I make it a point never to read sequels of Pride and Prejudice. I mean, why bother? They’re either breathlessly fangirling or pedantically written. Or, in the case of Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, BOTH. One can only read about Mr. Darcy’s bulging pantaloons so may times before it gets redundant. Or the endless euphemisms for penis. I only made it through ten chapters, when I gave up in a huff. Okay, ten chapters and a few sex scenes I deliberately searched for (and yes, they were titillating. Disturbingly so).
In short: I am extremely suspicious of Jane Austen novels not written by Jane Austen. Why, you might ask? Allow my narcissistic friend Gina to explain why, like Jane Austen, she is simply The Best There Is:
Word, sister.
So it wasn’t until I heard that Death Comes to Pemberley was coming to Masterpiece this fall that I ever considered reading it. And then, after my experience with The Shack, I thought it high time for something more fun.
Instead, I ended up with something more like, “Meh.” The plot is fairly basic: six years after Darcy and Elizabeth get married, we witness their preparations for an annual ball, until Lydia shows up in a chaise, unannounced, screaming that Wickham’s been killed and all sorts of shenanigans. I won’t divulge any further, as that would give away lots of little twists and secrets, but we DO learn that Elizabeth still kinda sorta secretly jonesd for Wickham and Colonel Fitzwilliam and married Darcy in part because he was richer than the other two. I KNOW.
Of course, no murder mystery would be incomplete without red herrings, and there are several. We also learn that Georgiana, now an adult lady, has two suitors after her, including–wait for it–COLONEL FITZWILLIAM. Her erstwhile guardian. Darcy’s peer. I KNOW.
There are other sorts of tomfoolery that happen in the novel, and we do find out the whodunit in a fairly (I think) rushed and unsatisfactory manner. And then there are references to Jane Austen’s *other* works in the text. It went from tee-hee clever to gimmicky.
And that was my experience with Death Comes to Pemberley. Initially skeptical in the beginning, sort of enjoying the mystery as it unfolded, and then, deep disgust at the end. I was more than ready for the novel to be over so I could move on with my life.
I really hope that the mini-series is good, and I *do* plan to watch it. Maybe some of the introspective stuff will get jettisoned in favor of the story itself? I usually never wish for it, but in this case, I think it might do the story good.
Either way, I’m ready to move on for something that will be more fun. Allow Gina to give you a hint about my next conquest:
Like Bridget Jones, I can never resist Mark Darcy, even in a reindeer jumper. ;)
ETA: If you’ve never seen Brooklyn-99, I highly encourage you to binge-watch it this summer. It’s silly but highly enjoyable.
I too have learned my lesson about Jane Austen “fan fiction”, as I think of it. I don’t care if all the sequels are authorised by someone, or even if P.D. James writes them. Not going to read any more.
I haven’t watched any Brooklyn-99 but keep hearing so many peple rave about it. It shall be one of the many shows I binge-watch in between reading all the books, while I stay at home all summer, jealous of all my friends who get to go to exotic places.
What’s sad is that when I put *Pride and Prejudice and Zombies* down in disgust, five years ago, I swore off fanfiction back then. You would have thought I’d learned my lesson already…oh well. This time I mean it.
And do enjoy B99. My husband and I are currently working through this season stored up on our DVR and have had to rewind several moments because we were laughing like fools. Like The Mindy Project, it started a bit rocky, but they’ve made the ensemble cast work to its strengths.
This book was such a disappointment for me. I’m a fan fiction reader, actually, but I’ve never before read any for Austen, nor any professionally published sequels, prequels or zombie-quels. But I thought for sure this was going to be a winner: Lizzie + Darcy + a murder mystery = good. Those are all some of my favorite things! But no,
What bothered me the most, was the fact that James completely missed an opportunity to give Mr. and Mrs. Darcy some delicious angst. I wrote in my goodreads review at the time that the back-blurb’s promise of a “good, but threatened relationships” was a lie, because the threat peeps at the door, but never comes in. Instead, the reader is constantly reminded how happy the married couple is, and how much they love each-other. Which, fine, I’m a fangirl too, and want my favorite couples happy. But it makes for a very dull book, and what’s worse, it diminishes the happy ending, because they never really had to struggle for it. If Darcy and Elizabeth had had even one real fight, or if they’d even fallen out of love with each-other a little bit, and then had to find their way back, this would have been a better book.
And I didn’t care for the mystery either. Badly done, P.D. Badly done.