Customer Reviews

The True Darcy Spirit (Thorndike Clean Reads)

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3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
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Truth to tell I never finished reading Elizabeth Aston's "Mr. Darcy's Daughters." And this was not because it was a terribly written book (to the contrary in fact!), but because I couldn't get past my irritation that the author had portrayed Darcy's and Elizabeth's daughters as being five rather foolish and headstrong young ladies. Perhaps, however, I should have let go of my expectations and surrendered instead to the pull of a story well written and well told. For, because I had no unrealistic expectations of "The True Darcy Spirit" (it was after all about the daughter of Anne de Bourgh), I found myself happily absorbed and very impressed with this latest Jane Austen pastiche, and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a good literary read.

Cassandra Darcy's life at home (Rosings) is not a happy one: her mother (formerly the sickly Anne de Bourgh of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice") is more preoccupied with keeping her second husband, Mr. Partington and her children from that marriage happy than to see to the wants and needs of her eldest daughter; and Mr. Partington cannot abide Cassandra, finding her too proud and clever for his liking. So that when it is perceived that Cassandra has committed an indiscretion, Mr. Partington summarily packs Cassandra off to his sister's in Bath, with instructions that the lady get Cassandra married off quickly and credibly. Once in Bath, however, the deeply unhappy and lonely Cassandra quickly succumbs to the blandishments of rogue and soon finds herself in London, alone and penniless and cut off from her family. Fortunately, Cassandra has the Darcy spirit, courage and is a very talented artist, and she is resolved to try and make her living as an artist. But she soon finds herself out of her depth in a city where everyone is not what they seem. Her landlady, Mrs. Nettleton, for example seems generous and kindly at first, but keeps insisting that Cassandra socialise with her friends, who are not at all to Cassandra's liking; and then there is Lord Usborne whose attentions are quite disturbing. But most troubling of all is her stiff-necked cousin, Horatio Darcy, who openly disapproves of her and has no trouble believing the worst of her. Will Cassandra thrive and survive on her own in London or will she, as Horatio Darcy believes, come to a grim end?

"The True Darcy Spirit" read more like a novel that Maria Edgeworth and Eliza Heywood would have written, rather than Jane Austen. Elizabeth Aston spends a lot of time developing her heroine's growth and maturity from a pampered (if unloved) young girl to a young lady able to earn her own living and find her own niche is society. Not very Jane Austen like at all; so that one really has to let go of the notion that one is reading another Jane Austen-like novel in order to appreciate the "The True Darcy Spirit." It is extremely well written (excellent prose style) and executed, and Elizabeth Aston's rendition of characters and scenes are clear, vivid and concise. However, there was, in my opinion anyway, one problem with the novel -- the sudden rushed romance between Cassandra and Horatio. For much of the book, both characters have little to do with each other, with Horatio truly believing that Cassandra has sunk beyond all redemption. So that when a sudden romance between the two is hinted at, one feels a little confused. Other that that, "The True Darcy Spirit" was a wonderfully absorbing and enjoyable read. I spent a nice, relaxing afternoon with this novel and would recommend it to anyone looking for a good historical novel to enjoy.

Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' ends with the story just begun. Elizabeth Aston has picked the story up and now has written three additional stories set in the 'Pride and Prejudice' world.

This is not the first time that a newcommer has continued a story. For instance there have been many Sherlock Holmes stories since he retired to Sussex Downs where Conan Doyle left him raising bees.

The important thing about such 'in the world of' books is not that the new author is trying to copy the original. Instead you need to view this book as an original work by a different author. She simply borrowed the characters and the setting of the original book and continued the story in her own way. After all, you can't get any more Jane Austen to read, this makes a good replacement if you view it as that.

As for this particular book, the story is kind of predictable, an evil step-father, a botched elopement, an abandoned girl left penniless in London. But she's a Darcy girl with the spirit to overcome and ... well you can go on from here. It's a nice read.

This author has no idea how to use punctuation. She strings sentences that were never meant to go together into a hodge-podge of confused clauses separated by a tangle of oddly-employed commas.

Now, let me re-write that paragraph Elizabeth Aston-style.

This author has no idea how to use punctuation, she strings sentences that were never meant to go together into a hodge-podge of confused clauses, separated by a tangle of oddly-employed commas.

Gaah! The characters and plot of "The True Darcy Spirit" were enjoyable and even charming at times, but the book suffered badly from Ms. Aston's extremely odd style of punctuation. It drove me half nuts. If you are not a grammarian, it might not bother you as much, in which case the book is a solid, entertaining historical romance. However, Jane Austen it is not - Ms. Aston makes no attempt to recreate Austen's style (or even her subject matter, to a great extent), opting instead to just borrow characters. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's good to know before you read it that it is simply a run-of-the-mill historical romance, not a re-creation of the Austenian world.

The book is pretty good. I've read all of her books and this was up to the standard of the others. Fun to read.

Cassandra is a young woman who is cast adrift in London at a time when young women with out a family or reputation were very vulnerable to being abused and taken advantage of by society and then condemned and shunned by the same people who created the young woman's misfortune in the first place. Fortunate to have talents that would led her to self sufficiency and keep her from becoming a woman of the streets, our heroine is befriended by her cousin Camilla who helps her find her place in London. The book tells more about society's unforgiving and bigoted attitude towards women of that day than a love story. In fact the relationship between Cassandra and Mr. Darcy seems and after thought and unbelievable, rather than the reason for the novel. Still I enjoyed it very much and look forward to more by this author

I bought this book to read during work (caregiving involves lots of sitting around) because I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice and felt there may be an interesting story behind the rest of the family. Boy was I wrong!

The plot was pretty forgettable. I just finished the book today and already can't remember half of what happened in the beginning. The characters, with the exception of Cassandra, were two dimensional. The "romance" portion of the book was laughable at times (the two main characters hardly said two words to each other when the fell into each other's arms and proclaimed their love). In fact, a plot beyond "Downtrodden girl narrowly averts becoming a mistress" was pretty weak.

All in all, there are much better novels to be read out there. Unless you're stuck somewhere with this as your only reading option, I'd opt for something else.

For such a fan of Elizabeth Bennett, Aston certainly writes poorly of the Bennett-Darcy lines. It has more of the feel of Catherine Morland's or Kitty's children than any of Darcy's ilk. The Darcy prejudice is gone, replaced by simple dangerous stubbornness. Here is all drama, sensuality, and little of the lessons of deeper morality and good judgement, of learning and balancing sense, of walking the paths of society. I feel as though Aston simply wished to cash in on a classic, not to follow in the footsteps of one better.

The characters lack consistency. Consider our hero, who seemed too practical for even real romance, suddenly realizing he is in love with our heroine, and then speaks theateningly of throwing himself in the river. Or our heroine, who prides herself on logic, but readily runs away with a man out of spite, succumbs to him so readily, and barely suffers for it.

I will admit that Aston researched the time frame and the locale. One could almost walk in the city, smell the smells, get lost in the shops. But she left the "feel" of it all behind.

because I've apparently got "the stuff" to be a Darcy if I wanted to, but I am rather fond of this latest edition to Elizabeth Aston's Darcy Daughters series. I was initally hesitant to pick up the pages, after being somewhat disappointed by the scatty storeline and uncertainty laced through The Exploits and Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy. Yet, as I had already spent the money, I decided to return to my leisure and give it the old college try. I read all three hundred plus pages in ten hours. The storyline kept my attention all the way through, and characters enthralled me, and the plot was consistant and believable. In short, it had Darcy spirit.

I have to say, though, it seems that these Darcy girls don't need much encouragement to fall in love. One minute they're pissed off at the lead male character ..... ten minutes later they're locked in a passionate embrace. Although I have no doubt to the happiness in the marriage of Camilla and Alexander Wytton, I remain, to this day, uncertain about the Alethea Darcy/ Titus Manningtree marriage. They could have lived in sin. I wouldn't have complained. Georgina is just an idiot. I have little to no opinion on that little slut, and I hope Sir Joshua eventually gets tired of her and throws her out. Belle is a whore, just like her Aunt Lydia before her. Letty is trying to be the next Joan of Arc, as if history was kind to the first one, God rest her soul, and no pun intended. And I pray to the good Lord above that the next Darcy girl --- undoubtedly another cousin from another inbred Darcy/ de Bourgh / Fitzwilliam line --- is more like Cassandra or Camilla or Alethea. To date, these three remain the only Darcy girls whom I would care to know had they been real.

And that's my piece on that. Pick up this book today.

Did anyone else notice that in Ms. Aston's previous book, The Exploits & Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy, Belle is married, but in this book, published after, Belle is not married? I find it irritating when an author makes mistakes like that when they are easily avoidable. Otherwise, I enjoyed this book, but liked her other books better.

Austen-improvisers can keep trying, but I've yet to read anything really worthwhile by any of them. If you enjoyed this story of an independent, talented young woman living in a historically difficult time, I'd recommend just about anything by Judith Merckle Riley. Historical detail and well-drawn, completely original characters put her books at the top of my list of favorites.