Letters from Pemberley the First Year is another of what I like to call Jane Austen fan fiction. This book is a compilation of letters written by new Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy to her sister Jane.

The novel is a fast and enjoyable read. Its author Jane Dawkins doesn't set out for historical accuracy as she is no expert in either the period or Jane Austen. She simply wishes to entertain based on her love of Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics), as well as other works of Jane Austen.

Dawkins peppers Elizabeth's first year at Pemberly with familiar characters. Many of the characters, though renamed, are easily recognized from other works by Jane Austen. It becomes a fun game identifying them based upon Elizabeth's descriptions.

Overall, its an enjoyable novel. There are a few rough spots where the language doesn't come across just right. Some of the phrasing in the letters is awkward. But the basis of the novel is well thought out. While I never really pictured Elizabeth as a character who would be shy or reticent about anything. I did understand the premise that Elizabeth, so recently separated from her family and suddenly mistress of a large household would doubt herself.

The idea that many would think Mr. Darcy married beneath him would surely haunt her as she made her mark upon society and her new household. It is in this area that Dawkins really shines. Elizabeth's pride does not allow her to back down from the challenge of proving that she is good enough. Which is what I would expect from the Elizabeth of Pride and Prejudice (Bantam Classics). However, this Elizabeth shares her fears with her sister and in these letters we see how lonely it must have been for her to leave her family behind and start this new life with the man she loved so dearly.

This novel is an introduction to the new Mrs. Darcy, Mistress of Pemberly. While the spirited light hearted Elizabeth Bennet is still there, she is changed as one would expect. I have only one personal gripe about the novel. It is composed of 25 letters from Elizabeth to Jane. I wish that we could have read Jane's replies to her sister. Which left the novel feeling incomplete. However, having just discovered that Dawkins has written a sequel to her sequel entitled More Letters From Pemberley: 1814-1819: A Further Continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, it is entirely possible that the novel was left incomplete on purpose.