Oh, Mr. Darcy!

I blog to you today from my deck, soaking in the gorgeous summer sun (not really -- I'm under an umbrella. Skin cancer, you know) with ice-water and sweet cherries, and a lovely breeze blowing through the trees. I feel just grand!

Here's a few things I've had going:

Whoa there, Darcy!

The Exploits and Adventures of Miss Alethea Darcy by Elizabeth Aston.

Finished it. Didn't love it, but enjoyed it. Elizabeth Aston has written... 6? 7? books that continue the story of the Darcys, starting with a story about their five daughters (Mr. Darcy's Daughters). It's written in language that captures some of the era, but with a definite modern slant. There is more chat and less description. I find that since Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth aren't actual characters in the story (so far they are always off in Constantinople or Venice or whatever) the reader can have fun with the idea without being scandalized by modern treatment of beloved characters.

Mr. Darcy Takes A Wife by Linda Berdoll

I wrote in an old blog about a book that picks up right after the marriage of the Darcy's and the Bingley's (It may have in fact been called The Darcy's and the Bingley's) and how it was so nauseating with professions of love that I could mark my pages with dribbles of vomit. 

Is that too much of an image?

Anyway, this book has Mr. Darcy acting as more of a reserved jerk than a love-sick sop in private. It's nice. The author is hell-bent on writing in the style of the day, so you have to wade through long paragraphs and ill-chosen words in order to figure out what the hell is happening. There is a lot of flash-back and exposition. I had to reach for the dictionary a few times to figure out who had insulted who. But bits of it are quite funny, and make up for the tedious parts. Lydia explaining sex to Elizabeth and Jane had me laughing quite a lot. 

Lastly, I got new glasses

Shiny!

Definitely saucy librarian time.