Review: Me and Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter
Emily Albright seems to be having a bit of a problem finding her perfect mate. From the sample date the reader experiences with Emily, it would seem that either the barrel is nearly empty and these are the dregs, or New York City has very slim pickings indeed.
Running an independent bookstore, having a good income, living on her own, having friends — well, it seems Emily is still buying into the whole “a woman isn’t whole without her man thing”. Her secret is that she watches the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice, the one with Colin Firth and the wet shirt, after every dating debacle, when she’s lonely, and when she just wants to believe love is out there somewhere.
She’s trying to come to grips with the fact that she may always be alone and when her friend and co-worker Stella tries to convince Emily to join her on an 18-30’s trip to Mexico. Emily makes the snap decision to instead take a Jane Austen tour of England. She figures that she will exorcise her Darcy fantasy, recover from her expectations of manly perfection, and get on with her life alone and happy to be so. Since she’s read all the books she believes it will be a great adventure and fun. Of course, once she arrives she finds that most of the women on the tour are closer in age to her mother and the only males are the bus driver and the young, obnoxious, news reporter covering the tour for his paper. (If you’ve read enough of these romances you know that obnoxiousness and dislike are a sure sign of true love developing — or maybe not, I mean this guy is really, really, obnoxious). Nevertheless, as the tour progresses Emily learns more about her companions on the tour and finds that all of them are women to be admired and reckoned with–all with talents, ambition, and full lives.
That’s the set up. What that doesn’t tell you is just what a great piece of work this novel is. I was about half way through before it dawned on me that Potter was retelling Pride and Prejudice. It’s very subtle but the story of Me and Mr. Darcy parallels the basic plot line. There is no line by line or plot point by plot point comparison but it’s there in feeling, situations, and actions. It’s also not a follow on to Pride and Prejudice either. Me and Mr. Darcy is a truly modern story of modern people with all the problems of living in this century. Flights of fancy and a bit of paranormal hand-waving aside, it’s a romance in the same vein of Austen.
It’s witty, funny (hilariously so in some scenes), sad, poignant, and in some places too close to my heart. I can’t believe I read it so fast that I read it in a day, considering that I went back to reread the beginning once I realized what the author was doing. The time with Me and Mr. Darcy just flew by.
I’m a romantic at heart. It’s probably why I enjoy the Jane Austen books so much. The heroines are strong women (even for her time) and the close family and sibling relationships are ones that most of us in our far-flung living arrangements probably wish we had. I know that I often wish I had a Jane to talk to when I have problems in my life. But families are smaller now and no one (at least no one I know my age) stays put for life as they used to do.
But, in spite of how much the world has changed and how much has changed for women over the last hundred years or so — we want romance in our lives. There’s also a big difference between fairy tale romance, love, and hormones. Sometimes, we even find that what we thought we wanted is not what we really want. We want the dream but with caveats and addendums, riders, and codicils. We want a Mr. Darcy, but one who can live in this century and be a man of this time but with the honor and integrity of the ideal from the book. Jane Austen once wrote,
“There are such beings in the world — perhaps one in a thousand — as the creature you and I should think perfection; where grace and spirit are united to worth, where the manners are equal to the heart and understanding; but such a person may not come in your way, or, if he does, he may not be the eldest son of a man of fortune, the near relation of your particular friend, and belonging to your own county.” (Letter to Jane Austen’s niece Fanny Knight).
Maybe some of us will be lucky enough to find that man: but just as surely he’ll be missing some of these criteria and yet he may still be our perfect Mr. Darcy (with or without a wet shirt). So, if you’re also in love with the writings of Jane Austen and her very real characters, give Me and Mr. Darcy a try.