Noteworthy Courtship
| Title: | A Noteworthy Courtship |
| Author: | Laura Sanchez |
| Genre: | Historical, Romance |
| Copyright: | 2008 |
| Ranking: | Good |
| Binding: | Trade paperback |
| LibraryThing: | Title:Noteworthy Courtship ISBN:978-1449904555 (Add Book) |
| Type: | Owned |
| Read: | 2010-03-14 |
What if the Netherfield party had not left Hertfordshire immediately following the Netherfield ball? What if Mr. Darcy in particular had given himself inducement to remain?
Comical entanglements and exploits thicken the familiar plot; two people are repeatedly drawn to the bookshop in Meryton, and a gentleman from Kent is not so easily dissuaded as he might otherwise have been. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet are as lackadaisical and troublesome as ever, and Mr. Bingley and Miss Jane Bennet are left to their own inclination without the untimely interference of their friends. A new set of characters allow the escapades to continue before finally a resolution can be reached, with much the same happily ever after as Jane Austen intended.
Thoughts
More P&P fanfic; "Pride and Prejudice" meets "You've Got Mail"! Now that's irresistible.
The anonymous correspondence was a bit tricky to set up, but it's good enough.
Things happen differently from canon; Bingley and Jane are wed without interference, and Bingley grows a spine. But Mr. Collins seems set on causing more problems than he did in canon, and Darcy and Elizabeth are failing to understand each other just as much as they did in canon.
The tone and style are nicely in keeping with the period, too.
I like this better than Assumed Engagement. I think the characterisation is better. Both Darcy and Elizabeth retain their original flaws, and they both make mistakes that they regret, and they both grow from them, even though the events unfold quite differently. We have some new friendly characters, but also many of the old unfriendly characters too. I think it works because the actions aren't contrived (apart from the initial setup); they still unfold from the characters and the way that they would normally react. Lady Catherine, for example, still turns up in high dudgeon - though from a different cause - because that is the way she is.