Mr. & Mrs. Darcy: Sleuths

October is a great month for mysteries and magic. Halloween is around the corner, so I want something a little devilish. This month for the Pride and Prejudice Bicentennial Challenge I read Carrie Bebris’s The Intrigue at Highbury, which is actually the fifth book in the Mr. and Mrs. Darcy Mystery series. Although the Darcys allude to other mysteries and happenings in other books, I was not lost while making my way through this one. I wonder if someone who does not know Jane Austen’s original novels would be lost reading these books. Anywho, judgmental me was happily surprised to truly enjoy this mystery.

Elizabeth and Darcy are travelling though Highbury, home of the Knightley’s, when a young girl waves them down on the highway. As Fitzwilliam Darcy is nothing if not a gentleman, he stops to help the lady. While their attention is diverted, however, the Darcy’s belongings are stolen from their carriage. In order to report the crime, they must find the village magistrate, none other than Emma’s Mr. Knightley. Emma and Mr. Knightley are having a terrible night already. Frank Churchill’s uncle died at the Knightley’s dinner party celebrating the newly wed Frank and Jane Churchill. The Knightleys invite the Darcys to stay while matters are taken care of. Soon the clues start blurring between the robbery and the murder and when riddles begin arriving for Mr. Knightley, Darcy and Elizabeth step in to help solve this mystery.

I’m going to have to stop saying I don’t like mysteries because lately the mysteries I’ve read have made me want to keep reading this genre. The action kept moving forward in this book. We met new characters and had to rehash the past, but for the most part, new evidence and clues propelled the reader to continue reading. Also, to continue Emma’s obsession with match making, Miss Bates becomes Emma’s newest target after Mrs. Elton begins trying to set Miss Bates up with an ancient farmer. This plot line was an added bonus to the mystery story and I enjoyed hearing about Emma and her post-marriage habits.

I enjoyed the characters from Emma and Pride and Prejudice mixing together. Emma is an Austen character that gets a bad rap. Although she is snobbish, jealous, and sometimes mean, she has a good heart and means well. In Highbury the audience sees a happily married Emma who is still sharp and wants to help those around her, even if it is obtrusive. I did not feel I got as much out of Elizabeth’s character in this book. She seemed to be in the background throughout the novel, but I did get a better glimpse of Darcy. Darcy is an intelligent, trustworthy investigator whose expertise helps Knightley in solving the crime. Darcy and Knightley also become fast friends, which made me happy. Darcy and Knightley are two of my favorite Austen characters.

Bebris did a marvelous job using information from Emma and adding on to the back story of the Churchills. Although I was pretty sure I knew who the murderer was I still kept second guessing myself and wanting to read more. The mystery made me want to keep reading, but it was not my sole fascination with the novel. Bebris’s character development and the interactions between characters was what really drove me to read. I look forward to reading her other books in the Mr. & Mrs. Darcy series.

Traveling with Jane

I love travel. It makes me nervous and anxious, but then you get someplace new and get to be lost, deliciously lost. Now I don’t mean directionally, though that often happens. There’s just something lovely about not knowing a place, being new, and trying different things. All of a sudden I become outgoing and ready to try anything, I’ll talk to strangers (yes mother I disobeyed that age old rule), go out on my own, and have an unrestrained good time. What is usually frightening in my everyday life becomes part of the adventure. Amy Elizabeth Smith’s book All Roads Lead to Austen was a reminder of the thrills of travel, but with a twist.

Smith set off to spend a year in six Latin American countries (Guatemala, Mexico, Ecuador, Chile, Paraguay, and Argentina). Her quest? To see how Jane Austen’s characters, writing, and stories translated to the natives of said cultures. Her findings? Love, friendship, bookstores, discussion, and a fabulous story.

I adored this story. I wanted to jet off to South America and stay for a year just like Smith. This was mainly what I loved about the story, Amy’s life in Spanish and her struggles and triumphs making friends and living in another country. She was easy to read and I enjoyed reading about the people she met and the book clubs she formed. In each country, Smith put together a small book club to read either Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, or Emma. One of the traits she wanted to see was whether her Latin American friends would think of Austen’s books in terms of their own lives and experiences. Would they identify with characters the way Austen cults in the US do? Could they see these stories happening in their country? It was fascinating to read about the different perspectives and topics each group brought to the floor. I found the later chapters’ discussions of the books more fulfilling than early chapters.

Travel fiction and Jane Austen make me quite content. Smith’s writing was comfortable and welcoming. I easily seeped into the pages and was lost in the story of one woman bringing her assumptions and trepidation to six other cultures while also bringing those cultures a beloved part of her own world.

Give this a read if you are a fan of Jane Austen and travel nonfiction. If you aren't familiar with the three Austen works listed above, you may be a little lost, nothing a sit down with the movies can’t cure, however!

Here are some read alikes for All Roads Lead to Austen:

• A Jane Austen Education: How six novels taught me about love, friendship, and the things that really matter by William Deresiewicz
• Have Mother Will Travel by Claire Fontaine and Mia Fontaine
• A Walk with Jane Austen: a journey into adventure, love, and faith by Lori Smith

The Servants' Perspective

The Bicentenary Challenge has led me to read more Jane Austen fan fiction than I ever thought I’d be reading. Although most of it is quite lovely, a lot of it is just copies of Jane Austen. However, Longbourn by Jo Baker is standalone literature.

Jo Baker takes on the behind the scenes aspect of Pride and Prejudice to show what life is like below stairs in the Bennet household. The book is about a young servant, Sarah, and her desire to have a bigger life, while also following Mrs. Hill, the housekeeper, and James, the new manservant. The book is not just another fan fiction, this is literature that just happens to encapsulate Miss Austen's masterpiece.

Sarah talks about events around the house and we hear off hand, what is happening in the story of Pride and Prejudice in so far as how it affects the servants. The Gardeners have come to stay, meaning more laundry. The ladies want to go visiting, thus James must be dispatched to take them in the carriage. It is realistic and although the tasks may be mundane, the audience never feels lacking for material.

Every time I picked this novel up, I got wrapped up in the characters and setting. Baker is thorough, but not overly detailed, so the book continues to arrest your attention. Baker truly has a talent for storytelling. She twists her words into alluring sentences and, as is the way with a good storyteller, you forget you’re reading, but are instead locked in the narrative.

 If you enjoyed Downton Abbey, this book is for you. Here are some other stories you may enjoy:

• The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. About an elderly butler who wants to be the best at what he does. This was also made into a movie.
• A Spoonful of Sugar by Brenda Ashford is the autobiography of an English nanny who has  cared for children for over 60 years.

Pride and Prejudice Reread

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen is my go to favorite book. How many times are you asked “what’s your favorite book?” as soon as you pronounce that reading is one of your favorite hobbies? Probably a lot. Well over the years I've adopted P&P as my favorite, whether out of convenience, true love, or literary popularity, I've never been quite sure. Although I absolutely love Jane Austen, it was about time for a rereading of my favorite on top of it being my pick for the Bicentenary Challenge!

First let me go through what I get when I tell people Pride and Prejudice is my favorite:

• “Ugh that’s boring”
• “Huh. So what do you want for an appetizer?”
• “God I hated that book. It’s so boring and the language is so old.”
• “I've never read it.”
• “That is such a good book. Now let’s talk about it and all its merits!”
• “I hated it because it was hard for me to write a paper about.” (this actually was a reaction I got)

Am I a snob? Yeah a little. Maybe by saying P&P is one of my favorites reflects my snobbery. For those who did not enjoy Jane Austen or thought Pride and Prejudice was boring, I understand! If you have reasons for backing up your dislike, awesome! That’s fine. Not everyone needs to like what I like and yes, Austen’s writing is 200 years old, and so it’s dated. Love stories are not everyone’s cup of tea, but what I truly adore about Austen is that the novel is so much more than a quaint story of a beloved character getting what and who she deserves. There’s a reason we still read it.

Well hopefully, my dear reader, you know the story of Jane Austen’s most popular work Pride and Prejudice, but let me refresh you. Elizabeth Bennet is the daughter of a gentleman with a silly mother and three silly younger sisters. Luckily, she has an older sister who is sweet as pie and a beloved confidant, Jane. Jane falls for the new rich guy, Mr. Bingley, who moves in next door. Bingley has a very rich friend, Mr. Darcy, who is snobby and condescending. Bingley goes away leaving Jane heartbroken and not too long after, Elizabeth runs into Darcy. Darcy proposes and is refused, because of misunderstood intentions and bad information.  However, through explanation and time, Elizabeth begins to favor him. In the end, Darcy reforms as does Elizabeth and he ends up proposing again. Bingley comes back and marries Jane. La di da, almost everyone is happy!

My rereading of my favorite book reasserted that I adore this novel. I read a list about books that are red flags if people claim them as a favorite and women who say P&P is their favorite are overly romantic and just want to turn the rich snobby guy into their white knight. Maybe, but there’s so much more to it than that very shallow reading. Here’s my list of reasons to love Austen or at least appreciate her.

• Jane Austen is a sociologist/psychologist. She writes characters better than any other author I've encountered. There’s a seamless quality to her description of who a character is, what their motivations are, where they come from, and how they mingle in society.
• As historical fodder, Austen is remarkable. While reading, you understand how society, class, and money played a role in the lives of Regency era people. These books give an understanding of a different time period.
• And yet, Austen did not pigeon hole herself by only being relevant to one era. She didn't give much detail about politics, war, or happenings during the era, so the stories are easily transferable to modern culture.
• Her stories are timeless with themes that are still relevant today such as forgiveness, prejudice, love, duty, honor, slacking morals, and reputation.

This time around, I was more aware of the growing affection Elizabeth felt for Darcy. My one complaint in the past was that in the end it just seems like Lizzy and Darcy are thrown together and she suddenly forgives him. In my rereading, I saw as her feelings developed and how her prejudice against him dropped. Their coupling then did not feel abrupt, instead I longed for him to go to her sooner and for her to say something. Also this time, it took me a number of chapters to be completely absorbed in the book. I understand it starts off as dry reading, but once you get past the first few chapters, and the foolish Mr. Collins shows up, you get sucked in.

Sorry for the length of this post, but my favorite book deserves some recognition. If you’ve never read it, well you should, but it’s not necessary, unless you want to be my friend (friendship with me is very rigorous). If you've read it, awesome! Let’s talk sometime. If you didn’t like it, well your opinion is invalid and you’re an imbecile. I’m kidding! You probably just have no tasteJ

Happy reading, dear reader! 

Home on the Range with "Pride and Prejudice"

After reading Jack Caldwell’s other book, The ThreeColonels, I found he wrote the book Pemberley Ranch. Seeing as it’s the Bicentenary of Pride and Prejudice I decided that this should be my next challenge book (even though I said I’d read something else for June's challenge). Who can pass up Mr. Darcy, cowboy?

It’s about five years after the Civil War ended and the Bennet family is moving from Meryton, Ohio to Rosings, Texas. Beth Bennet is not excited for the move because of her unbridled hate of Southerners due to the death of her brother in the war. But Texas holds some surprises. Not only is it beautiful country, but the people aren't half bad either, including the one northerner, George Whitehead. Jane marries Dr. Bingley, and the Bennets are close friends with many of the southern folk. Will Darcy is another story, however. He may own half the land and be a dashing man, but who can like such a snob? Certainly not Beth! When things at the bank, and scoundrels in town start becoming more menacing, perhaps Will Darcy can be of use.

With the emergence of many well-known characters from a slew of Jane Austen books, including Henry Tilney, the town’s pastor and Mary Bennet’s beau, the story keeps your interest. Pride and Prejudice in antebellum Texas actually works… Not only do we hear from Beth, but we also hear Darcy’s point of view as well. It was refreshing to hear from the man himself. This Darcy is not the snob he is in the original. I actually found that he was a fine character, but Beth was a little overbearing and judgmental. Instead of hearing mainly from her, I felt the focus was more on Darcy, which wasn't a bad thing. It was refreshing to hear more about Mary as well. I loved that she and Tilney were sweet on each other. Their relationship made Mary a focus and not just a satire in the novel. Charlotte Lucas and Fitz are also an item in this novel and get a little more time on the page, which was fun to read about. While playing up some characters/relationships, as mentioned before, others were not really mentioned. Jane and Bingley were married right off the bat and were pretty much left alone. The villains  George Whitehead, Billy Collins, and Denny “the Kid”, were all played WAY up. They went from being annoying or morally corrupt, to being the worst of the worst. It was a bit much. I found that Caldwell may have tried a little too hard on some characters while not focusing enough on the nuance of others, like Beth.

The story is essentially the same, but it puts a very different spin on the characters and setting. I wanted to keep reading even though I felt the story became over the top towards the end.  I enjoyed the placement of P&P in the south. This is a fun book. If you take it too seriously or are too staunch on your P&P fan fiction, you might hate it, but for my part, I found it was a fun, quick read.

Here are some other fun Pride and Prejudice fan fictions:

• An Assembly Such as This by Pamela Aidan
• Mr. Darcy’s Obsession by Abigail Reynolds
• Pemberley Shades: A lightly gothic tale of Mr. and Mrs. Darcy by D.A. Bonavia-Hunt

A Modern Girl in a Regency World

As my May Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary challenge, I read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler. Courtney suffered a bad breakup with her ex-fiancé and wakes up in Regency England in the body of Jane Mansfield. Suddenly, Courtney must adapt to a different lifestyle, family, society, and, weirdly enough, body! As Jane, a 30 year old unmarried woman, her mother is desperately trying to marry her to the new neighbor, Mr. Edgeworth, who just so happens to be a very desirable man. But without Jane’s memories, Courtney is unsure how to proceed with this man she finds herself attracted to. Being a modern girl in a Regency body is a whole different experience.

For a woman who calls herself a lover of Jane Austen, it was disappointing that Courtney wasn’t more aware of how to act like a respectable lady while borrowing another’s body. How does she not know that relations between men and women were very formal until marriage?? Don’t go off alone with a man! These were the points that truly annoyed me in the novel. If you read enough Jane, you should understand some of the social structures.

I listened to this book and thought about stopping once, but decided, since I had a long drive, just to get through it. The reader is Orlagh Cassidy and I thought she did a good job of having both English accents and Courtney’s American accent. I enjoyed listening to her, but the novel itself irritated me at points.

The novel started off very slowly. Instead of getting into the plot, I felt the author was more interested in the things people don’t talk about during this time period such as the amounts of food, bathing, menstrual cycles, using the toilet. These are all intriguing points, but she should have done a better job of developing plot and including these details. I’m reading this novel for a story and I felt it was very flat until about half way through. On top of the fascination with Regency unspeakables, the author was also very much into the metaphysical idea of taking over someone’s body. Yes, this is a strange happening, but do we, the audience, need to go through all of your thinking on becoming someone else? If this were a more literary novel, I’d appreciate this discussion, but coming from this book which is really meant to be fun, it just felt like little rants.

Then there was the story, when it finally took route. Jane/Courtney does not want to marry Mr. Edgeworth because she believes he is a ladies’ man, yet she makes out with a couple of men. Talk about hypocrisy. I liked Mr. Edgeworth and his sister and found the story intriguing once I got into it, but mostly I just found a lot of holes that never were tied up.

All in all, not my favorite JAFF read, but a very different look at the Regency world.

If you liked this book or are intrigued by it, try these:

Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

Jane Austen Made Me Do It: Original stories inspired by literature’s most astute observer of the human heart by Laurel Ann Nattress

Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Beth Pattillo

Catch Up with Bicentenary Challenge

So I started the Bicentenary Challenge for Pride and Prejudice, but I haven't posted any of the reviews from the last 4 months because I just joined. Luckily, I'm a nerd awesome reader/Jane Austen fan and have read and watched a number of P&P-esque materials since January. So let's launch into them!

January: Lost in Austen (2008 movie)

Amanda Price lives in modern day London and is a lover of Jane Austen, especially Pride and Prejudice. One day she discovers none other than Lizzy Bennet in her apartment. Apparently, the closet in Amanda's bathroom that she has never been able to pry open leads to a closet in the Bennet household. And just like that, Amanda and Elizabeth switch places. What ensues is Amanda's disastrous journey through what should be the story of Pride and Prejudice.


The film was too long, first and foremost. It's almost 2.5 hours long! I kept waiting for it to end and it had ample opportunity to do so, but it kept dragging along. For a woman who declares that she knows the story of P&P backwards, Amanda sure does a good job of messing it up! Although she changes some things for the good, she foils a lot of plot points and is annoying to boot. All in all, I wouldn't recommend it. If it were an hour shorter, I might say try it, but it's too long and frustrating to any true Jane Austen fan.

February The Three Colonels by Jack Caldwell
See review.

March Pride and Prejudice (1995 BBC Miniseries)
My friend and I decided to watch the full miniseries in HD one day. It was epic. I mean come on! Colin Firth in HD?? It was like he was right there smoldering in the living room.

Is there anything I can add to the fact that I adore this miniseries? It's so well done! Colin Firth is an amazing, brooding, proud Darcy and Jennifer Ehle is the perfect Elizabeth Bennet. She embodies exactly what I think Lizzy was, intelligent, witty, funny, with grace and poise. She knows how to marshal her feelings while remaining optimistic and not taking life and society too seriously. The one complaint I have is with the actress who plays Jane. Although I think her acting and character for the eldest Miss Bennet is superb, I think Lizzy is clearly the better looking of the two and Jane is supposed to be the "beauty". Other than that, it is, in my humble opinion, the best adaption of P&P.

April "The Lizzy Bennet Diaries" (online series)
Through these 100 video diaries, we meet Lizzy Bennet, the middle sister of the Bennet family, who lives in modern day California. Lizzy is finishing up her master's degree in communications and living at home with her overbearing mother, nonchalant father, and two sisters, Jane and Lydia.

This is truly an enjoyable modern look at what Lizzy Bennet would be like and be doing in our day and age. The different characters were fun and quirky. I enjoyed how they adapted the story to fit into our society, such as the scandal created by Lydia and Wickham. I came into the series when it was nearing the end, so I watched most of it in big bunches, which I preferred. On top of the biweekly youtube videos, there are also Tweets from various members of the story. I would certainly suggest this to any lovers of P&P!

Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge

It astounds me that I did not know it was Pride and Prejudice's 200th birthday!

Well Jamie from The Hodge-Podge Gallery (an amazing blog about life, cooking, reading, movies, makeup, and advice) had a blog post about a P&P challenge through Austenprose, a Jane Austen blog. I'm a bit late in joining, but considering I've been reading JAFF like crazy to gear up for my Jane in June events at the library, it seemed like a good idea to join.

I'm joining as an Aficianada (thus reading, listening, watching 9-12 selections).

Since I have already been reading and watching Pride and Prejudice fan fiction, I have finished some in months gone by. Here's my listing of books and movies:

Previous JAFF I've read/watched in these months. Will try to write reviews...
January: Lost in Austen (movie)
February:The Three Colonels by Jack Caldwell
March: Pride and Prejudice (BBC mini series)
April: The Lizzy Bennet Diaries (online mini series)

Really starting the challenge here (Am I cheating?):
May: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Rigler (Audio)
June: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
July: A Jane Austen Education: How six novels taught me about love, friendship, and the things that really matter by William Deresiewicz
August: The Trouble with Mr. Darcy by Sharon Lathan
September: Austensibly Ordinary by Alyssa Goodnight
October:The Unexpected Miss Bennet by Patrice Sarath
November: Without Reserve by Abigail Reynolds
December: You've Got Mail (movie)

So here we go! Strapping in for a year of Miss Austen with an emphasis on P&P!