Book Review: Humility and Tolerance by Noni Valentine

I’m pleased to be welcoming Noni Valentine to Novel Kicks and the blog tour for her book, Humility and Tolerance.

A sequel to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

Seven years after Elizabeth Bennett married Fitzwilliam Darcy, they are still deeply in love, with two small children. But paradise is showing cracks now that Darcy’s aged housekeeper has died and Elizabeth must take up her duties. It’s more than one woman, even one as capable as Elizabeth, can manage.

Her sister Kitty, with Elizabeth and Jane’s help and a heroic effort on Kitty’s part, has outgrown her silly youth and matured into a sensible young woman—who, being sensible, spends as much time away from her parents and visiting her sisters as possible. Darcy’s sister Georgiana, with perhaps more influence from Elizabeth than is good for her, has become a confident, independent woman who is nevertheless ripe for romance. Charlotte Collins, newly widowed, is searching for a way out of the household of her husband’s crabbed patron, Lady Catherine, that doesn’t involve returning to her parents’ house.

Elizabeth sees a way to restore order to Pemberley and give herself a chance to to breathe: she offers Kitty a job as housekeeper of the estate, and Charlotte a job as governess of her adored children.

With these four women under one roof, chaos and the unexpected are inevitable. Both Kitty and Georgiana meet and begin falling in love with honorable, interesting men, neither of whom are gentlemen and therefore not considered eligible matches for them. Charlotte has the opposite problem: a childhood acquaintance who is now a Lord has become fixated on her and begins diligently wooing her, when all she wants is a quiet life and a chance to recover from eight years of marriage to a man she never loved.

When Elizabeth and Darcy learn of their sisters’ budding romances, each has the same reaction: delight at their sister-in-law’s choice and outrage at that of their sister. Now throw a ball into the mix, with Elizabeth’s mother bringing up forbidden topics from the past and her father hiding from the noise, Jane and Bingley attempting to calm the waters, Elizabeth trying to set up all three of the younger women, and Charlotte’s Lord pursuing her all over the dance floor—and an explosion is sure to happen.

This charming romance will delight all lovers of Jane Austen’s masterpiece who have ever wondered, “What happened next?”

*****

Seven years after marrying Mr Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet is happy as mistress of Pemberley. When she gets not one but two requests for visitors, she starts to make a plan but will everyone be happy with it? 

I am a huge fan of the original Pride and Prejudice and am always very intrigued when a sequel presents itself. Therefore, I jumped at the chance to be on the blog tour for Humility and Tolerance. 

This novel is told from the point of view of four people – Elizabeth, Kitty Bennet, Georgiana Darcy and Charlotte Collins. Reading this was like catching up with friends I adore but had not seen for a while. The author has managed to maintain the characteristics of each of these women whilst also giving us a glimpse of what possibly became of them. 

Elizabeth and Darcy were a delight although having him referred to as Fitzwilliam was a bit strange. Haha.

Kitty’s development out of Lydia’s shadow is interesting one and I enjoyed her story strand very much. It was the same with Georgiana. 

Charlotte was the one I struggled with. Not in a bad way. I guess she was the most frustrating. However, her behaviour can kind of be explained when you become more aware of her life with Mr Collins and Lady Catherine – the pressures that life would have put upon her. And of course, Mrs Bennet makes an appearance. I don’t want to say much more as I don’t want to give too much away. 

The plot moves well and is a realistic continuation. It covers themes of society, social status, family and love. You can tell Noni Valentine has a love of Austen’s novel. I would actually really like to see another book as I didn’t realise how much I missed these characters. 

I enjoyed this sequel very much. It’s a wonderful love letter to Pride and Prejudice and I didn’t want it to end. 

About Noni Valentine –

Noni Valentine grew up in the north central part of the U.S., but moved away after graduating from high school, and never again stayed in one place for long. She has been writing for most of her life, but discovered Jane Austen as an adult and fell in love all over again.

She lives with a small menagerie of feathered and furry companions. Oh, almost forgot—there’s a human in that collection as well.

Click to buy Humility and Tolerance on Amazon UK and Amazon US. 

by

Laura

I’m Laura. I started Novel Kicks in 2009. I wanted a place to post my writing as well as give other writers like me the opportunity to do the same. There is also a monthly book club, a writing room which features writing prompts, book reviews, competitions, author interviews and guest posts.

I grew up by the sea (my favourite place in the world) and I currently live in Hampshire. I am married to Chris, have a cat named Buddy and I would love to be a writer. I’m trying to write the novel I’ve talked so much about writing if only I could stop pressing delete. I’ve loved writing since creative writing classes in primary school. I have always wanted to see my teacher Miss Sayers again and thank her for the encouragement. When not trying to write the novel or writing snippets of stories on anything I can get my hands on, I love reading, dancing like a loon and singing to myself very badly. My current obsession is Once Upon a Time and I would be happy to live with magic in the enchanted forest surrounded by all those wonderful stories provided that world also included Harry Potter. I love reading chick lit. contemporary fiction and novels with mystery.