Friday, April 2, 2010

The Darcy Cousins by Monica Fairview

I received a review copy of this novel from Sourcebooks. This in no way affected my opinions.

Another gem from Monica Fairview. I thoroughly enjoyed her previous Pride and Prejudice spin-off The Other Mr. Darcy, which told the story of Caroline Bingley and Robert Darcy, Mr. Darcy's American cousin. Now in The Darcy Cousins, we meet another American Darcy – Clarissa Darcy. The Darcy Cousins tells the story of Georgiana Darcy and her new friendship with her vivacious cousin and the new people she meets – 'people' as in fashionable young gentlemen. Ahem.

The Darcys are spending Easter at Rosings and Clarissa spares no time in driving Lady Catherine up the wall. Clarissa and Georgiana also take pains in trying to free Anne, who has practically been a prisoner in her own home. However, things soon get out of hand when Anne is found missing and Lady Catherine immediately blames Clarissa. Everything is turned upside down as the Darcys are banished from Rosings and the hunt for Anne begins.

Georgiana quickly finds herself taken with a certain gentlemen named Mr. Channing, but unfortunately for her, he only has eyes for her cousin. Georgiana then finds her attention unwillingly taken up by Mr. Channing's cousin Mr. Gatley. Gatley is far different from his energetic, handsome, selfish cousin, but Georgiana soon finds herself gaining respect for him. However, an unfortunate misunderstanding threatens to ruin her new found feelings.

The Darcy Cousins is full of witty dialogue that I'm coming to expect from Fairview. The characters – new and old – are three dimensional in their personalities. And again, Fairview takes few liberties in the characters of Pride and Prejudice. Their characters are as true as they are in the original novel.

If you loved The Other Mr. Darcy, then you will for sure love The Darcy Cousins. Although, you don't need to have read the former to read and enjoy this novel.


3 comments:

Meredith said...

Enjoyed your review, Christy! I'm glad you enjoyed it as much as I did. I love Ms. Fairview's style in these sequels!

Joanne said...

Great review, Christy. Last year, I was on Austen overload so I have not read any P&P inspired books this year. I'm ready now for a good Austenesque book, so I'll give this author a try. Thanks for the recommendation.

Monica Fairview said...

I had a good time reading this review, Christy. I enjoyed the dialogue myself ;)