Done! Absolutely loved it.
Status check:
I cringed at Elizabeth looking down her nose at her best friend for marrying Mr. Collins. Sad to say but a woman of her age back then had no other options. Her visiting Charlotte and meeting Lady Catherine had me and surprised at how the wealthier people back then had the nerve to look down upon people that didn't have enough money for their daughter's to have a governess and to be trained in womanly pursuits like piano playing, singing, and sewing.
Then we get to this:
Yeah not Mr. Darcy's finest moment. I was ready to shake him.
In Mr. Darcy's defense her mother and most of Elizabeth's sisters' excluding Jane are awful.
Once we got to her reading his letter I was literally screaming "go to him!"
We get to some pivotal scenes between Elizabeth and Mr. Wickham and I would have been calling him out. I guess back then that's not what polite society did. What I loved is Elizabeth slowly realizing that everything Mr. Darcy said was and had to be true. She had her eyes opened by her parents marriage and her father's inability to discipline his kids.
We eventually get to Elizabeth's visit to Pemberly and seeing Mr. Darcy again.
Yep totally yelled "Just kiss!"
Eventually we get to a crisis in the Bennet family which Elizabeth quickly finds out was resolved by Mr. Darcy making her fall even more in love with him. I wanted to smack Mrs. Bennet for being obtuse about what Lydia did and how it could badly affect the whole family. Crazy that marriage whitewashes everything.
It seems things happen quite quickly with Elizabeth having a showdown with Lady Catherine in which I applauded her and then we get our hero and heroine on a walk together coming to an understanding. Still love the movie version better though.
The book version has an epilogue of sorts in which we get to hear about the Bennet sisters and Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy along with Jane and Mr. Bingley.
This book was like sunshine and cotton candy to me. Just pure happiness. I also totally watched the movie again last night.
With my version being illustrated with a glossary and interesting articles about courting, the classes, etc. this was an excellent book to read on a snowy day.
I am going to order this illustrated copy and give it a permanent spot on my shelf. These days I wait for a really spectacular book to buy in hardcover/paperback.
I also read The Pursuit of Mary Bennet last year and found it to be very good. I would recommend if you want to see a "sequel" to Pride and Prejudice. A good friend read Murder at Pemberly and didn't like it at all.
Speaking of the snow. I want to find Mother Nature and kick her in the shin.