Mr. Darcy’s Obsession

Mr. Darcy’s Obsession is the latest release from Abigail Reynolds, one of my favorite Pride and Prejudice variation authors.

In Mr. Darcy’s Obsession, Mr. Darcy finds out that Miss Elizabeth Bennett is living in London with her uncle since her father passed away. Instantly he needs to know more, and he’s willing to pay anything to find out more about her current situation. One night while passing by her uncle’s neighborhood he finds a young man who has good potential to be his eyes and ears as far as Elizabeth is concerned. So starts Mr. Darcy’s attempt to work his way back into Elizabeth’s life.

Elizabeth has been acting as governess for her aunt and uncle since her father died. Her family was left without a home, and as such her mother and three younger sisters all live with her aunt Philips. Jane on the otherhand has married a local shopkeeper and helps him with his business. One day while on a walk in the park, Elizabeth spots a familiar figure, and it’s Mr. Darcy. The two end up with a regular habit of walking in the park together, getting to know each other better. All the while Mr. Darcy also has his ‘spy’ working to find out all he can about Elizabeth and her family. He just needs to know that they all are, and Elizabeth especially, as comfortable as they can be.

There is in this variation of Pride and Prejudice all of the great things the story needs. Confrontation and misunderstanding between Darcy and Elizabeth is obligatory and definitely in this book. Family misunderstandings, pride, illness, joy, sadness, life, death, and the founding of a more promising future. Everything a good P&P book needs.

The most important things to throw out there is that I really enjoyed this one of Abigail Reynolds variations. I’ve read five others by her and I certainly was not dissapointed this go-around.

The relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth was perfect. They made their mistakes, and then worked past them. That’s how it’s supposed to be for the two. What I think got me the most about it though is how much Darcy invested in Elizabeth’s family to make sure that they were comfortable and provided for. He didn’t even think twice about it, just stepped in to help out, not making it common knowledge of course. He didn’t necessarily like or approve of all their choices but still said, this is the family of the woman I love, let me step up.

Another thing I love about books is when they piss me off. Might sound ridiculous, but when an author writes something that’s able to fire me up the way Darcy’s uncle and cousin did in this one, well mad props to you. So basically the two of them were assssss-holes. Emphasis on the ass. I hated them both. I wanted to scream at characters in a book. Good times.

Some characters were brought back and new ones were introduced. Lydia is of course present and still idiotic. Go her. Bingley. Well I haven’t decided how I feel about him yet. I love him and I hate him, but that goes back to the original P&P, it’s not an Abigail Reynolds thing. Georgiana is finding her way to becoming a strong young woman, and I was a bit shocked at how things were changed around, but that’s the whole point!  The ‘spy’ and Mary were awesome and I love all that Darcy did for them. Oh, and Mary’s a firecracker. You ought to read the book for her shining moment alone then give her a “HELL YEAH!”

Abigail Reynolds has written another fabulous variation of the classic Pride and Prejudice. I’m not let down at all and I hope she keeps it up. I definitely look forward to more of Reynolds’s P&P variations.