The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy (Paperback)

by Mary Street (Author) "I KNOW NOT HOW MISS ELIZABETH BENNET CON-trived to bring herself so much to my notice throughout the course of that evening..." (more)
Key Phrases: low connections, Miss Bingley, Miss Bennet, Jane Bennet (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
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.

About the Author
Mary Street was born in Heanor, Derbyshire. Her interest in writing began while she was in the hospital recovering from an automobile accident. She is the author of several romance and suspense novels.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade; 1st Printing edition (March 4, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425219909
• ISBN-13: 978-0425219904
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,706 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

72 of 79 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars States his case? No., December 6, 2005

By	Christine "Avid reader" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy (Hardcover)

I have to disagree with the previous (and only other) reviewer. I found this book in my local library and thought I'd see how the author handled Darcy's view. Not well. There was no spark between the characters as shown from Elizabeth's view in the original "Pride and Prejudice". The author tended to repeat herself in both terms and tone often within the same page, and the sentiment of the characters was flat and uninteresting. I skimmed most of the book.

There were so many colons and semicolons it was difficult to understand the meaning of the sentence. Yes, "Pride and Prejudice" is that way, but Ms. Austen knew how to write. Ms. Street still needs polishing.

The book is set up in first person, yet Darcy seems to know things by great leaps and bounds, and offers no explanation on how he knew this, or came to this judgment. Plus, some of the explanations for his behavior were simply unbelievable. He stood up for Wickham because Wickham asked him to? HA! Hardly - he did it to make sure Wickham went through with the wedding to Lydia and didn't take the money and run.

And his epiphany over his feelings toward Elizabeth, and the 'rightness' of her explanation and rejection of his proposal were simply unbelievable. I sensed no tension within him, no real pain over her refusal, and no explanation as to why she was right and he was wrong.

The point of the story was Darcy's Pride, and Elizabeth's Prejudice, not to make Elizabeth completely right and Darcy completely wrong. They both had faults, both were in the wrong, and yet reading this from Darcy's view, one would think that Elizabeth's rightness was nearly as preordained as Jane's goodness and forgiveness.

Ms. Street clearly missed the deep and passionate love Darcy felt for Elizabeth, his need to hide it, and, really, the entire point of the pride he showed so fiercely. She doesn't understand the point of his character, and took giant steps to 'fill in the blanks' to the story, but missed and fell very short.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This isn't my favorite variation but it isn't all bad either., April 14, 2008

By	J. Lesley (Midsouth) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I tried to order this book for two years from AmazonUK without success. Each time it was on backorder for 6 weeks, then I would get a notice that it was not available. Eventually I just stopped trying. I was very happy to see that it was finally released in the States. This book was originally written in 1999. That by itself was probably a very adventureous undertaking for Ms Street. At that time the flood of Pride and Prejudice look-alikes had yet to hit the market. Now, if you love Jane Austen and her books, you can find plenty of authors who have tried to explain or expound on those original treasures.

I have read many, many variations on the Pride and Prejudice novel. Some are much better than others, some are absolutely dreadful. This book rated four stars from me. It did have its faults but it also had quite a few reasons for enjoyment. This book follows Pride and Prejudice completely. You could actually read them simultaneously if you wanted to perform such a feat. What I wanted to see the most was what Darcy was doing during the times he is absent from Elizabeth. I got some of what I wanted but not in enough detail. This book is written in first person and yet there are no conversations with anyone outside the characters written by Jane Austen. Why not? This device would have been wonderful for letting the reader see Darcy from a whole different viewpoint. A true opportunity missed, from my perspective.

The characters fell somewhat flat for me. Ms Street apparently didn't want to deviate from the narrative established by Ms Austen for Elizabeth, especially, so we don't get any new discourse between her and Darcy. I realize this is a fine line for an author to walk but expanding on the established interactions between Darcy and Elizabeth would have been an acceptable thing. Elizabeth's words are quoted but in italics as rememberances by Darcy. Not as direct, while they were standing toe-to-toe intercourse. Definitely a disappointment for me. Often Darcy could not even gauge Elizabeth's reactions because her bonnet hid her face.

If you've read this far you probably wonder why I gave this book four stars at all. I enjoyed what I was reading. Yes, it did have some problems but I also liked what WAS there. Darcy struggled with his inclination to fall in love with Elizabeth and I was able to believe the change in his personality which made it possible for him to be willing to accept her and her family. When Elizabeth rejected his marriage proposal she spared him absolutely nothing in her criticism. It took a while for him to get over the initial hurt of her rejection but after a while he began to look at himself from her perspective. He had never once questioned his own character and personality. No other person had ever had the courage to point out his flaws, not even his parents. Suddenly he began to know that she was right, he did present himself to the world as arrogant, conceited, stand-offish. He didn't like himself as seen by Elizabeth and others. I liked the interaction between Darcy and Bingley. I thought it was a wonderful moment when Darcy realized that Bingley was probably slightly afraid of him. That was warmer and more personal as was his relationship with Georgiana. I also really liked his reactions to Miss Bingley and Mrs. Hurst. Those were right where I wanted them to be.

Was this the best Pride and Prejudice variation I've read? No. Was it the worst? Good heavens, no!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Darcy's side of Pride and Prejudice, April 12, 2008

By	Gayle Surrette "omnivorous reader" (Brandywine, Maryland) - See all my reviews

Pride and Prejudice is mostly Elizabeth Bennet's story. We may hear of events that took place out of her view but only when these events are told to her. So, Mr. Darcy's thoughts, feelings, and actions outside of Elizabeth's view are unknown to us or only known by shrewd guessing. There's also the additional problem that Elizabeth, in the manner of Mr. Darcy, is not a reliable narrator. She has her own prejudices about him and his behavior and it colors her view of him and all his actions. So, we're left wondering what Mr. Darcy thought of Elizabeth Bennet. What could make this man of wealth, education, and position fall so in love with Elizabeth that he'd go against his family and his social connections to marry her.

Luckily, Mary Street has given us a Mr. Darcy's side of the story in The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy. Street retells Pride and Prejudice from Darcy's point of view. Where the two books overlap, Jane Austen's version is paramount as to action and conversation but with the added interest of Mr. Darcy's thoughts and insights. Where events take place out of Elizabeth's view (not in Austen's work but hinted at, such as the events in London after the ball at Netherfield and the conversation with Wickham about Lydia) the narration and action matches what we'd expect of a gentleman of Darcy's station. Street keeps well within the canon of story and characterization.

What is missing is the passion of the characters. Elizabeth is engaging and exciting the most often when the book intersects Pride and Prejudice and there is a blueprint to follow. Darcy's character, even though we are often in his thoughts, is still wanting. This is a man that is comfortable in the highest levels of society, yet his passion for Elizabeth Bennet is such that he willing takes the chance that he and his new wife could be shunned by society because of the disparity of their socio-economic status. He is gentleman and she is a gentleman's daughter, but there is still a gulf between them of more than an obnoxious mother and wild sisters. There's no sign here of a love or passion that could account for Darcy's proposing marriage not just once but twice to the same woman.

It seems that in trying so hard to maintain the tone and style of the original Austen novel, that the lively wit and by-play that are the hallmarks of Austen's work got smoothed out. So, while this book does fill a gap that so many of us want filled, it does leave us still wondering about Mr. Darcy's inner most thoughts and feelings.

Worth reading? Yes, definitely. The author did a remarkably good job with the material, it just left this reader wishing that the characters had a bit more life to them. Of course, I'll freely admit that the lack may be totally in the eye of the reader rather than the author, for I truly want to know the inner workings of Darcy and what makes him tick. Street gave me hints and teases but I felt unsatisfied but not dissatisfied with the book.