Emma & Knightley: Perfect Happiness in Highbury: The Sequel to Jane Austen's Emma

By Rachel Billington

Book Overview

" ... the wishes, the hopes, the confidence, the predictions of the small band of true friends who witnessed the ceremony, were fully answered in the perfect happiness of the union." Thus the last line of Jane Austen's Emma. A year later, Emma and Knightley are still living at Hartfield, surrounded by the Westons, the Eltons and the Bateses. But as events unfold, the couple must deal with the return of Frank Churchill, now widowed, and Knightley's apparently endless patience is tried by events in his brother's family, as well as his beloved Emma's whims and fancies. But the irrepressible Emma is restless ... Emma wants Knightley to stop treating her like a child. Knightley meanwhile wants his young bride to love him as a husband, not as the man she's always looked up to. With tragedy in the offing, and events unfolding that include beloved characters from Emma, the couple must find their way to each other, and to perfect happiness. With a wonderful grasp of the manners and style of the day, this warm and witty exploration of a marriage between a sheltered (not to say spoiled) young lady and the man she looked upon as an older brother fulfills the romantic longings of Jane Austen lovers everywhere.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402212070
• ISBN13: 9781402212079
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
• Length: 362 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 1.0" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Emma and Knightley

What a great book. It carries on the wonderful story of Emma given to us by Jane Austen.

A Sequel of Jane Austen's Emma

After reading reviews of this book and "Perfect Happiness" earlier edition of "Emma and Knightly" and seeing that many people had criticized this book, I was skeptical to give it try. Since there aren't many good sequels to "Emma" out there, I was willing to try something that was not raved about. I wasn't disappointed. The story was intriguing, perhaps not the greatest sequel written. But overall, ended up being a bit of...

Working Toward Happiness

When Emma and Knightley marry at the end of Jane Austen's Emma (Penguin Classics), Emma is a very young 21 or 22 years old. While she has been mistress of her father's house for a number of years, she has never had to balance her role as a daughter caring for her (hypochondriac) father with her new role as Mr. Knightley's wife. I for one always wondered how their relationship continued to develop after the close of Austen's...

Emma & "My" Mr. Knightley

I truly enjoyed this book. The author stayed true to the characters attitudes and behaviors. The book almost takes on a mystery persona when the actions and situations around Frank Churchill's loss reaches its climax. He still remains the scoundrel that Jane Austen made him out to be. Emma's attitude got on my nerves a little more throughout the book. She acted more of a child not getting her way than that of a young...

Perfect... Happiness

What an amazing sequel! I love it when someone comes out with a sequel to a classic. I feel there is never a really good ending to the classics and when an author is able to tie all the loose ends up, I'm happy. If you like Emma you might not like Perfect Happiness, but if you want an ending this one is great!