Mrs Fitzwilliam Darcy and Other Stories — Anne Fafoutakis

So was Pemberley all peace, calm and pleasure after Elizabeth Bennet married the sternly handsome Fitzwilliam Darcy? The delightful short story from which this book takes its title tells us in faithful detail how Lizzy fared and how her faithful sister-in-law Georgiana rose Venus-like as a woman with her own will and talents - and made an excellent match into the bargain. In 'Trina', we visit Tsarist Russia and the Tolstoyan setting of St Petersburg, where a headstrong young girl falls for a man who can work on her mind - and her fondness for rubies. Against the backdrop of an era closer to our own, 'Friends and Relations' explores the impact of World War I and a friendly American giant on the tidy lives of a group of middle-class Britons. A keen eye for social differences, a wonderful sense of time and place, and occasional elegiac notes set these stories apart, guaranteeing the reader rich and continuing rewards.