The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy

by Austen / Street

Other authorsJane Austen (Author), Mary Street (Author)

Paperback, 2008

Status

Available

Call number

823.92

Genres

Collection

Your library

Publication

Berkley (2008), 263 pages

Description

Fiction. Literature. Romance. Historical Fiction. HTML: Pride and Prejudice told from a delightfully different point of view. "The Holy Grail of P&P sequels." (Austenblog) Originally published in the U.K., Mary Street's ingenious retelling of Jane Austen's classic story now makes its U.S. debut-to the delight of the fans of Austen's comic masterpiece of divine romance. In Fitzwilliam Darcy, Austen created the ultimate romantic hero. Yet Pride and Prejudice reveals little of Darcy's innermost thoughts. Here, Street unveils the true motives and mysteries of Elizabeth Bennet's enigmatic suitor. Through Darcy's eyes we discover the reality of his relationships with his sister Georgiana, his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam, the dastardly Wickham, his friend Bingley, and his formidable aunt, Lady Catherine. And of course, all his memorable encounters with Elizabeth, from that first view of her fine eyes to his disastrous proposal, and then to a pride and arrogance tempered by an unquenchable love..… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member laurscartelli

Perhaps when it was published back in 1999, this book was a sufficient reflection in Fitzwilliam Darcy's mirror. It's very well-written, captures his voice quite well, and does not draw censure from parties who wish Austen-based novels to remain in pure form. There are no new characters introduced,

the timeline is in-tact and the silent character development for which Austen laid the foundation is tolerably built up. And in 1999 that was fair. Mary Street was, perhaps, less influenced by Colin Firth than many more recent adaptations and continuations have shown their authors to be.

For instance, in the Colin Firth version of Pride & Prejudice, he has his valet dress him in his green coat when he goes on a solitary ride to Lambton and seeks Lizzy out (just after she has read Jane's letters re: Lydia & Wickham). Also, the scene in that version where Jane says "Mr. Darcy? Does he know our troubles?" and Lizzy goes on to explain that he happened upon her just as she finished the letter, etc. And they discuss how he shall not be renewing his addresses and will make sure his friend, etc.... and the assumption is that Darcy meant to propose again. Okay. Both of these are conjecture on the part of that script.

Ms. Street does not adhere to it. For the former, she refuses to acknowledge any sort of color choice. For the latter, she chooses another cause for his visit in having driven the narrative to its likely conclusions. Instead of a proposal, he has gone to seek out her opinion of Jane's feelings for Bingley so that he knows how to proceed with his friend. Though I must admit, Ms. Street's Darcy -- had he found Lizzy in a less distressing situation -- may have ended up renewing his addresses anyway. But see how her choices are not affected by the new popular cultre.

In comparison, Pamela Aidan's These Three Remain (the third book of her Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman series) which covers the second half of Austen's novel, from Darcy's perspective, shows how the Colin Firth Syndrome has spread in more recent years. Her novel from 2005 not only has him about to renew his addresses (in a dashingly romantic and wonderful fashion) but has him select a green coat!

That being said, the purist in me preferred Mary Street's light and reflective first person prose and I enjoyed the expansions of certain characters. But Pamela Aidan's trilogy allows my inner romantic to smother my Janeite purist in her sleep. The distinction I think lies in the target audience. Both sets of people want to read a Darcy-perspective version of P&P. But one group wants to get to the point, the other group wants to enjoy the book. I think that's why Aidan's got not one, but three books to be enjoyed. She doesn't seek to get to the point because she knows her audience is not only made up of staunch Janeites, but of book-lovers. And when, in Aidan's series, Darcy retains the lock of silk embroidery threads that Elizabeth had accidentally left in the library, installed as a bookmark in Milton's Paradise Lost and uses it throughout the series as a charm....the romantic in me stomps all over the purist and cries tears of joy.

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LibraryThing member MissWoodhouse1816

One of the better 'told by Mr. Darcy' stories that I've read (and I've read a lot of them!). The original story is treated with respect, and the creative licence taken meshes well with Austen's style. Some portions feel a little 'clunky', especially where the author is trying to show the internal

transition of Darcy falling in love with Lizzy, but that is pretty minor on the whole. Overall, I enjoyed this retelling very much.

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LibraryThing member ntempest

As you might guess, this is one of the billion or so Austen-based books out there right now. It tells the story of Pride and Prejudice from Mr. Darcy's point of view, which is almost an exercise in laziness when you consider how little original work was necessary. That said, however, it was light

and entertaining and Street does a decent job capturing Darcy's voice in his private moments. I particularly liked how she built the relationship between Darcy and Georgiana, and that we see more of Colonel Fitzwilliam, who I was always fond of in Austen's book.

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LibraryThing member Ansy

For all those to whom "Pride and Prejudice" is the romantic novel, Mary Street's remarkable and convincing telling of Darcy's story will prove irresistible. "Pride and Prejudice" is Elizabeth Bennet's story which reveals little of Darcy's innermost thoughts. Now in "The Confession of Fitzwilliam

Darcy" the reader is privy to the torment suffered by Darcy who, conscious of his superior position, is nevertheless drawn irresistibly to the delightful Elizabeth. Darcy tells us of his relationship with his sister Georgiana, his cousins Colonel Fitzwilliam and the dastardly Wickham. Revealed, too, is the background to Darcy's persuasion of and subsequent confession to Bingley and what happened when he received a visit from his formidable aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh. All his encounters with Elizabeth are seen through his eyes and, in the aftermath of his disastrous proposal, we learn how his pride and arrogance were tempered by his unquenchable love for her.

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LibraryThing member Gofita

There are a lot of Darcy perspective fiction out there now and so I thought I would give this one a try...not that great, actually. There is nothing added that we didn't already know. She really didn't develop Darcy's character. He was boring and never explained why we should even sympathize with

him. There are a lot better Darcy perspective books to read. So don't waste your time with this one.

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LibraryThing member Cyberlibrariannyc

This is one of my favorite "retellings" of an Austen novel. The ending is particularly adorable and makes me smile every time I read it.

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