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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wild? Far-fetched? Contrived? Yes, to all., February 3, 2010
This review is from: Mr. Darcy's Great Escape: A tale of the Darcys & the Bingleys (Pride & Prejudice Continues 3) (Paperback)
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A campy, madcap adventure story, Mr. Darcy's Great Escape is Marsha Altman's third book, in her Pride and Prejudice Continues series. The year is 1812, seven years after Elizabeth Bennet and her devoted sister Jane married Mr. Darcy and Mr. Bingley respectively, and the families are all returning to Longbourn for the wedding of Kitty Bennet, daughter number four. Within the first 100 pages, Elizabeth Darcy finds herself immersed in the intrigues of the Napoleonic War as she races across the continent to the rescue of Mr. Darcy, who has become imprisoned in a medieval cell in Transylvania! Unbelievable? Quite, but hang on . . . there's more.
Licentiously diverting is Altman's treatment of her own original character's as well as Jane Austen's canon characters. Altman's Mr. Darcy was half brother to George Wickham who he apparently killed in a duel in Book 2, The Plight of the Darcy Brothers: A Tale of the Darcy's and the Bingley's. And, Darcy's other illegitimate brother Gregoire, by his father's dalliance with his mother's French maid, is now a monk in Austria and favors prominently in this bold undertaking. Mary Bennet is now the mistress of Longbourn, although having been compromised while on tour of the Continent. (also in Book 2) Oh, and there is also an utterly convoluted entail of Rosings that deems Darcy as heir apparent, regardless of the fact that Anne is now married to Colonel Fitzwilliam. And, if that is not enough action there is also an insane Oriental assassin en route to Pemberley. This is all cleverly forged to create an eyebrow raising, humorous, 486 page saga.
Wild? Far-fetched? Contrived? Yes, to all. But Marsha Altman bravely undertakes this continuation of Pride and Prejudice and makes it entirely her own. Although inspired by Jane Austen's masterpiece, little if any of Austen's original is obvious in this series. However, that's not to say that readers won't enjoy this fun romp. In the same vein as the British ITV series "Lost in Austen," those that want more of the Darcy's and the Bingley's might find this wicked tale a satisfying joke. "I can hardly write for laughing."
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not for people looking for fluffy nonsense., February 21, 2010
This review is from: Mr. Darcy's Great Escape: A tale of the Darcys & the Bingleys (Pride & Prejudice Continues 3) (Paperback)
Many previous reviewers have stated that Altman's style is out of keeping with Austen's style, and furthermore, that is all far-fetched and unbelievable. To them, I can say only this:
Marsha Altman is more than just a novelist; she is a historian and a damn good one. She is perhaps the first Austen-enthusiast to remove her characters from the drawing room and place them in an historical context. It is a thing Austen herself could only have dreamed of doing, limited as she was by societal norms. Austen had no choice but to limit herself to the domestic sphere, and it has been argued by many feminist critics (Gilbert and Gubar among them) that Austen was not altogether happy with this arrangement. Altman has no reason to censor herself in this way, and so she does what Austen could not: she explores the truths of Napoleonic Europe--both ugly and wonderful--that lady novelists of the era were not allowed to discuss. War, infidelity, bastard children--all these were quite present in Austen's time but were considered unsuitable reading material for ladies. So what if it is not Austen's style to discuss such things? She hardly had a say in the matter. She could not write about such things, but we can.
True, even allowing for all this, some of Altman's plot twists are a bit unbelievable. It is not likely that Darcy would find himself trapped in a prison in the wilds of Austria. But this is territory that is never explored within fan fiction, and we must allow Altman some space to develop these ideas. At the very least we can say that she does not feed us the same fluffy nonsense that other fan fiction writers do. I personally found her depiction of wartime Europe very intriguing, and it inspired me to do some research of my own. It is not often that fan fiction does that, so let's take advantage of it while we can.
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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Kudos, again, for Ms. Altman, January 21, 2010
This review is from: Mr. Darcy's Great Escape: A tale of the Darcys & the Bingleys (Pride & Prejudice Continues 3) (Paperback)
In general, I prefer J.A. sequels that do not stray too far from where Ms. Austen left off, however, I enjoyed this book as I did the two previous in the series (the first being my favorite). Ms. Altman certainly has a gift for "spinning a yarn." While the tale is far removed from the treasured P&P, the story line is not so farfetched that you cannot imagine it; the author remains true to the characters so you can easily place them in her story; and it is engaging from beginning to end with action, romance, wit, and history. I don't like to give spoilers so until someone else comes along who does I hope it suffices to say I read this book in less than two days. Kudos Marsha Altman
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