Hello!

I spent such a wholesome Saturday visiting one of the most beautiful country houses: Chatsworth House, used as Pemberly in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. I mean, look at it!

My friends and I paid for the house and garden ticket, which was £32. This includes house entry (you do have to book for a specific time) and unlimited time in the gardens. The house inside is gorgeous, if you’re into stately homes you would love this, just look at one of the bookshelves 😍 Of course the library was my favourite room, seeing all of the books, and I could envision myself sat there with a pot of tea for hours on end.

Pride and Prejudice is my favourite Jane Austen novel, and I actually re-read it earlier this year. I adore the unravelling of both Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy and their prejudices against each other as individuals and the societies and communities they come from. Austen artfully encapsulates how pride can affect everyone.

Lizzie Bennet is a strong female character who has strongnopinions and isn’t afraid to voice them, whether it be about marriage, society, or her own family dynamics. Her integrity is both her strength and flaws, but watching her unpick her own judgements and understand that the world and people around her have more depth than she realises is sublime. Austen’s prose beautifully unfolds through the slow burn romance between Lizzie and Mr. Darcy, and it’s so much sweeter when it all comes together. I love that Darcy falls fast and hard for Lizzie but has no clue how to tell her, so he basically says that even though she’s poor, he is willing to overlook this because he loves her. Oh Darcy! Im not surprised she rejected you after that proposal 😅

After having read Sense and Sensibility earlier this year, you can tell that Austen’s prose, plot and character development has improved. The dialogue is witty and sharp. She critiques the society around her through the characters and offers the reader life long lessons of what it means to be loved, to self develop and grow and how, if we don’t do this, our prejudices will be our downfall.

There are so many beautiful quotes from the story, but I’ve somehow managed to narrow it down to my top 3″

• “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will no longer be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.”
• “Vanity and pride are different things, though the words are often used synonymously. A person may be proud without being vain. Pride relates more to our opinion of ourselves, vanity to what we would have others think of us.”
• “I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book! When I have a house of my own, I shall be miserable if I have not an excellent library.”

This has always been a 5 star read for me, and each time I have re-read this, i fall more in love with the prose, characters, and messages. I always unearth something new in every read. This is why I love re-reading, because each time you glean something new from it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

xo