Darcy's Story

The subtitle of Darcy's Story is "Pride and Prejudice told from a whole new perspective." As it says on the back cover, Mr Darcy is an "intriguing enigma," and promised to tell the story from his point of view. Sounds fun to me. Except, no. Aylmer quotes long passages directly from Pride and Prejudice and in a clunky manner, attempts to make it Darcy's story. Except she doesn't add anything that a close reader of P&P wouldn't figure out on their own. Further clunkiness ensues when she writes things like Darcy explaining to his cousin Col. Fitzwilliam that Lady Catherine is their aunt. Ugh ugh ugh.

Steadfastly, Aylmer does not waiver from the canonical version of P&P. In a few places, the story demands that she fills in gaps and is forced show more to make something up, but she then justifies it in the lengthy author notes at the end.

I'll give her a nod for writing in response to the novel and not one of the film versions. At least she did that. However, this is a poorly written shuffle of the original words from P&P and it adds absolutely no new insights into the characters or the story.

Janet Aylmer is the author's pseudonym. I wouldn't let my name anywhere near this dreck either.

Recommended for: I imagine that she kept those readers in mind who freak out at the smallest liberty taken in an Austen rewrite (those who always claim in their reviews that "Jane Austen is spinning in her grave."). Not sure this would even appeal to that crowd though, because I think they'd agree with me that this is entirely pointless. Those readers who want to have fun with their Austen pastiches, and don't mind liberties taken, can safely skip this. show less

I also reviewed this book on my blog:
The Real World According To Sam

When I finished reading Pride & Prejudice, I had so many questions. Most pertaining to how Mr. Darcy was reacting to everything that happened. What was REALLY going on in his mind when his first proposal to Elizabeth ended in rejection. How did he know about his aunt going to see Elizabeth and how did he feel about her rude intrusion? My questions were finally answered.

Darcy's Story tied up all the loose ends that just wouldn't come together in my mind. If I really wanted to, I could have sat down and inferenced all the answers from the original novel by Jane Austen, but given how busy school keeps me, I don't have the time. Thankfully, Miss Aylmer did it for me and show more even provided a beautiful cover to compliment her story.

Everything about this book was right. It was absolutely perfect. All the characters seemed like they were pulled right off Ms. Austen's pages. They were consistent with the originals. Mr. Darcy is even more wonderful now that we can see the whole thing through his eyes. No more wondering how fast the news had to travel, or what he was doing when certain events happened or what was going through his mind when Elizabeth was sick. Darcy's Story is a wonderful book that I really enjoyed. It is a must for Pride & Prejudice fans. Next time I read Pride & Prejudice, I'll have to read this one right after. It really adds more depth to the original work. I am so glad I found this book and I know that once I get the opportunity, I'll be revisiting it quite often. =) show less

Darcy's Story by Janet Aylmer purports to tell the story of Jane Austen's inimitable classic Pride & Prejudice from the perspective of its hero, Fitzwilliam Darcy. I did not find it successful and only reached page 30 before I set it down. I was ready to enjoy it, despite being a purist who looks askance at fanfiction, but you cannot attempt to work in Jane Austen's world if you are not committed to artistic precision in your language. Aylmer unfortunately lacks Austen's ability to forge perfect phrases (don't we all?), and when she used "hopefully" incorrectly, I knew I couldn't stomach the rest. If the writing had been more skilled, perhaps the first 30 pages would have read less like a dry recital of characters' motivations and show more actions utterly lacking in narrative interest.

And I was so proud of myself for being broadminded and giving it a chance. Ah well. Guess I will just have to reread Pride & Prejudice once again. show less

Is it possible to love the famous Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy any more than we do? Thanks to Janet Aylmer's "Darcy's Story: Pride & Prejudice told from a whole new perspective" - it is. An excellent companion piece to Miss Austen's masterpiece, this book does exactly what the title conveys. The reader gets to see Darcy's side of the events from P&P. Suddenly, it's harder to blame him for his pride, and it is easier to love him as a friend and as a big brother. Watching his relationship with Georgiana grow from siblings to friends & confidants is definitely a different and a heartwarming theme. Otherwise, Miss Aylmer's book was very true to the original work's mood, facts, and timing. I've only been able to credit Carrie Bebris with capturing show more the true spirit of Darcy & Elizabeth ... UNTIL NOW! Thank you, Miss Janet Alymer, for this book! show less

Short, fun read of what Jane might have written had she written from Darcy's POV. With all the fans of P & P, the author faces a tough crowd of critics and she did a fairly good job of exploring who Darcy was and how he changed. Don't go to it expecting Austen as we'll never know what she would have written, but do go it in the spirit of reading one person's idea of what happened. Then enjoy being back at Pemberly and Longbourne with Elizabeth and Darcy.

I am having a mostly enjoyable time reading Jane Austen fan fiction (I decided to start a collection to accompany my complete works of Jane Austen) but having read Pamela Aiden's series of Pride & Prejudice from Darcy's perspective first, I can state positively that this version by Janet Aylmer is almost lifeless. The story is more explanatory and observational of his experiences than how Darcy may having been thinking and/or feeling emotionally at the time. It is a good attempt but sounds like an essay, so I would invest in the Aiden series first instead of spending your time and money on this version.

Ok, so maybe I am being too harsh (feel free to debate with me!), as I was also harsh with Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, but show more where at least CJAA was entertaining this effort did not seem inspired in any way.

See more of my reviews at http://myobsessionwithbooks.blogspot.com/ show less

(copied from my blog, http://readingfuelledbytea.wordpress.com)

“His feelings of anxiety as he slipped out of the house that afternoon were not based on any apprehensions that his application to Miss Bennet might be rejected.”

This is exactly what it says on the tin – Darcy’s perspective during the timeline of Pride & Prejudice.

Despite my misgivings about fan fiction on Monday, and my apathetic remarks about P. D. James’ Death Comes to Pemberley on Tuesday, I am forced to recant – I really enjoyed this. Aylmer does very well to keep an Austen-like tone while telling a different story, and she has clearly done painstaking work to make her novel fit with the original seamlessly.

Aylmer makes a valid point – it is hard to see show more how Darcy turns from the proud, “she is tolerable, I suppose” prig at the Meryton assembly to the man who bribes Wickham to marry Lydia in order to save the Bennet family name, and then marries Lizzy – independent, headstrong Lizzy, who will marry for both love and money, and nothing less. By following Darcy for a much longer period of time (although this novel is not overly long, at 224 pages), we get a much fuller picture of his character – headstrong, independent, very fixed in his own convictions (of course the proposal scene is quite amusing).

I wanted to loathe this book. I wanted it to be poor writing, overly romantic (it was a little), poor characterisation, but I can’t lay any of those charges at its door. I was engrossed and read it straight through (admittedly while on a train without internet…).

Somehow it feels like a travesty to give an author I’ve never heard of before more points out of 10 than P. D. James, but that is what I’m going to do. This is my blog and I make the rules.

(TRC also read this and for once we agree. It’s not a literary masterpiece, but it achieves exactly what it sets out to do.)

And now I am DESPERATE to re-watch the BBC 1995 Pride & Prejudice. Ghastly Mrs. Bennet and all. show less