Marsha Altman

How does a tale of romance and intrigue sound? Marsha Altman has taken Jane Austen’s characters and created an emotional story that actually left me on the edge of my seat in THE PLIGHT OF THE DARCY BROTHERS: A TALE OF THE DARCYS & THE BINGLEYS. I expected romance, which we definitely received throughout the story and I expected a fair amount of drama as always follows the Bennet daughters. What I didn’t expect was to actually be flipping the pages as quickly as I did in an attempt to show more figure out what little disaster would befall our beloved characters next.

THE PLIGHT OF THE DARCY BROTHERS begins emotionally and ends emotionally. Suffering a saddening loss, Elizabeth jumps at the opportunity to escape with her sister Jane for a bit to discover what has her sister Mary so wound up. Just returned from her schooling, Mary divulges a secret that gets the sisters riled up and off in search of answers. While on their hunt for the truth, Darcy ends up making some discoveries of his own and eventually finds himself face to face with the despicable Mr. Wickham.

THE PLIGHT OF THE DARCY BROTHERS is actually the second book in Altman’s Pride & Prejudice Continues series. Although I had not read the first book, I didn’t find myself too hung up on the details. Altman created a story that was easy to become engaged with and developed the plot in a way that this book could stand alone relatively well if need be.

I was surprised to find the amount of humor that I did in THE PLIGHT OF THE DARCY BROTHERS. The beginning of the book, as I mentioned, was full of wonderfully written emotion. I was sure that the story was going to get dark and remain dark throughout. Surprisingly, the emotional toll on the reader rarely let up, but the story definitely did not keep a dark edge to it. There were quite a few chuckle moments and other moments where I had read the section again just to witness the scene one more time.

I loved how Altman developed her characters and brought each one to life. Instead of just focusing on a couple of characters and revolving the story around them, Altman really gave us a good look into a handful of characters and showed us how they impact the overall story. I love that we got the story of both the Bennet sisters and the Darcy brothers, each trying to solve a puzzle. On top of that, I think Altman did great justice to the characters. I felt like she preserved the feel of the Austen books while still adding her own edge to it.

Altman did a wonderful job of creating a story that the reader could really get drawn down into. It was very easy to visualize the scenes and I wouldn’t have been surprised in the least to see the characters pop off the page and begin reenacting the book in front of me. This was another book where I lost track of the time while reading. Coming from me, that’s a good thing. It means that the book was so engaging that I quickly lost myself in it. I have a feeling that any of Altman’s readers have a hard time not losing themselves in her words.

THE PLIGHT OF THE DARCY BROTHERS definitely earns top marks. This was a wonderful sequel (to a sequel) and I would be more than pleased to read this one again. Fans of Romance or Historical fiction will find something to love in Altman’s book. The love between Darcy and Elizabeth seems to be timeless, regardless of the author, and the action as well as the suspense in this book definitely helped to make it a winner. show less

Take a moment and picture Pemberly. Now, take another moment and try to picture this: a Scotsman in kilted glory swinging in on a chandelier from out of nowhere - in Pemberly - to land beside a swashbuckling Darcy.

Yes.

The Darcys & The Bingleys, upon first inspection, is the sequel that all Austen fans truly hunger for; what does happen after the collection of unlikely but highly romantic proposals? With that premise, the novel begins well, but quickly veers off into extremely awkward sexual show more territory, and by the novel's conclusion has devolved so greatly that the characters and setting are not only unrecognizable, but can really only be accepted as rather unflattering satire (similar to a "work" like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

While it's far from being the worst thing I've read this year, I really can't recommend it to fans of Austen. show less

There is only one regret I have for this book, and it's why did I not read this one sooner? it was hilarious! I heard myself chuckle here and there at almost every other chapter. Darcy and Bingley are central to this book as most of the humor surrounds them and their actions. Sometimes it's their playful banter, other times it's Darcy's wit and his ability to take it out on Charles. Other times...well let's just say when they drink it just gets even more funny. It was a nice side to see to show more these two men, I've always thought they can't always be so stuffy and formal can they? they have to loosen up sometimes during life! and this book shows the side of the two that you've always wondered about. It's definitely a fun read and a cheerful one.

Aside from the wit and humor, you also see inside of both their marriages and again, it's a different face to the characters you're used to reading in Pride and Prejudice. It's amazing to see both Jane and Elizabeth take charge in their marriages and manage to get their own way when it comes to decisions. I liked seeing Darcy having to give in to Elizabeth's demands although it may seem very uncharacteristic at first as whoever thought Elizabeth could just order Darcy around and have him coiled around her little finger? (I actually never pictured their marriage to be this way but it's not that bad to read). You don't hear much from Lydia or Wickham in this book. Also Mary and Kitty have their own appearances but small ones.

You also get to see a different side from Caroline Bingley (she's still catty, but she's actually got a heart) and that, I think got a little too strange and a little too different. The outcome of Caroline in the novel, is nice but I couldn't really get used to it. Perhaps because with previous Jane Austen spinoffs, Caroline Bingley was always catty, mean, and always had a snide comment here and there as a means of insulting someone "politely". It's just hard to picture her being nice and loving (yes..she was loving believe it or not). It's a different side to Caroline, yes. I suppose it's the author's way of showing that Caroline can be human too.

Aside from that, the other problem I had with this book was there were times where present day English would accidentally appear throughout the dialogue. It does take the realism out of the story just a little bit. The characters and their new different "face" might take a while to get some die hard Austen fans to get used to (perhaps they might cry out sacrilege) but the storyline is wonderful, the humor is great, and I'm really looking forward to more from Marsha Altman's works.

Overall a hilarious read with plenty of fun adventures. It makes you wonder what's going to happen next with the Darcys and the Bingleys. I recommend this book to those in love with Jane Austen spinoffs. show less

It helps if you read The Darcys and the Bingleys first (besides, it was a great book, after all). Leave the majority of your assumptions of each character at the door. This book takes all the Pride and Prejudice characters and spins it around so they act different than what you thought they would be. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, although it may take some time getting used to. Especially in the case of Mary Bennet. Whoever thought she’d be the one to mess things up this show more time?

The comedy in this book is increased, much more than the first one. I love how Darcy picks on Bingley (he has a knack for it) and all Bingley can do is just sputter about trying to think of a come back (you can actually picture this easily in your head too). There is also some new characters being introduced. They’re pretty good, Gregoire Darcy is entertaining and an interesting addition. It took a while to get used to him but he proved to be likable - and humorous. I’m curious as to his background story, but am also curious as to what the future books have in store for him as well.

The plot was well done! it was interesting, funny, and had several story arcs within to keep you interested in the handful of characters mentioned in the book. Each plot also ties up nicely in the end so you’re not left with open questions or unfinished business. The only complaint I have, is Mary’s situation ends up getting cheesy and corny at the end - but otherwise, the entire premise of the book made up for that small little mishap. The ending did have a little surprise (OMG really??!!! Wickham!!?? gahhh!!!) which I was not expecting. It was great to read though!

Another great Austen spinoff by Marsha Altman, and I’m going to read further. I absolutely love this series so far. Readers who want to see their beloved Pride and Prejudice characters go through ups and downs, but filled with laugh out loud scenes are welcome to try this. show less