Customer Reviews

Colonel Brandon's Diary

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I couldn't wait for the U.S. release so I again, like previous Amanda Grange "diaries", ordered it from Amazon U.K. As soon as it arrived, I started reading it and hardly put it down until it was finished. I believe this is her best yet -- yes, even better than Mr. Darcy's and Captain Wentworth's! Her Colonel is everything I imagined: passionate, honest, melancholy, honorable, thoughtful, heartbroken over his loss of his first love, Eliza... a romantic hero of the highest order. The first half of the book is entirely pre-Sense and Sensibility and dwells on his relationship with Eliza and the horrible events leading to her demise and his finding her. Knowing what is to come, all his happy entries were so bittersweet and every page seemed full of my self-inflicted angst. This part of the diary has an almost impending gloom about it. When he finally meets Marianne, well I wasn't sure how Grange was going to make the Colonel love her because until this point, the author has done an excellent job in getting me invested in his past relationship with Eliza and his resulting remorse. His soul really seemed lost, as if he were living only for the sake of living. Well, he does fall in-love with her, as we all know, and not because she is a substitue for Eliza. Unknowingly, she captivates him by her own natural charms -- and I believe, Grange successfully translates Austen's S&S through the eyes of the good Colonel. I wish there had been a few more entries after the marriage but all in all, a satisfying read that I happily recommend.

Whenever I think about the characters created by Jane Austen invariably I think of Marianne Dashwood as a twit. I just don't understand her, probably because she and I would be considered exact opposites. Amanda Grange has done me a huge favor by writing this book. She has helped me see Marianne in a more complete context and I can now appreciate the differences between Marianne's personality and my own. All of this was accomplished because Ms Grange has written such a very good book about Colonel Brandon.

This "diary" covers a period of twenty years, from 1778 to 1798. When we first meet James Brandon he is just 18 years old and very much in love with Eliza, his father's ward. Eliza returns his feelings and they begin to make plans to marry. They both know that they are very young, Brandon knows that he needs to have a profession so that he can support a wife but they are both willing to wait until circumstances are right for them to tell his father of their plans. Then, in one terrible conversation everything changes.

Because Eliza weds someone else, Brandon cannot stand the thought of remaining at home and continuing with his schooling so he enlists in the military and leaves for India. All of this portion of the book is the work of Ms Grange's imagination and I enjoyed it very much. It filled in huge gaps in the life history of Colonel Brandon which Jane Austen chose not to include. The story of how Eliza's child became the ward of Colonel Brandon is believable and compelling, given the type character he has. His inheritance of Delaford gives him the opportunity, the duty, to leave the military and to bring the estate back to its former glory. I found that Amanda Grange had brought all the characters necessary from Sense and Sensibility into this novel with a great amount of skill. The meeting of each character was done with great attention to detail as to the Austen work but it also made complete sense from the Amanda Grange standpoint. I congratulate her on this accomplishment.

By looking at Marianne through the eyes of Colonel Brandon I saw a completely different young woman. I saw how she could have been so easily lead astray by Willoughby. I understand better how vulnerable she was as a person because of her lack of experience in meeting people outside her family and small communities. Even while growing up at Norland she lived an isolated life to a large degree. Marianne is still not my favorite Austen character, she isn't even among the top five or six, but Colonel Brandon is. Thank you, Amanda Grange for giving me this personal look into the heart and soul of this quiet, good man.

Do you find Colonel Brandon romantic? Do you sometimes think he is better suited for Elinor than Marianne? Do you think he fell in love with Marianne because she resembles Eliza? Perhaps you'd like to get to know Colonel Brandon a little better and discover the answer for these questions yourself... If you are unfamiliar with this series, it is the retelling of Jane Austen's novels from the perspective of the male hero. No, it isn't all new and original material, but there is much understanding to gain by hearing the same story from another person's point-of-view. In "Colonel Brandon's Diary," Amanda Grange brings us new insight and comprehension for the seemingly silent and grave Colonel Brandon. In addition, she illustrates a heartrending backstory of his tragic love affair with his father's ward, Eliza.

As a young man studying law at Oxford University, James Brandon is looking forward to only one thing on his holiday from school, and that is spending time with his beloved Eliza. He anticipates spending hours in her company, basking in their love for each other, and discussing future plans of marriage together. When his father announces that Eliza is to marry his libertine and alcoholic brother, James desperately seeks for a way to save Eliza from this fate and unsuccessfully attempts to elope with her. Unfortunately, James is unable to stop the marriage and in his anguish decides the best course for him is to join the army and leave England.

Fourteen years later Brandon returns to England and inherits Delaford since his father and brother have both passed away. The only family he has remaining is Eliza's orphaned daughter, also named Eliza, who spends most of her time away in a boarding school. Colonel Brandon takes on the position of estate owner with adroitness and determination, and he works on restoring and improving Delaford and the land surrounding it to its former state before his mother died. He establishes a nice quiet life for himself with friends, tenants, and a ward. Yet this quiet life of his he will soon discover is not complete...

Having read all the other books in this series, I was very eager to read "Colonel Brandon's Diary." Although "Sense and Sensibility" is not my most favorite Austen novel and Colonel Brandon is not my most favorite hero, I was looking forward to seeing him in a new light and acquiring a new sense of appreciation for him. Ms. Grange did not disappoint, just like with "Captain Wentworth's Diary," she created a viable and enlightening history for Colonel Brandon. I was delighted that she spent one third of the book outlining his life prior to meeting Marianne Dashwood, and I took pleasure in witnessing the emotional and poignant journey he experienced as a youth and observing how it impacted his character.

In "Sense and Sensibility," Colonel Brandon is portrayed as a quiet and unassuming hero, not a dashing, passionate, and Byronic hero like Willoughby. However, after reading "Colonel Brandon's Diary," the reader will conceive that Colonel Brandon, with his strong character, devotion, patience, and yearning for Marianne is one of the most romantic heroes Jane Austen created. I enjoyed the accurate characterization of Colonel Brandon as well as the seamless integration of "Sense and Sensibility" with Ms. Grange's original material. Ms. Grange always approaches Jane Austen's novels and characters respectfully and knowledgeably and I admire her creativity and perception. My only wish is that she would dig deeper into these characters, tell their story a little more leisurely with more specifics and details.

Austenesque Reviews

I was only recently introduced to Sense and Sensibility, I really fell in love with the story especially with the relationship between Marianne and Colonel Brandon. I found Brandon to be a real romantic hero, akin to Mr. Darcy. Which is why it was such a shock for me to find literary scholars proclaiming that Marianne should have married Willoughby!

They seem to forget that Austen wrote herself that Marianne eventually loved Brandon as much as she thought she had loved Willoughby.

And Brandon had so much amazing history, his love for Eliza, their doomed romance, taking care of Eliza's daughter after her death and finally learning to love again when he meets Marianne. But as one of the few faults in Austen's books is that we NEVER get to hear the men's side of the story.

Well here is your chance.

Colonel Brandon's Diary starts with his first love and extends to his eventual marriage with Marianne. I was so pleased that Eliza's character was portrayed so well, I really could see that he loved her and was geniunely sad when they were forced to seperate and I nearly cried when she died in his arms.

But she portrayed Marianne just as well, as we can see the similitaries and differences between her and Eliza, we see why Brandon fell in love with Marianne and feel his heartbreak as she prefers another. We finally learn that he is willing to let Marianne go to Willoughby, who he admits does not deserve Marianne, because he wants her to be happy. Then he is pained but also hopeful when Marianne is eventually heartbroken by Willoughby.

We even get to see their real romance where Sense and Sensibility could not. Amanda Grange continues the story so we can read how Colonel Brandon quietly and subtley begins to woo Marianne. As his actions speak for him we get to see Marianne realize who the true romantic is and one of my favorite parts was Marianne's speech on Willoughby where she finally admits that he was not such a good man and says everything that we all truly believe about the scoundrel. And finally, we get to see the happiness as she admits to Brandon that she truly loves him and then their marriage.

Amanda Grange makes it clear that Marianne was not meant for Willoughby but Brandon and gives Brandon true exposure and voice. I found this novel far superior to Mr. Darcy's Diary as here Amanda Grange let her own creativity out and gave Brandon some friends and expanded on his history that was only briefly mentioned in the books.

I highly recommend this book to any fan of Sense and Sensibility, she stays true to the book but allows a more silent character speak out.

The story is not new - anyone who has read Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility is familiar with the romantic but reserved Colonel Brandon. In Colonel Brandon's Diary Amanda Grange has taken our hero and fleshed out past for the reader, making him an even more charming and sympathetic character than he was in Sense and Sensibility.

Of all the Austen novels Sense and Sensibility is my favorite! I was extremely happy with Grange's take on Colonel Brandon's life. She filled in the blanks beautifully and created a seamless story. I loved seeing the events of Sense and Sensibility through Colonel Brandon's eyes. Amanda Grange has given the Colonel a unique voice while staying true to the original. Colonel Brandon's Diary is a wonderful look into the heart and soul of one of Austen's best-loved characters.

Generally, I'm wary of Austen-based novels, but favorable reviews on Amazon (and my unabashed Brandon fangirling) led me to try this one out. I was not at all disappointed, and was in fact surprised to be unable to put the book down from page one. This is the Sense and Sensibility I've always wanted to read: the one that's all about Brandon and Marianne. They're my favorite Austen pairing and favorite Austen characters, but all the really interesting stuff about them happens off the page in narrative summary and backstory: Brandon's first love affair with Eliza, his military career, his duel with Willoughby, and his courtship of Marianne. "Colonel Brandon's Diary" fills in all these gaps in the storyline and fleshes out the characters, managing to stay true to Austen's characterizations and her style -- no small accomplishments!

While in the original novel, Austen makes it evident that Brandon and Marianne are perfectly suited to one another, their respective romantic pasts shaping them into a couple destined to have a successful and happy marriage, the summary conclusion of their relationship wants drawing out. Amanda Grange deftly shows us how Marianne "restores the Colonel to animation" -- doing so even before Marianne becomes his wife, which was not an angle I had previously considered. Brandon comes to life as Marianne first catches his attention in Barton, before Willoughby's arrival, and Grange reinforces Brandon's natural animated and passionate disposition through his interactions with original characters, his friends and acquaintances in the military and London both during his separation from Eliza and when he despaired of ever having a chance with Marianne. Grange also emphasizes Marianne's astuteness, intelligence, and depth of feeling for other people in the midst of her own sufferings, painting her as a woman worthy of Brandon's love even as she succumbs to her broken heart. She is not merely a pining young girl; she is coming into her womanhood painfully, but all the better for her acquaintance with the ways of the world.

I look forward to reading more of this author's work!

Amanda Grange did it again. Yet another book I rated five stars. As for one reviewer who rated it one star, in my veiw she's got bats in her belfy. I for one can't see anything wrong. But there's no accounting for tastes. I wouldn't be surprised that some may say that about mine. Anyway I really like the way she protrayed Colonel Brandon. Of course she would choose him and not Edward Ferrars which I would not find that interesting. The way she got into his head. She does not depart not one bit from Jane Austens writing of him. I wasn't disappointed.

I do think C Young was a little hard on this book. If you don't like spin-offs or pastiches, then certainly, by all means, avoid them. I disagree that a large part of the book takes place after the introduction of the Dashwoods. Rather, I felt that at least half of the book was devoted to Col Brandon's story. Col Brandon and Capt Wentworth are my two favourite Austen heroes; I like military men and certainly these two were among the more mature of her male characters. We learn in this book how Brandon's father was indifferent and often cruel, how his brother was feckless and a wastrel and how James Brandon himself was deeply in love with his father's ward, Eliza. What happened to Brandon and Eliza, how he enlisted in the military after abandoning a promising academic and professional career was very well done and, IMO, quite believable in establishing his character. After the fiasco over Eliza, Brandon becomes not morose but, rather, accepting of what life has dealt him and often saddened by it. It is from this perspective, and having met his friends and understood his character, that he encounters the Dashwoods.

For a long time I have thought Brandon and Elinor were more suited but, after reading this book, I feel the author has demonstrated a very good case for why Marianne was, after all, the better mate for him. I liked Col Brandon as a man, perhaps better than I did Capt Wentworth as portrayed by Amanda Grange; he is intelligent, cultured, honest, forthright, courageous and a good friend. He has passion but also enough insight to let Marianne find her own way in life.

Although not particularly a fan of spin-offs, I enjoyed this book. It's presented as a diary and therefore the perspective is bound to be narrow and some characters or incidents are not fully developed; to expect more is not in the spirit of things. I don't think, however, I will read any more of them because I suspect I would be disappointed. Besides, I never was too keen on either Mr Knightley or Edmund Bertram so now that I have met Capt Wentworth and Col Brandon I think I shall leave it at that.

I enjoyed it so much that I read it in one day. I learned a lot more about Brandon's character, what made him tick, why he was so haunted. I better understood Marrianne. Ms. Grange did a wonderful job with Brandon's character developement.

I do not think I would have enjoyed it quite so much if I'd not made myself a promise to go at the book with full knowledge that this is not Jane Austen writing, it will not sound like her, it will not read like her. I just took the book at face value and that made for a very pleasant reading experience.

I give it 3 stars and not 4 because I thought it could have sounded a lot more like reading a 200 year old novel, with just a tad bit more work on the authors part. And I thought since it was supposed to be written as a diary, it should have read more as a diary. But that in no way diminished the story.

I very much enjoyed this book would recommend it to all Colonel Brandon's "fans".

Once again Grange looks at a work of Jane Austen's from the viewpoint of the romantic hero. This time we are seeing Sense and Sensibility's romance between Marianne and Colonel Brandon from his point of view. The thing I like most about these books is that she does not try to reinvent the story. She sticks to Austen's original plot while adding a deeper understanding of the characters. I felt that it was a wise choice to use Colonel Brandon as the main character for the retelling of Sense and Sensibility. I have always viewed the romance between Elinor and Edward as the more interesting, but after reading this I find Colonel Brandon and Marianne's story to be even more romantic. Since the story opens with the romance between Brandon and Eliza we really get a much greater understanding of his character and really get to see him evolve.