About the Book

Title: Presumption and Partiality
Author: Rebekah Jones
Genre: Historical Christian Fiction
Release Date: November 27, 2017
Among the cotton fields and farmland of Gilbert, Arizona in the early years of the Great Depression, Mr. and Mrs. Bailey live a simple, but happy life with their five daughters on a cotton farm. When the wealthy Richard Buchanan moves to town, bringing his family, a friend, and a desire to learn about cotton, Matilda Bailey is convinced that he is the perfect candidate to marry her eldest daughter, Alice. Richard is cheerful, friendly, and likable. His friend Sidney Dennison doesn’t make such a good impression. Eloise Bailey decides he’s arrogant and self-conceited, but when Raymond Wolfe comes to town, accusing Sidney of dishonorable and treacherous conduct, Eloise is angered at the injustice of the situation. When the Buchanan household leaves town, Alice must turn to the Lord and face, perhaps, her most difficult test in trust, while Eloise takes a trip to visit her friend and may well discover a web of deceit that she doesn’t really want to believe exists.

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My Review:

"Presumption and Partiality" by Rebekah Jones is a retelling of Jane Austen's" Pride and Prejudice" in the 1930s in Arizona. It is also the 5th novel in the (Vintage Jane Austen) series, but it is a stand alone novel.

I really liked this novel and want to read the other four in the series.

This novel has it all, Indians and rich and poor people, children, and jealously among sisters, love and loyalty among friends and family and a matchmaking mother and Hollywood actors and an unplanned pregnancy and rumors and lies and even Biblical truth.

Since I said there was Biblical truth, I want to share my favorite quote from the book, " If we can't put those we love, as well as our thoughts, worries, and wants concerning them into the hands of the Lord, leaving them there in perfect trust, then we have some work to do. We need to pray, repent, and pray some more. Only when we have done so will we know the "peace of God, which passeth all understanding. "

I really liked the surprise twist concerning two of the male characters in the story.

I recommend this book to any Jane Austen's fans and to everyone that isn't a fan of Jane's novels and to anyone that likes clean love stories.

I was given a complimentary copy by the author and Celebrate Lit. These opinions are my own.

About the Author

Rebekah Jones is first and foremost a follower of the Living God. She started writing as a little girl, seeking to glorify her King with her books and stories. Her goal is to write Bible-Centered, Christian Literature; books rich with interesting characters, intricate story lines, and always with the Word of God at the center. Besides writing, she is an avid reader, songwriter, pianist, singer, artist, and history student. She also loves children. She lives with her family in the Southwestern desert.

Guest Post from Rebekah Jones

Why is he a Navajo? I’ve had more than one person ask me why I chose to make Sidney Dennison, the “Mr. Darcy” of my novel Presumption and Partiality, a Navajo Indian. When I commenced planning and research for placing a retelling of Pride and Prejudice in the 1930’s United States, I found myself drawn to the desert of Arizona rather early on. Specifically, the tiny farm town of Gilbert. I knew, however, that few rich people lived in that area; certainly not enough to create social rifts large enough to recreate the social differences of the original novel. I experimented in my head with a few different ideas, but the idea of Sidney as a Native American came to me one day and just clicked. I knew that I couldn’t fully pull off a Navajo who lived on the reservations. As much as I researched, I couldn’t quite get the feel. Yet, a man whose ancestry included a white man as a grandfather, who lived outside the reservations, though with relatives who clung to some of the old traditions, I thought I could do. I used to wish I were an Indian, in part because I wanted to have great tracking skills, live in a tee-pee, possess superb bow and arrow abilities, and I wanted to ride a horse. True, most of that did not enter a 1930’s novel, despite my Navajo cowboy, because the eras are different. Though, Sidney did get a horse. Or technically, several. Further, something about the silent, good-looking Indian appealed to me, much as I tend to shy away from writing about handsome and beautiful people, since they feel so common in fiction. The minute I began imagining the man with his Navajo ancestry, he just felt perfect. By the end, Sidney turned out to be one of my favorite characters. (I can’t ever pick just one in my novels.) I think I made a good choice and I hope my readers will agree!