Condescension and Condemnation
by Perpetua Langley
Series: The Sweet Regency Romance Series, Book 8
Genres: Regency, Romance, Literary Fiction
Release Date: October 15, 2016
Pages: 320
Purchase from: Amazon
My Rating: ★★★☆☆
Lizzy and Jane visit the Gardiners in London and receive an extraordinary introduction to Mr. Charles Bingley while attending the theater. Bingley is taken with Jane and invites Elizabeth, Jane and the Gardiners to a ball at his residence. Mr. Darcy, handsome, but too serious for Elizabeth, insists on claiming the first. Jane’s attention is wholly engaged by Mr. Bingley. All looks promising until Lady Catherine de Bourgh discovers she has just been introduced to a man in trade. Insulted, the Gardiners take Jane and Lizzy from the house.
Meanwhile, Mr. Bennet has received an extraordinary communication from Mrs. Polly Merriweather and Mr. Archibald Merriweather, recently of New York and currently residing in Berkeley Square. The Merriweathers claim relation to Mr. Bennet and Mr. Gardiner is asked to investigate.
Lizzy and Jane return to Longbourn, dispirited from their adventure with Lady Catherine, only to find that the house will host the Merriweathers and Mr. Collins, the regiment has taken up residence in Meryton and somebody has taken Netherfield.
Review
Condescension and Condemnation (C&C) was interesting, but for some reason, it didn’t capture my interest as much as I would have expected.
I enjoyed the Merriweathers, the author’s original characters. At the beginning of the book, I thought the author had included them to poke fun at Americans. However, as the story continued, I was gratified by the near-universal approbation they received from the rest of the characters. If the Merriweathers are meant to ridicule Americans, at least they’re well-liked.
I also like the more resolute Mr. Bingley in this story. He knows what he wants and goes after it without delay. I’m not, however, sure how I feel about this Mr. Darcy. He’s not overly likeable, in my opinion. He’s not horrible, either. But he doesn’t feel like he truly undergoes the personality changes he’s portrayed as having made.
His choices and words show that he’s still overbearing. And, by his own admission, he was willing to hound Elizabeth until she agreed to marry him.
Elizabeth, also, doesn’t read as someone who has fallen in love. Rather, she reads as someone who bears much gratitude for Mr. Darcy, and perhaps makes her decisions based on a stubborn desire to thwart Lady Catherine.
Overall, I didn’t dislike C&C, it just wasn’t for me.
About the Author
Perpetua Langley is the author of the sixteen book Sweet Regency Romance Series and the Chemsworth Hall series. She is a firm believer that life ought not to be taken too seriously unless absolutely necessary.
Perpetua writes sweet and clean romance that is in keeping with the literature of the time and hopes to capture the spirit of those stories. The tone of her books is reliably low angst so if you are looking for a gnashing of teeth and a pulling of hair and a cursing of the fates…you have landed in the wrong drawing room. However, if you like to settle in and live in a world where the problems are not life threatening, the characters are treated to a gentle humor, and their fates always resolve in an HEA – come on in! As Jane Austen wrote to the librarian at Carlton House:
“I could not sit seriously down to write a serious Romance under any other notice than to save my Life, & if it were indispensible for me to keep it up & never relax into laughing at myself or other people, I am sure I should be hung before I finished the first Chapter.”
Author links: Goodreads | Amazon Author Page
NOTE: This review is based on an eBook I borrowed from Amazon on May 31, 2022 as part of the Kindle Unlimited program.
