It is easy for the cynical Janeite (who, us? cynical? pish!) to get burned out on Pride and Prejudice sequels, especially when there are so many of them, and so many of them are quite bad. (Can you say Emma Tennant? We thought you could.) But we keep reading them, because we know that there are a few jewels in the sludge. We’re not sure that Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride is a jewel exactly, but we think it will appeal to a wide cross-section of Janeites.

The book starts pretty much where P&P left off, with Elizabeth and Darcy preparing for their marriage and removal to the elegance of their family party at Pemberley. Unfortunately they are immediately troubled by the problem of whether Mrs. Darcy will be accepted by Mr. Darcy’s neighbors, friends, and family, especially those under the influence of Lady Catherine de Bourgh. Working through these issues, and the romantic entanglements of those characters still single at the end of P&P, form the rest of the story.

A novel by its nature must have conflict, and in our view the problem with many Austen sequels is subverting the happy-ever-after endings of the originals by making the conflict come from within the Darcys’ relationship. Happily, Ms. Halstead gives the Darcys mostly external conflict, allowing the reader to see them as a loving newlywed couple, which is just what we want. The authoress seems, to us, to have her finger on the pulse of the Lizzy/Darcy zeitgeist: there is a touch of angst and melodrama (which a certain constituency of fans seems to like) and the Darcys are sexy without being explicit, a circumstance sure to please a wide audience.

We could wish there were less swanning about with earls and marchionesses in Town during the Season, which is rather more Georgette Heyer than Jane Austen in our opinion (and we love Heyer), but at least our sensible Lizzy tires of the ton quickly and pines for Pemberley, and her husband is happy to oblige her. The writing is sharp and intelligent, with no twee attempts to imitate Austen’s voice. The authoress trusts her own style, and rightly so.

Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride is a comfortable sort of book, not spectacular but solid and enjoyable. We think Team Darcy will love it; we suspect the authoress is a teammate herself, and gives her audience just what they are looking for.

Note: The book was formerly published under the title A Private Performance.