Lynette's Two Cents: REVIEW: Darcy on the Hudson: A Pride and Prejudice Re-Imagining

07 September 2011

REVIEW: Darcy on the Hudson: A Pride and Prejudice Re-Imagining

Posted by Lynette

Darcy on the Hudson: A Pride and Prejudice Re-imagining

Mary Simonsen

ISBN #: 978-0615513263

Publisher Name: Quail Creek Publishing

Date Released: August 2011

Genre: Romance/Jane Austen Fan Fic

Book Format: Kindle Version

Kindle Price: $3.99

BACK COVER BLURB:

When Fitzwilliam Darcy, Georgiana Darcy, and Charles Bingley set sail from England to New York, each travels with a different purpose in mind. Georgiana wants to put a particularly jarring incident involving a family friend behind her, and Charles wishes to visit his uncle in an exciting new land. For Darcy, it is an opportunity to explore the possibilities of new sources of wealth in the expanding United States, but once Darcy meets American Elizabeth Bennet, it becomes the beginning of a love story. But will cultural differences and a possible second war with England keep them apart?

COVER SNARK:

Self-Pubbed. Boring.

FIRST LINES:

Fitzwilliam Darcy was dying.

LYNETTE'S TWO CENTS:

I promised I wouldn't do this. The last time, I reviewed a self-published Jane Austen fan written sequel I got blasted by the Jane Austen Fan Fiction Community for having serious issues with one of their fellow writers/bloggers/fandom's (whatever) efforts. I said I wouldn't write another review on them.

Oh well.

I've read this author before. And while I always had one or two issues with her work, I've always enjoyed them. One of my favorites of hers is a parody of sorts of Persuasion called Anne Elliot, A New Beginning. It was written as tongue in cheek, and I enjoyed it very much. I liked the author's sense of humor.

Before I start my review, let me state that in the last month or so, I've been engrossed on documentaries about the founding of America and the Revolutionary War. Because of this fascination, DARCY ON THE HUDSON was right up there with what my reading interests are now, so for the author to add Darcy and Elizabeth in this setting was a win-win for me to click the dreaded BUY NOW button for the Kindle.

DARCY ON THE HUDSON's premise is that Darcy wanting to get Georgiana away from the aborted seduction of George Wickham takes Georgiana on a trip with Charles to visit his American relations so that Charles can check out his business interests there. As Darcy has some business interests (funding the Erie Canal – which I thought was cool), he decides to accompany him. The Bennet's are American and Caroline Bingley and Louisa Hurst instead of being Charles's sisters are his American cousins.

Are you with me so far?

I liked this aspect. I loved how the Bennet's were portrayed. I was getting so sick of how Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are often portrayed in most adaptations. While not the best of parents they are often routinely blasted by the fan fiction community. They weren't here. They were actually stronger, better people because they weren't weighed down by the British class system like they are in the original. Mr. Bennet free of the burden of Longborne is free to use his intellect and pursue all the varied interests he reads about, making him thought of as a genius and one of the wealthiest men in the area. Mrs. Bennet free from the worry of needing to marry her daughters off to secure her livelihood, and being a woman who lived through the horrors of the American Revolution as a child has become a much stronger and loving woman. Once again, I totally loved Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. I also loved that there was no pressure for the Bennet girls to find husbands.

So what didn't I like? It seems weird that what most drew me into the book is what annoyed me the most about it. The historical context. Though I love the History Channel, I am not a historian at all, but I do think that the author did a great job with the historical detail set forth in DARCY ON THE HUDSON. I liked all the details and it was obvious that it was well researched, but there was just tooo much of it that distracted from what should have been the main focus of the story Darcy and Elizabeth's growing relationship. It felt like the author used her love of the historical detail to give long winded speeches about American History instead developing Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship more. Despite the interesting historical details, I felt like I was reading one of those short books that you find in libraries that give the overview of a time period and how people lived during that time period, instead of a Jane Austen sequel or a work of historical fiction.

WHERE PURCHASED:

Purchased with my own money.

RATING: