fishifishi's Full Review: Abigail Reynolds - Impulse & Initiative: What If M...
One of the worst things about having a favorite author who died close to 200 years ago is I don't get to anticipate the new release. Despite the enjoyment I get from re-reading Jane Austen again and again through her various novels, I do get the itch of wanting to know where the characters went, what they did after, and it's then that I go in search of spin-off and like-style books. I recently came across the author Abigail Reynolds, and discovered that she wrote four books that essentially explore different ways that the classic novel Pride and Prejudice could have gone had the characters said or done something different during the story. My first try of hers was Impulse and Initiative: What if Mr. Darcy Didn't Take No For An Answer?
Perhaps Mr. Darcy didn't move on with his life, and instead of fate bringing Elizabeth Bennet back to him when visiting Pemberly with her aunt and uncle, he decided, after her initial refusal to her proposal, to return to Longbourn and woo her anyway. This is the path that Reynolds proposes in I&I. After a slight kick in the pants from Col. Fitzwilliam (and the threat of some competition) Darcy returns with Bingley to Netherfield, and begins spending more time with Elizabeth in the hopes to win her hand.
The story that follows gave me mixed emotions; although I didn't mind the change of course in the story, Reynolds clearly was writing in a 21st century appropriate style. I would have been content with references to the impropriety that followed the course of their courtship, but reading blatant references to Darcy and Elizabeth's actions made me embarrassed for Elizabeth, and for Jane Austen. The language was not at all aligned with the earlier 1800's, yet Reynolds did use entire phrases and speeches from the original novel at times, which was nice. I admit, when I began reading this it had been so long since I had read P&P, and had seen the movie enough to have details and timelines skewed, that I put I&I down and picked up the original, re-reading it to be in a better frame of mind to make the comparisons. The biggest difference is the timing; Darcy pursued her again much quicker. The other would be the passion that the two of them ignited in each other, and their decisions then repercussions of it. Then again, most of that was inferred on the summary and cover of the paperback book, so I wasn't entirely shocked.
For an interesting alternative to Pride and Prejudice, this was enjoyable enough, but I am not sure at this point if I will attempt any of Reynolds's other variations. I think that I would prefer something a bit more authentic. However, being an Austen scholar herself, and having consulted on the book with an official Austen-lovers group, Abigail Reynolds has proven that not all Austen-ites are as finicky as me.
Published in 2008 by Sourcebooks Landmark 390pgs.
At 497 words this is an entry in the Lean N Mean VIII write-off!!
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