The Sisters of Longbourn

by Don H. Miller

This novel is a story of the lives and loves on the Bennet sisters of Longbourn in the early 19th century and is based on the characters in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice as well as including characters from early books by the author.
For those familiar with Pride and Prejudice, in the Prologue, Darcy must leave Hertfordshire before the ball hosted by Bingley because of an emergency situation at Pemberley. It is also before Wickham arrives in Meryton to join the militia. The first chapter of the book begins over two years later and primarily deals with Elizabeth and Darcy. It assumes they never met at Rosings Park. All the Bennet sisters are introduced and their lives followed at various levels of detail. The last nine chapters of the book concentrate on Mary, Kitty, and Lydia.

314 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 11, 2016

About the author

Don H. Miller was born and grew up in Iowa, went to the University of North Carolina where he received a degree in Mathematics, spent three years as a U.S. Navy officer, got a Ph.D. in Mathematical Statistics from the University of Chicago, spent three years as a college professor, and then spent the rest of his working career as a research scientist working in various fields including naval operations research, environmental impact analysis, and command, control and communications technology. He is now retired, enjoys golfing, pickleball, and writing, and is the art director of the monthly newsletter of the community in which he now lives. He has written twenty-five novels in the genre of Jane Austen fan fiction.

Reviews

[Tlotem · Rating 3 out of 5]

First I was very happy to be back with all the characters I had met in previous books but after some events in the Bennet's family I began to get a bit bored and asked myself why? I found that the Bennet's girl were too perfect to be true.
It's a nice tale about them finding their soul mate, very low angst, a nice fairy tale, but I think I wasn't in the mood for it.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

October 1806 A Pride and Prejudice variation where Darcy leaves before the Netherfield Ball, leaving Bingley free to marry Jane. By August 1807 Lydia has eloped with Wickham never to be found, resulting in the death of Mrs Bennet. How will the other three sisters fare. Once again Elizabeth is the perfect being and therefore somewhat annoying
An entertaining variation.

[lori huff · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it

Darcy leaves Netherfield because of an emergency at Pemberly before the ball, thinking that he'll get over his attraction to Elizabeth, and returns only to stand up at Bingley's wedding to Jane. Georgiana meets Kitty there, and they begin a friendship. Mrs Bennett dies after getting shocking news about Lydia, Mr Bennett becomes depressed, and Elizabeth takes over the running of Longbourn, resulting in big improvements in both the estate, and in the education of the remaining daughters. Kitty's friendship with Georgiana has far reaching effects on them all.

I like this author, and appreciate the forthright and plain speaking characters in his books. This isn't a particularly romantic story, as there's so much ground to cover in this version that much of the book is narratives. The dialogue, when it does occur, is very nice and, at times, witty and amusing. There are some very nice twists that the story takes that will keep you guessing. Other than the many punctuation errors throughout, I recommend this book for an interesting tale about all five of the Bennett daughters.

[James S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bennet’s sisters all do well

Quick story about Lizzy and Darcy getting together. But it isn’t just Lizzy. All the other sisters, including Georgiana have a part of the story.

Pretty fun, low angst story. Nothing memorable, just the life and times of the Bennet sisters.

An ok story, doesn’t require any deep thinking. Quite the pot boiler.

[Don Jacobson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don Miller once again ties his mythology together in a satisfying and well-crafted package. Here we follow the lives and loves of the tetrarchy (Lizzie/Darcy-Jane/Bingley) but also see the evolution of the characters of the other three sisters. Satisfying, although Lydia seemed under-done...Kitty and Mary were the strongest, although there was a considerable amount of misdirection leading from Mary's job as a governess. The children are suddenly dropped and I was left confused as to the real purpose of this episode except for Mary to realize that she wished to bear her own. 3 and 3/4 stars.

[Carol Perrin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sisters of Longbourn

This was an intriguing story. For being the poor daughters of a insignificant country gentleman and having no worthy connections to London's Ton, the five Bennet sisters all did well with their chosen husbands. Even the empty headed Lydia came through her foolish childhood discretion without any taint. Fascinating explanation of how she escaped from total ruin. The girls had help from their Aunt and Uncle Gardiner, Lord and Lady Monttard, the wealthy owners of the Dumont shipping line, and even Lord and Lady Matlock being accepted by the Jane married her Bingley first, Elizabeth married Darcy once he got off his high horse, Mary married Richard Fitzwilliam who became the Viscount Gandney the future Earl of Matlock, Kitty became the wife of Bryan McClaren who would become a Baron upon his grandfather's death, and last but not the least well placed daughter Lydia, marries a wealthy American, Duncan Harcourt, so followed her to England from Boston. Must not forget Georgiana a marchioness later to become a duchess. ODBs and ODGs became ODCs and all had a HEA life filled with many children.

[Sheri L. Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don H Miller

I love the characters you have created for your stories about the Bennett sisters of Long born. However, I am puzzled why you do not edit your books? Spell check is not the answer for correcting all errors. These errors exist throughout your books and the errors distract from the storyline. Please keep writing, but remove the typos before publishing.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the alternate story very much. It tied up all the sisters and how they all found husbands. I will absolutely read another story by this author

[Michelle David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely

Another interesting variation of author Jane Austen’s classic Pride and Prejudice by Don Miller. It was nice that this one focused on all five sisters.

[Anne M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

This is the second Mr. Miller’s books that I have read and I have found them both to be delightful. I really enjoy his spin on things.

[Barb · Rating 4 out of 5]

My annual holiday reading

Another enjoyable variation by the author. Each year I download Mr. Millers books on my kindle and enjoy them during my holiday
break. This one does not disappoint.

[Sandra Gebhard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another good story.

I like his stories but they need more editing! Also, still a little too much repetition of background details and inner monologue.