Assessment:
Plot: McVeigh adheres closely to the Pride and Prejudice storyline but gives the book extra panache by using Darcy’s viewpoint as the main vehicle for the plot’s progression.
Prose: McVeigh is clearly a polished writer, skilled at period-perfect prose that walks the delicate line between comedy, realism, and the favored tropes of the genre. There is a slight overdependence on Jane Austen’s original writing that distracts at times.
Originality: The viewpoint gleaned from Darcy’s diaries give this Jane Austen reworking a freshness that is often missing in similar titles. McVeigh also spotlights Darcy’s relationships with other characters—such as his affection for opera singer Giuditta Menotti—in a way that adds flair and intrigue to the original material.
Character/Execution: Characters are richly developed here, and the main players interrelate and intermingle in a way that advances the story. Darcy’s viewpoint is intriguing and allows readers deeper insight into his feelings and perceptions that were more obscured in the original story. Mary Bennet’s excerpts are entertaining and insightful—and a much-appreciated addition to the Pride and Prejudice canon.
Date Submitted: August 08, 2023
The third of McVeigh’s celebrated “variations” on Jane Austen offers a delightful spin on Pride and Prejudice, telling the story largely through the eyes of the sometimes-maligned but always swoon-worthy Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. The Bennet sisters—Eliza, Jane, Mary, Lydia and Kitty—may be fetching, but in the class-conscious 19th century of Great Britain, only dowries and high-born social status counts when it comes to making a match. While Darcy reluctantly falls for Eliza after meeting her at a ball, he asks for her hand but is shocked when she turns him down and gives him an unexpected tongue-lashing based on faulty information fed to her by Darcy’s father’s godson, George Wickham.As McVeigh, writing with crisp style and wit, offers a new look at the familiar story, Eliza comes to realize that the true rogue is Wickham, not Darcy, a point driven home when Wickham attempts to elope with one of Eliza’s younger sisters and Darcy saves the day. Slowly, Eliza falls completely under Darcy’s spell—and even after Darcy’s haughty aunt attempts to dissuade her attentions, Eliza admirably stands firm in her own defense (and in so doing, demonstrates to Darcy that his hopes of a match are not dead.) Readers will relish Eliza’s 19th century version of girl power and root for her to claim the hero.
McVeigh, of course, is both scholar and student of Austen’s work, again penning dialogue that’s not just a faithful tribute to Austen’s delectable exchanges but a convincing, natural-feeling continuation of them. McVeigh also again reveals an admirable eye for detail, finding fresh and surprising angles while always staying true to the major tenets of the original story (and even sprinkling in a few engaging, appropriate characters not created by Austen). This sparkling tale will enchant Austen fans everywhere. For readers new to the Austen’s Regency world, McVeigh offers a comprehensive cast of characters as the story begins—and an introduction to a lifetime of reading pleasure.
Takeaway: Delightful retelling of one of Austen’s most beloved stories.
Comparable Titles: Jo Baker’s Longbourn, P.D. James’s Death Comes to Pemberley.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
