Book Review: The Netherfield Fire

 

The Netherfield Fire

Timothy Underwood

3/5

There's a fire at the Netherfield Ball and Elizabeth finds her face permanently scarred through the act of saving someone else. It sets off a chain reaction that eventually leads to the misunderstandings which make this book so original. If you read it for the misunderstandings, I think this book perfectly portrayed it through numerous lapses on both parts. If you read it for the strength of the characters then this book is lacking a bit. 

There was a lot of historical information provided on the origins of the fire and other niche elements of the period which I feel added a lot to the story. It's easy to just say there was a fire but much more difficult to come up with a logical explanation for it and for why a singular person would have been trapped. I think that the author did a great job merging these elements into an original story. 

The strength in character felt lacking, Elizabeth whined for literally probably 60 percent of it all. I don't think that she was considered such a beautiful character that this would have hindered her so much. I don't think marriage was on her mind as much as the author pushes it. She wouldn't have needed so many people boosting her confidence and it was a bit insulting to her as a character. 

An interesting read overall though, I think things like this push the boundaries of convention and aren't really very likely twists but still fun to explore. I think it was pretty well-written and engaging all the way through the end.