The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy [Paperback]

I have to disagree with the previous (and only other) reviewer. I found this book in my local library and thought I'd see how the author handled Darcy's view. Not well. There was no spark between the characters as shown from Elizabeth's view in the original "Pride and Prejudice". The author tended to repeat herself in both terms and tone often within the same page, and the sentiment of the characters was flat and uninteresting. I skimmed most of the book.

There were so many colons and semicolons it was difficult to understand the meaning of the sentence. Yes, "Pride and Prejudice" is that way, but Ms. Austen knew how to write. Ms. Street still needs polishing.

The book is set up in first person, yet Darcy seems to know things by great leaps and bounds, and offers no explanation on how he knew this, or came to this judgment. Plus, some of the explanations for his behavior were simply unbelievable. He stood up for Wickham because Wickham asked him to? HA! Hardly - he did it to make sure Wickham went through with the wedding to Lydia and didn't take the money and run.

And his epiphany over his feelings toward Elizabeth, and the 'rightness' of her explanation and rejection of his proposal were simply unbelievable. I sensed no tension within him, no real pain over her refusal, and no explanation as to why she was right and he was wrong.

The point of the story was Darcy's Pride, and Elizabeth's Prejudice, not to make Elizabeth completely right and Darcy completely wrong. They both had faults, both were in the wrong, and yet reading this from Darcy's view, one would think that Elizabeth's rightness was nearly as preordained as Jane's goodness and forgiveness.

Ms. Street clearly missed the deep and passionate love Darcy felt for Elizabeth, his need to hide it, and, really, the entire point of the pride he showed so fiercely. She doesn't understand the point of his character, and took giant steps to 'fill in the blanks' to the story, but missed and fell very short.

I tried to order this book for two years from AmazonUK without success. Each time it was on backorder for 6 weeks, then I would get a notice that it was not available. Eventually I just stopped trying. I was very happy to see that it was finally released in the States. This book was originally written in 1999. That by itself was probably a very adventureous undertaking for Ms Street. At that time the flood of Pride and Prejudice look-alikes had yet to hit the market. Now, if you love Jane Austen and her books, you can find plenty of authors who have tried to explain or expound on those original treasures.

I have read many, many variations on the Pride and Prejudice novel. Some are much better than others, some are absolutely dreadful. This book rated four stars from me. It did have its faults but it also had quite a few reasons for enjoyment. This book follows Pride and Prejudice completely. You could actually read them simultaneously if you wanted to perform such a feat. What I wanted to see the most was what Darcy was doing during the times he is absent from Elizabeth. I got some of what I wanted but not in enough detail. This book is written in first person and yet there are no conversations with anyone outside the characters written by Jane Austen. Why not? This device would have been wonderful for letting the reader see Darcy from a whole different viewpoint. A true opportunity missed, from my perspective.

The characters fell somewhat flat for me. Ms Street apparently didn't want to deviate from the narrative established by Ms Austen for Elizabeth, especially, so we don't get any new discourse between her and Darcy. I realize this is a fine line for an author to walk but expanding on the established interactions between Darcy and Elizabeth would have been an acceptable thing. Elizabeth's words are quoted but in italics as rememberances by Darcy. Not as direct, while they were standing toe-to-toe intercourse. Definitely a disappointment for me. Often Darcy could not even gauge Elizabeth's reactions because her bonnet hid her face.

If you've read this far you probably wonder why I gave this book four stars at all. I enjoyed what I was reading. Yes, it did have some problems but I also liked what WAS there. Darcy struggled with his inclination to fall in love with Elizabeth and I was able to believe the change in his personality which made it possible for him to be willing to accept her and her family. When Elizabeth rejected his marriage proposal she spared him absolutely nothing in her criticism. It took a while for him to get over the initial hurt of her rejection but after a while he began to look at himself from her perspective. He had never once questioned his own character and personality. No other person had ever had the courage to point out his flaws, not even his parents. Suddenly he began to know that she was right, he did present himself to the world as arrogant, conceited, stand-offish. He didn't like himself as seen by Elizabeth and others. I liked the interaction between Darcy and Bingley. I thought it was a wonderful moment when Darcy realized that Bingley was probably slightly afraid of him. That was warmer and more personal as was his relationship with Georgiana. I also really liked his reactions to Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst. Those were right where I wanted them to be.

Was this the best Pride and Prejudice variation I've read? No. Was it the worst? Good heavens, no!

Arrogant to a fault, Fitzwilliam Darcy wonders how Elizabeth Bennet caught his attention when they first met. If he was to choose a Bennet female to have him take more than a first look, it would have been the much prettier Jane; although Elizabeth is lovely. Still, Darcy fondly looks back to how he could not prevent himself from constantly seeking her out even in a mob to find her. Furthermore, once he made his mind up to court her, he succeeded only to allow his PRIDE AND PREJUDICE get in his way leading to losing her before finally winning her completely when he gave her his heart.

Although Jane Austen has been told, retold, and untold so many ways in the past decade, Mary Street provides a fresh perspective with her gender twisting the classic PRIDE AND PREJUDICE by switching viewpoints from Elizabeth to Fitzwilliam. The novelty comes from new segues as the hero lays out his heart to the audience. Fans of Ms. Austen will relish this latest spin while agreeing that Ms. Street deserves more than just a chutzpah award as Darcy comes across as a full blooded confused suitor in love.

Harriet Klausner

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