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Reviewed by Kimberlee J Benart for Readers' Favorite
Mrs. Bates of Highbury: A Prequel Inspired by Jane Austen's Emma is the first book in the Highbury Trilogy by British author Allie Cresswell. Set thirty years before the beginning of Emma, it focuses on the younger years of a character who is elderly, silent, and uninteresting in the Austen novel but who occupies an important position in Highbury society and was livelier in her earlier years. Together with Mrs. Bates, we see the younger versions of other major characters from Emma who make Highbury their home. While this is fan fiction at its best, meant to align entirely with Austen’s characters in their older versions, it also stands alone as an entertaining and engaging work of historical fiction for readers unfamiliar with Austen’s works.
I was excited to see a fan fiction novel that features, of all characters, the younger version of the elderly Mrs. Bates as well as other characters from Emma. More than once, I’ve found myself wondering what she and others were like when they were younger, and how they became who they were, quirks and all. I enjoyed seeing Cresswell's treatment of the younger Knightley set, my favorites from Emma, and their relationship with the Bates family. The narrative is utterly Austenesque, the characters and plot align well with Emma, and readers will find all the societal complexities they could want in an English town of the era. I enjoyed reading Mrs. Bates of Highbury, and I look forward to the next installment in Allie Cresswell's Highbury Trilogy.
