A Curious Statistical Anomaly

Compulsively Mr. Darcy by Nina Benneton. Sourcebooks Landmark (February 1, 2012). ISBN: 978-1402262494. 359 Pages. (Amazon: $9.89 / Kindle: $9.99).

It’s all the rage to adopt a child in a foreign country — and engenders more social status if the child is dissimilar to the adopting couple in ethnicity. So, Mr. and Mrs. Hurst have decided to adopt a child. Charles Bingley decided they needed someone responsible to come along so he invited William Darcy — that it would also get Darcy out of the office was a plus. So, Bingley, Darcy, the Hursts, and Caroline are in Da Nang, Vietnam, to meet with the managing director of Gracechurch Orphange, Jane Bennet, and hopefully pick up their child.

On the way to their hotel, they end up in a traffic jam. Charles can’t stand sitting still so he hops out and asks a man riding a bicycle carrying a load of live chickens if he can try riding it. Of course he falls, scattering chickens and managing to gash his leg badly enough to require stitches. Darcy swings into action and learns of a local hospital with an American doctor, and hires a bicycle taxi to take them there. Darcy can’t bring himself to enter the hospital due to his fear of germs and painful associations, so he opts to wait outside.

When the waiting becomes intolerably longer than it should be, in Darcy’s opinion, he seeks out Bingley only to find him still waiting for treatment. Darcy is outraged and demands to see the doctor while lifting the towel over Bingley’s leg. A glimpse of the blood on Bingley’s leg causes Darcy to faint. A clog prodding his face trying to bring him to consciousness is his first introduction to Dr. Elizabeth Bennet. Neither comes out of this encounter proud of their actions.

Thus begins, Compulsively Mr. Darcy by Nina Benneton. This modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice contains many of Austen’s beloved characters: The Bennets, Darcy and Georgiana, Fitzwilliam, Anne and Catherine de Bourgh, Wickham, Mrs. Reynolds, and a couple of surprises from another Austen novel. However, Benneton has updated them by examining their characteristics and matching them to current medical labels. For example, Mr. Darcy, who we know wants to protect those he cares about and takes all his commitments to others including his tenants and servants very seriously, suffers from, as title of the book implies, OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Charles Bingley, on the other hand, has recently been diagnosed with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder). You can see that Pride and Prejudice makes this seem a very logical character choice from this quote:

“Oh!” cried Miss Bingley, “Charles writes in the most careless way imaginable. He leaves out half his words, and blots the rest.”

“My ideas flow so rapidly that I have not time to express them — by which means my letters sometimes convey no ideas at all to my correspondents.”

Being a modern retelling of the story, not only were the characters updated, but the story was revamped to fit into our current society. Darcy is, of course, rich. He’s CEO of DDF (Darcy, Darcy, and Fitzwilliam). Fitzwilliam, his cousin, is a vice president. Bingley also works there. Meanwhile, Jane Bennet, as you’d expect from her patient and loving nature, is a social worker now running an orphanage founded by Aunt Mai and Uncle Gardner while recovering from an abusive relationship. Elizabeth is an doctor specializing in infectious diseases. She moved to Vietnam with Jane to keep her company. The relative social status is maintained as Mr. Bennet is a college professor. The Bennets are middle class and, while not hurting for money, do not spend it wildly either.

My only reservation about the characters is that the Elizabeth Bennet of the original was a great student of character until she allowed her first impressions to cause her to assign to Mr. Darcy characteristics he didn’t actually deserve, after which she became more careful of her judgements. This Elizabeth is impulsive and quick to judge others with minimal data. She makes life changing decisions without consulting those involved in her decisions and without input from those close to her who might be effected. Being a doctor who also does research in her field, this particular implementation of her character seemed too much of a contradiction. How could she possibly maintain her position as one of the top infectious disease specialist and be so incredibly flakey? Other readers may not have as much difficulty with this aspect of her character, but I wanted to make sure she met a very large clue stick. In other areas, it was incredible how these two very different people turned out to be just right for each other — and that takes clever writing when trying to be true to well-loved characters in a new environment and the changes that requires.

While Compulsively Mr. Darcy maintains the fractious nature of the original character’s relationship as they grow towards understanding and love, the details have changed radically since society and social mores are now very different from those of Austen’s time. As with many romances, there are sex scenes. For some traditionalists, this may be off-putting. However, the sex is steamy, fairly graphic (including phone sex), but easily skipped over if you like dislike such scenes. There are also several subplots that deal with today’s problems of inappropriate sexual contact.

Well written, witty, comedic and serious by turns, Compulsively Mr. Darcy has it all — quirky characters, evil villains, surprises, disappointments, and a great love story.

NOTE: Remember, I love to hear from my readers so if you’ve read the book or plan to let me know what you think.

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.

Fizwilliam Darcy, Rock Star by Heather Lynn Rigaud.  Sourcebooks Landmark (September 1, 2011). Pages: 566. ISBN: 978-1402257810.  Trade Paperback. $14.99 (Amazon: $9.77 / Kindle: $9.28).

Okay, I have to admit that it was the title that got to me. Fitzwilliam Darcy as a rock star. Really, how was that going to work? Well, believe it or not, it does work. Rigaud sets up the entire book in the prologue. The prologue is essentially bits of narration and description of the images of a program called Inside the Music focusing on Slurry. Slurry is the rock band that has Fitzwilliam Darcy as the lead guitarist, Charles Bingley as bass guitar, and Richard Fitzwilliam on drums. Anne De Bourgh works for the record company De Bourgh Records which has a contract with Slurry. This gives the reader the background needed for this modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice.

Our story opens with the information that Slurry has just had their most recent opening group quit the tour and they’re auditioning replacements. They’ve stopped into Meryton Public House to listen to Long Bourne Suffering, an all girl group made up of Elizabeth Bennet, Jane Bennet, and Charlotte Lucas. Their manager Mr. Collins is just what you’d expect from the name but Slurry hires Long Borne Suffering to finish out the tour with them.

As for other characters from the original book. Darcy is of course concerned with the education and care of his younger sister, Georgianna. Mr. Bennet is a music professor. Mary studies music intensively, mostly classical, while Jane and Elizabeth play rock, folk, and blues. There is a Mr. Wickham in the mix also. However, it’s all modern and cleverly done. The attitudes and characteristics of the original book by Austen are surprisingly clear even with the update to modern times and occupations.

I was surprised at how well the entire story came together. You’d need to read it to see for yourself but I believe you’d be pleasantly surprised. Though I do have to warn those more traditional readers that there are sex scenes — after all it is a modern romance.

If you caught the reference to the group’s name — Long Borne Suffering — you’ll be enchanted with all the references to phrases, scenes, places, and people woven into the story. This is really a must read for fans of the original story who really are up to something updated and modern but with the same heart as Pride and Prejudice. It’s also different enough to keep you on the edge of your seat as you read because, with all this change, you can’t really expect the author to sort everyone out to a tidy Austen-like happily every after ending. Or can you?

Johnny Appleseed. Written by Jodie Shepherd. Illustrated by Masumi Furukawa. Scholastic. ISBN: 978-0-545-22306-5. $3.99 (Amazon: $3.99 / No yet on Kindle).

Johnny Appleseed was a real person. Most of us heard the stories of how he traveled about the country 200 or so years ago planting apple trees everywhere he went. But, he was a real person. He was born in Massachusetts and named Johnny Chapman.

Jodie Shepherd tells the story of the boy and the man behind the legend. Every legend has a beginning and Johnny Appleseed didn’t start out to be a legend — he lived his life and his works spoke for him.

It is a simple story, well told and beautifully illustrated with lovely representational folk art (only more realistic and with perspective) in nice muted colors.

It can be a book you read to a child, or a slightly older children can read for themselves. If your child is interested in apples, and early American legends, this might be a good way to get them excited about books and the written word.

Wicked – The Musical
Music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz
Book by Winnie Holzman
Directed by Joe Mantello
Synopsis: Long before that girl from Kansas arrives in Munchkinland, two girls meet in the land of Oz. One–born with emerald green skin–is smart, fiery and misunderstood. The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular. How these two grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good makes for a great musical.
The cast features Dee Roscioli as Elphaba, Amanda Jane Cooper as Glinda, Randy Danson as Madame Morrible, and Mark Jacoby as the Wizard.

Yesterday, Hyperion and I went to the Kennedy Center to see a performance of Wicked along with several other members of WSFA (the science fiction club we belong to). The play is based on the book, Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

Wicked tells a different story than that told by L. Frank Baum in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Maguire posits that the Wicked Witch of the West was not evil — she was simply misunderstood and feared. One of our group had read the book. Hyperion and I have it but didn’t want to read it before seeing the play. My understanding from the person who read the book is that the play is very close, except their endings differ.

The play was wonderful, mesmerizing, and quite an emotional experience. Elphaba is on stage for most of the play. Glinda also has a big part but did get a few more off-set breaks than Elphaba. The staging was superb — the scene changes were all during the play and done smoothly and cleverly. For the big climax after the song, Defy Gravity, Elphaba rises into the air with the lights all on her face and it was impossible from our seats to see how it was done because the lighting was so good at hiding what we, the audience, wasn’t supposed to see.

The sets had a feeling of steampunk to them and would match the time period of L. Frank Baum. Hyperion said he noticed one of the men in the chorus wore a skirt for a time — which we imagine was a nod to the Oz character Tip. I’m sure we missed many other small background items because we were lost in the story of Elphaba and Glinda — their meeting, growing friendship, and their parting.

I’d highly recommend seeing Wicked if the play is in your area. Especially, if you have fond memories of the original story and movie. The amazing thing is that there is very little in the play that goes against the original work.

The cast was amazing and the acting more so. The musical numbers were well choreographed, and my only complaint was that the crescendos were way too loud. During intermission, I noticed the speakers were only two rows in front of us and above so we were nearly sitting under the speakers, so naturally they were loud.

It was a magical two hours and I’m so very glad we decided to attend when the outing was suggested at a club meeting.

I’d love to hear if you’ve read the book or seen the play. Next up is trying to fit in reading the book by Maguire.

The Ballad of Gregoire Darcy by Marsha Altman. Ulysses Press (May 10, 2011). ISBN: 978-1-56975-937-0. Pages 424 plus Bibliography and Acknowledgement. Trade Paperback. $14.95 (Amazon: $10.91 / Kindle: $9.99).

Previous books in the series: The Darcys & the Bingleys: A Tale of Two Gentlemen’s Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters (Sourcebooks); The Plight of the Darcy Brothers: A Tale of The Darcys and the Bingleys (Sourcebooks); and Mr. Darcy’s Great Escape (Sourcebooks).

With The Ballad of Grégoire Darcy, Marsha Altman has changed publishers — however, the writing and story crafting are as well executed as ever. This book moves forward the lives of Jane Austen’s original characters as well as those that have been added over the last three books. Since the end of Pride and Prejudice, children have been born to Darcy and Elizabeth, Bingley and Jane, Charlotte and Mr. Collins, Carolyn Bingley and her husband Dr. Maddox, Mary Bennet, and to Lydia and Wickham and also to Lydia’s new husband. The children now are of an age to be looking forward to going away for the education (if they are boys) and to be finished if they are girls.

The world is changing rapidly and the society that Austen wrote about, while still in existence, is being changed by the rise of the middle class and the movement to gain government funding for public education. This book is purportedly about Grégoire Darcy, though it also moves between the lives of the other characters — the changes in Grégoire’s life impacts others as they have an impact on his life. The first change was when Darcy made him promise to stop whipping himself and found him a place in a Benedictine cloister where Darcy believed he’d be safe.

Grégoire has devoted his life to the church. Now-a-days there are many ways of serving — of helping to make the world a better place — but in this age the church, as it had been for many many years, was the first such thought for those who wanted to dedicate their lives to a higher good. The problem for Grégoire is that his desire is not politically motivated but from a deep commitment to God and his religion. It’s his desire to help that leads him to use his funds to help those in need within the range of his abbey. When the church learns of his funds, they punish him for hiding it from them and demand he turn control over to the church, which he cannot do for Darcy can deny the church access. His punishment nearly causes his death — which moves the bishop to want to declare Grégoire a saint. Meanwhile, Grégoire’s abbot is trying desperately to find a way to save him from this fate, for the abbot comes from a family highly placed in the church and he knows the political maneuvering that goes on in Rome. Luckily, Grégoire is rescued from this conflict of interests because Darcy, worried when he hadn’t heard from his brother, sends a trusted family member to check on him. Grégoire is returned to England — near death and excommunicated from the church — and into the care of Dr. Maddox.

It’s from this point that Grégoire struggles to understand what has happened to him and how to reconcile his beliefs and his desire to serve God to the facts of his excommunication. He now questions everything and feels that he has no compass to guide him. Meanwhile other family members are also having their own problems.

Altman manages to move from one part of the story to another and to weave together a coherent tale of the duties, joys, sorrows, and importance of family using the various threads to explore the variations on a theme. When a continuation of the Pride and Prejudice story grows through the addition of characters and a second generation, the author usually narrows the focus of the books to a single story line and will then follow with bringing another character up through the same time period. Altman manages to balance the narrative by time-slicing — moving in order between the various plot lines to bring them all to some conclusion by the end of the book. This is great news for the reader for you don’t have to wonder what is happening to one group while reading about another — you just need to keep reading and you’ll find out. On the other hand, it’s a difficult task for a writer to balance the narrative between plot lines and to keep it all coherent with smooth transitions for the reader. Marsha Altman gets an excellent grade for this — though I can’t help wondering if with the increase in family she’ll be able to do this much longer.

However she does the next book, I know that I will read it. I will most likely enjoy it. And, I’m already looking forward to it. She’s managed to keep the integrity of the original characters and allow them to grow and change with the times while telling interesting and historically relevant stories. Who could ask for more?

The Trouble with Mr. Darcy by Sharon Lathan. Sourcebooks Landmark. ISBN: 978-1-4022-3754-6. 368 pages. (Trade Paperback: $14.99 / Amazon: $9.47 / Kindle $9.00)

Book Description: Just as Darcy and Elizabeth are facing the most intense challenges of their marriage George Wickham returns to Hertfordshire bent on creating trouble. But Wickham is only a pawn for someone who is even more unscrupulous than he is, and everything Darcy cherishes most is thrown into deadly danger.

Knowing that Wickham has nothing left to lose, Darcy must confront his villainous enemy and his own demons at the same time.

There’s a lot going on in this book. For example there’s a trip to the continent, a birth, a wedding, an engagement, betrayal, and more. Reading the story is like being on a roller-coaster ride; just when you think that Elizabeth and Darcy are safe, you turn a corner and once again are thrown into doubt as to what will happen. It’s a book that I found almost impossible to put down until I finished it and then immediately read it again. I laughed. I cried. And when I closed the covers after the first reading — I felt drained and satisfied that things were now as they should be.

Lathan has a masterful feel for Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet Darcy and Fitzwilliam Darcy. You can hear their voices as if you were reading Austen. Their characters remain the same but with a responsibility to each other that marriage and a child have given them. Their first child is a bit older and we see Darcy as a caring parent. Elizabeth is still a forceful personality but tempered with motherhood and a bit more understanding towards her sisters and mother. First and foremost, Elizabeth and Darcy are in love — romantically, passionately, and totally. The ups and downs of married life have tempered them but their love sees them through the trials of their lives.

However, books need conflict and Lathan manages to come up with some interesting twists and turns. Some of those conflicts involve problems that are as relevant today as they’d have been in Austen’s time — only then such problems would have been hidden away and not dealt with at all. Lathan has a nice touch making the plotlines relevant to today’s women but firmly grounded in the historical and social era that gave birth to Elizabeth and Darcy.

I can’t say much about plot other than, as the book description mentions, Wickham returns with malice and a plan. However, that is only the later half of the book. Once you finish reading, you’ll find yourself wondering how so much fit into such a normal size book. Based on how many events occur, you’d expect one of those huge doorstopper volumes.

All our favorite characters from the previous books by Lathan and from the original novel of Jane Austen are here. Take the time to immerse yourself in another time with characters that we’ve come to enjoy. The only nit I have with the book is that the title implies that Darcy is the problem when, in fact, he’s more the victim of these troubles. The Trouble with Mr. Darcy by Sharon Lathan is in bookstores now. If you’re a fan of her previous books , you’ll be sure to enjoy this one. If you haven’t yet read Lathan’s books that continue the story of Pride and Prejudice, you may get confused by the larger cast of characters which can readily be solved by getting her earlier works.

What Would Mr. Darcy Do? by Abigail Reynolds. Sourcebooks Landmark. ISBN: 978-1-4022-4093-5. 227 pages. Previously published as From Lambton to Longbourn. ($12.99 / Amazon: $9.95 / Kindle: $8.59).

Abigail Reynolds, in What Would Mr. Darcy Do?, tells a Pride and Prejudice variation. The book starts just as Mr. Darcy heads to Lambton to see Elizabeth Bennet. He finds Elizabeth alone and in deep distress having just read Jane’s letter that informed her that Lydia had run away with Mr. Wickham. In this story, Mr. Darcy doesn’t leave immediately. He stays and tries to comfort Elizabeth. They end up talking and coming to understand each other a bit better and unfortunately, the Gardners return in time to catch Elizabeth in Darcy’s arms. At the time, this was grounds to force a marriage between the two. Instead, the Gardners are willing to allow Mr. Darcy to try to convince Elizabeth to accept him.

From that point some of the events of the original story remain. Darcy does find Wickham and works with the Gardners to arrange Lydia’s marriage to Wickham. Most of the difference between the original story is in the progress of the romance between Elizabeth and Darcy. The romance between Jane and Mr. Bingley also proceeds as a different pace because Darcy speaks to Bingley much sooner.

Reynolds maintains the integrity of the original characters — aside from some steamy kisses, hugs, and hand holding. However, she does manage to add the steamy bits within context of the characters expected behavior for the times. The dialogue and cadence of the language is very similar to Jane Austen. All it all it is a very humorous, witty, and generally entertaining riff on the original story.

The biggest departure from Austen is telling some of the scenes from Darcy’s point of view. Austen never tried to get into the heads of her male characters. However, Reynolds does this so seamlessly that it doesn’t interrupt the narrative or cause the reader to snap out of the story.

The book was previously published by Intertidal Press with the title, From Lambton to Longbourn. If you already own that book, which I don’t, I can’t tell you if there are any notable changes between the two. However, I can say that this volume is well produced and has a lovely cover that would make it a fine addition to anyone’s library.