Fan-fictiony sequel to Pride and Prejudice. Fun, though.

Mr. Darcy's Great Escape: A Tale of the Darcys & the Bingleys by Marsha Altman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I happened on this novel in the library, literally passing by it when it caught my eye. It is not the first in the series (that was not available) but looked good, so I checked it out. It was good, in fact.

I'm an Austen lover, not quite a fanatic, and enjoy books like this that resemble or follow up on Austen novels. As I enjoyed this book, I recommend it, though I have some cautions.

It has a mixture of tones that I didn't love. Some of the scenes with the children are too precious for me, and are unlike anything in any Austen novel--but they don't last long or take up too much of the novel. Other sections are, in fact, very Austenesque, and that's cool. And most of the novel is an action adventure, nicely done, well researched--but again, completely different from any Austen novel. (Much of the story is in Romania and Russia and Japan, and those parts are very entertaining.)

I'm not saying that I didn't like those parts. I did. I like action adventure novels that resemble Regency literature, or Georgian, or Victorian literature. It's just that it's so different from Pride and Prejudice that it feels like fan fiction more than a sequel (that's fine--I also like fan fiction), but not everyone will respond to it the same way I did. If you want more Pride and Prejudice, you won't find much of it here. You will find the novel's characters, but in a totally different genre. (IMO!)

Anyway, I liked the book, despite my caveats, and liked many of the new characters. I'll keep an eye out for the other books.

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