immediately after Elizabeth and Darcy marry and continues with a large Christmas family gathering at Pemberley as foretold in ‘Pride & Prejudice’…
Written in a classic, easy-to-read, literary style, ‘Intrigue At Longbourn’ is a well-researched account of life in the late eighteenth century for the landed gentry and others and is a tribute to literary icon Jane Austen.
‘Intrigue At Longbourn’ is probably the most authentic ‘Pride & Prejudice’ derivative you will ever read.
Elizabeth Bennet enjoys a lively six months before Netherfield Park is let at last. She is appalled to learn that a pregnant teenage kitchen maid, Alice, was dismissed from Longbourn House eight or nine years earlier with no thought for her welfare or that of her unborn child.
Unable to involve her family on the occasion, she approaches the recently arrived, handsome, young rector of Longbourn parish, Mr Wilde, and he agrees to assist her in secret. Their apparently clandestine association is noticed and misinterpreted by some.
Meanwhile, to secure the family’s future, Mr Bennet embarks on a complicated, high-risk scheme which is ultimately in danger of spiralling out of control.
Holidays provide welcome diversions and the social scene is enhanced by a young scientist named Julius Fairweather.
Nevertheless, father’s and daughter’s separate manoeuvres inevitably clash, stoked up by a jealous mischief-maker, as the summer races inexorably towards Michaelmas of 1797 when a young man of large fortune named Bingley first enters the neighbourhood.
…Become better acquainted with the characters in Jane Austen’s magnificent ‘Pride & Prejudice’ and prepare yourself for the sequel, ‘Menace At Pemberley’…
…Witness the first encounters between Elizabeth and Darcy…
…Read the first chapter of ‘Menace At Pemberley’ which begins immediately after Elizabeth and Darcy marry and continues with a large Christmas family gathering at Pemberley as foretold in ‘Pride & Prejudice’…
Written in a classic, easy-to-read, literary style, ‘Intrigue At Longbourn’ is a well-researched account of life in the late eighteenth century for the landed gentry and others and is a tribute to literary icon Jane Austen.
- GenresFiction
613 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 19, 2023
120 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 28, 2023
Different
Totally outside of our beloved story's timeframe it has different but interesting characters and circumstances. Not what I expected, but entertaining.
Totally outside of our beloved story's timeframe it has different but interesting characters and circumstances. Not what I expected, but entertaining.
October 31, 2023
4.5 stars rounded up. I enjoyed this interesting prequel to Pride and Prejudice in which Mr. Bennet does some scheming and plotting, and although I love his character here, I started to wonder when or if he would come to his senses. I found myself laughing at how men manage a problem, in the story, compared to how women do. I'm not saying either is better or worse, but the differences can at times be hilarious. Yet, while there was some humor to this, the underlying story, of what happened to a very young kitchen maid who found herself pregnant, how she was treated, and the outcome for her child, carried the story to thoughtful lengths. Throw in a rogue turned highwayman, and people gossiping about everyone else, and it made for a quite decent read. While it's not a romance, and not a comedy, but a combination of those as well as a more general social novel, I kept wanting to know what would happen next. It's told in third person omniscient point of view, so we get to dwell inside several characters' minds and see more than in the typical P&P variations I read. It's much more like reading Austen herself in some ways. That said, there were some issues I had with both proofreading and research - even though it's a very well researched novel, mind you, especially as far as the legal questions involved.
In my own research into one of the questions raised in the novel, about how people got their horses back if they started out with their own and then changed horses at a coaching inn, I find this blog post very informative, with even more information in one of the comments: https://twonerdyhistorygirls.blogspot.... Short answer, none of the horses wound up very far from home.
In my own research into one of the questions raised in the novel, about how people got their horses back if they started out with their own and then changed horses at a coaching inn, I find this blog post very informative, with even more information in one of the comments: https://twonerdyhistorygirls.blogspot.... Short answer, none of the horses wound up very far from home.
June 26, 2023
A well thought out intelligent plot that center's on a real world issue that would have given Mr and Mrs Bennet sleepless nights. As a result the book is very readable and believable. Jane would have been proud of this author.
June 17, 2025
I loved it!
It was so enticing that I couldn’t put it down, this book grabbed my interest from the very first page. I couldn’t put it down, I had to know what happened next. The story is well written with a very good storyline. This is a Pride and Prejudice variation. You will see the most beloved characters in a whole new way. This is Book 1 in the “The Elizabeth Bennet” series. Become better acquainted with the characters and prepare yourself for the next one, ‘Menace At Pemberley’. You will witness the first encounters between Elizabeth and Darcy. Read the first chapter of ‘Menace At Pemberley’ which begins immediately after Elizabeth and Darcy marry and continues with a large Christmas family gathering at Pemberley as foretold in ‘Pride & Prejudice’.
Written in a classic, easy-to-read, literary style, ‘Intrigue At Longbourn’ is a well-researched account of life as it was in the late eighteenth century for the landed gentry and others and is a tribute to literary icon Jane Austen. This has a cozy village mystery, a clean Christian romance, a reluctant hero, and a quest for righteousness. A father and daughter at odds, who is in the right? Love or duty? A young lady and a clergyman must choose. Imagine how it was before Netherfield is let, the original forbidden-love romance in which crime and deception play a large part. Elizabeth Bennet enjoys a lively six months before Netherfield Park is let at last. She is appalled to learn that a pregnant teenage kitchen maid, Alice, was dismissed from Longbourn House eight or nine years earlier with no thought for her welfare or that of her unborn child. Unable to involve her family on the occasion, she approaches the recently arrived, handsome, young rector of Longbourn parish, Mr Wilde, and he agrees to assist her in secret, turning amateur sleuth in the process. Their apparently clandestine association is noticed and misinterpreted by some.
Meanwhile, to secure the family’s future, Mr Bennet embarks on a complicated, high-risk scheme of deception. Holidays provide welcome diversions and the social scene is enhanced by a young scientist named Julius Fairweather, but misunderstandings abound. Father’s and daughter’s separate manoeuvres inevitably clash, stoked up by a jealous mischief-maker, as the summer races inexorably towards Michaelmas of 1797 when a young man of large fortune named Bingley first enters the neighbourhood. So with all that and more this story pulls you in and holds you tight. It’s a must read. I highly recommend to everyone.
It was so enticing that I couldn’t put it down, this book grabbed my interest from the very first page. I couldn’t put it down, I had to know what happened next. The story is well written with a very good storyline. This is a Pride and Prejudice variation. You will see the most beloved characters in a whole new way. This is Book 1 in the “The Elizabeth Bennet” series. Become better acquainted with the characters and prepare yourself for the next one, ‘Menace At Pemberley’. You will witness the first encounters between Elizabeth and Darcy. Read the first chapter of ‘Menace At Pemberley’ which begins immediately after Elizabeth and Darcy marry and continues with a large Christmas family gathering at Pemberley as foretold in ‘Pride & Prejudice’.
Written in a classic, easy-to-read, literary style, ‘Intrigue At Longbourn’ is a well-researched account of life as it was in the late eighteenth century for the landed gentry and others and is a tribute to literary icon Jane Austen. This has a cozy village mystery, a clean Christian romance, a reluctant hero, and a quest for righteousness. A father and daughter at odds, who is in the right? Love or duty? A young lady and a clergyman must choose. Imagine how it was before Netherfield is let, the original forbidden-love romance in which crime and deception play a large part. Elizabeth Bennet enjoys a lively six months before Netherfield Park is let at last. She is appalled to learn that a pregnant teenage kitchen maid, Alice, was dismissed from Longbourn House eight or nine years earlier with no thought for her welfare or that of her unborn child. Unable to involve her family on the occasion, she approaches the recently arrived, handsome, young rector of Longbourn parish, Mr Wilde, and he agrees to assist her in secret, turning amateur sleuth in the process. Their apparently clandestine association is noticed and misinterpreted by some.
Meanwhile, to secure the family’s future, Mr Bennet embarks on a complicated, high-risk scheme of deception. Holidays provide welcome diversions and the social scene is enhanced by a young scientist named Julius Fairweather, but misunderstandings abound. Father’s and daughter’s separate manoeuvres inevitably clash, stoked up by a jealous mischief-maker, as the summer races inexorably towards Michaelmas of 1797 when a young man of large fortune named Bingley first enters the neighbourhood. So with all that and more this story pulls you in and holds you tight. It’s a must read. I highly recommend to everyone.
August 5, 2023
Intriguing
An original premise for a P&P prequel, wherein Elizabeth becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to a kitchen maid who was thrown out of the house eight or nine years earlier for becoming pregnant, and Mr Bennett hatches a crazy scheme to provide for his family after his death.
I must give credit for superb writing. The story is well crafted, although I was a little confused by the year that this all took place. I've always assumed that the original P&P takes place from 1811 to 1812. The author explains why she changed Elizabeth's twentieth year to 1797 in her afterword, and she makes a very well considered argument for it. The events of the book take place during the winter/spring/summer before Bingley arrives at Netherfield, in the fall of 1797.
I deducted a couple of stars because I felt that Elizabeth's obsession about the pregnant maid was ludicrous, and not given a good reason, or even any reason. She becomes demanding and pushy with the handsome rector of Longbourn parish, Mr Wilde, in her quest for digging up information, and this man goes along with it, which I also found ludicrous. Elizabeth, disappointingly, is portrayed as extremely naive, and completely clueless about relationships between men and women, not our usual well read and aggressively educated girl. And Mr Bennett is not much better. He's portrayed as rather thoughtless and witless, and naive about the plight of the poor in his area. Although he's always been painted as a pretty indolent father, he usually was at least given intelligence and insight. Not here.
Fair warning that this book is not at all about Elizabeth and Darcy. This is about a period in Elizabeth's life during which she discovers that there's a world about which she knows nothing, and that her life so far has been very sheltered. The book is well written and well edited. I recommend it.
An original premise for a P&P prequel, wherein Elizabeth becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to a kitchen maid who was thrown out of the house eight or nine years earlier for becoming pregnant, and Mr Bennett hatches a crazy scheme to provide for his family after his death.
I must give credit for superb writing. The story is well crafted, although I was a little confused by the year that this all took place. I've always assumed that the original P&P takes place from 1811 to 1812. The author explains why she changed Elizabeth's twentieth year to 1797 in her afterword, and she makes a very well considered argument for it. The events of the book take place during the winter/spring/summer before Bingley arrives at Netherfield, in the fall of 1797.
I deducted a couple of stars because I felt that Elizabeth's obsession about the pregnant maid was ludicrous, and not given a good reason, or even any reason. She becomes demanding and pushy with the handsome rector of Longbourn parish, Mr Wilde, in her quest for digging up information, and this man goes along with it, which I also found ludicrous. Elizabeth, disappointingly, is portrayed as extremely naive, and completely clueless about relationships between men and women, not our usual well read and aggressively educated girl. And Mr Bennett is not much better. He's portrayed as rather thoughtless and witless, and naive about the plight of the poor in his area. Although he's always been painted as a pretty indolent father, he usually was at least given intelligence and insight. Not here.
Fair warning that this book is not at all about Elizabeth and Darcy. This is about a period in Elizabeth's life during which she discovers that there's a world about which she knows nothing, and that her life so far has been very sheltered. The book is well written and well edited. I recommend it.
July 18, 2023
What a treat! Intrigue At Longbourn is a beautifully written prequel to Jane Austen's classic novel Pride And Prejudice, and so well done that I could see and hear the well-loved characters through all their actions and speech. Not only does the story give the reader a little foreshadowing of what comes in Miss Austen's book, it contains a mystery that intrigues Elizabeth Bennet, and an unexpected side story involving her father. In P and P, the character of Mr Bennet is somewhat superseded by the dramas that unfold around his large female household. Here, he devises a secret and risky plan that demonstrates his human weaknesses but also brings out some of his most endearing personality traits. For me, this plot brings the characters even more to life and the ending segues perfectly with the opening of Pride And Prejudice.
Author Gill Mather's prose emulates Austen's style in a very readable way and the characters behave in keeping with the time period, demonstrating the comprehensive research undertaken. The editing is excellent and makes for a very enjoyable reading experience which I thoroughly savoured. I recommend readers take time to read the Author's Notes at the end as they give some fascinating insights into the research carried out on Jane Austen and the Georgian/Regency period. Also included is the opening chapter of the next book, Menace At Pemberley, which takes up the Elizabeth Bennet story immediately after her marriage to Darcy. If you're a fan of Pride And Prejudice, don't hesitate to read this book, for you will not be disappointed.
Author Gill Mather's prose emulates Austen's style in a very readable way and the characters behave in keeping with the time period, demonstrating the comprehensive research undertaken. The editing is excellent and makes for a very enjoyable reading experience which I thoroughly savoured. I recommend readers take time to read the Author's Notes at the end as they give some fascinating insights into the research carried out on Jane Austen and the Georgian/Regency period. Also included is the opening chapter of the next book, Menace At Pemberley, which takes up the Elizabeth Bennet story immediately after her marriage to Darcy. If you're a fan of Pride And Prejudice, don't hesitate to read this book, for you will not be disappointed.
July 25, 2025
Staged in the months leading up to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, this charming prequel delves into the Bennet family’s lesser-known history. Mr. Bennet is quietly working to fortify the family’s legacy, while daughter Elizabeth pursues what she suspects to be a long-standing injustice in the family’s past.
Author Gill Mather skillfully weaves these two simultaneous investigations into an engaging narrative that makes you want to know what will happen next. What stood out to me was the way Mather preserved the authenticity of 18th-century language and atmosphere. A difficult task, to say the least. While I don’t recall much of Jane Austen’s original book, I thoroughly enjoyed Intrigue at Longbourn as a standalone. It’s clever, immersive, and fun from start to finish.
I rate it, Five stars.
Author Gill Mather skillfully weaves these two simultaneous investigations into an engaging narrative that makes you want to know what will happen next. What stood out to me was the way Mather preserved the authenticity of 18th-century language and atmosphere. A difficult task, to say the least. While I don’t recall much of Jane Austen’s original book, I thoroughly enjoyed Intrigue at Longbourn as a standalone. It’s clever, immersive, and fun from start to finish.
I rate it, Five stars.
October 12, 2023
Set a few years ahead of Canon, Elizabeth has not yet met Fitzwilliam Darcy. But there are several new characters to intrigue us. The storyline is very unique and revolves around a young and naive Elizabeth and her pursuit to know what has become of a former housemaid, Alice. Alice had been released from her employment at Lonbourn some nine years earlier for being unwed and with child. Elizabeth enlists the aid of the young pastor, which creates its own problems.
While I did enjoy the writing, the book was long with detail and sometimes felt it was dragging along.
That said, I fully intend to read book two, as I look forward to seeing what this author will do with Elizabeth and Darcy.
While I did enjoy the writing, the book was long with detail and sometimes felt it was dragging along.
That said, I fully intend to read book two, as I look forward to seeing what this author will do with Elizabeth and Darcy.
October 26, 2023
Oddly fascinating
Mostly about the Bennet family, with emphasis on Lizzy and Mr. Bennet, this story covers the time before canon, giving an intriguing picture of the Bennets, their personalities, and their motivations. Not much romance, with Elizabeth experiencing an early romantic "crush" and learning that first impressions can be untrustworthy. Lots of period details, a very naive Lizzy, an interesting study of Mr. Bennet, and a few non-canon characters. Again, oddly fascinating.
Mostly about the Bennet family, with emphasis on Lizzy and Mr. Bennet, this story covers the time before canon, giving an intriguing picture of the Bennets, their personalities, and their motivations. Not much romance, with Elizabeth experiencing an early romantic "crush" and learning that first impressions can be untrustworthy. Lots of period details, a very naive Lizzy, an interesting study of Mr. Bennet, and a few non-canon characters. Again, oddly fascinating.
June 25, 2023
If you like Jane Austen you’ll love this book. The author writes in an authentic Austen language with a modern twist. The plot is well thought out. It was difficult to put the book down until I reached the end. Well worth a read.
May 23, 2024
Very intriguing.
Kept my interest. This is a different version, that is before Bingley comes to Netherfield.
So to be honest, this is before Darcy. Very intriguing.
Kept my interest. This is a different version, that is before Bingley comes to Netherfield.
So to be honest, this is before Darcy. Very intriguing.
March 15, 2025
Quite surprising.
The plot twists in this p and p prequel are quite unusual and surprising. It read daily well with few disruptions. All in all entertaining.
The plot twists in this p and p prequel are quite unusual and surprising. It read daily well with few disruptions. All in all entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews