Charlotte Collins

A Continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice

When Charlotte Lucas married Mr. Collins in Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, she believed herself to be fortunate indeed. Her nuptials gained her a comfortable home and financial security. If she acquired these things at the expense of true love, it did not matter one whit. To Charlotte, love in marriage was nothing more than a pleasant coincidence.

As the years of her marriage dragged by, Charlotte began to question her idea of love as she suffered continual embarrassment at her husband’s simpering and fawning manners. When Mr. Collins dies, finally relieving everyone of his tedious conversation, she must work feverishly to secure her income and home. She gives no further thought to the prospect of love until her flighty sister Maria begs her to act as her chaperone in place of their ailing parents. Hoping to prevent Maria from also entering an unhappy union, Charlotte agrees, and they are quickly thrust into a world of country dances, dinner parties, and marriageable gentlemen.

But when an unprincipled gentleman compromises Charlotte’s reputation, her romantic thoughts disappear at the prospect of losing her independence. As she struggles to extricate herself from her slander, her situation reveals both the nature of each gentleman and of true love.

Always free to read on Kindle Unlimited.


Reviews of Charlotte Collins

With Charlotte Collins, Jennifer Becton mines the rich vein of literary characters who’ve vanished into the mists of history. Her newly widowed Charlotte is an expert in social nuance, but does she know her own heart as well? Charming, witty, and grounded in period detail, Becton’s debut novel will make Jane Austen fans rejoice.

Beverle Graves Myers, author Her Deadly Mischief

I absolutely love it when an author takes a secondary Austen character, brings them to the forefront, and transforms them into an admirable hero or heroine. What a delight it was to read a novel that centered on these two diverse sisters who were previously only minor characters!

Read the full review at Austenesque Reviews

Becton does a wonderful job of bringing us back into Austen’s world in more importantly into the headspace of Charlotte after her husband dies. Dear reader, I almost felt as though I was watching a movie. Rich descriptions, wonderful character development and writing with genuine feeling. I would recommend this to any purist!

The National Jane Austen Examiner

I loved every single page of CHARLOTTE COLLINS. The story brings you in so deeply, that it is almost like you are right there next to Charlotte, helping her re-discover life, and the many wonderful things that come with an independent life. The romance is so sweet and the characters are perfectly in tune to a time when gentlemen were allowed to be rascals and a lady must always be a lady…. I highly recommend CHARLOTTE COLLINS. This novel flows perfectly from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, that at times I forgot that I wasn’t reading a story by Jane Austen. Had Jane Austen read CHARLOTTE COLLINS, I really think she would have put her stamp of approval on it. It is just that perfect!

A Girl Reads a Book

I absolutely loved this book! Jennifer Whiteley Becton continued Charlotte’s personality from Austen’s novels but wrote it in such a way that you understood her better. The feeling of the era was was also in line with Austen. While easier to read/flowed better than Austen, it didn’t feel like a contemporary remake. I’ve reread this book several times and love it even more the more I read it!

Lisa M. from Facebook

The story is positively captivating and I was excited through the whole reading until it unfortunately ended. But ’tis always with good books: they end some time. In that case it is recommended to start afresh, which I did just a couple of days ago, or hope that there’s going to be a continuation…. In case of Jennifer Becton’s first novel, I am convinced it won’t be the last and I am looking forward to the next!

Read the full review at Leyland Manor Project

In Charlotte Collins, author Jennifer Becton brings us a world full of thought-provoking moments and a society that continues to demand that its members follow rules or suffer condemnation…. Ms. Becton’s writing style is very much like 19th century English.  There were moments when we had to shake ourselves mentally to remind ourselves that we were not reading a novel by Jane Austen.

Read the full review at The Regency Inkwell

Read more reviews:
Narniamum

To Read or Not to Read

Laura’s Reviews

Other Buzz
Charlotte Collins is featured on PeriodDramas.com.

Read Jennifer’s interview on My Jane Austen Book Club and her guest blog at Fly High.

Check out her other interview at Austenesque Reviews.

Audiobook Cover