Alone with Mr. Darcy: A Pride & Prejudice Variation

I know that this will sound harsh, but it must be said, this is a woefully poor example of a P&P variation! I have read several various authors\’ attempts at P&P variations/adaptations and continue to be disappointed with many authors, including, now, Ms Reynolds. There are a few exceptional standouts, but generally, those who attempt a variation or adaptation or continuations fail when they cannot keep the characters as Ms. Austen created them. I thoroughly enjoyed the beginning third of the book during which Elizabeth aids Darcy who has fallen from his spooked horse and is found bleeding from the head in the snow. The two are able to find shelter in a meager house and manage to wait out a blizzard for two nights. From here, the two must manage the compromised situation that cannot be kept secret. My issue with this story is that Ms Reynolds took vast liberties to alter Darcy\’s, Georgiana\’s and Colonel\’s Fitzwilliam\’s histories and to alter the character of Mr Bennett. Ms Reynolds felt it appropriate to restate Darcy\’s and Georgiana\’s relationship as half siblings due to Darcy\’s mother\’s death, Darcy\’s father\’s subsequent second marriage to a child bride who gave him Georgiana and was then sequestered to Pemberley while the father Darcy remained in town at Darcy House with his mistress(es) until his death. Ms. Reynold\’s Colonel Fitzwilliam is not the gallant, gentleman military man Ms Austen designed, but a military man plagued by violent seasickness and who abhors traveling. To add insult to injury, Ms. Reynold\’s has also painted Mr. Bennett as a proficient liar. While she may or may not give him good reason, this is horribly inconsistent with the man Ms Austen created and is highly offensive to this particular fan of Pride and Prejudice. I am fully aware that this is fan fiction and I presume that there are many P&P fans that are completely comfortable with contemporary authors recreating Miss Austen\’s characters in their \”what if\” scenarios. For me, successful P&P what if\’s do not alter the characters as they were created. This would be a better story if Ms Reynolds would give them their own names rather than exploit Ms Austen\’s creation. As for the audio version, Elizabeth Klett performance was excellent and the production quality was seemingly flawless. I would happily listen to additional books with Ms Klett narrating.

Elizabeth Klett does a wonderful job of bringing the era to life without sounding too stuffy, which has often caused me to shy away from other romance novels on audio. The story starts out promising, but eventually becomes much too convoluted with side plots, bizarre random characters and previously known characters that are suddenly unrecognizable (see Anne de Bourgh, Maria Lucas, or how she spends half the novel referring to \”Richard\” which I was only later able to deduce is Col. Fitzwilliam).

Don\’t waste your time on this one!! The first 1/3 of the book felt like an eternity, and with two hours left in the book I had to force myself to finish it hoping it would get better (it never did). I felt this was just a bunch of story ideas the author had tucked away that couldn\’t make it as a full book, so she threw them all in to this book as one story. There were so many things going on in the book that had no relation to what was supposed to be the main story and none of them ever really developed into anything. As far as a P&P variation, there were just too many out-of-character situations. Maybe if it were set in an alternate Austen universe, it may have worked. But it was way off of how Austen\’s characters would have behaved in every situation for every character to make it enjoyable for Austen fans. As far as a romance, it also didn\’t make sense. There were many times when the story could have been expanded to fit the romance genre, and the author just skipped over those opportunities – again a disappointment. You\’re better off trying some of the author\’s other books (\’To Conquer Mr. Darcy\’ or \’Mr. Darcy\’s Noble Connections\’ were both much better) and skipping over this one. I\’ll be returning this title for sure.

Abigail Reynolds is, again, the queen of P&P variations. She weaves a believable tale with much beloved characters. Big, happy sigh.

I really enjoyed this book and have read my digital copy twice. Unlike other reviews I have read, I found the treatment of Darcy discovering the abuse of Maria Lucas to be consistent with the cultural of the time. Yes it would be handled differently today. The portrayal of Mr. B was a departure from his usual support of E. The recording was very well done. I liked the narrator and her performance. I highly recommend this book and/recording to JAFF fans.

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