The Scenes Jane Austen Never Wrote: First Anniversaries

by Diana Birchall, Jack Caldwell, Leslie Diamond

Brief collection of Anniversary Scenes from your favorite Jane Austen couples: Jane and Mr Bingley, Lydia and Wickham, Charlotte and Mr Collins, The Eltons, Anniversary at Abbey Mills Farm, Edmund and Fanny Bertram, A Happy Anniversary at Delaford Park, and Charles and Mary Musgrove.

Written by Jane Austen Variation authors to celebrate the first Anniversary of Jane Austen Variation.

60 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2015

Reviews

[Lesle · Rating 2 out of 5]

The shorts of couples from Austen which might have taken place.
The couples are all familiar. Seem to be surrounded by their offspring or little ones on the way.

I enjoyed the story of Edmund and Fanny Bertram and Edmund's brother Tom he is so bored with home life and visits his brother and sister often. I would have liked this one to have continued.

The very last page ends with a heartbroken Anne:
"If Frederick and Anne had married, they would have had several anniversaries by now. Her chest tightened as she considered that she would want to spend every moment by his side, in his arms, being kissed by him, and being loved by him.
She leaned her head back and did not bother to wipe the tears that began to fall."

I have often call romances of our times now Modern Fluff. This one totally fits.
Lacking the air of Regency that Austen has with the lifestyle and her charm.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read as part of the someone else pick it for me June read for the Austenesque Lovers TBR Pile Reading Challenge 2017 group (https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/...)

This is a collection of Austen inspired short stories written by a number of well known austenesque writers, that look at the first wedding anniversaries of the main characters. I enjoyed the collection, it was well written, but feel it could have been more even over the six books, Northanger Abbey didn't even get a look in. I particularly enjoyed Jane Odiwe's contribution.

Jane and Mr Bingley - Shannon Winslow
3 stars
Jane and Bingley are getting their first home and celebrating with Lizzy and Darcy. I liked the idea of the story but don't feel that Lizzy would still be referring to Darcy as Mr Darcy.

Lydia and Wickham - Monica Fairview
4 stars
Lydia is visiting Mrs Bennet on the anniversary of her and Wickham's wedding, the characterisation in this is perfect.

Charlotte and Mr Collins - Leslie Diamond
3 stars
Lady Catherine has demanded that Mr Collins spends their wedding anniversary together. The characterisation is really good, but I would have like to think that Charlotte was happier.

The Eltons - Diana Birchill
3 stars
Mrs Elton wants to hold a party to celebrate their first wedding anniversary.

Anniversary at Abbey Mills Farms - Marie Grace
3 stars
Harriet and Mr Martin discuss how they came to be together.

Edmund and Fanny Bertram - Jack Caldwell
3.5 stars
Tom goes to visit fanny and Edmund.

A happy anniversary at Delaford Park - Jane Odiwe
4 stars
Marianne and Elinor meet to discuss a ball that is being held to celebrate Marianne and the Colonel's first wedding anniversary.

Charles and Mary Musgrove - Kara Louise
4 stars
Mary needs Anne's help, again. The characterization and the situation are perfect.

This book is available free from Maria Grace's website (http://randombitsoffascination.com/wp...)

[Lindenblatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a bit of Fluff with a capital F. I liked the idea of meeting again several of the major and minor Jane Austen couples (in total 11 couples in 8 stories) a year after their wedding. While I appreciate the authors' efforts, the writing was not my style and the stories too sugary for my taste. However, it's short, it's free, so go and see for yourself.

For the record, my favourite story in this collection was Edmund and Fanny Bertram by Jack Caldwell. Though too modern for a Regency story (as all of the stories, imo) I enjoyed the humour in this one. It's also the only one that doesn't dwell too much on recounting the past, but brings something new to the story and the characters.

2.5 ⭐️

[Madenna U · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection contains scenes where Jane Austen's characters celebrate their wedding anniversaries. It is a fun trip to peek into the lives of favorite characters after their happily ever after.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A set of short stories about the first anniversaries of various couples from Jane Austen's works.
Enjoyable stories