*Editorial Book Review*
Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation
Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen Series
by Alice McVeigh
FOUR WEDDINGS - AND NO FUNERALS!
"Sparkling, witty and delectable" - PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (August 2023)
WINNER of PENCRAFT'S "Summer's Best Books" (2023)
“Should she reject me again, I shall have to wed - as I swore I never would - for dynasty alone. I can only ever love Elizabeth Bennet.”
Love is put to the test in this fresh spin on Jane Austen’s starriest novel, entwining original and classic characters in a tale of passion and self-discovery.
Alice McVeigh puts the spotlight on Darcy in this witty and imaginative re-telling of Austen’s classic tale. In a timeless story of love amid the clash of social classes, Darcy is faced with a terrible choice: to stay in London to force Wickham’s hand – or to go to Rome, to salvage his family’s reputation.
With a new Darcyesque slant, omitted scenes from the original, and an extra helping of humour – as well as excerpts from The Wisdom and Wit of Miss Mary Bennet – this is a fresh new Pride and Prejudice with (wedding) bells on!
“McVeigh has a remarkable sense of the literary world Austen established, and is able to recreate it with masterly skill. Specifically, she reproduces Austen’s prose style with great fidelity, in all of its charming sophistication and clever wit.”
~ Kirkus Reviews
“Austen enthusiasts will enjoy a style faithful to the original, while those looking for a new twist will appreciate the post-modern perspectives showcasing character motivation from a fresh standpoint.”
~ IndieReader recommended 4.5/5
“And yet, here he is,’ objected her sister, ‘as old as twenty-eight – with every possible advantage – divinely handsome, excessively clever, impossibly rich – and his every relation undoubtedly urging him to wed, for the sake of the line.”
And yet, Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy, the son of a wealthy, well-established family and the master of the great estate of Pemberley was in no hurry to wed. His top priorities were managing his estates, taking care of his sister's interests, and ensuring his friend didn't embarrass himself, again!
However, things take a drastic turn when his best friend decides to lease Netherfield Park, an exquisite mansion in rural England. Despite his dislike for the locals, Darcy can't help but feel attracted to Elizabeth Bennet. But, he could never love a woman whose social situation was so precarious, and whose mother was a miraculously tiresome character who never stopped talking. It was best that he avoid her at all costs…
Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen Series) by Alice McVeigh is delightful retelling of one of Jane Austen’s most cherished stories.
McVeigh’s Darcy is very similar to Austen’s. Although he is intelligent and candid, he has a habit of judging too hastily and harshly. His high birth and wealth have made him overly proud and acutely aware of his social status. I thought choosing to depict Darcy’s character through diary entries was a brilliant idea. Through these entries it soon becomes clear that Darcy is a man of many layers, although I thought his arrogance still shone through. He seemingly deals with the troublesome things in his life by throwing money at them and hoping they go away, or bring about a desirable outcome. This is something he does on several occasions in this book. I think this is the reason why his relationship with Elizabeth is so very interesting — his wealth is of no interest to her; she is simply interested in his character. I was unsure of the purpose of McVeigh’s addition to Austen’s story with the Rome Scandal. It was a plot point McVeigh added outside of the original story of Pride and Prejudice, but I didn’t feel it was entirely necessary. It made Darcy appear rather foolish and gullible, and did not seem to have much of an effect on the story itself, for McVeigh continued to follow Austen’s story, despite adding in this new event. I did think his diary entries on the subject of Miss Caroline Bingley were vastly entertaining and really quite funny. I would like to say that I have a better understanding of Darcy’s character after reading this book, but as we also spend time with other characters throughout this novel, I did not get to spend as much time getting to properly know Darcy as I would have liked.
Although Darcy’s character development was a little lacklustre, I thought Miss Mary Bennet’s depiction was marvellous. Mary is very much a secondary character in the original and one that I always felt was treated a little unfairly. She is by far the quietest of the five sisters, being outshone in beauty by the oldest two, and being far too mature to join in with Lydia and Kitty’s merrymaking. Although she practices daily, her skills with the pianoforte are seemingly mediocre. However, what she lacks in talent she makes up for in determination. She came across in this novel as the only sister who had an ounce of common sense. She sees the merits in a marriage to Mr. Collins and she sees Elizabeth’s rejection of him as very selfish when so much is at stake. Her intellect is evident throughout and sets her apart from the rest of her family. I really enjoyed reading about her growing relationship with Master Timothy Lucas. It is clear from the expressive prose used to depict Mary that this character holds a special place in the author’s heart. Mary really was the highlight of this novel and she was a character that I really came to care about.
Like Austen, McVeigh does not dwell on the Napoleonic wars, choosing instead to focus on the domestic life of the middle and upper classes. If it were not for the regiment coming to town, the reader would never have suspected that threat of an invasion from Napoleonic forces was real. Although, like Austen, McVeigh does not give a firm date as to when her novel is set, I was left wondering how likely it would have been for Darcy to travel to Rome during this turbulent time.
McVeigh has stayed very true to the story, although the long sweeping passages that Jane Austen so favoured are not evident in this book, unless it is in the form of a direct quote. This is very much an abridged version of events. I would have liked to have seen more input from the author so that she could make this story truly her own, rather than a duplicate of the original. What is evident is McVeigh’s love for the world and characters that Austen created.
Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation (Warleigh Hall Press Jane Austen Series) by Alice McVeigh is a wonderful addition to an already established series of books, bringing the world of Jane Austen, loved by so many, into the world from different points of view, not necessarily previously explored. Although die-hard fans of Austen may find the book too close to the original to enjoy as a new creation, it was still a delightfully fun read.
I Recommend.
Review by Mary Anne Yarde
The Coffee Pot Book Club
Alice McVeigh (pen name for speculative fiction: Spaulding Taylor) was born in South Korea, of American diplomatic parents, and lived in Asia until she was 13, when the family returned to Washington D.C. She then fell in love with the cello, winning the Beethoven Society of Washington cello competition, and reaching the finals of the National Music Teachers Association Young Soloists national competition. After achieving a B.Mus. with distinction at the internationally acclaimed Jacobs School of Music, she came to London to study with Jacqueline du Pré and William Pleeth. Since then she has performed with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic and the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique all over Europe, America and Asia.
Her first two contemporary novels – While the Music Lasts and Ghost Music – were published by Orion Publishing/Hachette in the late 90s, and her first play (Beating Time) put on at the Lewisham Theatre.
As well as performing, Alice has ghosted or edited over 200 books. She has also scribbled a witty guide to the orchestral profession: All Risks Musical, cartoons by Noel Ford. Her speculative thriller, Last Star Standing, was published by Unbound Publishing under her pen name, Spaulding Taylor, on February 21st, 2021. It won a Kirkus-starred review and was runner-up in the Independent Press Awards in the Action/Adventure category. It is a finalist in CIBA’s Cygnus Scifi Award, the Wishing Shelf Book Awards (in adult fiction) and the Eric Hoffer Book Awards (in science fiction).
In June 2021, Warleigh Hall Press published the first in her series of six Jane Austenesque novels (Susan: A Jane Austen Prequel). An imagining of Lady Susan as a sixteen-year-old, Susan was a quarter-finalist in Publishers Weekly’s 2021 BookLife Prize, won First Place (historical) in the Pencraft Book Awards, won a Gold Medal (historical) in the Global Book Awards and the eLit Book Awards 2022, was honoured with an IndieBRAG medallion and was selected as one of Shelf Unbound magazine’s “100 notable Indies” of 2021. Warleigh Hall Press published the second (Harriet: A Jane Austen Variation), a bestseller in Amazon’s British Historical Fiction category, and recently selected as Editor’s Pick (“outstanding”) on Publishers Weekly. The third title, Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Variation, is now available.
Alice is married to Professor Simon McVeigh, and lives in London. They have one daughter, who is doing a Master’s in Chinese Literature at Peking University (Beijing) and a second home in Crete. Apart from fiction, Alice’s greatest enthusiasms involve playing chamber music, tennis and the family’s long-haired mini-dachshunds.
Connect with Alice:
No comments:
Post a Comment