To Teach the Admiring Multitude: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice Continued

by Eleanor Wilton

Against all expectations, wealthy and well-connected Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy has married Miss Elizabeth Bennet, a young lady with neither fortune nor connections. Will Mr. Darcy regret his choice? Can the new Mrs. Darcy prove her worth to an incredulous and envious society?

In this elegant, romantic and faithful continuation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Eleanor Wilton explores how Miss Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy might have lived the early months of their marriage, telling their journey in a manner that seeks not to alter the essence of what made their story so unforgettable and beloved to begin with, but to enrich it. It is a story about the bonds of matrimony, a love story about two people entirely different in disposition, experience and background, striving to create a sustainable happiness against the backdrop of friends and relations who either do not understand or do not approve their union.

True to the tone and tenor of the original novel, To Teach the Admiring Multitude is a captivating homage to Austen's beloved Pride and Prejudice. An uplifting exploration of marriage, intimacy, family and forgiveness, admirers of Jane Austen’s novels will be delighted with this carefully crafted continuation of her most famous story.

Genres: Historical Romance

366 pages, ebook

Published April 16, 2019

About the author

Eleanor Wilton, an enthusiast of nineteenth century literature, first read and fell in love with Jane Austen's novels at the age of thirteen. At university she studied English Literature and Art History, but spent her professional career working in an entirely unrelated field. Nevertheless, she never lost her childhood desire to write fiction. It wasn’t until after she watched an Austen adaptation that she thought she would have approached very differently, that she sat down in the grand Reading Room of the New York Public Library, pad and pen in hand, and began to write. Thinking she was only dabbling, she in fact had begun penning her first novel, To Teach the Admiring Multitude, a continuation of Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Following publication, she was immensely gratified by the positive response from readers. She has now released Agnes Merriweather, the second volume of The Derbyshire Chronicles.

Inspired by Jane Austen, the Derbyshire Chronicles are sure to delight readers of Regency fiction who are looking for elegant and intelligent writing, and who are interested in tasteful and thoughtful story telling. Each volume in the series, which will run four when completed, is a stand-alone novel with original characters and stories from around the county of Derbyshire, with occasional appearances by one of the area’s most prominent families, the Darcys.

Eleanor is currently working on the third installment, The Westbrook Sisters, for release in 2022.

She lives with her family in New York City

Reviews

[James S · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drama of life

Good story of the first year of the Darcys marriage. No kidnappings, no memory losses, no duels.

Darcy is still proud even though he tries not to be with Lizzie. Lizzie isn’t ashamed of being from a much lower circle of society but wonders if she will ever be accepted.

A real story of a couple in love trying to fit into the higher circles of society without losing themselves in the silliness of society.

Lots of love, respect, trust between the Darcys. Will it be enough.

I enjoyed the story and the writing. I recommend this book.

[Elin Eriksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sequel to Pride and Prejudice.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for its warmth and thoughtfulness, although it did take me some time to become utterly engaged.
Rated: Chaste

This book was a quiet and reflective read without the overtly dramatic events. That is not to say, it all was running smoothly though.
We followed the newly wedded Darcy's, first year of marriage. Elizabeth's introduction in to the extended Darcy family and the ton did have its hiccups. Plausible and thoughtfully written, I must admit to a preference for Elizabeth's introduction to the ton, especially when done as well as in this book.
A lot of tender, loving moments between ODC, added greatly to the pleasure of reading this book.

Recommend!

[Ree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding!
Reviewed in Canada on October 17, 2019
Oh my. This has to be one of the best continuations of PnP I’ve read to date, and I’ve read many. The communication and utter devotion between ODC was my principal joy of the book. The closeness and intimacy (nothing provocative in the least, but so well expressed) they shared was always so moving. As they worked out the issues and events of their new life together, they never let the misunderstandings of their early acquaintance reoccur in their marriage. Neither did they let outside influences ruin their joy, and in Darcy’s case, his ultimate decision to marry Elizabeth. It is all so well written. Such a beautiful love story.

A couple of things did annoy me, however. It’s LamBton, not LamPton, and I didn’t like Darcy calling Elizabeth, “Eliza”. Darcy would never call her that, especially when Caroline did so in her spiteful way in canon.

The book only covers less than a year of their marriage, so I am hoping for a book two. Please? I highly recommend this book.

[Teresita · Rating 5 out of 5]

They really have a lot to teach

Engaging tale depicting the first year of their marriage and how they face the world of the Ton and life at home in Pemberley. Very enjoyable and credible.

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh.

I think this book is a pretty idea. It's a pretty story about pretty people. Elizabeth is uniformly charming and vivacious as she steps into her role as Mrs. Darcy. Darcy himself is manly and aloof except for his apparent and kind of gooey love of his wife, which makes him tender and vulnerable. Which is sweet, and pretty, and the prose is pretty, and the imagery the author paints is pretty.

And yet, I am about a quarter of the way through the book and I'm kind of bored. It's a lovely fantasy about what it's like to suddenly have everything--the clothes, the house, the man--and accept it all graciously, while turning reluctant relatives into new particular friends. What it's like to have Aloof Prince Charming fall in love with you and stay that way. Or, if you're Darcy, to suddenly find the intellectual and emotional equal that you can actually trust, and finally let yourself open up. But I knew all that before I started on page one, and I knew it with much less flowery language. So I'm looking for character development--real, honest, sometimes hard, or funny, or weird--character development, or maybe a subplot?, or something to drive the narrative of this story forward rather than pure voyeurism vis a vis the lives of Lizzy and Darcy, and I keep coming up short.

It's not that I don't like the genre. I love a good romance, and I am an unrepentant Jane Austen fan. I've made the pilgrimage to the JA museum in Bath. I reread her books all the time, and regularly mourn that we don't have more of her works to enjoy. I read fan fiction that I enjoy. I just don't think this is it.

I may finish this book, eventually, when I decide I need twenty minutes of escapism here and there, through the course of the year. But for now, this is going back on the shelf. And I would never recommend it to anyone.

[Jacqueline Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

What Determines Good Character? Family Name, Or Upbringing?

This Pride & Prejudice variation is about marriage in general in the early 19th century and the marriage of Elizabeth Bennet Darcy and Fitzwilliam Darcy in particular. This book particularly looks at people with money and or connections or titles.

The story opens with Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy having just married. His family disapproves, except his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam, but her family is very happy with the marriage. No one is as vocally critical as Lady Catharine Debourgh. They leave the wedding breakfast to spend some time in London. Elizabeth meets the Fitzwilliam family and they are coldly polite to her. Over time Elizabeth makes friends with Darcy’s aunt, the the countess.

The marriages in the story are either a love match (Elizabeth & Darcy) or arranged for money and or connections. There are several examples of society marriages including Darcy’s uncle and aunt, the earl and countess, their daughter and her husband, their oldest son who marries during the story and several of Fitzwilliam’s friends. All of these people have marriages that were approved by the elite members of society. Most of these marriages do well, despite not being love matches. The people are honest, if not a bit stuck up, and have overall good moral values. The Fitzwilliam family assumes if someone comes from a rich and or noble blood line they must be a moral and trustworthy person. They soon learn that with money and or titles people can hide disgraceful behavior. The family eventually gets to know and love Elizabeth, and to respect her father and her uncle Gardiner (a tradesman from London) and realize the flaw in the way they judge people. Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth also come in contact with people who are from good families and or have a lot of money but conduct themselves in immoral or disreputable behavior. The moral of the story is to judge people on their own merits, not their family or riches.

The story additionally looks at the ups and downs of a newly married couple. It makes clear that though love is a good foundation for marriage, the couple will still need to work together to be happy. It’s a good story and I highly recommend it to anyone but especially to Pride & Prejudice fans.

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very nicely done continuation of Pride and Prejudice, a leisurely pleasure to read, and a good deal superior to most JAFF out there (I admittedly have read well over a hundred at this point). The author wisely does not attempt to write in JA's style, as some other JAFF authors try to do and few can accomplish. The volume is overall very well-written, though there are some odd surface errors of the sort a word-processor won't catch, but a good human editor would have--"peeks" instead of "peaks", "vane" instead of "vain", and similar misused words. Considering how well-written the book was otherwise, I passingly wondered whether the author had deliberated inserted these snafus to see whether reviewers actually read the entire volume! I particularly appreciated the character development of ODC, and the insightful development of their relationship once they are married. The story and relationships felt realistic, and there were no plot devices as you often see in JAFF--no intrigues, kidnappings, Elizabeth getting amnesia, pirate invasions, Jane trying to seduce Darcy, Miss Bingley becoming a psychopath, or other silly things. It didn't need any of that to be quietly engaging. There was clear development of the romantic relationship between Lizzy and Darcy, but without explicit scenes--it was done very tastefully, so you got a feeling for how their love for one another matured and deepened. I enjoyed this book and recommend it. I hope Ms. Wilton will continue writing more and continue the story as she has envisioned it.

[Michele Packard-milam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars - Good Story, Poor Editing

This is an interesting story, with richly detailed characters and intriguing situations. The happiness angle between Darcy and Elizabeth is a bit overwrought, but it’s still a heartwarming tale. What bothers me - and which cost at least half a star - are the number of punctuation errors and malaprops. It was VERY frustrating. How can someone with this level of researched history and depth not know the difference between discreet and discrete, peek and peak, head and heed, rejuvenate and recuperate, and many, many more jarring errors? The number of missing commas has to be in the dozens. Edit this work, please!

[Elizabeth Coulter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read it!

This is an exceptionally well written "sequel". I was pleasantly pleased at Ms. Wilton's undertaking such a challenging topic. She captured the essence of Jane Austen's style and sentiment almost perfectly in this rendition.
At times it is a bit too gushy but wouldn't we all like to feel that connection with our significant other as portrayed here by ODC. Sigh!
I highly recommend this book!

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable continuation of Pride and Prejudice. I felt like the author stayed true the characters of ODC and it was fun to see her ideas of what happened after the marriage took place. I also felt she did a good job creating events and social situations that was very realistic and likely for that period. There could have been a little more excitement, but it was a fun read!

[Ladyhawke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

That really three and a half stars
I did like the book even though it was long and wordy (the author has a great thesaurus). But what prevented me from giving this book four stars is that there is no real closure. Too many things were left in the air. You’ll finish the book (which took you 7+ hours to read let’s not forget) and go that’s it😧

[Sally J Stoltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book

There is no superwoman Lizzy or dour and dark Darcy. No wild and unbelievable tangents. It is much as if Jane Austen would have written if she had continued the story. I highly recommend this book.

[Pia · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars

[Jessica Gratz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent sequel

I don't normally review but I thought this very well written. The author was well versed in Austen's style of writing and did not try to modernize too much.
If you are a true Austen fan, you will love this book. I would have given 5 stars but for the need of a good editor. There were some grammatical errors which pulls the reader out of the story. Otherwise the story is solid and I would definitely recommend.

[Martha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot! I thought it was well written and that Darcy and Elizabeth were true to character. I did not find it overly long or wordy as suggested by another reader. I enjoy reading sequels to P&P (more so than reimaginings) and this was a ‘first year of marriage’ sequel. It seems the author did some homework - enjoyed the notes at the end of the story and coincidentally have a visit planned to a nearby museum featuring many works of JMW Turner on loan from Tate!

[Eden · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are literally hundreds of P&P variations, retellings and sequels I have read and enjoyed very much. But there are only a handful I consider in every way a worthy sequel to it. This book is one of those few, might even be my personal top pick as far as sequels go. The reasons are simple:

It actually feels like I'm reading an actual sequel. The period-appropriate language and sentence structure used in the story, and the characterisations that are so very spot-on. Austen purists would love this story.

Too often for my taste, in JAFF, Elizabeth is written as an older version of Lydia, and Darcy is written... let's say pretty modern, and that is not a compliment. The modern idea of asshattery being romantic and sexy and nothing the character has to apologise for is one I dislike, and for all his faults, canon Darcy *isn't* like that.

So yeah, I love the characterisations in this story, and not just of Darcy and Elizabeth.

As for the plot? Well, it picks up right after the wedding, with flashbacks here and there to the engagement period. As such, the plot is obvious:

It's about that period in the life of ODC between the wedding and Elizabeth's cementing herself as The Mistress of Pemberley with all that entails.

The adjustment to married life for both of them, learning to get along with the Fitzwilliams, reconciliation - or something like it - with Lady Catherine, and a demonstration of why a marriage based on respect and trust is to be preferred over marriage as a business deal, and the point of view of various outsiders on everything.

To be succinct, this book is definitely one to read and re-read many times for anyone who loved Austen's Pride and Prejudice.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed. Definite enjoyable bits with romantic scenes, some evidence of growing together, and fairly interesting domestic life and family integration. The quiet dramas of daily life I liked a lot. The plot is in the title really, it’s just how they learn to be married and teach those around them the same (or to be more smug, prove the naysayers wrong!). I enjoyed them growing in their marriage and also that, while Elizabeth proved herself to others, there wasn’t a huge shift in personalities around her - people were accepting, some changed a little of their POV, others didn’t. Real life basically.

However, there is also a lack of cohesiveness in the novel. Early on it feels as if it’s been padded out with scenes from other stories and they don’t integrate well. Too many flashback scenes. It doesn’t really start properly until Book 2. Also, the occasional attempts to cause more extreme drama are jarring, eg. Miss Morris being raised about 1/3 in, completely forgotten and thus losing momentum, only to be brought back at end. Didn’t really feel she was necessary or in tune with the rest of the story. Preferred the domestic bits.

Also needs a good edit for spelling (“Lampton” eg) and repetitive sentences etc.

[Adelle Stavis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous

Beautifully written and elegantly shown, not told, this novel illuminates the first year of ODC's marriage. It does not shy from the negatives, but truly appreciates the positives. The author gives each character nuance and balance to be a fully formed human, though perhaps a little more generous to Elizabeth, Jane, and Georgiana than other characters. Lastly, the characterizations are firmly embedded in respecting the dignity of each central character.

The story is fairly even tempered in plot, and pacing. It is a struggle to characterize the plot arcs. These are mostly domestic struggles with low angst but with more of the appropriate complexity that applies to the human condition. And for those for whom it matters, this is a story respectful of canon more than 'fanon' and is also not explicit regarding intimacy.

[Mrs A Nicholson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb!

One of those rare books that entrances from the first page. Beautifully written, in a true regency style, with well developed characters. It brings together some of Jane Austen’s characters, other than the main ones of Mr Darcy and Elizabeth, who are now married. Unlike the first book written about them after their marriage, this one might well be more like what Miss Austen herself would have written in a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. We see Darcy’s struggle to change, and his pleasure in Elizabeth as his wife, as well as watching Georgiana come out of her shell a little, and Kitty Bennett slowly begin to realise that her behaviour has been inappropriate, and rude.
Altogether an absorbing story.

[Fi Brit · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Excellent Adaptation

This book made for a very satisfying read. The characters were true to the original and the writing felt natural to the period. The language and etiquette felt appropriately regency.
My only criticism (not much of one) would be the lack of any real drama for the couple to overcome. There was certainly a number of plot points or characters that offered potential for spice but sadly Darcy and Elizabeth were never truely tested. Instead, their points of strife were minor and easily resolved through calm and rational conversation. This is only a minor criticism however as the story was still highly engaging.

[Teresa Ann Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written sequel

This book was well worth reading. The dialogues were splendidly creative and spoken in the English style that brings credit to Jane Austen herself. The characters were less dynamically human than I thought should be in order to add more depth to the story. I was waiting for suspense and there was hardly any to make a good book great and worth reading again. That said. Read it and enjoy. Once.

[Sammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this is akin to sitting all nicely tucked up in a warm room, with a warm fluffy blanket and warm honeyed tea during a thunderstorm. It's a very believable and enjoyable sequel to the original book. Star deduction is mostly from the typos. I feel like there were a few sentences that had words missing which caused some confusion at first. Also because I feel the issue with Lady Edith was not really settled. I would have liked to hear more about her, Miss Vye and the other characters maybe in an epilogue or even a book 2.

[Lizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yes, this book is long. I found it to be well written & have character development that I felt was fairly true to JA. I enjoyed the characters, their interactions and how the book does leave some things unresolved. As this book seems to cover their first year of marriage, some things brought up, would seem naturally I take a while to resolve. I thoroughly enjoyed this work!

[Melodie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely Sequel

I have read hundreds of JAFF... and this one will be in my “to read again” pile. Darcy and Elizabeth stayed true to their characters, Georgianna was wonderful and the other characters were as cannon. There was very little angst (to which I was grateful). I do not know if the author intends a further continuation... but I would have like an epilogue.

[PJ Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Admirable Job Continuing the Story

I read quite a bit of fan fiction around Jane Austen's stories. I really enjoyed this book. So we'll written with little gems sprinkled in amongst the story. All my senses were invoked and I so like that. My only regret is that Eleanor hasn't written more.

[Angelie Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Darcys continued

I'm not typically a fan of pride and prejudice variations, but I had read the second book in this series and really enjoyed it. I'm so happy I read this book. I think the author writes this story in the spirit of JA. I loved watching Elizabeth and Darcy grow closer as they go through each challenge. The writing style is truly elegant.

[Pet · Rating 4 out of 5]

It doesn’t make it easy for Elizabeth to win over Darcy’s family, I imagine it never really could have been easy even Austen stopped at the wedding knowing the real hard part was yet to come. I liked this Elizabeth, she was as I always imagined her and I loved Darcy’s devotion to her, though they hated their stumbles. Great read.

[anne szumski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written

I enjoyed this storyline exceedingly. I appreciate Ms Wiltons understanding and style of the beloved characters of the P&P. She allowed Elisabeth and Darcy's personalities to remain true to the same flow and design of Jane Austen. I did not want the book to end . I hope there will soon be another book to follow-up on the life and family of the Darcy's.

[Doris Studer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good day Mrs Wilton
I liked your book. It is intelligent and sensitive/subtle. It reminded my quite a lot of my own marriage. When will your next book be published? Enjoy your muse und best wishes!
Doris

[Sharon A Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the middle

VERY "talky" - not a lot of action, drama or angst. Somewhat repetitious with some superfluous characters and pretentious language. Not a bad effort just lukewarm for me.