I’ve already reviewed ten novels
this year as part of my Neo-Victorian Voices series, dedicated to books written
in the twenty-first century but set in the nineteenth. And the final and eleventh
was a book I was particularly excited about—The
Clergyman’s Wife, Molly Greeley’s 2019 debut.
I’ve previously written about a few
other novels inspired by Jane Austen’s perennially popular 1813 Pride and Prejudice (e.g. Longbourn, which tells the story from
the perspective of the Bennet family’s servants, and Mary B, which takes up the perspective of Lizzy’s least beautiful
sister). The Clergyman’s Wife
revisits the novel from yet another viewpoint—that of Charlotte Lucas, Lizzy’s
friend who chooses to wed the risible Mr Collins since she has few other
prospects.
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| The Clergyman's Wife (2019), Molly Greeley |
Jane Austen fans love to imagine
which Bennet sister they are most similar to, with the majority of us hoping
that we’re “a Lizzy”. But I’ve always felt that Charlotte Lucas’s pragmatic
attitude is one that most of us would adopt if we lived in a society that
forced women to marry or become a burden.
Greeley dives into this topic a
little deeper. Her story begins a few years after Pride and Prejudice ends. Charlotte is older, a mother and a wife.
Mr Collins is his usual loquacious self. And the couple lives near Rosings
under the gaze of Lady Catherine, who is as commandeering as ever. The novel
asks us to imagine “what if”. What if we
were in a marriage of convenience? Would affection grow between husband and
wife? What if true love came knocking years after you’d concluded it was an
unattainable dream?
Charlotte confronts these
questions and more when local gardener Mr Travis plants roses near the
parsonage under Lady Catherine’s orders. Their relationship is believable and
nuanced, with Greeley doing a great job balancing period etiquette with a
modern desire for action and drama. One strength in her writing that helps with
this is that her characters all feel entirely human, despite the more stilted
manners of the Regency period. No one, not even Lady Catherine or Mr Collins,
feels like a caricature. And descriptions of movement and physicality,
especially related to Charlotte’s baby daughter Louisa, are recognisable and
charming.
 |
| Molly Greeley |
Just as the roses instigate
Charlotte and Mr Travis’s first meeting, so botany is a thematic thread
throughout the novel, with beautiful descriptions of the Kent landscape.
There’s just enough of this to add colour, texture and interest without
alienating readers who (like me) might know little of gardening.
Austen purists will be delighted
by how Greeley is true to the spirit of
Pride and Prejudice while adding her own commentary. Lizzy and Darcy make a
cameo and don’t worry—their marriage is going well! There’s a scene at the
Bennets’ dinner table, another at a ball. This isn’t a radical revision of one
of literature’s best loved books but a delicate, understated story that asks us
to look closer at the people not born to be protagonists who are often left on
the peripheries, the choices they make and the happiness they can find.
I’d love to hear your
recommendations for books I should review in my Neo-Victorian Voices series in
2020! Let me know—here, on Facebook or by tweeting @SVictorianist.
I am also delighted to share that
Molly Greeley was kind enough to read my own forthcoming novel, Brontë's Mistress, and offered an endorsement.
She writes: “Brontë's
Mistress gives voice to a woman who, until now, has been
voiceless; and, indeed, to thousands of women whose lives, like Lydia's, were
so terribly suffocating.”
If you’re interested
in receiving updates about Brontë's Mistress,
sign up to my email newsletter below!
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