The Bad Miss Bennet

In Jean Burnett's Pride and Prejudice spin off novel, the protagonist of The Bad Miss Bennet (#291) is, of course, Elizabeth Bennet's younger sister, Lydia.  After Lydia runs away with the bounder Wickham and ruins her reputation while she's at it, Mr. Darcy makes it right by paying Wickham ten thousand pounds to marry her, while heaving a simultaneous sigh of relief that his own sister Georgiana has escaped his clutches.  We know that from P & P.  But whatever happened to headstrong, heedless Lydia?

Ms. Burnett weaves a colorful and amusing tale of how Lydia fares after she is widowed at Waterloo, just as it looked as things might finally be going her way in her ambition to move in the highest circles of society, and to make a profit while doing so.   The last thing she wants is to be buried alive at Pemberly with her sister Lizzie and her odious husband Mr. Darcy.  But her plans fall apart as one disaster follows another and she finds herself unwittingly mixed up with criminals and further away from her goal of living independently in Paris than ever.  Lydia's not a bad person, but sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do...

I enjoy reading the many Jane Austen-based novels out there, and The Bad Miss Bennet is a delightful addition to the genre.  Frankly, I'm surprised more hasn't already been written about Lydia Bennet Wickham; there's so much potential out there for her character.  I hope Ms. Burnett plans to add to Lydia's future adventures!