Darcy and Fitzwilliam: A tale of a gentleman and an officer by Karen V. Wasylowski

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I couldn't make myself finish this book. I read about 1/3 of it, and just couldn't take any more. I'm a sucker for novels inspired by Pride and Prejudice, and I'm willing to try almost any of them I come across, but I'm almost always disappointed. In this case, the author makes zero attempt to recreate the classic Regency style of the original. The tone does not match at all. She has Darcy and his cousin, Fitzwilliam, using foul language to each other (out of the hearing of the ladies, of course, I'll grant you that) and Fitzwilliam routinely calls Darcy "Brat;" it seems to be his pet name for Darcy. None of this rings true to the original. I just can't imagine the characters in Jane Austin's book talking this way to each other.

And even more disappointing is the plot. What kind of a plot do I want for a sequel? I don't know, but I haven't found it yet. It has to be some version of ". . . and they lived happily ever after" but still have something in it to keep one's interest. This one definitely isn't happily ever after! Instead, we learn that Darcy had a brief sexual fling with Caroline Bingley long before he ever met Elizabeth, and now he makes the horrible mistake of confessing this to Elizabeth after their marriage, which naturally causes her to become insanely jealous.

But as if that weren't enough, Darcy is tricked into spending a night alone with Caroline at the Bingley residence, where she attempts to seduce him, and we just know that all of this is going to create havoc in Elizabeth and Darcy's relationship. I'm sure all will be well that ends well eventually, but I just couldn't put myself through any more of this soap opera plot. This is NOT what I want from a P & P sequel. Definitely NOT recommended.



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