Review: What Would Mr. Darcy Do? by Abigail Reynolds
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.