Review – Lydia Bennet’s Story by Jane Odiwe

Synopsis

How does impulsive, high-spirited Lydia turn out?

Lydia is a girl of untamed expressiveness and vulnerability, and all she can think of are pleasure and marriage. She’s convinced George Wickham is the man of her dreams, but quickly discovers her hero is not the man she believes him to be.

In this spicy sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride And Prejudice, Lydia is reunited with the Bennets, Bingleys and Darcys for a grand ball at Netherfield Park, where she’ll have to face down the greatest scandal of all, and in the process, might just find the key to true happiness…

Review

Readers of Austen will know that Lydia Bennet is the younger sister of Elizabeth and Jane, while never a major character she always left a major impact with her appearances. Crazy, wilful and out of control, she is much more like a wood nymph than a true lady. But that spark of wildness is exactly what made her character so enthralling. And now author Jane Odiwe has given Lydia a chance to shine in her very own book.

Lydia Bennet’s Story is a sequel to Pride And Prejudice, but in order to fully understand Lydia the book begins by going back to Pride And Prejudice and revisiting the events from Lydia’s point of view. From there it continues on as a sequel focusing on Lydia’s story.

It would be easy to dismiss Lydia as a stereo-typical teenager and little sister, acting out as either a way to gain attention or out of plain simple-mindedness. However, Jane Odiwe uses Lydia’s own journal writing throughout this novel to add a certain depth to Lydia’s character, allowing the reader to connect with her rather than pass her off as an annoyance.

The best part of Lydia Bennet’s Story, for me, was seeing that Lydia does realize that her actions and attitude are not proper. She might act righteous and seem to not care how people view her as a person, but the jottings from her personal diary show that she is thinking of these things. She knows when she could have handled things differently and that shows maturity and growth on her part.

Lydia Bennet’s Story is not only a terrific story but also a wonderful example of Jane Odiwe’s talent at character development. With just a bit of background she has transformed Lydia into a character worthy of her own novel. I believe this is a fantastic Austen sequel, because it changes nothing of the original Austen creations, instead it digs deeper and adds more personality to a secondary character creating a story line that veers in another direction.

About The Author

Jane Odiwe is an artist and author. She is an avid fan of all things Austen and is the author and illustrator of Effusions Of Fancy, consisting of annotated sketches from the life of Jane Austen.
She lives with her husband, three children, two kittens and a goldfish in North London.

Jane Odiwe's website - Austen Effusions

Published by Sourcebooks Landmark

---

© 2008-2010 Joanne Mosher of The Book Zombie. All rights reserved.