Maya Slater
Author of The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy
About the Author
Image credit: photo by Monica Garnsey
Works by Maya Slater
Associated Works
Fathers and Sons [Norton Critical Edition] (1862) — Translator, some editions — 548 copies, 6 reviews
Critique of the School for Wives / Learned Women / Misanthrope / School for Wives / Tartuffe / Versailles Impromptu (2001) — Translator, some editions — 385 copies, 2 reviews
Jane Austen Made Me Do It: Original Stories Inspired by Literature's Most Astute Observer of the Human Heart (2011) — Contributor — 284 copies, 31 reviews
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Slater, Maya
- Gender
- female
- Education
- University of Oxford (Somerville College)
- Occupations
- lecturer (university, retired)
- Agent
- Charlie Campbell (Ed Victor)
- Relationships
- Slater, Nicolas Pasternak (husband)
- Short biography
- Maya started writing fiction on taking early retirement. Before that she was a lecturer at London University, specialising in French literature. She published several academic books.
Nowadays she is concentrating on fiction, but keeps up her academic interests, and is currently a Senior Research Fellow of her old college, Queen Mary, University of London. She lives in London with her husband who retired from being a hospital doctor and also writes. They have two journalist daughters and four small grandchildren, who live nearby.
See Maya's website on http://www.MayaSlater.com - Nationality
- England
UK - Places of residence
- London, England, UK
- Associated Place (for map)
- England, UK
Members
Reviews
Although I have read and reread Jane Austen's novels for many years, I have not generally found any of the sequels or retellings of her stories to be worth the time; they fail to capture Austen's style or alter characters too much or just generally come off like so much bad fan fiction.
The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy both conforms to my opinions and manages to expand them. The Mr. Darcy presented here is not the one fans of the original book (or the movies) will immediately recognize. He has show more frequent and enthusiastic meetings with one of the maids, goes out gambling and is old friends with Byron for starters. He acts, in fact, a lot more like the hero of the historical novels put out by Harlequin than like the Darcy we've grown accustomed to picturing. Therein lies the divide: those Austen purists seeking a retelling in alignment with the original will be sorely disappointed; those who simply view it as a historical romance with a story surprisingly similar to Pride and Prejudice will probably find it a light, enjoyable read. There are some moments of real gravity (Georgiana's story, for example) and humor here, and I liked the portrayal of Anne de Burgh enough to keep it in the back of my mind when I do reread Pride and Prejudice again.
(Received for review from the Early Reviewers program) show less
The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy both conforms to my opinions and manages to expand them. The Mr. Darcy presented here is not the one fans of the original book (or the movies) will immediately recognize. He has show more frequent and enthusiastic meetings with one of the maids, goes out gambling and is old friends with Byron for starters. He acts, in fact, a lot more like the hero of the historical novels put out by Harlequin than like the Darcy we've grown accustomed to picturing. Therein lies the divide: those Austen purists seeking a retelling in alignment with the original will be sorely disappointed; those who simply view it as a historical romance with a story surprisingly similar to Pride and Prejudice will probably find it a light, enjoyable read. There are some moments of real gravity (Georgiana's story, for example) and humor here, and I liked the portrayal of Anne de Burgh enough to keep it in the back of my mind when I do reread Pride and Prejudice again.
(Received for review from the Early Reviewers program) show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Surprisingly, this turned in a fairly decent read after I got through the agony of the first fifty pages or so. Darcy was out of character throughout the entire book, but after a while I got used to it. My biggest beef is centered on Darcy's friendship with Lord Byron. I cannot fathom why any man who takes pride in his and his family's reputations would willingly risk ruining said reputation by running around with someone who is more noted for his scandalous behavior than his actual show more writings. To a lesser extent, I also object to the attempt to make Darcy's separation of Jane and Bingley about something more virtuous than simply her family connections and an apparent lack of warmth. I think that gives Darcy a bit of a free pass where he shouldn't have one. Those things aside, the story made for an interesting bit of weekend reading. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Had I liked the new characters that the author created in lieu of Mr. Darcy and his sister as written by Jane Austen, I would have enjoyed this book from the outset a little more than I did. The book was well written, although I did not feel a great affinity toward this new Mr. Darcy. His questionable morals (witnessing a girl getting raped and doing nothing), low self esteem (too many incidents to list), and disagreeable friendship with Lord Byron created a character that I did not like and show more was disappointed to see form an alliance with Elizabeth. Also, I did not see the necessity of Georgiana's character being changed either, but at least this character was much more likable than Mr. Darcy. In addition the relationship between the two siblings was not as it was portrayed in Pride and Prejudice. In The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy their relationship was not consistent. It seemed to vacillate based on the convenience of the author. The other characters like Elizabeth and Mr. Bingley were well portrayed, as was the language of that time. In the authors defense, I think it could be argued that she was portraying more realistic characters than the ones written by Jane Austen, utilizing common practices of the day. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Finally, a Darcy story that true Austen-lovers can enjoy! Maya Slater's The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy artfully blends original ideas with the concepts of the well-known original to strike an interesting balance between a classic and a contemporary view. I greatly enjoyed Slater's work.
The conception of rewriting Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice from the point of view of Mr. Darcy is far from original; a quick search on Amazon.com produces a number of results including such show more contributions as Mr. Darcy's Diary: A Novel, The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mr Darcy Takes a Wife, and Darcy's Story (which does not include all the titles currently available). Having read Darcy's Story relatively recently I found myself hesitant to pursue another book of the same type; my previous reading revealed the work to be little more than ill-conceived fan fiction, and I cringed as the author butchered her way through the original brilliance of the work. However, when presented with the opportunity to read Maya Slater's take on LibraryThing's Early Reviewers I saw no harm in giving a different rendition of Darcy's story a go.
As I first began The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy I was disappointed to find that Slater's composition seemed to fall into this category. However, as I continued the novel I was pleasantly surprised by what I found, and believe my initial impression was colored by Darcy's Story. Unlike other Darcy stories, which attempt to sympathize and humanize Austen's severe and austere character, Slater manages to contribute to the story without severely altering the original character as established in Pride and Prejudice. While the epistolary-like qualities of the book allow the reader greater insight into the "honest" thoughts and motivations behind Mr. Darcy's actions and personality, Slater steers away from the trap of overly-romanticizing Fitzwilliam himself. Some events are expounded and Darcy's internal turmoil is put on full display, but his occasionally-ostentatious observations and responses are preserved as Slater demonstrates the result of being born and bred a gentleman of means and principles in the late-eighteenth century.
While I still have a few complaints about the novel itself - such as the persistent and unnecessary presence of Lord Byron - I feel that Slater's conception is honest and fairly faithful, and would put it before all other attempts I have come across so far. show less
The conception of rewriting Jane Austen's classic novel Pride and Prejudice from the point of view of Mr. Darcy is far from original; a quick search on Amazon.com produces a number of results including such show more contributions as Mr. Darcy's Diary: A Novel, The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mr Darcy Takes a Wife, and Darcy's Story (which does not include all the titles currently available). Having read Darcy's Story relatively recently I found myself hesitant to pursue another book of the same type; my previous reading revealed the work to be little more than ill-conceived fan fiction, and I cringed as the author butchered her way through the original brilliance of the work. However, when presented with the opportunity to read Maya Slater's take on LibraryThing's Early Reviewers I saw no harm in giving a different rendition of Darcy's story a go.
As I first began The Private Diary of Mr. Darcy I was disappointed to find that Slater's composition seemed to fall into this category. However, as I continued the novel I was pleasantly surprised by what I found, and believe my initial impression was colored by Darcy's Story. Unlike other Darcy stories, which attempt to sympathize and humanize Austen's severe and austere character, Slater manages to contribute to the story without severely altering the original character as established in Pride and Prejudice. While the epistolary-like qualities of the book allow the reader greater insight into the "honest" thoughts and motivations behind Mr. Darcy's actions and personality, Slater steers away from the trap of overly-romanticizing Fitzwilliam himself. Some events are expounded and Darcy's internal turmoil is put on full display, but his occasionally-ostentatious observations and responses are preserved as Slater demonstrates the result of being born and bred a gentleman of means and principles in the late-eighteenth century.
While I still have a few complaints about the novel itself - such as the persistent and unnecessary presence of Lord Byron - I feel that Slater's conception is honest and fairly faithful, and would put it before all other attempts I have come across so far. show less
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.Lists
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