It is always the
same old story between them. At first
glance things never work properly between Darcy and Elizabeth. They never hit
it off in fact, neither when he is a wealthy British philanthropist and she is
an idealist American doctor volunteering
in a poor country like Vietnam.
In Nina Benneton's story, Elizabeth can’t
understand the reason for the reverence Darcy
gets from all the people around him:
“It ‘s
hard to be intimidated by a guy who faints at the sight of blood” , she thinks at first, after their awkward, catastrophic
meeting in the emergency room of the
hospital where she’s been asked to treat injured Charles Bingley, Darcy’s best
friend .
Furthermore, why is
this Darcy so hysterically worried for his friend? And why are the two men keenly supporting Mr and Mrs Hurst’s application for an adoption, when the
married couple themselves don’t seem so truly interested ?
Elizabeth has her own suspicions.
All funnily wrong, actually. Nonetheless, that is what gives start to an amusing series
of misconceptions, misunderstandings and
misadventures which will lead the reader, fatally as
well as predictably, to the highly longed for rewarding happy ending.
A new modern
romance inspired to Pride and Prejudice from Sourcebooks publishers: light, amusing, fast
paced, sexy and romantic at the same time. Elizabeth and Darcy are caught in a
spicy love affair. So beware of some adult content and get ready to live very hot moments.
Nina Benneton has
depicted a new Jane Bennet and different
Charles Bingley, and hasn't neglected cousin Fitzwilliam, Mr Collins, George Wickham, Lady Catherine
de Bourgh , Anne or Georgiana. However, she does not simply follow their steps and
relationships as in Pride and Prejudice but creates surprising twists and
turns as well as quirky hilarious moments with them.
If you let me be totally
honest, though I think it was fun and relaxing to read this modernization of Pride and Prejudice, I also have to recognize that there is very
little Miss Austen in it and even less of her well-mannered world - as you might have already inferred from what I’ve
written above.
I must confess: I’ve stopped looking for Jane
Austen reading Austen-inspired fan-fiction,
that’s the only way you can enjoy it fully. If you insist in the quest for her voice, wit and world in modern
retellings or sequels, you may
face constant frustration. Of course,
some sequels, prequels, spin-offs or modernizations are better than others but, you know, Austen
is unique, inimitable, unbeatable.
In conclusion, I’d recommend Compulsively Mr Darcy mainly to
adult readers in search for a spicy, irreverent, light and delightful story to enjoy in these
summer holidays. But first, an invitation to all daring Janeite: forget prim and proper dashing Darcy and start dreaming of
a complex and sensitive hero who is gorgeous, hot but definitely contemporary.
Read my interview with author Nina Benneton
