Death Comes to Pemberly

What happened after Darcy and Elizabeth wed?  Did they live happily ever after?
Many a spin off book has been inspired by Pride and Prejudice.

This one was a little different.
Taking place six years after the end of Austen's novel, it begins with the dramatic entrance of Lydia, screaming that her husband Wickam has been murdered in the forest near Pemberly.  Is it true?  What happened?  Who is to blame?

So begins P.D. James take on murder-mystery-meets-Jane-Austen.  She mimics Jane's language and stays true to the characters, but throws in a very convincing who-done-it plot.   I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The Quotes- P & P Viewing Party

Kayla- “I love how Mr. Collins thinks that it is fashionable for Lizzie to reject his proposal.  That would not happen today.  You reject a guy, and he would be gone.  (Pause) Or not…depending on the guy.”

CLUNK

“Betsy?”

“Don’t worry!  Nothing broke!”

Pause

“Oh wait, yes it did.”

Betsy- “Plastic.  On my Trader Joe’s Rosemary.  Not very good.”

Karla- “This is not Hallmark lined paper.  I can’t work with this.”

Betsy- “How many ounces are in a 2 Liter?”

Katie- “67.6”

Betsy- “Did you just know that?”

Katie- “Yes!”

Betsy- “Are you lying?”

Katie- “Yes, I am lying!  I just read it off the label in front of me!”

The Pride and Prejudice Viewing Party

The Gifts- P & P Viewing Party

I (Katie) loved this gift, Kayla!  Simple, beautiful, and very memorable for our Book Club adventures.
Betsy, I also am super excited about my new hardback edition of Mansfield Park.  Hardbacks are lovely...but I don't have a picture yet to add to the blog :)

The Projects- P & P Viewing Party

I (Betsy) spent a while on the not-so-exciting task of measuring, cutting, and tying (Thanks for the help, Kayla!) embroidery floss for 17 students to make friendship bracelets during a special event at school this week.  I am just hopeful that the students will be able to follow the directions that I show them and not all of the bracelets will end up in knots.

 

I (Katie) worked the whole time on my Christmas cards...and only got about half done.  Here is the finished result.  It took a couple more days, but they are finally ready to mail.

I love the mess that we made over the course of the evening :)

One of the things that I (Betsy) love about our Book Club is how we have utilized the idea of keeping our hands busy while we visit and discuss our books or watch the movies.  We feel useful when we can multitask and work on projects that we enjoy while also maintaining good discussion and fellowship.  

When my dad asked how our day was yesterday, I told him how we were all working on various craft projects throughout the afternoon.  He was unimpressed, but I argued that our craftiness was not unlike how our ancestors would have spent their time crocheting, mending, knitting, snapping peas, etc. while visiting with their neighbors and catching up on each others' lives.  

In our technology-driven world of Facebook, cell phones, and so many other forms of impersonal communication, I'm thankful that we can take a few hours a month to sit with each other and enjoy face-to-face discussions.  The fact that we are able to creatively use that time to work on projects makes it all the more richer, in my opinion. The projects on which we were working will become gifts for our family and friends, who will hopefully be blessed by our handiwork, in the same way that we each were blessed by one another's company while we made them. 

The Food- P & P Viewing Party

I also made Peppermint Fudge Sandwich Cookies and Pretzel Bites.  I will post a picture of the cookies later, but you can access the link to the recipes now.  Even though the pretzels didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped, maybe someone else will have better luck with them.   ~Betsy

Not pictured, was spinach artichoke dip. My favorite appetizer of choice. It was taken from a Cooking Light article years ago (and I mean years, as in I was in Jr. High). It SO good AND it's practically healthy.

Also not picture were the Chicken Enchiladas, which needed a little work.  Basic recipe:
Cook 3 chicken breasts.  Shred, and mix with one can cream of chicken soup, about a cup of mozzarella cheese, and a little bit of chicken broth.  Warm flour tortillas for 30 seconds in the microwave wrapped in a damp towel.  Place a heaping spoonful of the chicken mixture in the middle of a tortilla and wrap.  Place in a 9x13 pan sprayed with nonstick spray.  Repeat until pan is full.  Cover enchiladas with about a half a can of soup mixed with a little broth. (this is what I messed up- they just need to be barely covered). Cover with more cheese.  Bake about 30 minutes at 350.

The Drinks- P & P Viewing Party

 Delicious, multi step, specially made, amazing Salted Caramel Mochas, made by Betsy (with kitchen assistance from Kayla)

 

And...Cherry Coke Zero.  Which Katie and Kayla drank all of.

Bliss.

Thanks, Katie, for making Pumpkin Spice Lattes at our last book club. Made my night!  

Dress the Part

Here's the necklace that I forgot to wear for the official P & P Book Club Meeting.

It will make an appearance at the movie viewing.

 Pretty, huh?  My sister had it made for me through Vintage Chick Designs .

-Katie

Why Jane Austen Ruined My Chances of Getting Married

Let me preface to our extended family of readers, who were not in attendance at our last book club, that I believe in jest we were on a roll thinking of book titles based on Jane. And thus, I spewed "Why Jane Austen Ruined My Chances of Getting Married." It was meant to get a few laughs at the time.
But then I thought, this is true.

Okay, well, it's not entirely true, but it's more accurate that I would like to admit.

In fact, when this book club was birthed into existence, I was nervous that we would be mourning our singleness instead of having intellectual conversations based literature. As we discussed Emma, I was pleasantly surprised. We talked governmental scandal (Pat Tillman specifically was discussed in depth), social norms, and funerals. (Note: I wrote a really well constructed, poignant article about this very topic, and my laptop, I believe, ate it. It really made me sad.)

So then we read Pride & Prejudice. Which I have read six times, all before graduating high school. And I decided somewhere during college that the book was over-rated. Who cares about Mr. Darcy anyway.

But this time around it struck a cord with me.
Because, despite the fact that there are much more exciting leading men out there than Mr. Darcy (not to mention all of the sports figures I have fallen in love with over the years), there is this innate desire to be swept away in a love story.

And then there is this tension with, do you just go for the nice guy because he likes you? That's what Charlotte did. And it seemingly worked out for her. 

Round and round this argument in my head goes. 

And now that I have been sitting here for the better part of half an hour and am just as confused as ever. 

Wait around for Mr. Darcy? Or Mr. Knightly. Or Tom Brady, for that matter.

Or do you marry the Mr. Collins? Because Mr Collins wants to be married and so do you.

Because I have let go of a few Mr. Collins who could have been potential Mr. Darcy's 

This is why Jane Austen ruined my chances of getting married. Thanks to her detailed character development and her interwoven relationships, I am more baffled than before. 

Now all I can do is rely on God's grace. 

And listen to this song on repeat. For King & Country says it best, "I have got a busted heart. I need you now. I'm desperate for grace." (Sorry, not the best version I could find.)

Thanks for reading my mess of a post,

Kayla

(Please disregard the scattered sentence fragments.)

Pride and Prejudice Quotes of the Night

Betsy: I read 20 pages.

Kayla: We’re talking about the book anyway, according to the rules.

Karla: I think it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man possessed of a good fortune must be in want of a really big TV…

Kayla: …and a gaming system.

Kayla: Jane Austen ruined my chances of getting married.

Betsy: I’m not going to give her that much credit.  I think I was pretty well screwed up before I read Pride and Prejudice.

Betsy: We never did get our token male.

Karla: We would have been fighting over him.

Katie: It’s a lot easier when one of us is getting back together with our ex-husband, one of us is a lesbian, and the other isn’t looking.

Betsy: (Talking about picture poses.)  We could look coyly over our shoulders.

Betsy: Make sure you have excellent posture.

Katie: I was trying to look amiable.

Karla: You took a picture of me?

Katie: Did you not see the flash?

Kayla: You came in and said we needed to take the picture because your hair was fading fast.

Kayla: And she seeks justice… for the children of Uganda.

Betsy: Dirty, rotten scumbags.  (In response to “Women fancy admiration means more than it does.  And men take care that they should.”)

Kayla: What did you all think…? I mean just Katie, because you’re the only one who read it.

Kayla: I’ll probably be blessed with five girls like Mrs. Bennett.

Katie: And they’ll all be out at once!

Katie: The books look much better at the end of the evening than we do.

The Men of Austen: P & P Today

The men of Pride and Prejudice certainly are something else.  We got to wondering...what would they be like in today's world?  Here's our take on the modern day equivalent of these Jane Austen characters.

• Mr Bennet- Works hard enough at a boring desk job to get by.  Comes home and secludes himself in his den playing video games channel surfing.  Can't be troubled to set boundaries for his children when it comes to dating, cell phones, or online social media, resulting in lots of scandalous behavior.  Would divorce his wife, if it wasn't so much work.   
• Wickam- Suave.  Never admits this, but can't actually hold a job for more than a year.  Dresses like a model out of GQ, but has credit card debt up to his ears.   Practically has multiple personality disorder making every woman love him.  Somewhat regularly attends a church to keep up appearances, and the nice old church ladies think he is the cutest thing.  Acts like a wealthy businessman, but actually never finished college.  Is about to have his Hummer repossessed.  Can smell a single girl all the way on the other side of the crowded, swanky clubs that he frequents every night.
• Bingley- The perfect "Mr. Nice Guy." Has enough money to live in a McMansion in the burbs, but still goes home so his mom can do his laundry.  Great socializer, but oblivious to the need to actually pursue a girl in order to win her.  Has lots of buddies.
• Collins- Lives in the online world.  Holds several advanced degrees, but still cannot share that knowledge being condescending.  Maybe even a stuffy college professor. Closet Dungeons & Dragons player.  Would have actually have proposed to Charlotte through a text message. 
• Darcy- Engineer, hence some trouble communicating with the real world.  Partner in the successful and lucrative family business, and everyone thinks that it is just an honorary position, but he is actually the most talented one there.  Runs in the right social circles, drives the right car, and lives in the right neighborhood, but is tired of fake people.  He is not looking for a wife- he doesn't need one judging from the ridiculous women he encounters or the divorce rate prevalent in his family.  Travels all over the world supposedly on business, but has actually started a mission in Uganda which he supports and visits monthly.  We think that Elizabeth is a lobbyist that starts fighting against something his family business is doing.  She is so set apart that she makes him reconsider everything he thought he used to know.

What do you think?

-Katie

P & P Pictures

Four Books:

Four Friends:

More than four hours of conversation.

Which Austen Heroine Are You?

Katie is Elizabeth Bennet :)

"You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of ridiculousness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed."

Not so sure how true it is... but you can try it too!

Take the quiz here!