Random Reads: Mr. Darcy's Diary

Mr. Darcy's Diary is the story of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett written from Mr. Darcy's point of view. Although it's written in a similar style as Pride and Prejudice, it's different enough to distinguish itself as a totally different work. Mr. Darcy's Diary is a great companion to P&P for readers who struggle with understanding Austen. The book gives good insight, not only into what Mr. Darcy was thinking, but as to the character of Elizabeth, Bingley, Caroline Bingley, Georgiana, Whickam, Mr. Bennett, and the rest of the cast as well. The book follows the events of Pride and Prejudice very well. The one drawback is that it didn't read much like an actual diary which threw me off a bit. For instance, long conversations were recorded, word for word, which is pretty unlikely. While not a huge draw back, things like that keep the book from feeling as believable as it could otherwise.

The author, Amanda Grange, is known for her interpretations of classical novels and takes few liberties with the story. If you've watched and enjoyed the BBC version of P&P, or the recent movie with Kiera Knightly, you'll enjoy this book as well. Unlike some writers, I think Ms. Grange does a wonderful job of giving us more insight to the original novel and characters without crossing the line into using the characters to carry on another story altogether. She gives us just a bit more character development and dialogue  to round the original story out, but doesn't go so far as to make it into something else entirely. I couldn't help but feel Ms. Austin would approve and look forward to reading more Amanda Grange novels in the future!