Mr. Darcy's Secret is a pleasant tale full of clever lines, irony, wit, chance meetings and a bit of a mystery. In a sea of Pride and Prejudice sequels, Jane Odiwe has managed to make Darcy and Elizabeth feel familiar but not redundant. Get your copy because summer reading is on the way.
For those of you who are looking for romance without sex scenes, this is the book you have been waiting for. Those moments are refereed to but not witnessed by the reader. (Next to "what is the best book to read?" this is THE question I get e-mails about the most).
A portion of the blurb from the back of the book: "After capturing the heart of the most eligible bachelor in England, Elizabeth Bennet believes her happiness is complete - until the day she unearths a stash of anonymous, passionate love letters that may be Darcy's, and she realizes just how little she knows about the guarded, mysterious man she married..."
Language: A
Characterization: A
Plot: A
Rehash vs. Revisit: B
Nit Picky Little Things: B+
Wonderful Little Moments: B+
Originality: A
The Moment I was Hooked: A
Language: Not Austen, but a lovely flow and words like nonpareil, enjambment, august company. I really like Ms. Odiwe's phrasing: [he was] "rather too sure of himself for her liking."
A
Characterization: At first, I felt like Lizzy and Darcy were not as vibrantly represented as I would have hoped. I kept thinking, where is her impertinence? Why doesn't she just ask Darcy her questions? Upon my second reading, I realized that I always expect Darcy to change once married but never Elizabeth. I think Odiwe is one of the few authors to address Lizzy's nature in this way. (My husband might have a theory or two as to why I think Darcy should do all the changing, but that is a thread that is best not pulled).
Darcy is a bit of an enigma, just as he is in Pride and Prejudice. There are many things about him and his point of view that the reader is not meant to understand. (Whether Odiwe meant for this to be the case or not, I credit her with the choice.) And one of the choices he made that I really didn't understand on my first reading, actually makes perfect sense on my second time through, because it mirrors choices he made in Pride and Prejudice. (How was that for vague?) I also like that Darcy is still a brooder and a bit moody post marriage. Isn't it the way that the brooding can feel intense and sexy before marriage but seem a bit hard to deal with afterward?
And Miss Bingly is still very much Caroline. For that, I was delighted.
Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are just as Jane Austen gave them to us and then some. I loved and recognized them right away. Mrs. Bennet (who in my head always sounds a bit like a frazzled Aunt Bee) had one fantastic line after another. "I have more important matters on my mind, such as which gown I am to wear this evening and whether the feathers on my headband are tall enough...I would hate Mr. Darcy to feel let down by the insignificance of my headdress."
A
Plot: The first 2/3 rds of the plot feel more narrator driven than propelled by dialogue. The last 1/3 rd feels like the book moves from a happy cantor to a gallop as dialogue, irony and wit take the reigns. That is not to say that the beginning feels slow at all, but builds in layers as it heads towards the resolution.
The opening scene is between Mr. & Mrs. Bennet after Lizzy's wedding to Mr. Darcy. The dialogue is so clever and familiar, that I immediately felt like this IS the conversation the Bennets would have had with each other had Jane Austen kept writing.
There is one small detail in the story I still can not reconcile. So if anyone has read the book and would like to e-mail me, I would love that. I am sure getting an answer will be a bit like walking the grocery store, looking for olives only to ask someone where they are right when you are standing in front of the Olives of Italy display.
A
Rehash vs. Revisit: A small bit of reminding, which is good for those who have not just finished reading Pride and Prejudice or have only seen one of the movie versions. I just skimmed those parts as they were infrequent and brief.
B
Nit Picky Little Things: The words prejudice and pride, especially pride, were used over and over again. A lot of authors do this. We get it. Pride. Like in Pride and Prejudice.
B+
Wonderful Little Moments: Many great lines, The Bennets, Caroline, To A Fly by Fitzwilliam Darcy, Mrs. B's "sense of occasion." And Odiwe's description of the Lakes. It made this inside girl actually want to visit those outside lakes.
B+
Originality: Great. There have been other books with mysterious pieces of the past, but this felt fresh to me. And I've read A LOT of Pride and Prejudice follow ups.
A
The Moment I was Hooked: The first page: the Bennet's conversation. The last half of the book made me want to steal away throughout the day to read "just a little more."
A
If this book was a movie - it would be rated PG- 13 or maybe even PG, for discussion of ardent moments.
Jane Odiwe has also written Lydia Bennet's Story and Willoughby's Return. I haven't read either because I really don't care enough about Lydia to read much about her (also true with Jane Fairfax from Emma) and because Willoughby is from Sense and Sensability. I can read that AFTER I have read ALL of the Pride and Prejudice spin offs. (My obsessive / compulsive nature meets my reading habits.) However, I did enjoy this book so much, I might just read about Lydia. I think if someone could make me care about Lydia's story, it just might be Ms. Odiwe.
You can find Jane Odiwe's blog here.
Jane Odiwe discusses the Bennets on Austen Authors Blog here.
