About the Book
Title: Presumption and Partiality
Author: Rebekah Jones
Genre: Historical Christian Fiction
Release Date: November 27, 2017
Among the cotton fields and farmland of Gilbert, Arizona in the early years of the Great Depression, Mr. and Mrs. Bailey live a simple, but happy life with their five daughters on a cotton farm. When the wealthy Richard Buchanan moves to town, bringing his family, a friend, and a desire to learn about cotton, Matilda Bailey is convinced that he is the perfect candidate to marry her eldest daughter, Alice.
Richard is cheerful, friendly, and likable. His friend Sidney Dennison doesn’t make such a good impression. Eloise Bailey decides he’s arrogant and self-conceited, but when Raymond Wolfe comes to town, accusing Sidney of dishonorable and treacherous conduct, Eloise is angered at the injustice of the situation.
When the Buchanan household leaves town, Alice must turn to the Lord and face, perhaps, her most difficult test in trust, while Eloise takes a trip to visit her friend and may well discover a web of deceit that she doesn’t really want to believe exists.
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My Review
Given my love for Jane Austen and retellings it
should come as no surprise that I’ll be reviewing a “Pride and Prejudice”
retelling today. The book in question is
called “Presumption and Partiality” by Rebekah Jones. I can’t wait to share about this book!
Ms. Jones has a great writing style and I appreciate
how she incorporates Austen-like wit into her story. She does a great job with the setting as
well, incorporating many historical details to transport the reader into the
early years of the Great Depression. She
totally changes the setting and time period from Austen’s “Pride and
Prejudice,” yet still follows the original storyline very closely. This is more of an exact retelling of the
story, which is fun for a diehard Austenite who would become hysterical if the
plot was changed. Others prefer their
retellings to have the same characters, but have the plot be completely
different from the original story – if this is you, you may want to pass on “Presumption
and Partiality.” The story is told from
many points of view. On one hand, I
enjoyed seeing the thoughts of other characters, but sometimes I felt it was a
little too many points of view.
I love how big a part the Christian faith plays in
this story. This story is packed with
faith content, ranging from hymns, to prayers, to Scripture. I like that Alice, one of our main
characters, talks about God’s provision, asks the
Lord to guard her thoughts regarding a man and that she recalls scripture and
prays. She makes sure that the man she is interested in is a Christian
before getting any more invested with him.
There are so many other great examples of faith in this story.
Ms. Jones did a great job with staying
true to the original “Pride and Prejudice” story while taking the reader to a
different time and place. I really enjoyed
this faith filled retelling. I would
recommend it to anyone who loves Christian fiction, historical fiction or Jane
Austen.
Content: This is a clean read. I give it a PG rating for some minor
content. Some examples of the content
are: a mention of gambling and alcohol; a girl runs away with a man she is not
married to; someone becomes pregnant out of wedlock.
Rating: I
give this book 3.5 stars
Genre:
Christian fiction; Historical fiction; Retellings
I want to thank Celebrate Lit and Rebekah Jones for the complimentary copy
of this book for review. I was not required to write a positive review. The
opinions I express in this review are my own. This is in accordance with the
Federal Trade Commission’s CFR 16, Part 255.
About the Author
Rebekah Jones is first and foremost a follower of the Living God. She started writing as a little girl, seeking to glorify her King with her books and stories. Her goal is to write Bible-Centered, Christian Literature; books rich with interesting characters, intricate story lines, and always with the Word of God at the center. Besides writing, she is an avid reader, songwriter, pianist, singer, artist, and history student. She also loves children. She lives with her family in the Southwestern desert.
Guest Post from Rebekah Jones
Why is he a Navajo?
I’ve had more than one person ask me why I chose to make Sidney Dennison, the “Mr. Darcy” of my novel
Presumption and Partiality, a Navajo Indian.
When I commenced planning and research for placing a retelling of
Pride and Prejudice in the 1930’s United States, I found myself drawn to the desert of Arizona rather early on. Specifically, the tiny farm town of Gilbert. I knew, however, that few rich people lived in that area; certainly not enough to create social rifts large enough to recreate the social differences of the original novel.
I experimented in my head with a few different ideas, but the idea of Sidney as a Native American came to me one day and just clicked. I knew that I couldn’t fully pull off a Navajo who lived on the reservations. As much as I researched, I couldn’t quite get the feel. Yet, a man whose ancestry included a white man as a grandfather, who lived outside the reservations, though with relatives who clung to some of the old traditions, I thought I could do.
I used to wish I were an Indian, in part because I wanted to have great tracking skills, live in a tee-pee, possess superb bow and arrow abilities, and I wanted to ride a horse. True, most of that did not enter a 1930’s novel, despite my Navajo cowboy, because the eras are different. Though, Sidney did get a horse. Or technically, several.
Further, something about the silent, good-looking Indian appealed to me, much as I tend to shy away from writing about handsome and beautiful people, since they feel so common in fiction. The minute I began imagining the man with his Navajo ancestry, he just felt perfect.
By the end, Sidney turned out to be one of my favorite characters. (I can’t ever pick just one in my novels.) I think I made a good choice and I hope my readers will agree!
Blog Stops
Giveaway
To celebrate her tour, Rebekah is giving away a grand prize of the complete set of the Vintage Jane Austen Collection!!
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