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A Great Deal of Ingenuity: A Collection of Pride and Prejudice Stories
The pages of Pride and Prejudice sparkle with household names. Proud Darcy and prejudiced Elizabeth, book-loving Mr Bennet, the snobbish Bingley sisters, predatory Mr Wickham and oily Mr Collins.
But what about all the other people busy cooking, mending, flirting, walking and socialising in the background?
Ruth is a novelist and freelance writer, the author of the Isabella M Smugge series, contemporary humorous page-turners. She lives in rural Suffolk with three children, one husband and a cat. Ruth has been an Austen devotee since the age of fifteen and is a proud member of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Nerd community. You can find her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter at ruthleighwrites and at her website, www.ruthleighwrites.co.uk.
What people are saying
In this entertaining collection of short stories, Ruth Leigh shines a light on the lives of nine characters from the novel. For instance, how is married life at Hunsford for Mr and Mrs Collins? Will mousy Maria Lucas ever find a husband? How does Sally the maid feel about mending Lydia’s worked muslin gown? Which Meryton matron will triumph in luring a respectable and marriageable young man into their parlour? These stories give the reader a window into the worlds of Meryton, Rosings Park, Pemberley and Hunsford as you’ve never seen them before.
"Cleverly thought-out and brilliantly executed, Ruth Leigh bestows upon us the backstories we never knew we needed. Leigh has breathed life into those who made but a cameo appearance in Pride and Prejudice. Delightful!"
Rose Servitova, author of “The Longbourn Letters,” “The Watsons” and “A Season at Sanditon.”
You will love these glimpses into the lives of minor Pride and Prejudice characters. Ruth Leigh writes with warmth, wit and a detailed understanding of the period. With warmth, wit and a detailed understanding of the period, we are drawn effortlessly into the social niceties and small calamities of everyday Georgian life. These are fascinating cameos of minor characters in this timeless book, brought to life with skill and artistry.
Deborah Jenkins, author of, “The Evenness of Things” and “Braver” (shortlisted for the Writers’ Guild Best First Novel Award).
But what about all the other people busy cooking, mending, flirting, walking and socialising in the background?
Ruth is a novelist and freelance writer, the author of the Isabella M Smugge series, contemporary humorous page-turners. She lives in rural Suffolk with three children, one husband and a cat. Ruth has been an Austen devotee since the age of fifteen and is a proud member of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Nerd community. You can find her on Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and Twitter at ruthleighwrites and at her website, www.ruthleighwrites.co.uk.
What people are saying
In this entertaining collection of short stories, Ruth Leigh shines a light on the lives of nine characters from the novel. For instance, how is married life at Hunsford for Mr and Mrs Collins? Will mousy Maria Lucas ever find a husband? How does Sally the maid feel about mending Lydia’s worked muslin gown? Which Meryton matron will triumph in luring a respectable and marriageable young man into their parlour? These stories give the reader a window into the worlds of Meryton, Rosings Park, Pemberley and Hunsford as you’ve never seen them before.
"Cleverly thought-out and brilliantly executed, Ruth Leigh bestows upon us the backstories we never knew we needed. Leigh has breathed life into those who made but a cameo appearance in Pride and Prejudice. Delightful!"
Rose Servitova, author of “The Longbourn Letters,” “The Watsons” and “A Season at Sanditon.”
You will love these glimpses into the lives of minor Pride and Prejudice characters. Ruth Leigh writes with warmth, wit and a detailed understanding of the period. With warmth, wit and a detailed understanding of the period, we are drawn effortlessly into the social niceties and small calamities of everyday Georgian life. These are fascinating cameos of minor characters in this timeless book, brought to life with skill and artistry.
Deborah Jenkins, author of, “The Evenness of Things” and “Braver” (shortlisted for the Writers’ Guild Best First Novel Award).
- GenresHistorical Fiction
215 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 16, 2023
35 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
August 12, 2023
You don’t have to be a fan of Jane Austen’s work to appreciate this book - though it probably helps to have read ‘Pride and Prejudice’, since all the characters are taken from there. I’m not a Jane Austen reader myself, but I still found a great deal here to enjoy and appreciate.
For one thing, there’s the technical ability shown. I love the concept of taking minor characters and expanding on their story, but to do that successfully with something as well known as Pride and Prejudice is challenging: the writer has to make sure that their imaginative development of these characters fits seamlessly within the canon. The experts will no doubt point out any transgressions, but just making the attempt shows a considerable degree of confidence on the writer’s part, and she carries it out with style!
The writing flows smoothly, is true to the period (even including some original spellings - which are explained at the beginning of the book) and I found it accessible throughout. Prologues to each chapter explain (for the benefit of those of us not too familiar with Austen!) how the characters fit into Pride and Prejudice: footnotes clarify some unfamiliar words, and the book as a whole gives us a look into some of the more obscure corners of history.
I was particularly struck by Sally’s story. Sally was just one of the servants in the original, but reading about her life made it very clear that the elaborate and glittering social life of the wealthy was only made possible by the sheer hard work - drudgery, in fact - of their servants.
Another interesting thing was just how important making the right marriage was. The obsession with dresses and balls, the gossip about who was available and how much money they might have - these were not just shallow conversation, they were matters of survival! Of course, in Austen’s day this was well known, and didn’t need to be spelled out, but looking back from our perspective, it’s less obvious. ‘A Great Deal of Ingenuity’ gave me a much clearer understanding of the time and the people who lived in it.
There are nine stories here, nine minor characters marvellously well developed, each given their own voice and their chance to show their own side of things. It’s an impressive achievement, and it required A Great Deal of Ingenuity!
For one thing, there’s the technical ability shown. I love the concept of taking minor characters and expanding on their story, but to do that successfully with something as well known as Pride and Prejudice is challenging: the writer has to make sure that their imaginative development of these characters fits seamlessly within the canon. The experts will no doubt point out any transgressions, but just making the attempt shows a considerable degree of confidence on the writer’s part, and she carries it out with style!
The writing flows smoothly, is true to the period (even including some original spellings - which are explained at the beginning of the book) and I found it accessible throughout. Prologues to each chapter explain (for the benefit of those of us not too familiar with Austen!) how the characters fit into Pride and Prejudice: footnotes clarify some unfamiliar words, and the book as a whole gives us a look into some of the more obscure corners of history.
I was particularly struck by Sally’s story. Sally was just one of the servants in the original, but reading about her life made it very clear that the elaborate and glittering social life of the wealthy was only made possible by the sheer hard work - drudgery, in fact - of their servants.
Another interesting thing was just how important making the right marriage was. The obsession with dresses and balls, the gossip about who was available and how much money they might have - these were not just shallow conversation, they were matters of survival! Of course, in Austen’s day this was well known, and didn’t need to be spelled out, but looking back from our perspective, it’s less obvious. ‘A Great Deal of Ingenuity’ gave me a much clearer understanding of the time and the people who lived in it.
There are nine stories here, nine minor characters marvellously well developed, each given their own voice and their chance to show their own side of things. It’s an impressive achievement, and it required A Great Deal of Ingenuity!
August 28, 2023
If you love Austen you will love this book. Ruth Leigh obviously loves Austen, and her collection of short stories based on a selection of minor characters from Pride and Prejudice is a worthy tribute to the great author. The characters, their stories, the language and turn of phrase. The description and the setting, all transport you back to Austen's world. It is a work of great ingenuity, clever and witty, and well imagined. I really enjoyed it.
August 15, 2023
And then there were those others
Ms Leigh shines a spotlight on what might be of the minor characters from servants to neighborhood ladies. She’s given them each a place and story for good or ill.
Ms Leigh shines a spotlight on what might be of the minor characters from servants to neighborhood ladies. She’s given them each a place and story for good or ill.
October 8, 2023
Delightful
Ms Leigh evokes the coziness of Austen’s Emma as she brings the silent characters of Pride and Prejudice to life. The prose is so vivid, the characters so real, and Ms Leigh’s ability to dream up different backstories amazes me. Sally’s tale is particularly poignant. That she manages to weave these tales into the timeframe of Pride and Prejudice’s narrative is particularly clever, for characters like Mr Collins, Darcy, and Mr Bennet become mute while these other beings have their share of the conversation.
Simply divine. .
Ms Leigh evokes the coziness of Austen’s Emma as she brings the silent characters of Pride and Prejudice to life. The prose is so vivid, the characters so real, and Ms Leigh’s ability to dream up different backstories amazes me. Sally’s tale is particularly poignant. That she manages to weave these tales into the timeframe of Pride and Prejudice’s narrative is particularly clever, for characters like Mr Collins, Darcy, and Mr Bennet become mute while these other beings have their share of the conversation.
Simply divine. .
August 24, 2023
Deceptively light
With a delightful lightness of touch these vignettes tell us much about the neglected bit players of Pride and Prejudice, seemingly inconsequential stories from differing viewpoints and yet revealing so much more. Skillfully done, arch and on point, recommended
With a delightful lightness of touch these vignettes tell us much about the neglected bit players of Pride and Prejudice, seemingly inconsequential stories from differing viewpoints and yet revealing so much more. Skillfully done, arch and on point, recommended
August 7, 2023
Unusual
An interesting premise is the basis for this variation that looks at the stories of several minor characters from Pride and Prejudice. A light, easy read.
An interesting premise is the basis for this variation that looks at the stories of several minor characters from Pride and Prejudice. A light, easy read.
August 5, 2023
The author give us an assured picture of the world of Jane Austen, opening our eyes up to some of the realities of life for minor characters in the novel, and vividly shows, for instance, the lives of the servants and many others to whom only passing references are made by Jane Austen.
These stories are beautifully done, observant of the closest details, and bring out many aspects of 18th century life we may have disregarded, such as how they made soap, remedies they used for the cut and sore hands of housemaids, and how it would have felt to be the one washing all the menstrual rags, nappies and dirty underclothes of the family who employed them, and also constantly called upon to make sponge cake and lemon tarts for the frequent social callers on the lady of the house.
I felt so sorry for Sally, maid to Colonel and Mrs Forster, who, along with all her other duties, is just expected to mend the tear in Lydia Bennett’s worked muslin gown. I also had a strong sense of fateful destiny for young, hopeful Mr Bennett, charmed by pretty young Miss Gardner who is to become the redoubtable Mrs Bennett of the future, when his youthful delusions will be thwarted.
I like the way the author gives a page of context first before each story, reminding us of the reference within the text of Pride and Prejudice which she has used as the basis of her own imaginative extension.
Harriet Harrington’s voice is brilliant, exactly right for a flighty young girl of the time, fixated on the soldiers in town. The story sparkles and is a perfect alternative perspective on the events of Pride and Prejudice.
I found a sharp and vivid depiction of life in those days and how vital it was for a young woman to seek financial security in a husband, and also how easily disease and death arrives in a family, and how relentless the arrival of babies. In addition, we realise the extent to which servants saw and knew everything we might choose to keep hidden these days. They would often have fallen prey to the temptation to earn extra cash through blackmail in those social circles.
Some of the stories are very sad: the background of Mrs Eleanor Jenkins, Ann de Bough’s companion; and some shocking – Mr Bingley’s cook Mrs Nicholls, bitter, resentful, conspiratorial. These stories give such a wonderful insight into those times, their values and customs and language, and close observation of the psychology of each character.
Highly recommended for all Jane Austen lovers!
These stories are beautifully done, observant of the closest details, and bring out many aspects of 18th century life we may have disregarded, such as how they made soap, remedies they used for the cut and sore hands of housemaids, and how it would have felt to be the one washing all the menstrual rags, nappies and dirty underclothes of the family who employed them, and also constantly called upon to make sponge cake and lemon tarts for the frequent social callers on the lady of the house.
I felt so sorry for Sally, maid to Colonel and Mrs Forster, who, along with all her other duties, is just expected to mend the tear in Lydia Bennett’s worked muslin gown. I also had a strong sense of fateful destiny for young, hopeful Mr Bennett, charmed by pretty young Miss Gardner who is to become the redoubtable Mrs Bennett of the future, when his youthful delusions will be thwarted.
I like the way the author gives a page of context first before each story, reminding us of the reference within the text of Pride and Prejudice which she has used as the basis of her own imaginative extension.
Harriet Harrington’s voice is brilliant, exactly right for a flighty young girl of the time, fixated on the soldiers in town. The story sparkles and is a perfect alternative perspective on the events of Pride and Prejudice.
I found a sharp and vivid depiction of life in those days and how vital it was for a young woman to seek financial security in a husband, and also how easily disease and death arrives in a family, and how relentless the arrival of babies. In addition, we realise the extent to which servants saw and knew everything we might choose to keep hidden these days. They would often have fallen prey to the temptation to earn extra cash through blackmail in those social circles.
Some of the stories are very sad: the background of Mrs Eleanor Jenkins, Ann de Bough’s companion; and some shocking – Mr Bingley’s cook Mrs Nicholls, bitter, resentful, conspiratorial. These stories give such a wonderful insight into those times, their values and customs and language, and close observation of the psychology of each character.
Highly recommended for all Jane Austen lovers!
October 18, 2024
This is Austen fan fiction, pure and simple, and what's wrong with that? It's thanks to Jane Austen that we have the big budget costume drama, and that - wrongly - has given her a reputation for entertaining froth. Her novels are in fact far deeper than that, but this might not be obvious to the modern reader. In this collection, Ruth Leigh takes the characters from "Pride & Prejudice" who are only briefly mentioned, or even just hinted at, and through them shows us the depths of Austen's world that were always there.
Who wouldn't want to know how the mismatched Mr and Mrs Bennet came together in the first place, or how the ripples of Lydia's disgrace spread through society? And then there are the one-off individuals who must also have their own story to tell; like Mrs Annesley (chapter 45 of P&P), who quickly smooths over an awkward encounter between Elizabeth Bennet, Georgiana Darcy and Miss Bingley, and then disappears from the scene.
Speaking of Mrs Annesley, I should say that if you are easily affected by stories of childlessness, then this book should carry a health warning.
Austen's great strength was to be aware there was a strata of people below the high and mighty who depended in all ways on the good will of the people above them. Adding these people to her books, and making them distinct and sympathetic characters, is what makes her books so rich. However it is a fact that she only goes down the social scale to the level of around Miss Bates. Ruth Leigh goes even further, down to the servant levels, and brings us the insights that might never have occurred to Austen - for example, that they don't necessarily like the people above them. There are hints of dark corners to society, like the place young women in trouble can go to to get out of trouble, and it is here that we meet the book's darkest character: the embittered, blackmailing Mrs Nicholls, who cooks for and despises the Bingleys. The darkness of her story is like a weight that pins the whole collection down and makes it firmly real: an interweaving of lives and backgrounds that Austen would surely have approved of.
Who wouldn't want to know how the mismatched Mr and Mrs Bennet came together in the first place, or how the ripples of Lydia's disgrace spread through society? And then there are the one-off individuals who must also have their own story to tell; like Mrs Annesley (chapter 45 of P&P), who quickly smooths over an awkward encounter between Elizabeth Bennet, Georgiana Darcy and Miss Bingley, and then disappears from the scene.
Speaking of Mrs Annesley, I should say that if you are easily affected by stories of childlessness, then this book should carry a health warning.
Austen's great strength was to be aware there was a strata of people below the high and mighty who depended in all ways on the good will of the people above them. Adding these people to her books, and making them distinct and sympathetic characters, is what makes her books so rich. However it is a fact that she only goes down the social scale to the level of around Miss Bates. Ruth Leigh goes even further, down to the servant levels, and brings us the insights that might never have occurred to Austen - for example, that they don't necessarily like the people above them. There are hints of dark corners to society, like the place young women in trouble can go to to get out of trouble, and it is here that we meet the book's darkest character: the embittered, blackmailing Mrs Nicholls, who cooks for and despises the Bingleys. The darkness of her story is like a weight that pins the whole collection down and makes it firmly real: an interweaving of lives and backgrounds that Austen would surely have approved of.
January 30, 2025
A Great Deal Of Ingenuity: A Collection Of Pride And Prejudice Stories by Ruth Leigh is a wonderful collection of short stories surrounding Pride & Prejudice.
Ruth Leigh has clearly immersed herself in the world of Jane Austen. She has cleverly imagined the background stories of the minor characters in the famous novel.
In the original book, these characters are just mentioned in passing, nothing is known about them – until now. Ruth Leigh has developed all the characters into fully-rounded individuals.
The stories are all written in the first person, enabling us to really get to know them. We see their interactions with some of the more well -known characters in Pride & Prejudice.
For the Pride & Prejudice fan (that’s me), this is a pure delight as we are not only introduced to new personalities but we see how they interact and slot into the original story.
Ruth Leigh has produced a fabulous read.
Ruth Leigh has clearly immersed herself in the world of Jane Austen. She has cleverly imagined the background stories of the minor characters in the famous novel.
In the original book, these characters are just mentioned in passing, nothing is known about them – until now. Ruth Leigh has developed all the characters into fully-rounded individuals.
The stories are all written in the first person, enabling us to really get to know them. We see their interactions with some of the more well -known characters in Pride & Prejudice.
For the Pride & Prejudice fan (that’s me), this is a pure delight as we are not only introduced to new personalities but we see how they interact and slot into the original story.
Ruth Leigh has produced a fabulous read.
August 15, 2024
Ruth Leigh has done her research well. The characters she deals with in her story stories seem to be of their period and fit in with Jane Austen's world. I especially enjoyed the meeting and marriage of Mrs Bennett or Miss Gardiner, told from both of their very different world views. You can see the problems stored up for the future in his serious solitariness and her silliness and frivolity, later inherited by Kitty and Lydia.
Mrs Jenkinson, the companion to Anne de Bough, also wonderfully reveals the timidity of Anne as a result of her overbearing mother, Lady Catherine de Bough. I have read several follow-on books to Pride and Prejudice and Ruth's observations wonderfully match those I have read to date. I would only have to say that I prefer to read a full length novel centring on one or two characters than a lot of short stories but that is a personal preference.
Mrs Jenkinson, the companion to Anne de Bough, also wonderfully reveals the timidity of Anne as a result of her overbearing mother, Lady Catherine de Bough. I have read several follow-on books to Pride and Prejudice and Ruth's observations wonderfully match those I have read to date. I would only have to say that I prefer to read a full length novel centring on one or two characters than a lot of short stories but that is a personal preference.
October 13, 2024
This delightful collection of short stories is a pitch-perfect homage to Jane Austen’s work. It’s a wonderful glimpse at the world her characters inhabit, and “behind the scenes” with characters we may - or in some cases, may not - want to read more about.
The depth of Ruth’s research, and her love for the characters, shines through.
The result is a most diverting read.
The depth of Ruth’s research, and her love for the characters, shines through.
The result is a most diverting read.
January 7, 2025
All Jane Austen fans who have ever thought what happens to the minor Pride and Prejudice characters when they are not in Austen's story, must read this book! While Ruth Leigh must have done a lot of research for these stories, she wears her knowledge lightly and tells excellent tales. A thoroughly enjoyable read!
October 25, 2025
I really enjoyed this book! I bought it at a little craft market in Suffolk, and it really surpassed my expectations. I love Jane Austen, and especially Pride & Prejudice, and I thoroughly enjoyed all the back stories of all the peripheral characters. These short stories have so much rich detail and really added to the historical context of the P&P.
October 28, 2023
The novel Pride and Prejudice is peopled with many characters alongside proud Mr Darcy and prejudiced Elizabeth Bennett. Some appear frequently in supporting roles. Others are only mentioned in passing, in letters or conversation.
In this witty and entertaining collection of short stories, Ruth Leigh shines a light on nine characters from the novel. We see the home life of the young Mrs Harriet Forster, the wife of Colonel Forster, as she entertains the youngest Bennett sisters to afternoon tea. The complicated merry-go-round of courtship in Georgian society is brought into focus as Mrs Long worries and schemes to find suitable husbands for her nieces. A good marriage was vital for financial security as well as social standing.
There is of course an army of servants below stairs, such as Mrs Forster’s long-suffering cook. She produces vast amounts of the cakes and pastries that her young mistress and her friends are so fond of. We also see life from the point of view of an impoverished lady’s companion, who is neither one of the family nor strictly of servant class.
In The Cook’s Tale we glimpse what may lurk beneath the elegant exterior of Georgian society in Hertfordshire. What happens when the servants turn their knowledge of family secrets to their advantage?
As a fan of Jane Austin’s novels, I loved these stories which draw the reader deeper into the familiar world of Meryton, Rosings Park, Pemberly and Hunsford.
In this witty and entertaining collection of short stories, Ruth Leigh shines a light on nine characters from the novel. We see the home life of the young Mrs Harriet Forster, the wife of Colonel Forster, as she entertains the youngest Bennett sisters to afternoon tea. The complicated merry-go-round of courtship in Georgian society is brought into focus as Mrs Long worries and schemes to find suitable husbands for her nieces. A good marriage was vital for financial security as well as social standing.
There is of course an army of servants below stairs, such as Mrs Forster’s long-suffering cook. She produces vast amounts of the cakes and pastries that her young mistress and her friends are so fond of. We also see life from the point of view of an impoverished lady’s companion, who is neither one of the family nor strictly of servant class.
In The Cook’s Tale we glimpse what may lurk beneath the elegant exterior of Georgian society in Hertfordshire. What happens when the servants turn their knowledge of family secrets to their advantage?
As a fan of Jane Austin’s novels, I loved these stories which draw the reader deeper into the familiar world of Meryton, Rosings Park, Pemberly and Hunsford.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews