Customer Reviews

Memory: Volume 1, Lasting Impressions, A Tale of Pride and Prejudice (Memory: A Tale of Pride and Prejudice)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This review is placed under the first book in the series, but covers all three books. Those of us who were attracted by the delights of Pride and Prejudice and the promise of three fat new books in which we could immerse ourselves in Austen's world, have been badly swindled. If you value the wit and buoyancy of the original Pride and Prejudice, you will find this series flat and leaden. The author has managed to turn all her characters into the same do-gooder, sex-obsessed, somewhat stupid and shallow person. The slightly interesting "bad" characters are either banished or killed off -- or both, in the case of Wickham and Caroline Bingley. Darcy has become an unrecognizable caricature, by turns weepy and lusty, and strides through the book's narrow world with a near-constant erection which the author calls (seriously) his "pride," and where Elizabeth is perpetually ready to receive him. Some Pride and Prejudice erotic stories can be pleasantly titillating (for instance, the Abigail Reynolds "what if" variations which, while a little simplistic, are nevertheless fun to read), but there is nothing fun about the sex scenes in the Memory series. The author apparently wishes us to admire how liberated she and her characters are, so the sex scenes have become perfunctory and so overabundant that any pleasant titillation is quickly bludgeoned to death by repetition. In addition, all of her male characters, including Darcy, continually display a smirking, self-satisfied lustfulness which we, as readers, are apparently meant to see as humorous (which fails) or as more evidence of the author's own libido. And, despite the Regency setting, the author urges us to adopt her beliefs on the ideal marriage where physical affection is constant, highly public and relationship matters are openly aired with one and all, including family, friends and servants; babies are birthed by the father and breast-fed by the mother (who also breast-feeds the father in way too many in-your-face, see-how-sexy-this-is scenes); and where sexual innuendo is blatant in conversation among men and women. These attitudes are so anachronistic as to be ridiculous. Linda Wells completely disregards one of the fundamental delights of Regency romance: The tension created between the human desire for connection and Regency society's repression of human emotion. This tension forces people to connect through wit, charm and intelligence. The Memory series has none of that. It takes skill for a modern writer to capture that inherent Regency tension, and Wells simply doesn't have it. There are modern writers who do have such skill: Georgette Heyer is probably the best, especially her stories of The Grand Sophy and Frederica. Of Pride and Prejudice writers, the best I've read is Pamela Aiden's Fitzwilliam Darcy trilogy. Aiden's characters retain their Austen-created personalities (and their wit), even in entirely new situations. On the other hand, the characters in Wells' Memory series have all been stripped of their Austen flavor. The possible exceptions are Lydia and Colonel Fitzwilliam, but in the end, they, too, succumb to Wells' quest for shallow sameness. Everyone ends up thinking the same and acting the same. The "same" is the author's uninteresting world view. Even Mr. Bennet is so relentlessly beaten and chastised (by Darcy, of all people, throughout all three books) that all of his wit and humor have been deflated and he becomes, along with everyone else, flat and bland. Jane - and I still cannot believe Wells did this to our beloved Jane (who thinks ill of no one) -- becomes petty and jealous and not only says petty and jealous things, but also acts in a petty and jealous manner. Despite this perversion of Jane's personality, her attitude might have been an interesting development had it been logical and sustained but, of course, it was not logical and was unsustainable; Jane is redeemed and becomes another bland do-gooder. There are a few touching moments in the Memory series. But these moments are ruined by the author's belief that her readers are so stupid that they must be told (repeatedly) that they have just read about a touching moment. I felt that the author was fishing for some extra admiration: "See, wasn't that a touching moment that I just wrote?" In addition to the above criticisms as to content, the books contain some egregious word-use and grammatical errors (for instance, the author confuses "then" and "than"). Additionally, Ms. Wells has decided that short words and exclamations such as "oh" and "ah" do not deserve to be capitalized, even when they appear at the beginning of sentences and conversations. Punctuation is missing or misused and is sometimes nonsensical (when, for instance, an ellipsis (glaringly overused anyway) is spread across lines or even pages with a lone dot or two left behind). All of these errors and omissions are jarring. Physically, the books' margins are uncomfortably small and some of the pages are tilted. The series was poorly edited and poorly printed. Which brings me to my last comment: I am incredibly resentful to have dished out over sixty dollars for this trilogy. For that amount, one would naturally expect professionally produced reading material. There is nothing professional about this series. And Ms. Wells apparently has priced her work by the word - there are certainly plenty of them. Unfortunately, where one word would do, Wells uses ten. Linda Wells, no doubt, is laughing at me (and anyone else who shares my opinion) - all the way to the bank.

'Memory' is a Pride & Prejudice what if story that is uniquely written.

What if Darcy and Elizabeth first spied one another five years earlier? Darcy returns from his Grand Tour to learn of his father's poor health and immediately sets out for a walk to process the information. He sees Elizabeth and Jane while out. Despite Jane's beauty, he barely notices her. He prefers Elizabeth's smiles and liveliness.

Darcy and Elizabeth both faithfully keep journals. Through their entries, we learn more about their lives. The two see each other in London throughout the years. Each time, they record the encounters.

Darcy fails to pursue Elizabeth because of misplaced familial duty. He never understood his father's last lesson as he should. Elizabeth, as a young woman, is powerless to learn of him.

It takes a while, but Darcy finally approaches Elizabeth. When he does, his intensity is almost overwhelming. This volume follows their courtship.

As in Linda's other works, there is no doubt about the relationship with Darcy and Elizabeth. You know these two will come together and be a force to be reckoned with. The story draws you in and makes you feel as if you are there to bear witness as their lives unfold around them. They face adversity and come out a bit scarred, but they mature and become closer in the process. The usual suspects are there; the ever hateful Caroline, the more than vulgar Mrs. Bennet, and her much favored other daughters. Of course, what would a Darcy and Elizabeth story be without Wickham? He is there in all his evil glory!

This is not a retelling of Pride and Prejudice in it's true sense. The circumstances that keep the couple apart are resolved and the bond that Darcy and Elizabeth share is established early, which I like. Don't get me wrong, they do not have an easy time coming together. It is interesting.

This work is divided into three books. I would highly recommend each one as they tell of the different phases in the lives of the Darcys . I don't think anyone will be disappointed.

The beginning of this "what if" story is the classic "girl on the subway" tale. If the hero sees a girl on the subway & it's love at first sight would he really let her get away? If he does, would he really remember her name, address, ect based on a second hand conversation 2 years later? The problem I had with the first 9 chapters was that it was so contrived. A VERY brief encounter in the park has our hero pining for " the girl in the park" for 2 long years, until they finally meet! He supposedly doesn't even have sex during this time. Hmmm. I can't even bring myself to call the hero Darcy. He really bears no resemblence of the character Darcy of P&P. Jane is a vain, spiteful cat. Mr Bennet a malicious, selfish jerk. Bingly a Puckish kind of guy. I have a problem with an author who takes a sequel on like P&P & can't write the characters in a believable way. I don't believe this was Elisabeth & Darcy, even thought they were supposed to be much younger when they finally meet & marry.

It was too long, the chapters go on forever. Everything always works out well for our heros. The bad boys clean up their acts & everyone lives happily ever after - until the next book!

Awful! I couldn't even finish reading this. Mainly because Wells has destroyed these characters. Elizabeth & Jane are jealous and petty with each other. Elizabeth doubts her self worth all the time. Now I understand she is young but come on, young Elizabeth had to have some confidence. When she and Darcy marry they are both continuously doubting the other's love and devotion and seek reassurance every page or so. Bingley has no interest in Jane and Elizabeth's "most beloved sister" stays jealous and miserable. There are a million different shifts in the plot, though they are realistic, unlike some other variations I've read. The problem is that the characters are so wrong that it really rubs you the wrong way. I think there might be a story here(albeit a long boring one)but to claim a connection with P&P is just wrong!

I just finished the first of three novels of "Memory" by Linda Wells. The story starts when Darcy comes back from his Grand Tour and learns that his father is dying. Devastated, Darcy goes for a walk in Hyde Park and there he sees Lizzy for the first time. Her laughter and joy for life does him good. She is happy to see a gentleman who only sees her and not her sister Jane. It is all for her!

Through theirs journals we learn how they meet time and again for two years. They only see each other and never come to speak in those years. They mature in this time, Darcy into his role as master and Lizzy into the reality of her life.

Darcy is pressed by his uncle, the Earl of Matlock, to take a wife. He is looking around during the season but he knows that there is only one wife for him, his Lizzy. Because he does not remember a talk with his father about this subject he almost makes the wrong decision. With a little help from his friend Bingley and his cousin Richard he comes to the right conclusion.

Lizzy, in the meantime, has to suffer from both her parents. Her mother is a very ignorant woman and does not love her second daughter, at all. Her father observes his wife's treatment of their second daughter and does nothing to correct the hurt that Lizzy feels due to her mother's behavior. He takes the easy path and lets others do his parental duty. The behavior of her family drives away a suitor and Lizzy's mother let's her take the blame.

When at last Darcy and Lizzy meet again in Hyde Park they are directly devoted to each other. It is not an easy path. Lizzy has to learn to trust their love and her worthiness to be loved.

The people around them are influenced by their behavior. For good and for bad. The green eyed monster shows it's ugly face much too often. There are those who try to separate them. There are a lot of new people in this story and the ones we all know. At the end you just want to do one thing, and that is to pick up the second book and continue this beautiful story. To learn more of the extended family and friends. This story gives you all the emotions of life; sadness, sorrow, joy, laughter and love. For all those who love Darcy and Lizzy do NOT miss this one.

Having read the rave reviews, I thought I'd give this a try. Wish I hadn't. First, I didn't realize the book was self-published, meaning an editor is missing. Someone should have taken a red pencil to at least a third of this book -- probably more. It goes on forever, with similar scenes repeated, and repeated, and repeated. Second, although I was willing to go along with the idea that the plot had been changed, I wasn't expecting the characters to be completely changed too. The characters behave nothing like their original iterations, and they don't always behave in ways that are plausible given the the time and social customs. Of course no one can replicate Austen, but there's no reason to change the characters into something unreckonizable.

This would be a decent story (with editing) if it involved new characters instead of reworking old and beloved ones. Because there is so little resemblance between the characters in this book and the "real" P & P characters, simply changing the names is all it would have taken to change a bad P & P knockoff into a reasonably entertaining tale.

I love the other books written by this author so was very excited about the new series that she has released. I enjoyed this book and the twist/turns the plot takes before our favorite couple comes together. She has made interesting co-characters, expanding the Fitzwilliam family and giving a new take on how Bingley and Darcy became friends. My only issue is how young Elizabeth is in this version, but it is likely more true to the time period. I enjoyed the length of the book and am eagerly awaiting the next 2 volumes.

I had the pleasure of reading this story while it was a work in progress and I can honestly say that Linda has struck gold yet again!! Each section of Linda Well's story (parts 1,2 & 3) take you on a journey through the life of a most beloved couple. This is a non-cannon story about the characters of P&P. You see how our couple meet, fall in love and live their life. There will be ups and there will be downs, but in every instance, Darcy and Elizabeth are a united force.

If you prefer Cannon P&P fanfiction, this is not for you. But if you have an open mind, give this story a chance. You just might be enchanted. I know I was.

Kudos Linda.

The story focuses more on the intimate/private moments of Darcy and Elizabeth than on their character development. If you want a bland read with sex scenes go for this book you can do much, much worse.