The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy: Book Review

Rating: ★★★★★/★★★★★

The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy is Mary Lydon Simonsen's second published novel for Sourcebooks. It was a joy to read her debut novel, Searching for Pemberley, so I know any novels penned by Mary will be in the same vein as the first: pure delight and entertaining with historical nuggets inserted in between. With this in mind, I dive into the world of Mr Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet and her family, the Bingleys and the Fitzilliams to relive their lives in this alternative path to Pride and Prejudice.

Those who had the pleasure of reading Jane Austen's masterpiece will be pleased to know that Mary summarises certain key points with a course running parallel to the original story. However not all of the important plots unfold according to Jane Austen's brilliant plan and certain scenes are omitted but alluded to. This occurred early on when Elizabeth and Jane travelled together to London and stayed with the Gardiners after the Netherfield ball and before Christmas. The former then journeyed alone to visit Charlotte in her new home, Hunsford Parsonage. After learning from Caroline that Elizabeth is currently with the Collinses, Darcy decides to take his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, with him to spend some time in Rosings with their Aunt Catherine and Cousin Anne. This is where it deviates and Mary's musings starts to take over by adding her own twist to the tale.

Instead of seeing events from Elizabeth's point-of-view, the thoughts and actions of all the major characters involved are covered as well. It certainly explained what was really going on behind the scenes and inside the minds of Mr Darcy, Anne, Georgiana, Jane and even the scoundrel Wickham just to name a few. For example, we get a glimpse of Jane venting her frustrations at the burden placed on her to care for her young cousins without getting any help from her younger sisters while her Uncle and Aunt Gardiner is in Derbyshire with Elizabeth. Even Mr Bennet recognises that Jane is unhappy and proceed to advise and calm her. This adds to the dynamics in the relationship between father and his eldest daughter which we do not witness in Pride and Prejudice. Mr Bennet can be caring and stern towards his family when the situation calls for it.
 
What is most surprising to me is the alterations to the characters of Anne and Georgiana. Unlike the weak and sickly daughter of the grand dame, this Anne can perceive her cousin's deep love for Elizabeth and devise an elaborate scheme to bring both of them together. After the disastrous proposal at Hunsford, Anne befriends Elizabeth and later advises her to visit Pemberley, the ancestral home of Mr Darcy, when she vacations in Derbyshire. She even arranged for her trip to Pemberley with the Darcys and the Bingleys to be brought forward a week just to coincide with Elizabeth's holiday in Lambton. In the case of Georgiana, she undergoes a complete transformation where not only does she matures into a young lady but aspires to become a novelist as she is enamoured with Gothic novels. Her supposed elopement with Wickham was just a misunderstanding when Darcy happened to discover the seducer in his sister's dwelling in Ramsgate and refuse to hear Georgiana's side of the story.

One aspect that I love reading is the introduction of a host of new characters created by Mary. Chief among them are Antony, Lord Fitzwilliam who is the elder brother of Colonel Fitzwilliam and George Bingley, Charles's eldest sibling. Although they are the head of their respective families, those two can't be more different from one another. Lord Fitzwilliam is a gambler who spends his dwindling fortune on accruing and clearing his debts while George is a financial genius with various interests in banks and investments. Antony is estranged from his wife, Eleanor. On the other hand, George and Hannah are loving parents and dote on their two grandchildren. Lord Fitzwilliam has a humourous biting wit and likes to crack up jokes at the expense of Darcy compared to the elder Bingley who has a serious demeanour most of the time. Another character worth mentioning is Mr Dalton Nesbitt, a solicitor based in Watford who is introduced as a possible suitor to Jane Bennet. His gifts are positively the most unromantic gestures of a man who is courting a daughter of a gentleman farmer. Does a man in his right frame of mind sends a lock of his mother's hair to his sweetheart? I shudder to be on the receiving end of his presents.

Besides this I enjoyed learning the backgrounds of Mr Darcy, Anne and Charles Bingley. We know very little of them except what is disclosed by Jane Austen. So it is possible Darcy is a descendent of an ancient Norman lineage while Anne is the only daughter of Lord de Bourgh, a titled baron whose fortunes comes from smuggling goods across the English Channel. In contrast, the Bingley family made their wealth from an invention by Charles's grandfather and father of smelting ore efficiently. Thus their social standing is precarious as some quarters in society do not view Charles as a.gentleman. Therefore it made perfect sense that Darcy is only looking out for his friend's interest at heart and his initial attempt to separate Charles from Jane is justified. Politics also come into play where Darcy is shown to be a supporter of Whig causes whereas traditionally his family is allied to the Tories (Conservative Party). On another note, Darcy's former love life is also revealed in the form of Christina Caxton, a widow whom he met in France while on a grand tour of Europe. Darcy's past seemed to catch up with him when news of his visit to the prominent Whig hostess, Mrs Conway's salon was reported in the gossip magazine, The Insider. Then Christina shows up as Mrs Aumont in his London townhouse to ask for financial assistance to set up shop as a courtier. To add to the complication, she is staying with Mrs Conway. Fortunately, no unpleasant incident occurred to derail the lovebirds plan towards matrimony. Nevertheless, such extensive and plausible re-imagining adds to my enjoyment of this enchanting novel.

In conclusion, I highly recommend any books written by Mary as it is truly an engaging read. My only regret is that I should have read it much earlier when it was released rather than waiting for more than a year later. I am looking forward to Mary's next novel which is A Wife for Mr. Darcy.