A good read, engaging plot. ( )

Another random pick from the library shelves. Elizabeth Aston's Darcy novels are like Pride and Prejudice: the next generation, in which Darcy and Lizzie's five daughters - how inspired! - have various romantic adventures, and secondary Darcy cousins intermarry. Like Cassandra, daughter of Anne de Bourgh and Thaddeus Darcy - 'His father was your grandfather's younger brother, so [Darcy] and Mr Thaddeus were first cousins', if that makes the family tree any clearer! - who also gets to keep her maiden name. Well done to the author for cashing in on Austen's success while creating a tangled cast of original characters, but the list of second sons and scattered relations made my head spin.

The True Darcy Spirit fell between at least three stools for me. A fair attempt at emulating Austen was eventually overpowered by Heyeresque historical romance and a melodramatic political subplot involving the Prince Regent, to the point where I didn't know what I was reading! Whereas Lauren Willig writes unabashed Regency fluff, and Carrie Bebris borrows Mr and Mrs Darcy to play detective in her cosy mysteries, Aston is all over the place. Her history is heavy-handed, full of exposition and modern views, the romance is predictable (even the maid meets her match), and most critically for an 'Austenuation', the whole thing is lacking in humour. Cassandra is nauseatingly perfect, Horatio is a new age romantic hero, and the villain of the piece is straight out of pantomime. Plus, the frequency of timely coincidences reaches ridiculous proportions - when the secondary romantic hero declared himself a German prince, I was actually snorting with laughter.

In the words of one character's literary assessment, 'the characters seemed wooden, the plot improbable, the dialogue stilted'. I dread to think how corny and convoluted the lives of the Darcy sisters - Letitia, Camilla, Alethea, Georgina and the violet-eyed Isabel (wot, no Allegra or Octavia?) - might be, but I don't think I'll be borrowing any more of Miss Aston's novels to find out. ( )

It's been too long since I've read P&P, so the characters and their relationships were a little muddled in my mind at first. Cassandra was in trouble, then out, and I was wondering if she would end up in trouble again. It all comes together delightfully in the end. ( )

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12882634 ( )