Book Review- Mr. Darcy's Diary

For the Mount TBR Pile Challenge, the Shelf Love Challenge and the Full House Reading Challenge I read Amanda Grange's novel Mr. Darcy's Diary.

Synopsis from Goodreads: Monday 9th September""I left London today and met Bingley at Netherfield Park. I had forgotten what good company he is; always ready to be pleased and always cheerful. After my difficult summer, it is good to be with him again. ...""The only place Darcy could share his innermost feelings was in the private pages of his diary...Torn between his sense of duty to his family name and his growing passion for Elizabeth Bennet, all he can do is struggle not to fall in love.Mr. Darcy's Diary presents the story of the unlikely courtship of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy from Darcy's point of view. This graceful imagining and sequel to Pride and Prejudice explains Darcy's moodiness and the difficulties of his reluctant relationship as he struggles to avoid falling in love with Miss Bennet. Though seemingly stiff and stubborn at times, Darcy's words prove him also to be quite devoted and endearing - qualities that eventually win over Miss Bennet's heart. This continuation of a classic romantic novel is charming and elegant, much like Darcy himself.

I hadn't been much impressed with the Jane Austen spin off novels I'd read before Mr. Darcy's Diary so I had low expectations going in to reading it. However, I was quite pleasantly surprised.
This novel greatly humored me. Darcy's dry wit really seeped into his writing. Quotes like "Bingley was an optimist" were my favorite. :) I also really enjoyed seeing his character develop. In Pride and Prejudice he talked to Elizabeth about how long the words "If you had behaved in a more gentlemen like manner" had haunted him since she'd said them and you see that played out in his diary as his character improves. At the beginning he seriously is a snob but by the end you see how much he has changed. Amanda Grange writes that really well... though obviously most of the credit should be given to Jane Austen for originally telling the story. Grange just fleshes it out. Grange started the story with the summer before Darcy meets the Bennet family.... the summer Wickham tries to seduce Georgiana. I liked how that worked though as you get to see how much Darcy goes through because of that and see more obviously why he dislikes Wickham so much. Most of the dialogue included in his diary is straight from Pride and Prejudice though there is some that Grange adds between Darcy and Bingley and a little between Darcy and Elizabeth in spots where Austen just indicated that they talked but didn't say what they actually said. Grange also includes a little past the end of Pride and Prejudice into their married life, which was kind of cute. This actually reminds (SPOILER) me that she added a surprise romance.... Colonel Fitzwilliam and Anne de Bourgh! Weird but she makes it work. Anne de Bourgh is a character that I think everyone wonders about. What is she really like? Grange goes a little into that. END SPOILER
One particularly adorable quote (I thought at least) was when after Elizabeth visited Pemberly, Darcy is looking around his estates and is contemplating being married to her and thinks "I looked to the house and saw my daughters returning from a walk, their petticoats covered in mud." :D There were many other adorable quotes and funny quotes but I can't include them all!
The one thing I didn't care for so much, but really it's just a preference, is how it makes Mr. Bingley out to be kind of a lovesick idiot that goes from one girl to another as he goes from London to Bath to Netherfield, ect. I can kind of see how it makes sense from a couple things Darcy says in Pride and Prejudice but I just thought it was a little too overboard. I think Grange did that to make Darcy look better though.... to give him more justification for breaking up Bingley and Jane but it still wasn't my favorite. I do think though that Grange never underplays how much Bingely does care for Jane and she shows that his affection for her are deeper than the flings he has had beforehand. So all in all it works and it's not too bad but it kind of irks me.
Overall, if you are a fan of Jane Austen, and more specifically Pride and Prejudice, I would recommend Mr. Darcy's Diary for a fun interpretation of what Mr. Darcy's diary might have looked like.
P.S. Be sure to check out my five year blogiversary giveaway HERE!

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