Basically Jane Austen fan fiction, this novel picks up where Pride and Prejudice left off -- but with a twist. Austen's characters are taken from their comfortable setting and thrust into the suspenseful tone of the Gothic narratives popular during that period. In some ways, it feels wrong to see Austen's characters as pawns in a genre she herself mocked in Northranger Abbey. But despite the sense of sacrilege and a few overly modern turns of phrase that jolted me from the narrative, this was very well done and enjoyable. Both the atmosphere of Austen's novels and the atmosphere of Gothic novels were captured here in a blend so unique (in my experience -- this may be derivative, I don't know) that I couldn't help but enjoy it.
I do wish the author had thought to mention Jane in the prologue.
I do wish the author had thought to mention Jane in the prologue.