Recollections of Rosings is the eighth book in Rebecca Ann Collins' The Pemberley Chronicles series. This series has long been on my To Be Read list and despite owning the first two books in the series, I have yet to be able to read them. So while I was excited at the prospect of reading a book in this series, I was also hesitant about beginning with the eighth installment.

As a Pride and Prejudice devotee, and with the help of the list of characters provided in the book and by the publisher, I had no problem keeping up with the characters (those established by Jane Austen and those created by Rebecca Ann Collins) and the storyline.

While my beloved Darcy and Lizzy made brief appearances here, I did come to like very much Catherine Collins Harrison and her lively daughter Liliane. Again, not having read the previous books, I did feel that Catherine was very much like her mother, Charlotte Lucas Collins, and fortunately not like her namesake, Lady Catherine deBurgh!

I found the contrast between Catherine and younger sister Becky to be an interesting one, as Becky is not only more outgoing and outspoken than her sister but also much more fond of city life and living in town rather than the country. The two sisters, while very divergent personalities, still share a close and loving relationship that is both positive and inspiring.

The cruelty by Lady Catherine, alluded to in the synopsis, is just that and frankly, would we expect any less from a character you love to hate? It's a wonderful plot point and I fell in love with the result (without giving away too much!)

I think the best part of Recollections of Rosings was the heart of the story that remained true to Jane Austen's original vision. True Pride and Prejudice fans will happily soak up this story, following the lives of much loved characters. Despite a somewhat slow start, I did find myself immersed with Catherine, Liliane, Becky and the Darcys and the Bingleys in Kent.

My only complaint with Recollections of Rosings would be the aforementioned somewhat slow start. I fear that impatient readers may not give Recollections of Rosings a chance but it is well worth the time. ( )

This is a work of fiction based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice novel. This book is the 8th in a series and takes place 40-50 years after Pride and Prejudice with a some of the characters like Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, Jonathan Bingley and his wife Anna, Rebecca and Anthony Tate. There are new characters as well , but the story revolves around Catherine Harrison and her sister Rebecca Tate. At this point in this series Catherine is married to Dr.Harrison , Reverand at Hunsford, who is alive at the very beginning of the story but dies shortly after.

Catherine was invited to live with Lady Catherine de Bourgh and as a young woman befriends a young man in Lady Catherines employ at Rosings, Lady Catherine’s estate. Frank Burnett is a intelligent young man working as archivist and librarian at Rosings. During that time before Catherine’s marriage to Dr. Harrison, she spends a lot of time with Mr. Burnett. As the years go on Catherine has a happy marriage and has children. Frank Burnett goes to Europe to study. After Dr. Harrison dies, a fire breaks out at Rosings and destroys a wing of the estate and Jonathan Bingley hires Frank Burnett to be the librarian again. Catherine at this time is now a widow and with the permission of Mr. Darcy member of Rosings Park Trust which now manages the estate, moves into the Dower house on Rosings grounds and she starts to spend more time at the estate and over a period of time her friendship with Frank is renewed. Catherine also has aspirations of having a school on the Rosings for the children that live on the estate.

Catherines daughter Lillian is engaged to be married to Mr. John Adams, who had been curator for a year or so at Rosings, but it is postponed after the death of Dr. Harrison and Lilian becomes severely ill and Catherine’s sister Becky comes to the Dower house to assist Catherine in taking care of her daughter. Becky does not approve of the young man who wants to marry Lilian so she clashes with Catherine on this. Becky has a very influential friend, Lady Ashton, who proceeds to spread gossip regarding Mr. Adams heritage. As this happens Catherine and Frank find out in their conversations how they each felt about the other many years ago and because of an old ladies meddling , Lady Catherine de Bourgh, whose deceptions kept the young couple apart and to move onto their separate lives where they meet up years later. The story continues with Catherine and Becky confronting their own personal issues of the past and find out that love does in fact conquer all.

At first I had a hard time getting into this book. I have #1 in the series but haven’t read it yet and reading the 8th book of the series first was a bit confusing. I did a get character list along with the book so that helped immensely. At times I found the story repetitive in certain parts, especially when Catherine was reading her diary of her earlier years at Rosing and her relationship with Mr. Burnett. I liked the character of Catherine as she was portrayed as a very kind and sensitive, but also a strong woman in her own right.

Recollections of Rosings is a perfect addition to anyone’s library who is a fan of Jane Austen. I would recommend reading it in chronological order first though as the story does get into some characters from the previous books. ( )

AVOID this edition of this book at all costs. It is self-published/POD, and the text is so tiny as to be illegible. I got stuck with a copy via PaperbackSwap (had asked for the Sourcebook version, got this instead.) Not only that, but the entire book is printed in ITALICS!
Mine isn't autographed, so there's no value here; there's certainly no value to the book, since I can't read it without a magnifying glass. (I have perfect vision...)
Another oddity is that it's been printed without indentations to tell you when a new chapter is beginning, and while the left side of the page is 'flush' (meaning the lines all start at the same place), the right-hand side is 'ragged' (meaning that lines stop all over the place, as much as a full inch apart, even in the middle of a sentence.
Just dreadful printing job; whoever did it should be banned from the profession. I won't rate the book, because the printing makes it worth less than a single star, while I can't actually read the book to tell you if it's good, when there are 8.5 lines of text crammed into one inch...