Mr. Darcy's Diary - Amanda Grange

★★★★★★★★★★ (10/10)

My 10 star rating does coming with a warning: I am ridiculously partial to Jane Austen, all of her characters, and any novels either take part in, so it is likely that this estimation of Mr. Darcy's Diary is extraordinary biased.

However, it's wonderful to see that an author cared about the other side of Pride and Prejudice.  I've read the novel, criticism of Jane Austen, essays on various characters, histories of the era, and I even own a book on the life of Miss Austen, but I've never come across a novel like Mr. Darcy's Diary.  Amanda Grange covers every episode from P&P  and creates what happened when Mr. Darcy was out of the picture, but best of all, I could really believe that Grange knew how Darcy would think.  Each entry in his "diary" was true to character: logical, proud, sometimes a bit cold, not too embellished, and straight to the point.  I don't think Austen herself could have done a better job with Darcy's inner workings. 

Grange also includes insights into other characters as well, ones who are more connected to Darcy's world than the Bennets'.  Bingley's mind is better known through this novel because Darcy includes their conversations, Bingley's flaws and virtues, and Darcy's own opinions of the way Bingley acts.  Caroline Bingley's malice is even greater than in P&P because Grange allows the reader to see what she really thinks when Austen wasn't looking.  There are even scenes where her almost shameless flirtation and pursuance of Darcy make her look more manipulative and disgusting than I already thought she was. Best of all, since this is Darcy's diary, there is more thought on Georgiana.  There is very little in P&P, mostly because she just isn't that important.  She is a vehicle for Wickham's downfall, and a soft spot for Darcy himself.  Now, Grange imagines what Austen might have done with Georgiana if the story had taken a different tack.  I'd want Georgie as a little sister if she could be anything like this!

Collectively, I think that Mr. Darcy's Diary only took me about 5 or 6 hours to read.  It was quick, but I think that it had something to do with my delight in the subject.  Even with it being over so quickly, I was immensely happy with the book as a whole.  I especially enjoyed Grange's imaginings on how Elizabeth and Darcy's married life would be.  They are married in November, but Grange continues on into March with his entries.  What happens after the wedding is probably one of the biggest questions ever asked about P&P and I loved Grange's ideas about how Darcy would think and feel about his new life.  The changes in characters like Kitty and Anne de Bourgh, after November, are particularly to be noted.

This novel is best read after reading P&P for the first time or knowing it front to back by heart, otherwise, you might be tempted to compare the two as you go, which defeats the purpose of Diary.  It's written by a person who obviously loves P&P, and who has taken great care to be accurate and to to Austen's original.  As quoted on the back of the paperback edition, "Amanda Grange has perfectly captured all of Jane Austen's clever wit and social observations to make Mr. Darcy's Diary a must read for any fan."  She's spot on for every detail, every scene, and every wish that readers have had for years.

I know that Grange has a whole series of these diaries from characters throughout Austen's novels, and I can't wait to read them all!  I'm glad I started here, with Mr. Darcy's Diary, because retellings, or alternate tellings, of Pride and Prejudice can be very tricky. I've seen some fail utterly.  Yet, if an author can do such a superb job with it, I can only imagine other writings in the same vein can only be as good, if not better.