(This photo couldn't have been blurrier if I had been falling off a moving train.)
This book follows Jeffer's first work: Darcy's Passions which is a retelling of the original Pride and Prejudice. She does take the story line beyond Austen's original plot. Even though it is just an OK book, I suggest reading it before this one to completely understand the story line according to Jeffers.
Summary from the back of the book:
"The day Fitzwilliam Darcy married Elizabeth Bennet, he thought his life complete at last. Then the unthinkable happens, and now he has no memory of their love. Can Elizabeth make Darcy love her again before the manipulative Cecelia McFarland succeeds in luring him away? Plus, what of Elizabeth Donnelly's desire to marry Darcy? Set against the backdrop of the British abolitionist movement, Darcy must prove himself once again worthy of Elizabeth's love. Her superior perception and Darcy's humility are brought into question as each has his pride chastened by the other. Travel back to Pemberly as the Darcy saga continues."
I have to gush, I really liked this book! I read it and then reread it in the same week.
Language: C-
Plot: A+
Characterization: A-
Revisit vs. Rehash: A+
Hooked: A+
Nit picky things: A
Wonderful moments: B
Originality: A
Language: Jeffers tells you upfront, she does not try to use the language one would find in Regency England. I wish she had tried. I mean, it isn't Middle English or anything. However, she gave fair warning and who am I to point fingers? I stumble to communicate in fluent American.
C-.
Characterization: Wonderful. In Jeffer's first book, Darcy's Passions, she says she is inspired by:Austen, the BBC/A&E movie with Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle, as well as the more recent movie featuring Kira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen. I saw The BBC version first and then I read the book. So to me, Colin Firth is Darcy. A classic hero with a fatal flaw. Matthew Macfadyen was good but more vulnerable and sensitive in his portrayal of Darcy. (As much as I want Darcy to change for Elizabeth...I just can't buy into the idea he changes everything. Not all about his haughty nature was actually bad...according to me. So yes, I am arguing for our hero, Darcy, to be less sensitive and still a little proud.) There were moments in this book where I felt like Jeffers was using Macfadyen as her Darcy. Just every now and then, he seems a little too sensitive. Over all, I liked how she led Darcy from being almost a secondary character in P&P to the main character in this book.
I enjoyed her versions of Elizabeth, Mrs. Reynolds, Georgianna, Col. Fitzwilliam, Kitty and Lady Catherine de Bourg. Not mentioned characters were still there, but had a much smaller role. She introduced several new faces that, by the end of the book, I had to remind myself had not always been a part of the story.
Over all: A-.
Plot: The plot idea is what drew me to the book to begin with: Darcy has lost his memory. My husband and have talked about this a lot: would we have still fallen in love with each other if the environment of meeting in college had been different? It is interesting to think about. If you lost your memory of your adult life - when you woke up...would you be pleased or disappointed with what people told you about yourself? (Just so you know, we like talking about it because we are so very different. Our personal interests would never have thrown us together. Fortunately for us, we were set up on a blind date.) Once I read that this was what the book was about - I had it in my cart at Amazon and ordered within 2 minutes.
There is a wonderful will they/won't they tension in Pride and Prejudice that Austen creates. We are pretty sure that they will...but there is so much at stake and so much doubt and so many obstacles...it is quite a page turner for a novel that is kinda obviously going to end happily. It takes a great plot idea to give the reader some of that experience again...and I believe Regina Jeffers delivers. The plot and the characterization made me forget that the language wasn't authentic.
The main story is well developed with several side stories as well. I like a book that you can't just retell to someone else in a few sentences. There is too much going on.
(I believe that is another book that is a retelling of Darcy and Elizabeth's meeting on a boat inPemberley's Promise and in London that follows the idea of "if they met under different circumstances, etc. would they still fall in love?". Assumed Engagement , which I haven't read, creates a memory loss for Darcy within the original P&P story and changes it from there. There is a reason why I can tell you about them and yet I haven't read them....the plot ideas just didn't grab me like this one did.
Plot: A++
Rehash or revisit: I can't stand for a part 2 or part 3 book to just retell (or rehash) what happened in previous books. Jeffers avoids this quite well. She resists nicely even telling you about some plot items she added at the end of her previous book (which is why I suggest reading Darcy's Passions first even though it is just ok.) She has a great device she uses to revisit scenes from the past that feels more like plot movement than trying to catch people up with what is going on. The revisit instead of a rehash gets an A+.
I was hooked by: Chapter 1, page 1. A+.
Nit picky things: Overuse of the word chuckled and hissed. And dreams. I get the connection with the title and dreams. I think the beauty in a metaphor or imagery is the subtlety of it. To keep referring to the word dream was kinda like telling a joke and then saying "get it?" And even after everyone laughed, said they got it...you still explain it. Overall, there were not that many little things that broke my concentration in enjoying the book. Nit picky items: A.
Wonderful little moments: I love that the characters quote literature as part of their conversations. (It is believably done and reminds me just how often I work in a quote from The Office or Friends into my daily conversations.....some how, though, quoting Shakespeare seems a little more high brow.) There were moments that reminded me of other works was well. There are 2 instances that felt very much like a nod to The Importance of Being Ernest (my favorite play and...look at that, another Colin Firth movie).
I also enjoyed the mild humor in Darcy and Elizabeth's conversation about their courtship and love and how it would make a great novel. That was well done. B
Originality: There are some events that remind me of other P&P follow ups. Definitely. However, there is only so mush a writer can do with the constraints placed on them by the original text. And the massive amount of expectations from all the Jane Austen fans. There is enough originality in this for someone who has already read 5 or 6 Pride and Prejudice books (like myself) to enjoy. A
If this book were a movie - it would be rated R due to marital passion.
Just FYI.
Regina Jeffes' next book:
It is due out in September of this year (09). It is my understanding it is the same plot as Darcy's Dreams but told from Elizabeth's perspective. Hmmm. It is a good story but I find myself wondering if it will be new enough information. I felt like I could understand Elizabeth's point of view fairly well already. Listen to me complaining. I know I'll read it anyway:)
