Cox Commentaries: The Darcys & the Bingleys

While scrolling through Jane Austen books on our public library's online catalog, I came across Marsha Altman's The Darcys & the Bingleys: A Tale of Two Gentlemen's Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters. Though skeptical about any sequel not written by the original author, I was curious about this one so I put a hold on it. I did not expect that it would be anywhere near Jane Austen quality, and in this expectation I was not disappointed.

In the book, Altman imagines what happens in the Darcys' and Bingleys' lives after Pride and Prejudice leaves off, including the weddings and first few years of the marriages of Elizabeth Bennett to Fitzwilliam Darcy and Jane Bennett to Charles Bingley. She attempts (and succeeds fairly) to breathe further life into the characters, exploring some of Darcy's and Bingley's past, as well as trying to endear her audience to Caroline Bingley by explaining why she is the way she is. The plot has some interesting twists, sword play, sexual innuendo (though nothing explicit), courtship, a Scottish Lord in a kilt, and a scene where a major character gets shot in the back, which provide some entertainment and may help the reader overlook some of the novel's many minor flaws.

The novel is divided into two books, which I found odd. I kept expecting to find the start of "Book Three" (there was no Table of Contents to give me prior indication that there wasn't one), and when I reached the end, I wondered whether I had somehow missed it. Having the novel divided into just two books was awkward, and Altman would have been better to have omitted the divide all together, as it really wasn't necessary.

Altman attempts to write in Jane Austen's style and to be true to Austen's characters, but in these attempts she falls short. (Let's face it, Austen is inimitable.) Altman lacks some of the wit and irony that have made Austen books endearing to generations of women. Some of the scenes in Altman's novel were obliviously created only to allow for a reminiscence, and are not entirely believable. Other scenes are predictable or lacking in detail (e.g., I would have appreciated a better account of the final sword fighting scene which encompassed all of one short paragraph, and yet we are supposed to believe was an amazing battle).

Overall, if I were rating the novel using the movie star rating system, I would give it two stars--"it's a rental." Though I enjoyed the book and at times didn't want to put it down, I did not love it enough that it made it to my book wish list. I am unlikely to read it again, and if I ever were so inclined you can bet I'd be checking it out from the library again and saving my money for more worthy purchases.

For another woman's more detailed review on the book, click here.