Mr. Darcy’s Journey: A Pride & Prejudice Variation

This is a Pride and Prejudice adventure, with the addition of several interesting new characters. In Kent, Colonel Fitzwilliam comes with his sister, Lady Frederica, and his mother, Lady Matlock, as well as Mr. Darcy. Frederica, an assertive, lively young lady, becomes friends with Elizabeth. Sir Anthony Duxbury (who Elizabeth had previously met as Mr. Hopewell) comes to Rosings to ask Darcy, his old classmate, a favor, not realizing that Frederica and Lady Matlock are in residence. Two other schoolmates have been arrested and sentenced to be hanged in the North on charges of loom-breaking, and Sir Anthony wants Darcy to ask Lord Matlock to intervene. Lady Matlock proves herself to be a perceptive, formidable ally, and she determines that the entire group will go to Sheffield with the addition of her youngest son, Jasper. Frederica insists upon going as well, and Elizabeth reluctantly agrees to accompany her. From there, this is just action packed, including (but not limited to) a rushed marriage, a secret marriage, two riots, several incidents of Darcy and Elizabeth in highly compromising situations (including one where he pretends to be a client embracing a prostitute to elude a rushing crowd of rioters), several characters beaten, one character struck blind from a head wound, several characters arrested, and one character shot. The book would be just too serious if it werent for the ongoing comic relief of the fighting Fitzwilliam family. I just love them all. They constantly bicker and argue among themselves. Colonel Fitzwilliam and Jasper are always eager to throw themselves into the fray when theres a good fight to be had. Lady Matlock doesnt stoop to physical violence, but she uses her wealth and hauteur to produce favorable results. Frederica doesnt have the maturity to have developed her mothers tact, but she is intelligent, feisty and not to be swayed. Lord Matlock enters the story blustering, quickly disowning two of his offspring, but eventually shows himself to be an accomplished campaigner. In the midst of all this mayhem, Darcy and Elizabeth continue to dance around each other. They find themselves in love but each is certain of the others disdain, and this causes a series of missteps between them. They have fewer moments of romantic intimacy than is usually found in Ms. Reynolds books, but their shared life-threatening experiences provide the intensity to fuel their feelings. I appreciate the history lesson I learned by reading this. It clearly demonstrates the desperation of the starving working class and the lack of empathy by the authorities, whose response is to jail and execute the rebellion leaders. I also love the equality of the women displayed here, as Lady Matlock, Frederica and Elizabeth all prove their intelligence and mettle as convincingly as the men. It is hard to identify a specific climax, as there are many threads of the story, and each have a particular turning point which dont happen at the same time. You cannot pull one thread away without adversely affecting the rest of the plot, though, because they are interwoven effectively. Ms. Reynolds writing, as always, flows beautifully and conveys the mood of each scene. Most JAFF readers are looking for romance, and I will say that this is more of an adventure book. However, be assured that there are two couples along the way in addition to Darcy and Elizabeth, and all three romances are given ample attention. But its a rollicking good story based on actual history, and it engaged my attention from beginning to end.

Abigail Reynolds is the unquestioned queen of Jane Austen sequels and variations. Her books never disappoint, and Mr. Darcys Journey certainly didnt disappoint me. While there is a physical journey involved in this book, I believe the title refers to the internal journey Darcy, and Elizabeth Bennet, travel through the book as they realize their true feelings about each other. To start with, Elizabeth enjoys a visit with her friend, Charlotte, at Hunsford. While shes there, Lady Catherines nephews, niece, and sister-in-law arrive at the specific command of Lord Matlock, who remains in London. In order to escape Lady Catherines haranguing, the younger members of the party make frequent visits to spend time in reasonable conversation with Elizabeth and Charlotte. During these calls, Elizabeth and Frederica become fast friends. In this Pride and Prejudice variation, were drawn into the world as the Luddite Rebellion gets underway. On this journey, Elizabeth joins the party at the urging of Frederica. Along with the ladies, we travel with Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, his sister Lady Frederica Fitzwilliam, and his mother, Lady Matlock. We also meet Sir Anthony Duxbury, who early in the story champions Elizabeth in order to protect her. Hes a radical and, under an alias, is involved in the movement to bring full rights to the workers. Its a dangerous position to take, and he uses the alias to protect his family. This group of family and friends will find themselves living in the midst of riots and food shortages. Lady Matlock goes out of her way to smooth the waters, but theres only so much she can do. Its soon discovered that two school friends of the gentlemen are being held in jail for treason Its a delight to read and learn about the background of the rebellion, and to watch how this brave band of outsiders find themselves involved. You wont want for derring-do and will enjoy not only the action, but the developing romance that develops between . . . more than one set of characters. As always, there are heroics, physical altercations, romance, thrills, and more. While Darcy and Elizabeth reside at the heart of the story, this tale offers so much more. To me, that makes it much more readable than just a gooey romance. I doubt youll be disappointed

3.5 STARS. After reading the majority of Ms. Reynold\’s works, I have come to see her as the \”pizza\” of P&P variations – even when its not that good, it\’s still pretty darn good. When I evaluate her work relative to the hundreds of works I\’ve read in this genre, she is better than nearly all. However, not every work of hers is amazingly good. I\’d say only five of her many are really great. The others are merely \”pretty good\” and this one falls into that category. I love that she is so prolific and pretty much keeps pace with those of us rabid P&P addicts. Given that she produces so many rather good works, my standards and expectations for her are higher than most – that is why I could not give her a higher rating than I did. I am comparing her to what I know she is capable of rather than what I read from others. If I were to compare this work relative to all JAFF, I\’d say its a solid 4 stars. My main criticism is that there is too little interaction between ODC and what little there is, is predominantly superficial. Most of this book introduces other characters and though I enjoyed those characters, it took away from ODC. The new characters were also a little less redeeming than I\’ve seen her produce in other works such as Darcy\’s Noble Connections. That being said, I always enjoy Reynold\’s work and will continue reading her.

What an adventure this book is!! I don\’t even know how to summarise the plot… we start in Meryton where Elizabeth is apparently jilted by Wickham. Jane is jilted by Bingley and then sent to the Gardiner\’s to mend her broken heart but things get worse for her there. Elizabeth meets Darcy in London, then again at Rosings but he is not just with the Colonel but Lady Matlock and his sister, Lady Frederick as well. They all travel to Sheffield where they get caught up in riots before going to Pemberley… all this in one book!! I think the real stars of this show are the Fitzwilliams…. I absolutely adored all of them! They are constantly squabbling and fighting amongst themselves yet stick together like glue to fight others. The relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth is incredible… her feelings are all over the place and so are his… they are drawn to each other immediately but just cannot fathom each other at all. With every step forward there is another one back. I really enjoyed seeing them come to appreciate each other. This is a real page turner… now I\’ve finished it, I can\’t even believe this is the same story as the one I started… it seemed to just grow wings and take off. This has a darker feel to it than the other books by this author due to the really difficult issues faced by people in this period, yet the addition of the Fitzwilliams meant these issues were dealt with sensitively but with a touch of humour to avoid making this a heavy read. I really really loved this and would definitely recommend it. I would liked to have known more about what happened to Wickham and to Jane but overall I\’m happy with how this huge adventure came to its conclusion.

I have no idea why there\’s another book called Mr Darcy\’s Journey, but I have to say, this is officially my favourite journey of Abigail\’s work. I love Elizabeth\’s \’brother\’, (I first thought it\’s Colonel Fitzwilliam, but this is better). I love all the Fitzwilliam, the youngest is adorbs. So many parts of this book that I love, the carriage ride to London, the proposal half way up north, the fight at Rosing, Lady Catherine displeasure, Lord Matlock lecturing at Pemberley, the \’doll\’ bicker, LOL, but most of all, of course, Darcy dragging Elizabeth from the carriage through the riot.

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