The Darcys & the Bingleys: A Tale of Two Gentlemen's Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters (Paperback)

by Marsha Altman (Author)
Key Phrases: Miss Bingley, Lord Kincaid, Charles Bingley (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A Tale of Two Gentlemen's Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters

Three days before their double wedding, Charles Bingley is desperate to have a word with his dear friend Fitzwilliam Darcy, seeking advice of a most delicate nature. Bingley is shocked when Darcy gives him a copy of The Kama Sutra - but it does tell him everything he needs to know.

Eventually, of course, Jane finds this remarkable volume and in utmost secrecy shows it to her dear sister Elizabeth, who goes searching for a copy in the Pemberley library...

By turns hilarious and sweet, The Darcys & the Bingleys follows the two couples and the cast of characters surrounding them. Miss Caroline Bingley, it turns out, has such good reasons for being the way she is that the reader can't help but hold her in charity. Delightfully, she makes a most eligible match, and in spite of Darcy's abhorrence of being asked for advice, he and Bingley have a most enduring and adventure-prone friendship.

About the Author
Marsha Altman is an historian, and is an expert on Jane Austen sequels, having read nearly every single one that's been written. She has worked in the publishing industry with a literary agency and is writing a series continuing the story of the Darcys and the Bingleys. She lives in New York.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark (September 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402213484
• ISBN-13: 978-1402213489
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #68,415 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

• This item is part of The Darcy Sequels Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious sequel!, August 23, 2008

By	Austen Fan! - See all my reviews

I found this sequel to be laugh-out-loud funny and a wonderful take on the friendship between Darcy and Bingley. It starts with Bingley coming to Darcy for advice about his upcoming wedding night. Darcy, being the reticent man that he is, refuses to talk about "it" but agrees that he will help his friend...cue Kama Sutra book! It continues to explore how Darcy's and Bingley's friendship came to be in the first place and how it grew to what it is now, full of hilarious male competitiveness. We get to watch how these couples adjust to married life and then parenthood with the arrival of their children.

When Bingley comes to Darcy yet again for more advice when Caroline has a suitor that the "find-the-good-in-everyone" Bingley has a problem with, he asks for his friend's advice yet again. This time Darcy and Bingley set off to do a little investigating about the suitor with a new found wealth and things may not be as we think they are. (With a little help from Elizabeth and Mr Bennet.) We also get a little peek into the mind of Caroline Bingley that, believe it or not, is not as bad as we'd like her to be. There are new characters introduced in the second half of the story, but they only add to the dynamics of this wonderfully suspenseful, funny tale.

Ms. Altman's writing is witty, hilarious and right on the mark with where I'd imagine Darcy and Bingley's friendship to be. Darcy is always known for his reserve around a large group of people and especially strangers, but we get to that side of him that he only shows to his wife, Elizabeth and his closest friend, Bingley, and it's that side that we all fall in love with. A definite must for any P&P fan!

25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "...disquise of every sort is my abhorrence.", September 19, 2008

By	Kit Kat "Kit Kat" (Cali) - See all my reviews

When Jane Austen wrote this line for Darcy, she doubtless meant him to define "disguise" as 'deception' or 'pretense'. But it can also mean 'drunk' and Altman's sequel remarks several episodes where she has Darcy so drunk he has to stagger away to throw up! This is so out of character for a gentleman who is strictly mindful of the proprieties. If he finds Mrs. Bennet and her sister, Mrs. Philips' vulgar behavior a "...tax on his forbearance" how can Altman believe Darcy would behave so? His throwing an intrusive Wickham out the window on the day of his wedding, while a funny situation, is not something Darcy would risk. Finally, the "brotherly rivalry" between himself and Bingley degenerates into petty one-up-manship in the vein of Kitty and Lydia's relationship. The funniest part was Bingley's solicitation of Darcy's supposed greater knowledge of 'marital relations' so he may please his Jane on their wedding night and Darcy's 'advice'. Still, this doesn't fit Darcy's persona, either.

The sub-plot about Caroline Bingley's attempts at matrimony was a tedious contrivance and I struggled to finish those chapters. The more interesting Mr. Bennet and the Darcy's first-born toddler Geoffrey (Yeff!) held my attention more.

For P&P fans who can't get enough, I would recommend this as a tolerable diversion and mildly amusing read. "The Pemberly Chronicles" by Rebecca Ann Collins was a better sequel.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Entertaining Pride and Prejudice Sequel, November 10, 2008

By	Elizabeth Darcy (Wilmington , NC USA) - See all my reviews

This book isn't the best Pride and Prejudice Sequel I ever read, but I did find it a very entertaining book. It is not close to the style of Jane's writing, her characters (I don't think she would have Mr. Darcy be so easily drunk), or her style (she would not be writing about the Kama Sutra). Nevertheless, it is a fresh sequel to Pride and Prejudice and depicts the lives of the Bingley's and the Darcy's right before and long after marriage.

If you are critical (and there is nothing wrong with being critical) in your selection of Jane Austen Sequels and other writings, I wouldn't buy this book right away, maybe borrow it from the library first, see how you like it.

Of course a Pride and Prejudice sequel wouldn't be a Pride and Prejudice sequel without Caroline Bingley. I would say 1/4 of the story is about Caroline Bingley and her choice of fiance. If you are not a big fan of Caroline Bingley, you might not care for this book then.

By reading the other reviews and the plot on Amazon you might think this book is all about Kama Sutra and might be rated R. There really isn't that much about the Kama Sutra later in the book and it is not graphic or explicit. I would even say it is more PG-13.