Culture Watch Reviews: P.D. James' Death Comes to Pemberley; Trollope's Nina Balatka

In this Issue: P.D. James has written not just a sequel to the action of Pride and Prejudice: she has somehow absorbed Jane Austen’s style whole in Death Comes to Pemberley. What in lesser hands would be chutzpah of a rare order is in this case elegant proof that Baroness James deserves every ounce of her extraordinary literary reputation. Nina Balatka by Trollope is a welcome change of pace for most of us who aren’t ashamed to enjoy a romance, or in need of some entertaining preaching, even if it is to the choir.

DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY
by P.D. James,
Published by Alfred A. Knopf, © 2011; Hardcover: 291 pp
Amazon: Death Comes to Pemberley

The oeuvre of Jane Austen consists of just six published novels, three unfinished novels, and something called “assorted juvenilia,” i.e. mostly unpublished youthful efforts. Pride and Prejudice is arguably the best known and loved of the lot, with Sense and Sensibility and Emma close behind. Even if you didn’t have a high school English teacher wise enough to assign an Austen novel (probably hoping to create another generation of Austen fans), you are likely to have seen a film or television portrayal of at least one of the books.

During the nearly 200 years since her death, there have been a great many novels published “in the style of,” or “in homage to,” Jane Austen. There have even been a few bold souls who tried their hands at producing a sequel to one or another, with results that were invariably disastrous. It has seemed always that there is only one Jane. P.D. James, however, has written not just a sequel to the action of Pride and Prejudice: she has somehow absorbed Jane Austen’s style whole. What in lesser hands would be chutzpah of a rare order is in this case elegant proof that Baroness James deserves every ounce of her extraordinary literary reputation. Additionally, at the age of 90 she has lost none of her ability to orchestrate a complex and challenging plot. Couple that skill with her near-perfect ability to mimic Austen’s language while making it accessible to the modern mind and ear, and you have one delicious read.

That said, it is advisable not to plunge into James’s extension of the characters and setting of Pride and Prejudice without first re-reading the original, or perhaps spending an evening with a video of one of the excellent movie or television productions. Keeping straight all those Bingleys and Binghams and Bennets and Bidwells can become downright confusing, unless you’re a firm Austen fanatic who revisits the novels on a rotating schedule. And, judging by this reviewer, it’s still easy to lose track of who does what to or with whom. Many years ago, on my first reading, I actually made myself a little cheat-sheet chart of the characters, with connecting lines to denote relationships, and found myself resorting to it again, with this continuing story.

Baroness James has taken the time to write a Prologue to her book, detailing — for those who have not read, or have forgotten (how could they?) — the plot of Pride and Prejudice. That she managed to fit her précis into a mere nine pages, never mind doing so in the style of Miss Austen, is a remarkable tour de force. From then on, however, the book is all P.D. James. Death Comes to Pemberley takes place six years after Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy were married. In that time, Elizabeth has firmly established herself as the mistress of Pemberley, Darcy’s huge estate. They have produced two sons, who are briefly but lovingly mentioned, and are being well looked-after by the personnel in the nursery.

Pemberley is a huge estate, and the cast of servants and retainers is also large. At the opening of the story, Darcy and Elizabeth and the servants are absorbed in preparations for Lady Anne’s Ball, an annual celebration originated by Darcy’s late mother, and continued by Darcy and Elizabeth. Elizabeth’s sister, Jane, and her husband, Mr. Bingley, along with Darcy’s cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, have come to stay at Pemberly for a few days, until after the ball. On the night before the event, they are enjoying an evening of music and pleasant conversation, but as the evening ends, they are interrupted by the arrival of a wildly-driven chaise bearing Elizabeth’s and Jane’s next-youngest sister, the unfortunate Lydia who is — to put it mildly — the kind of sister no one should have to endure, frequently given to excessive overstatement and high drama and foolish actions. In this instance, Lydia is hysterical, claiming that her husband, Lieutenant Wickham, has been killed in the woods as they approached Pemberley.

The Lady Anne Ball is, or course, cancelled, and the game’s afoot to find the murderer (not, oddly enough, of Lt. Wickham, who remains inconveniently alive). P.D. James’s pitch-perfect rendering of the customs and laws of the time lead us carefully through the ensuing plot, which is intricate and convoluted and fun to follow, and very much a glimpse into another time and culture.

It is possible or even probable that Death Comes to Pemberly won’t be universally loved by Jane Austen’s fans, but for those of us willing to bend a little, it provides one heck of an escape from life’s aches and pains and primary elections. And these days, that is no small achievement.

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Culture Watch Reviews: P.D. James' Death Comes to Pemberley; Trollope's Nina Balatka

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