Mary Simonsen

My thoughts:
Yes I am back with another variation and this one is actually one of the best ones I have read. I really fell for this story and perhaps it was because things worked out so well.

This is a bit different in the aspect that Mr Darcy is looking for a bride and has settled on a fine young lady with noble blood. He is courting her now and then, since he is not that taken by her. It is just a duty but a duty that must be fulfilled. Until the day he meets Elizabeth. Here the book begins show more with him coming over to say that he is sorry for that famous comment who she was not pretty enough. So instead they flirt and become friendly and by doing that many other things do not happen. But the big cloud over their happiness is that he knows he must let her go since he is an honourable man and he will not let down the woman he is courting.

Yes I know! Horrible! Mr Darcy, noooo! He should not court another woman *sobs* but he is also so incredibly nice so he can't let her down when her hopes are up and all of London know they will wed. I have to respect him for that. I could not wait to see what happened and how he got out of this mess. Lizzy did of course find out too and got a bit mad after they met again, as was her right. I shall not tell you how it works out but come on, this is a PP variation so of course Lizzy and Darcy will get married, be happily ever after and get lots of cute babies in that awesome mansion.

The rest then, Bingley and Jane were sweet as always. Lydia has her story and I will not tell you that end. Mr Collins is an idiot as always, Georgiana has a bigger role and is really nice and wants only happiness for her brother. We also meet Colonel Fitzwilliam's brother who is a real scoundrel, but a loving one.

Conclusion:
This is the Pride and Prejudice variation to read. It was sweet and wonderful, just like a nice desert that you just savour. And it will bring a smile to your face.

Rating:
Good show less

Following the end of World War II, young American Maggie Joyce is living and working in war-torn London. Desperate not to return home to the tiny Pennsylvania town where her family lives quietly and uninterestingly, Maggie has made her way through Europe and settled in England, where she makes new friends through her work with the American government’s administrative offices abroad and visits the countryside.

It’s on one of these outings to a historic home in Derbyshire that Maggie first show more hears a story behind a story: that of the “real” Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet, beloved characters from Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride & Prejudice. Desperate for something to distract her from the trials of the post-war world, Maggie goes off in search of Beth and Jack Crowell, an English couple who claim to have ties to Elizabeth and Darcy — or Elizabeth Garrison and William Lacey, as they were so called. Beth shares letters and diary entries with Maggie, somehow desiring to prove what they claim is real, and Maggie eagerly devours the information — all while entertaining the interests of the Crowells’ son, Michael. A hot-and-cold romance with an American pilot adds another dimension to Maggie’s life, simultaneously delighting and frustrating her.

And me, as a reader.

My desire to love Mary Lydon Simonsen’s Searching For Pemberley was palpable, but I never quite got there. To start, I realized something dangerous about the book almost right away: I don’t want to believe Jane Austen’s characters were based on real people.

Isn’t part of the intrigue of Austen that this clever, intelligent and witty woman wrote some of the most lasting novels in the English language — books that are still read and loved more than one hundred and fifty years later — and never married herself? That she lived with her sister and mother until her untimely death, and that her manuscripts were largely crafted in her very own room? That we have no substantial evidence of any great romance in her life, save one hastily accepted (and then rejected) marriage proposal in her twenties? That she knew so much of love, and could articulate it so well, but we can never quite know what was in her own heart?

I’ll tell you, it is for me — and reading a book that suggests, but not in an unkind way, that Austen “borrowed” the stories of a real family, the Garrisons, and made both their follies and triumphs public actually hurt me. Hurt me. Though the romantic in me wants to believe Darcy was a real person, when I actually sit down and think about my fantastic Miss Austen merely lifting a true story and changing it slightly, I’m bothered. Just the suggestion bothers me.

Putting that aside, Searching For Pemberley functions, for me, far better as historical fiction than any sort of romance. As a character, I found Maggie flat and unemotional — and Simonsen’s writing, while skilled, lacks the nuance I would expect from a love story. The novel is full of telling and less showing, and if I were to play a drinking game whereby I took a shot every time a character launched into a monologue? I’d be sloshed by the 100-page mark. Or sooner. I can’t speak to the “dialogue” because there really wasn’t any — it was mostly Jack launching into a story about his romance with Beth, or Rob talking about the horrendous things he saw during World War II. As a reader, I didn’t feel engaged with what was happening — it was like putting on a documentary and sitting back with a cup of coffee. I wasn’t in the action.

The novel works better as a look at post-war life in England than as an Austen story, even, and I hate to say that . . . but it’s true. I was most interested in the stories of Beth and Jack Crowell because, unlike William and Elizabeth’s tale, they weren’t ones I already knew. And while I wanted to cheer for Maggie and hoped she would find true love, I simply found it difficult to care about her. For as reserved and unemotional as she was and seemed, I reserved my own emotional attachment.

But there is plenty going on — and plenty to discuss. Simonsen certainly knows her subject, and her details about life during the world wars are specific and heartbreaking. For readers interested in World War II and life for the citizens it most affected, both in the fighting and at home, there’s plenty of material to process and digest. And for literature fans who don’t shudder at the thought that Elizabeth and Darcy really were two proud, prejudiced people? This one might make a nice addition to your Austen library. show less

The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy is a novel that explores the idea of Anne de Bourgh (daughter of the insufferable Lady Catherine de Bourgh) being the reason why one of the greatest couples of all time come together. With the assistance of Darcy’s younger sister, Georgiana, and his dear friend, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Anne does everything she possibly can to assure that her cousin marries Miss Elizabeth Bennet.

Unlike a lot of Jane Austen fan fiction, this novel follows very closely to Pride show more and Prejudice, resembling more a retelling than a brand new story itself. That isn’t to say it’s not enjoyable. There’s added scenes (including some behind-the-scenes looks at Austen’s scenes), some very nice character insight and new scenes of things we’ve always wondered about. The biggest changes I noticed were the alterations to Georgiana and Anne themselves. Georgiana is two years older in this tale and not nearly as quiet and shy. She also have a feverish love of romance novels, which reminded me some of Catherine Morland. Anne is far-removed from the sickly, weak woman we find in Austen’s original. There are also some additions to the loves and suitors of others but I’ll save that for you to read for yourself.

All in all, I find this book charming (and not to mention refreshing as I really enjoyed seeing things through the eyes of people who are normally background characters) and I’ll be moving up Mary Lydon’s other Austen title on my to-read list as well. 4/5.

http://www.read-all-over.net/fiction/historical/the-perfect-bride-for-mr-darcy-b... show less

Un lobo en la conquista por su amor humano

La escritora intenta encajar todas las piezas de la novela original a partir del hecho que Darcy es un hombre lobo. Se recrea con el personaje del señor Darcy como un alpha y nos adentra en un mundo delirante de lupinos, cómo encaja su parte lobo en el mundo humano y cómo logra que Elizabeth acepte esa parte de él. Por un momento creí que Lizzy se convertiría en una mujer loba, quién sabe lo caminos que pueda tomar la historia.

Hay tantas show more pequeñas subhistorias entremetidas en toda esa realidad de hombres lobos que Simonsen nos desteje, ofreciendo momentos de verdadero deleite entre sus líneas. La forma de mostrar la realidad del mundo lobuno, las situaciones de malos entendidos, disputas, peleas, todo está admirablemente montado, con su dosis de misterio y romance, luego desmontando las encrucijadas dejándonos con un buen sabor de boca.

Un historia fascinante donde también encontraremos tiernas historias de cómo cada personaje de hombre lobo llego a convertirse en tal, no solo la historia del señor Darcy sino de otros personajes que lo hacen muy interesante y divertida.

No hay grandes descripciones explícitas de sexo pero sí varias menciones y conversaciones sobre ello con su toque de humor.

Gran despliegue emocional no solo de amor sino a nivel de hermanos, primos, familiares que dan a esta historia alta dosis emotiva, tierna, dulce y apasionada sobre todo la fuerza de los dos personajes principales.

La autora sabe crear este escenario tan exquisitamente que le impregna de aquellos elementos que lo hace interesante y nos mantiene fijos de principio a fin, con un final abierto a la espera de una segunda entrega. show less