Book Twenty-Four: The Mistress's Black Veil: A Pride and Prejudice Vagary

Vagary: (n) an unexpected and inexplicable change in a situation or in some one's behavior.

I didn't know what it meant either.  A vagary indeed!  This Kindle edition Pride & Prejudice fan fiction is fairly well written.  Full disclosure: I read it in one night because I HAD to know what was happening to my heroine, Lizzy.

Author M. K. Baxley surmises the following:

• Lydia died in childbirth giving life to Wickham's spawn
• Mrs. Bennett has gone cray-cray after Mr. Bennett's death
• Mr. Collins has dashed Jane, Lizzy, and Kitty in the hedgerow
• Lizzy will save them all from a dastardly fate by becoming a courtesan

Yes, Dear Reader, you read that correctly.  Sweet Lizzy re-invents herself as Sophia Molina, a Spaniard,  seeking a gentleman protector. Lizzy reconciles to sell her body to care for her sisters, her young charges, and her mother in her last years.

As fan fiction goes, The Mistress's Black Veil is a nice read.  The author does a great job at incorporating source material into her fiction.  Slightly annoying is the odd narration at the beginning of each chapter that reintroduces what our characters have been up to with occasional nods to Shakespeare or Greek and Roman gods and goddesses.  This reader can't help but feel the author is cashing in and when Lizzy makes some rather insufferable choices, I found myself rolling my eyes.

Know what else is rolling, Jane Austen in her grave--that's how I see it.  Perhaps the saving grace is the wicked get their comeuppance and my heroine gets a happily ever after.