Fair warning: To get the most enjoyment from each of the stories in LADIES IN WAITING, which has been published in honor of Jane Austen's 250th birthday, it will be more fun to have a good grasp of Austen’s novels.

Nine authors --- Adriana Trigiani, Sarah MacLean, Eloisa James, Elinor Lipman, Audrey Bellezza, Karen Dukess, Emily Harding, Nikki Payne and Diana Quincy --- have taken on the fun assignment of bringing a secondary character from one of Austen’s books into a new, starring role. Each writer found a woman --- a sister, a friend, a minor adversary --- and brought her front and center to take her on her own adventure. All of the stories move years forward, and many are jolted out of Austen’s gentle English gardens. The characters are chosen from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, EMMA and SENSE AND SENSIBILITY.

"I highly recommend LADIES IN WAITING, a vibrant collection of nods to unnoticed women. Their new lives and adventures draw us in again, and the many moments of recognition are perfect."

Using a paragraph or two of Austen’s writing, each story’s preface reminds us of the “before” character. This helpful stage-setting adds a nice sense of camaraderie with the authors, as they create actions and reactions for the years that have intervened since the original novel’s ending. We may not have thought about what happens after, or even paid a great deal of attention to these characters, but we are willing to go along.

“Lydia’s Story” by Diana Quincy sympathetically introduces the youngest Bennet sister and reveals an intelligent, beautiful woman. She is cast as a frivolous, Wickham-crazy girl in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, so readers’ expectations for what lies ahead may be low. Because her foolishness hangs a pall over the entire family and because she is so young, her disgrace is tragic. Lydia’s new story opens 20 years later, and she is indeed an outcast in a small village. But her thoughts and actions show a brightness and a maturity in choices she has made. Her beautifully tended garden provides vegetables for the poor, and the ribbons of flowers from her small plot adorn the altar of the local church. Her four children spend time at Pemberley enjoying the privileges and attentions of her older sister, Elizabeth.

As the story begins, Lydia reflects on what the future may hold. She surprises herself, however, and her responsible conduct over the years allows her to welcome unexpected choices and love. A bonus for PRIDE AND PREJUDICE fans: she at last sees what Lizzy has seen in Darcy, the smile in his eyes.

Sarah MacLean brings us up to date on an old maid from EMMA in “The Triumph of Hetty Jane Bates.” Austen leaves little room for doubt as to how she feels about spinsters (which is notably ironic since Austen never married), and her description of Miss Bates is cruel: “so silly --- so satisfied --- so smiling --- so prosing --- so undistinguishing and unfastidious.”

So I owe MacLean a warm thank you for giving Miss Bates passion and love from 20 years earlier, and then a not-surprising repeat of this happiness as the story ends. The moments leading to her found-again joy begin with a blue silk dress, “not pretty, no, not pretty, it was a magically beautiful dress.” As the Vicar’s obedient daughter, Miss Bates has known her place in her world, and a blue silk dress was not part of it. However, she accepts the dress and all its promise. Coming back to life at a Michaelmas dance, she glows with happiness. Miss Bates would not be thought of as dull again.

Let me modify the warning at the top of this review. You need not have studied each Austen novel to get in on this fun. You are not going to miss out if you cannot recall a particular tilt of a particular fan. Readers, watchers and listeners of Austen will continue to enjoy remakes and new takes on her writing, including a murder mystery, a TV series of diary entries, and a show with an LGBTQ slant, plus the beautiful films with reimaginings of the heroines and their lives. However, the universal truths acknowledged in Austen’s miniature world of manners and mores may be even more enjoyable and fun when the original source is known.

I highly recommend LADIES IN WAITING, a vibrant collection of nods to unnoticed women. Their new lives and adventures draw us in again, and the many moments of recognition are perfect.