Review: Jane Austen Made Me Do It edited by Laurel Ann Nattress

Posted in Review on September 5th, 2012

Cover of Jane Austen Made Me Do It edited by Laurel Ann Natress
Jane Austen Made Me Do It: Original Stories Inspired by Literature’s Most Astute Observer of the Human Heart edited by Laurel Ann Natress. Trade Paperback. ISBN: 978-0345524966. 464 pages. Ballantine Books (October 11, 2011) (Amazon: $10.20 / Kindle: $9.99)

Jane Austen Made Me Do It is an anthology of original stories Inspired by, who else, Jane Austen. Some of the stories are follow-on to one of the original Austen novels, a few are variations on a scenes, and some are modern interpretations of her works. There are 18 stories in this collection and each story has a quote from one of Austen’s novels or letters to pair with the story. Some of the quotes are difficult to connect with the stories while others are obvious inspiration for the story that follows.

Jane Austen’s Nightmare by Syrie James: Jane Austen dreams that her characters are alive in the world and not happy with the way they were treated in her works — with a few exceptions who love their role in their book. The dissatisfied characters are up in arms (think Dr. Frankenstein and the unhappy townspeople). What really makes it are the characters reasons for their dissatisfaction.

Waiting Persuasion by Jane Odiwe. This was a overview of Anne Elliot’s meetings and dealings with Captain Wentworth as she waits for him to speak to her father and ask for her hand. It fills in for the reader their earlier courtship that took place prior to the opening of Persuasion. I really like these type of stories as the fill in some possible background for fans of the book.

A Night at Northanger by Lauren Willig. This is a modern tale. Cate, a journalist, has a job working with a reality TV type show called Ghost Trekkers. She’s fed up with the job and the fake ‘reality’ of the show. She gets has a very interesting talk when the power goes out on a shot at Northanger Abbey where they were to interview Mr. Morland Tilney-Tilney. This was a very tongue in cheek, or not.

Jane and the Gentleman Rougue: Being a fragment of a Jane Austen Mystery by Stephanie Barron. A tale of star-crossed or at least society-crossed lovers, espionage, a duel, and clever misdirection. Can’t do much detail on this one or it will be spoiled for you.

Faux Jane by F.J. Meier. This was a delightful play on the old Nick and Nora Charles (and their dog, Asta) mysteries. However, it’s much more modern and involves some Jane Austen memorabilia.

Nothing Less than Fairyland by Monica Fairview. Emma and Mr. Knightley have returned from their honeymoon. The move of Mr. Knightley into the Woodhouse home is not going well. When Emma has an idea — a wonderfully, brilliant idea, or so she hopes. However, she must work quickly while fending off Mrs. Elton. It was a good idea and showed a definite growth and maturity in Emma.

Love and Best Wishes, Aunt Jane by Adriana Trigiani. A modern Jane Austen writes a letter to her newly engaged niece, Anna. This I found interesting because of the need to update letter writing to more modern times and fits well because Austen was an avid letter writer. The sentiments are at times insightful, poignant, and humorous.

When Only A Darcy Will Do by Beth Pattillo. Another modern story. Elizabeth is a poor American student in London. To earn money, she’s set up a website and is offering walking tours of Jane Austen’s London. Things get complicated when one of her customers show up dressed in Regency garb.

Heard of You by Margaret C. Sullivan. Returned from their wedding trip, Anne and Captain Wentworth visit the Crofts at Kellynch. Captain Wentworth tells the story of how the Crofts originally met and courted. This was another story that fills in the backstory of two of Austen’s characters for readers.

The Ghostwriter by Elizabeth Aston. Yes, there is a ghost. Sara is having a problem with her latest book and her boyfriend has sent a goodbye letter. She needs help and surprise a ghost shows up with some excellent advice and witty advice and asides. This was fun and homorous and more than likely not at all what you’d think it would be like.

Mr. Bennet Meets His Match by Amanda Grange. A fill in the background story of how Mr. Bennet met and courted Mrs. Bennet — because readers have always wondered how that happened.

Jane Austen, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah! by Janet Mullany. A modern story only barely touching on Jane Austen but very moving in its own way. A young teacher is chafing under the rules of the older, longtime teachers. She is saddled with supervising the detention of three young girls. This was very well done even though a bit stuck in the 60s.

Letters to Lydia by Maya Slater. Maria Lucas and Lydia correspond during Maria visit to Rosings and beyond. Readers get a peek into Maria’s view of events at Rosings when she visits with Elizabeth. We also get some interesting insight into Lydia — and Maria’s impressions of her.

The Mysterious Closet by Myretta Robens. Cathy Fullerton is on holiday at a converted abbey but it may be a bit too much of a Gothic atmosphere. She’s in the dungeon section of the abbey. This was a bit weird. While the story was fun, I kept wondering why Cathy was so calm and accepting — I’d have been freaking out. But nevertheless a fun story to read.

Jane Austen’s Cat by Diana Birchall. Jane Austen is visited by two of her nieces, and their cat, after having written Mansfield Park. It’s not so much a story as a discussion of writing and characters though a story is told on the spot to the younger niece which in which all the major characters are cats fit into the story of one of Austen’s novels.

Again … Mr. Darcy by ALexandra Potter. After a fight with her boyfriend, Emily invites her girlfriend to come to London with her. While her friend shops till she drops. Emily gets another interlude with Mr. Darcy, this time he’s been happily married to Elizabeth. This one was better than I expected thought these helpful time-traveling characters stories are wearing a bit thin for me.

What Would Jane Austen Do? by Jane Ruino and Caitlen Rabino Bradway. This was my favorite story in the book. The point of view character is Jamie Austen. His mom is a Jane Austen fanatic and family belief is she married Jamie’s father to get the name ‘Austen’. Jamie is in high school and he’s a bit of the problem for the Principal and the Guidance Councilor. It’s not what you think — really. I loved this one for it’s originality and freshness and because it was so in tune with today’s high school scene.

The Riding Habit by Pamela Aidan. Darcy and Elizabeth are at their London home. A quiet ride to teach Elizabeth how to ride gets very exciting indeed.

The Chase by Carrie Bebris. This story was also very different. It’s supposedly the story of an event that happened to one of Jane Austen’s navy brothers involving a naval battle with French ships. Quite a nice piece of historical fiction based on fact.

Intolerable Stupidity by Laurie Viera Rigler. This was a hilarious story that got me laughing out loud. Fitz Williams is defending the authors of retitling, follow-ons, adaptations, etc. in court. Tawny Wolfson is the prosecuting attorney for Mr. and Mrs. Darcy. Of course, the judge is Lady Catherine. Imagine such a story in a book of stories that are retellings, follow-ons, and adaptations, etc.

All in all this was a volume well worth reading. I like some stories more than others which is generally true of any anthology, however, there wasn’t a clinker in the lot.

The book has been out since October of 2011 so should be readily available if you haven’t read it already. If you have read the book, as always, I’d love to hear your opinion.

The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Mystery by Regina Jeffers

Posted in Review on July 10th, 2012

The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy by Regina Jeffers
The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Mystery by Regina Jeffers. Ulysses Press; Original edition (April 17, 2012) ISBN: 978-1612430454. Trade Paperback. (List: $14.95 / Amazon: $10.17 / Kindle: 9.66)

When The Disappearance of Georgiana Darcy opens, the Darcys are worried because they haven’t heard from Geogiana since she headed north to open her husband’s home and ready it for his return. Georgiana and Colonel, now Major General Fitzwilliam were married in a previous book. However, the Darcys can’t do much about it as they’re preparing for Kitty Bennet’s marriage. There’s plenty to keep everyone busy.

Things take a desperate turn when notice is sent to the family that Major General Fitzwilliam was dead. Efforts were made to contact Georgiana, knowing she shouldn’t be alone at this time of grief. However, the news is shocking when they learn that Georgiana is missing and presumed dead on the moors. The Darcys spring into action to find out what happened to her.

Meanwhile, the reader is privy to a second story line. A lovely woman was found injured on the moors and taken to the MacBethan’s castle. Her memory is fragmentary at best after a fall from her horse. She has hazy memories of screams and pleas for help prior to awakening in a very plain room in the castle. The Lord of the castle takes her under his protection. She’s beginning to fall in love with him but something is holding her back — she feels there may be someone else in her past. More than that, she’s aware that she’s not an injured guest, but a prisoner and must watch all she says and does.

Then of course there’s another tread throughout the novel of George Wickham and his thirst for vengeance, his greed, and his hatred of Darcy. His actions twine about the other two plot threads.

Jeffers manages to keep the reader guessing as to the identity of the woman in the castle. Is she Georgiana? If so, how could she even think about falling in love with someone other than Fitzwilliam? If she isn’t Georgiana, then who is she? Does that mean Georgiana is really dead?

The point of view characters never really give away the few facts the reader is really desperate to know concerning Georgiana. They only know what they can learn from others or interpret from what they’ve found out. Even when you’re in the mind of the injured woman in the castle, you don’t learn who she is because her head injury means she doesn’t know who she is either.

The pace drags in a few places but seem to be mostly when the reader needs information that the characters have learned or are in the process of learning. Otherwise, it moves smoothly between the various plot lines and characters, all filling in needed information and helping us get a better feel for what is happening and the background.

That said, I found the book frustrating. At any time the author could have told us who the woman was and what had happened to Georgiana. By the end, when all is revealed, I felt that I’d been sitting on pins and needles for hours hoping everything would turn out okay and fearing that it wouldn’t. That Jeffers could pull such an emotional reaction from me, speaks to how well I thought she handled the misdirection and obstruction required by the main story line of Georgiana’s disappearance.

The characters are all very much as they were in the original work by Austen. There’s been no appreciable change to their basic character except that Geogiana, in the first part of the book, has come into her own as a strong, independent minded woman of her times. There are far more characters as lives have moved on, and there have been marriages and children added to the various family groups. Luckily, there’s a list of the major characters and their relationships to bring readers who haven’t read previous books up to speed on who’s who.

The book was released in April so should be readily available to those who enjoy the Pride and Prejudice follow-on books. If you’ve already read the book, I’d love to hear your opinions.

Have you watched The Lizzie Bennet Diaries?

Posted in Entertainment on July 5th, 2012

A while back I somehow managed to stubble over The Lizzie Bennet Diaries on youtube. I’ve now caught up on all the available episodes and must wait for the next one. So, I thought I’d share.

Lizzie Bennet is a graduate student in communications. She has two sister’s. Jane who is older than Lizzie and Lydia who is the youngest. This story line has no Mary of Kitty. They all live at home. Times are tough and the economy being what it is and money being tight, Mrs. Bennet is determined to marry off the girls. She’s targeted their new neighbor Bing Lee for Jane.

So, things are the same but different. The writers have done a great job of updating Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for modern times. If you’ve read the books or even if you haven’t you’ll enjoy Lizzie’s video blog — technical work filming and editing being done by her best friend Charlotte Lu.

Here’s the first episode:

Give it a try and let me know what you think. This show really needs more viewers. How else can I share the excitement.

Review: The Three Colonels: Jane Austen’s Fighting Men by Jack Caldwell

Posted in Review on May 3rd, 2012

Cover of The Three Colonels: Jane Austen's Fighting Men. Sourcebooks Landmark (March 1, 2012) ISBN: 978-1402259739. Trade Paperback. $14.99 (Amazon: $11.18 / Kindle: $9.99).

Jack Caldwell gives the men of Austen’s world a chance to shine. Napoleon is planning his escape from Elba. And we all know what that means — Waterloo is almost inevitable to be part of the story; after all there are three colonels in this story. Colonel Christopher Brandon of Sense and Sensibility, Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam of Pride and Prejudice, and Colonel John Buford for this story. With Napoleon’s escape they are all called upon to serve their country again.

This is a follow on story. Marianne and Christopher Brandon are now happily married with a daughter named Joy. The Darcy’s are also very happy in their marriage and have a son, Bennet. Many of the people from Sense and Sensibilities and Pride and Prejudice show up. All the Bennet daughters are married now. Carolyn Bingley is engaged to Colonel Buford when the story begins. Lady Catherine and her daughter, Anne, are also included.

Through flashbacks, Caldwell explains how Caroline has changed since loosing Darcy to Elizabeth. It also sets up how Colonel Buford fits into the scheme of things. There are multiple threads in this novel, one thread follows Anne de Bourgh’s transition from sickly daughter to a force to be reckoned with. A second thread follows Caroline Bingley’s rebuilding of her life after Pride and Prejudice. A third show the changes in the relationship between Colonel Brandon and Marianne with a few surprises. Next is a thread that follows up on Denny and Wickham. And, we must not forget the biggest plot line of all — the escape of Napoleon and the historical events that led to Waterloo, the battle, and the aftermath.

If you love the world and characters of Jane Austen’s creation but do not enjoy the nitty-gritty history of her time, give The Three Colonels a try. Caldwell, while he does cover the battle of Waterloo and the events leading up to it, brings it closer to home by covering it through the eyes and feelings of the characters that we’ve come to know well through books. Austen wrote of the daily life of the kind of people she knew and observed. Caldwell pulls the men of her fiction into the historical events of her lifetime. While the people of England were separated by the channel from the fighting, it still impacted them, especially if they had loved ones in the service.

We like to think of wars as being something that doesn’t effect us. We’re safe, and those stories in the news don’t effect us. But many of us, as in Austen’s time, have husbands, fathers, brothers, sisters, mothers, and relatives who have or are in wars being fought in faraway lands. Jack Caldwell uses the lives of characters we’re familiar with and care about to show that while times have changed and the technology may have changed, the destruction of war effects us all.

Read the The Three Colonels for the joy of seeing what’s happened in the lives of the characters we know through Austen’s works. Read it for the chance to see dry history, spread out before us, as history effects and impacts the people of the time. Or, simple read The Three Colonels for telling a darn good story and making Caroline Bingley a woman most of us would actually be glad to know.

Review: Mr. Darcy Forever by Victoria Connelly

Posted in Review on April 15th, 2012

Cover of Mr. Darcy Forever by Victoria Connelly
Mr. Darcy Forever By Victoria Connelly. Trade Paperback. 336 pages. Sourcebooks Landmark (April 1, 2012) (Amazon: $10.98 / Kindle: $9.99)

Sarah Castle is seven years older than her sister, Mia, and that seven years made the difference when their parents died. Sarah quit school got a job as an accountant and continued to raise her sister.

Sarah is sensible and cautious. She now is self-employed, which makes it much easier to handle her OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) symptoms. Mia, on the other hand, is nearly all emotion and impulsiveness — good traits for an actress probably, but harder to deal with in normal every-day activities.

For Mia’s twenty first birthday, Sarah rented Barton cottage. One of the things that both sisters enjoyed was the works of Jane Austen. As sisters, Sense and Sensibility held a special place in their hearts. However, as often happens, plans that should lead to a satisfying week of together time instead leads to the sisters being ripped apart as a man, also on vacation, catches Mia’s eye while playing for Sarah’s attention.

The rift between the sisters results in them not speaking to each other for nearly five years. Things have changed in each of their lives in that time, but they are unaware of these changes and the effects that they have caused in their goals and desires.

Connelly sets up the division in their lives and then, after an appropriate period, sets in motion the events that will bring them face to face. What happens next will shape their futures. Will they get together and patch things up? Are they so hurt they’ll never forgive? Or will the magic of a Jane Austen Festival and a chance encounter bring these sisters together again?

In the process, we get to vicariously enjoy the Jane Austen Festival in Bath which takes place every September. As much as I enjoy the novels of Jane Austen, it never occurred to me that Barton cottage could be rented — it can, but as a B&B, rooms not the entire house — or that Bath had a yearly Jane Austen Festival. I looked them both up on the internet and did a lot of wishful thinking about both these new discoveries. See, books are educational.

Connelly’s story telling is top notch. The characters are engaging and the basic premise keeps the reader interested even if you figure out the major plot points before you get to them. After all it’s not so much that you know X happened, it’s what X means or how it affects the character’s lives.

There’s plenty to entertain and much to chuckle at but also some interesting characters to care about that resonate with a well loved story by a favorite author — Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen — who also cautioned against leaping before one looked at the consequences of their leap.

I enjoyed the book and hope you do too. If you have read it let me know what you thought — I love comments from other readers.

Review: Persuasion: A Latter-day Tale by Rebecca H. Jamison

Posted in Review on March 16th, 2012

Cover of Persuasion: A Latter-day Tale by Rebecca H. Jamison
Persuasion: A Latter-day Tale by Rebecca H. Jamison. Trade Paperback. ISBN: 978-1599559476. 240 pages. Cedar Fort, Inc. (February 14, 2012). (Amazon: $9.89 / Kindle: $3.82)

This tale is aptly named as it is all about second chances. If you’ve read and loved Jane Austen’s Persuasion, you’ll know the basic story. Anne Elliot was too young when she fell in love with Neil Wentworth. He was ready to commit but she was unsure of her heart. She allowed her family to persuade her to break off with Wentworth. They went their separate ways but now at the start of the book, the two meet again. She’s just as in love with him as she was before but she has no idea what his feelings for her are now — afterall, she broke his heart.

The story opens when Anne is setting up the yard sale to sell the things her father and sister have agreed that they can live without. Her father needs to sell her childhood home and move into a smaller house along with Anne’s older sister, Liz. Mr. Elliot is overextended and has maxed out all his credit cards.

On the day of the yard sale, she learns that there is a buyer for the house — Jack Wentworth, Neil’s brother. Jack’s coming over to look the house over and he’s bringing a friend. Anne is worried and her worst nightmare comes true — the friend is Neil. Later she learns that Jack has decided to buy the house and Neil is now a police detective, which is what he planned to become when they were dating. Neil seems aloof and uninterested in Anne and she can barely blame him after the way she treated him. She’s praying that he still cares for her but is afraid to hope too much.

Jamison has done a wonderful job of updating the original story to fit in today’s society with its different mores and values. Since all the main characters in Persuasian: A Latter-Day Tale are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), many of the values that were looked for by Jane Austen’s characters are also the ones that these characters look for: integrity, honesty, truthfulness, and a strong commitment to their religion. In this case different religion but with many of the same core values as those held by Austen and thus her characters.

What that means to the reader is that there are no lustful sex scenes. Jamison has to tell her story with only the actions and feelings of the characters that Austen would put on the page. She also has to set the characters into this world and this century. Neil Wentworth is a police officer. Anne Elliot works at a brokerage firm helping people weather the economic crisis. Mr. Elliot is always looking for a way to get rich quick and appear to be more than he really is. Liz Elliot is much better in attitude and attributes than her Austen equivalent but that may be because she needs to work in this century.

There is some talk of Mormonism and church functions but, based on the publisher, members of the church are the expected audience. However, while in a few places I thought it went a little over the top — hitting us on the head with details (and I am a Mormon) — it doesn’t detract from the story too much. Jamison also does show that no matter what your religion, there are bad apples in every group — otherwise how could you have tension and demonstrate the naivety of believing that just because a person shares your religion that you should trust them with no other criteria considered.

Jamison has, in my opinion, managed to stay closer to the core story of the original Austen Persuasion than many other authors and tells a good story with people you come immediately to care about. Anne is resilient, strong, and has grown up enough to recognize her own wishes and desires and is now willing to admit to herself what she wants out of life. Since the story is set in modern times there are some surprising twists and turns on the way to reaching what we know will be the best of all possible endings for these characters.

So, if you loved Austen’s Persuasion and have been put off by the blatant sex in some of the more recent retellings, Persuasion: A Latter-Day Tale may be just what you’ve been looking for. Give it a try.

Please take the time to leave a comment if you’ve read the book, I’d like to know what you think. But then I’m always anxious to hear from my readers.

Review: Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale

Posted in Review on March 1st, 2012

Cover of Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale
Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale. Trade Paperback. ISBN: 978-1608196258. 288 pages. Bloomsbury USA; 1 edition (January 31, 2012) (Amazon: $14.61 / Kindle: $9.99)

Charlotte Constance Kinder is nice. She’s been nice almost from birth. She did all the right things. She got married and had two children, Lu and Beckett. Once the children were in school, she got a bit bored and started her own online business. It was a great success and she sold it for a lot of money. Bored again she started another company which also was successful. Then Charlotte’s husband divorced her. Charlotte was blindsided by this and continually tried to figure out what she did wrong. By the time her ex married his mistress, Justice, Charlotte barely felt anything anymore. But she was still nice — it was habit by now.

On the suggestion of a friend, Charlotte read the novels of Jane Austen. Of course, we can guess what happened next. Charlotte felt emotions again — gentle, tiny flutterings, but emotions none the less. When the children go to stay with their dad and stepmom, what’s a mother to do? Book a vacation in Austenland, of course.

I’d read Austenland when it first came out so it’s been a while. I still loved meeting some of the characters that I’d first been introduced to then. Charlotte was more than ready to enjoy Austenland, after all she was nice and appreciated the little niceties of civilized behavior that Austen portrayed in her books. Readers who’d first visited Austenland in the previous book will note right away that Austenland has fallen on hard times of late. Of course that could be due to the war with the French — provided you stay in character. For those of us, in this time period, we see the signs of marital strife over assets coupled with an economic downturn.

Never the less, Charlotte’s vacation is going well, until she finds a body. No one believes her and she must decide what to do, how to find out who was killed, and who is to blame. This is a vacation that will change Charlotte’s perceptions of herself and her previous life. Once her vacation in Austenland is over, Charlotte will never be the same.

Midnight in Austenland by Shannon Hale is much darker than the Austenland. The previous book was basically a romance and this one is a murder mystery with romance. The characters are interesting and as quirky, witty, charming, and annoying as you’d be likely to meet during a Regency country house stay. The story is also told from Charlotte’s point of view, with flash backs to previous periods in her life. Charlotte makes a great point of view characters as she has a habit of arguing with herself — some of which made me laugh out loud.

If you enjoyed Austenland, you’re sure to enjoy Midnight in Austenland. However, you don’t need to read the first book in order to enjoy this one. Pick up the book, settle down with your beverage of choice and slip away with Charlotte to Austenland.

Review: Dreaming of Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly

Posted in Review on January 21st, 2012

Cover of Dreaming of Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly

Dreaming of Mr. Darcy by Victoria Connelly. Sourcebooks Landmark (January 1, 2012). ISBN: 978-1402251351. Pages 370. (Amazon: $10.19 / Kindle: $9.99)

Kay Ashton’s mother was a patient at The Pines, which is where Kay became friends with Peggy Sullivan. When Kay’s mother died, she continued to visit with Peggy and read to her from Jane Austen’s works. Peggy had lost her sight and she enjoyed having Kay visit and share some of her favorite books. Somehow the age difference between them didn’t make any difference to their wide ranging discussions and shared interests. When Peggy died, she left Kay her entire estate with the hope that Kay would do something amazing.

Reading Persuasion had always made Kay wish that she could live by the sea. With the money Peggy left her, Kay decided to move to Lyme Regis and try to put her art degree to use by putting together her drawings for publication. For years she’d been working on illustrating the works of Jane Austen but had never sent her work out or tried to be published.

Visiting Lyme Regis to see what cottages were available, Kay found nothing she liked in her price range until she happened to see the ad for Wentworth House. It was large enough to be a Bed and Breakfast and thus, even though expensive, would allow Kay to make a living within sight of the Cobb and the sea.

Kay hadn’t even opened her B&B when a burst pipe in a local hotel led to a search for lodging for the director and four of the principle actors of Persuasion. Yes. Kay’s favorite book was being filmed in Lyme Regis. This was indeed a dream come true.

Once all the people are in place, Dreaming of Mr. Darcy is a delightful romantic comedy. Kay, an only child from a broken home, has always lived more in her fantasies than in reality. She can take the wink and smile of a handsome actor and in her mind be picking out their china pattern, children’s names, and where they’ll spend their next several vacations. She doesn’t stop with planning her life around the deeper meanings of kind gestures but tries to match others into happy couples with no actual information on how those people feel about each other — much as Emma Woodhouse tries to match Miss Smith with the vicar, and with about as much luck.

Kay’s flights of fancy are embarrassing as the reader can’t do anything about the train wreck she’s about to make of her life. We can only hope that things work out for the best. After all, Austen managed to pull her main characters together for a wedding at the end and a hopefully happy-ever-after.

This is not about Mr. Darcy or Pride and Prejudice. Dreaming Mr. Darcy is closer to Persuasion since it takes place in Lyme Regis and a movie of the book is the catalyst for much of the action. The story, at heart, is all about second chances and missed opportunities.

While Kay is the main character in the beginning, once the actors appear on the page, the point of view shifts between Kay, Adam Craig (the writer and producer of the film), and Gemma Reilly, who plays Anne in the movie. We don’t have just one romance developing we have several and they all come to a head in Lyme.

Dreaming Mr. Darcy is filled with interesting characters, wonderful descriptions of Lyme Regis and the surrounding countryside, and enough miscommunication and misunderstanding to keep any reader turning its pages.