Mr Darcy's Diary

- Maya Slater -

Recommended by Mum!

Retells the events of Pride and Prejudice from Mr Darcy's perspective in the form of a diary that he has kept since the death of his mother.

Was certainly well written in the sense that it wasn't gratuitously over the top or unrecognisable as the character from the original, and I was enjoying it as I read along for the most part, but after finishing and the more that I think about, the more I think:meh.

It went a bit far for me in terms of making excuses for Mr. Darcy, ie: he was just distracted worrying about his sister (who was raped by Wickham which I certainly could have lived without) hence his initial rudeness to Elizabeth et al. Subsequently, he describes himself as so overcome by her beauty and wit that he is speechless and so on.

The inclusion of Lord Byron as an old school friend and corrupter of both Darcy and Bingley just did not work for me either. Over the top and unnecessary, I thought, and makes Darcy's disapproval of Wickham (who is now a repeat rapist instead of just a serial eloper to make him seem measurably worse) seem hypocritical given that Darcy is also portrayed as having flings with various servants and visiting bordellos.

Not that those things would not have occured, I suppose, but reading about Darcy taking a housemaid for a tumble at Netherfield or getting unintentionally drunk with Byron just does not ring true for me. What of his legendary pride and self control?