Alice McVeigh does it again! Marianne is the latest in a series of Austenesque novels that take gorgeous liberties with Austen’s characters. In this case, Marianne Dashwood is the center-pin for a tale that weaves in - in addition to Willoughby - Margaret Dashwood, Mr Rushworth and Henry Crawford (Mansfield Park), Jane Fairfax (Emma), Susan Smithson (Lady Susan), and even has odd cameos from Bingley, John Thorpe (Northanger Abbey), and Edmund Bertram.
At first I was disconcerted as the story begins with a widowed Marianne Dashwood who is but twenty. I had somehow thought her older than seventeen when she wed Brandon, but more importantly I had imagined better happiness for the pair of them than a lone year of marriage. As I read in, I was captivated by McVeigh’s talent - as good here as ever - for taking Austen’s people and setting them down outside the original novels in ways that feel both true and new.
I am a great fan of Austen variations, prequels, and sequels, but much of the time they are spoiled by anachronisms and poor writing or a clear lack of familiarity with the books rather than the films. That is never the case with Alice McVeigh’s novels, each is meticulous and well-written with a care to capture something of Austen’s tone while still appealing to a contemporary reader.
I can recommend Marianne as highly as I have Harriet, Darcy, and Susan; I think it would be an excellent addition to a syllabus alongside other novels that look at Austen’s originals from different angles like Jo Baker’s Longbourn and Lynn Shepherd’s Mansfield Revisited.