“My suspicion is that had P.D. James been an unknown author peddling her manuscript for the first time to publishers and agents, Death Comes to Pemberley would have been tossed on the slush pile and she would have received a slew of the rejection letters,” writes Vic Sanborn of Jane Austen’s World. Meanwhile, Liesl Schillinger, reviewing James’s sequel to Pride and Prejudice for The New York Times, concludes that “Not infrequently, while reading Death Comes to Pemberley, one succumbs to the impression that it is Austen herself at the keyboard.”
Is P.D. James channelling the spirit of Jane Austen, or has Death Comes to Pemberley received attention because of the powerful combination of Austen’s fame and James’s own fame, more than because of its literary merits? The critics are divided, and we want to know what you think.
Please join members of JASNA Nova Scotia on Sunday, April15th at 2pm for tea and a discussion of Death Comes to Pemberley. Let me know if you’re interested and I can send you directions. If you can’t make it (or even if you can), please feel free to comment here with your assessment of the novel.
Sarah Emsley 
There were three of us in the Austen in Boston bookclub who read it. Two of us thought it was so-so. One truly hated it, I was so surprised about her strong reaction. Lol, for me, the biggest crime in the book is making Lizzy old at seven and twenty(or whatever age she is in the book). Perhaps someone like Andrew Davies could make a film with more life to it…and a lively Lizzy!
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Most of the members of our group were disappointed with Death Comes to Pemberley. I definitely agree with you that this P&P sequel would be much improved if it featured a lively Lizzy.
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