{"id":710,"date":"2010-10-07T23:26:20","date_gmt":"2010-10-08T03:26:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/amperzen.com\/blog\/?p=710"},"modified":"2010-10-07T23:26:20","modified_gmt":"2010-10-08T03:26:20","slug":"review-mr-darcys-obsession-by-abigail-reynolds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/amperzen.com\/blog\/review-mr-darcys-obsession-by-abigail-reynolds\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Mr. Darcy’s Obsession by Abigail Reynolds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cover<\/a>Mr. Darcy’s Obsession<\/strong> by Abigail Reynolds. Sourcebooks Landmark, ISBN: 978-1-4022-4092-8. Pages: 346. Published: October 2010. List Price: $14.99 (Amazon: $10.19 \/ Kindle: $9.68). Cover images \u00a9Bridgeman Art Library; NinaMalyna \/ Fotolia.com.<\/p>\n

Mr. Darcy\u2019s Obsession<\/strong> by Abigail Reynolds is definitely a What if <\/em>story. \u00a0The divergence point for this what if story occurs when Elizabeth Bennet is visiting Charlotte near Rosings.\u00a0 Elizabeth receives word that her father is very ill before Mr. Darcy gets a chance to give his horrendously inept proposal.\u00a0 She rushes home and not long after Mr. Bennet dies, Mr. Collins takes possession of Longbourn. Elizabeth is now out of reach and Mr. Bingley never gets a second chance with Jane Bennet.<\/p>\n

Months have passed and Mr. Darcy has not forgotten Elizabeth. Bingley opted to bury his disappointment in work and left London to become actively involved in his businesses.\u00a0 While visiting Darcy, Bingley tells him that he met Elizabeth Bennet near Kew Gardens. \u00a0He goes further and tells Darcy that she\u2019s living with her aunt and uncle in Cheapside caring for their children and that Jane married a milliner shortly before her father died and the rest of the family are living with Mrs. Bennet\u2019s sister in her apartment.<\/p>\n

After Bingley leaves, Darcy can\u2019t forget that Elizabeth is in London and he determines to see her \u2013 at least from a distance.\u00a0 Well, a distance isn\u2019t good enough and soon with the help of a street urchin in the neighborhood that he hires to spy for him, he manages to meet her on her daily walk and resume their acquaintance. On these walks he learns that while time may have past, his heart is as much taken with her as it ever was.<\/p>\n

Of course, nothing is going to go smoothly because while the characters are the same, Elizabeth Bennet\u2019s situation is more reduced now than it was when they first met.\u00a0 Darcy begins to realize that just because someone is born into privilege and wealth doesn\u2019t necessarily make them worth knowing.\u00a0 He begins to truly see the behavior of his family as they inform him who Georgianna will marry with no consideration for her feelings or well-being.\u00a0 Finally, he begins to evaluate his own beliefs and assumptions about class and realizes that the person, not the rank, is what is important.\u00a0 It\u2019s not an easy change for him and essentially this conversion runs throughout the book as a secondary plot thread — though truth to be told, without this thread Darcy would have to walk away from all that he loves and holds dear.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile the story, because of the changes caused by the divergence from the original Pride and Prejudice,<\/strong> follows along with the same major plot points occurring with minor variations. The changed circumstances of Elizabeth and her family members and Jane’s marriage mean that there are other social obligations and entanglements. These are dealt with in a manner that makes the story flow smoothly and, more importantly, believably from the divergence point to the ending without seeming forced.<\/p>\n

Darcy isn\u2019t the only one questioning his beliefs and his assumptions.\u00a0 Bingley also has changed as he\u2019s lost Jane and it\u2019s only in losing any hope of marriage to her that he realizes that he\u2019s often followed the advice of others rather than trusting his own heart.\u00a0Bingley also sees his level of society with a more critical eye and doesn’t like what’s revealed. As for Elizabeth, she has found a strength to maintain her dignity, humor, and concern for other even though she\u2019s had to do things that she\u2019d never been brought up to do.<\/p>\n

Reynolds maintains the inner integrity of the Austen characters.\u00a0 You may find the characters in changed circumstances but you\u2019ll recognize them.\u00a0 They act pretty much as you expect with the givens of the new situation in which they find themselves. There are no modern sensibilities imposed on them, they are as you\u2019d expect them to be.\u00a0 Reynolds has given us an excellent retelling of the tale with this single divergence point playing out to its inevitable conclusion.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t hesitate to purchase Mr. Darcy\u2019s Obsession<\/strong>, Reynolds has managed to remain true to atmosphere and language of the original work while taking a path that Austen didn\u2019t.\u00a0 While not in the Gothic tradition, Mr. Darcy\u2019s Obsession<\/strong> has much of the dark broodiness and biting criticism of a Gothic but lightened with humor and hope — making it a satisfying and compelling novel that you\u2019ll wish to read over and over again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mr. Darcy’s Obsession by Abigail Reynolds. Sourcebooks Landmark, ISBN: 978-1-4022-4092-8. Pages: 346. Published: October 2010. List Price: $14.99 (Amazon: $10.19 \/ Kindle: $9.68). Cover images \u00a9Bridgeman Art Library; NinaMalyna \/ Fotolia.com. Mr. Darcy\u2019s Obsession by Abigail Reynolds is definitely a What if story. \u00a0The divergence point for this what if story occurs when Elizabeth Bennet […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41,12],"tags":[358,146,223,147],"class_list":["post-710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reading","category-review","tag-abigail-reynolds","tag-jane-austen","tag-mr-darcy","tag-pride-and-prejudice"],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\nReview: Mr. Darcy's Obsession by Abigail Reynolds - A Curious Statistical Anomaly<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/amperzen.com\/blog\/review-mr-darcys-obsession-by-abigail-reynolds\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"davinci\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/review-mr-darcys-obsession-by-abigail-reynolds\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/review-mr-darcys-obsession-by-abigail-reynolds\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"davinci\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/4344e39b0408fba0234cf68dcf6ea62e\"},\"headline\":\"Review: Mr. Darcy’s Obsession by Abigail Reynolds\",\"datePublished\":\"2010-10-08T03:26:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/review-mr-darcys-obsession-by-abigail-reynolds\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":779,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/review-mr-darcys-obsession-by-abigail-reynolds\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/images.amazon.com\\\/images\\\/P\\\/1402240929.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Abigail Reynolds\",\"Jane Austen\",\"Mr. Darcy\",\"Pride and Prejudice\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Reading\",\"Review\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/review-mr-darcys-obsession-by-abigail-reynolds\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/review-mr-darcys-obsession-by-abigail-reynolds\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/amperzen.com\\\/blog\\\/review-mr-darcys-obsession-by-abigail-reynolds\\\/\",\"name\":\"Review: Mr. Darcy's Obsession by Abigail Reynolds - 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