Mr. Darcy, Vampyre

Pride & Prejudice has been, quite resolutely, my favorite book of all time. It has never wavered from its number one position in the past fifteen years - from the time I first read the abridged version of Jane Austen's masterpiece. I have great respect for the author and have loved each of the characters more every time I've read it (my watching Colin Firth play Mr. Darcy just sealed my romance of the character). Consequently, I ended up reading a bunch of sequels, and diaries, and most 'accompanying' novels. (I will speak of them in later posts). Most recently, however, I read Mr. Darcy, Vampyre by Amanda Grange, and all I can say is - :0, seriously?!

The story begins towards the end of Pride and Prejudice, just before the wedding ceremonies of Jane and Elizabeth Bennett to Mr. Charles Bingley and Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. It is all good and nice, keeping with the customs of the early 19th century. Mr. and Mrs. Darcy then embark upon their wedding tour. Instead of going to the lake district (which Lizzie jokes that she was never meant to visit) they go to France. Mr. Darcy assures Elizabeth that it's safe to travel to France as the revolution is sort of calming down and the English won't be driven out even though Napolean is yet to be dealt with.

Like every charming young bride, Elizabeth prepares for her wedding night, which never comes. She begins to see things in Darcy that she hadn't noticed before. His distractions and anxiety in her presence lead her to believe that he regrets their marriage despite his assurances that he loves her more now than before.

Elizabeth gets to meet the Darcy clan, relatives who have lived abroad for centuries. Cousins and uncles and friends horde them as they travel through France and Italy. But there is the lurking demon. Elizabeth meets an old uncle of Darcy's, sees a painting of the 'Count' and Darcy that could've been at least a 100 years old, hears accounts of some Darcy relative meeting with Marco Polo, attending masquerades as 'in the old days'... it triggers something in Lizzie's memory, but she doesn't care much for it. Eventually strange things begin to happen. An axe falls in the path of the newlyweds as they enter the Count's home, a frightening dream that is more like déjà vu, a mob and their flight through the mountains, Darcy's reactions to Lizzie's questions, his evasive answers and strange relatives and tales, his relatives' thoughts that Darcy should've never married because of what he would bring upon his 'type', Lady Catherine's sudden appearance that he was bringing shame to his kind when Anne was his chosen mate, a Prince that seems to charm, the presence of some unknown but powerful source... and of course Darcy's reluctance to discuss anything.

It is only towards the end that Elizabeth realizes who/what Darcy is, and why he judiciously avoided the subject of their 'marital bed' even though he was very much in love with her. This revelation isn't as dramatic as it is supposed to be. It's more of an, "Oh!"

It is what follows the revelation that make me a little wary of the book, because it is a very well written book, just that the 'climax' is too quick, messed up, and a little too far fetched. Hidden Roman temples, a way to 'undo' the vampire 'curse' and live a mortal life, believing and holding on to what is true... it isn't reminiscent of the Twilight series but it does make one think of how misused vampires are by authors. I say this only because I am a fan of the classic vampire. As drawn out by John Polidori and Bram Stoker and to some extent even Anne Rice and Stephen King. All others just make me cringe and think, "What did vampires do so wrong that you portray them to be something completely different from what legend and myth dictate them to be?"

I have no issues with Grange's treatment of vampires, really. She does them due respect, even if it is just in a quick, taken for granted notion. I just probably expected more from the author of Mr. Darcy's Diary. Amanda Grange paints a rather perfect 'gothic' like picture of the time with her descriptions and words, but the character depth seemed a little lost to me. It's probably, again, because of my expectations as matched with Austen's portrayal of them, but honestly, I don't think it does them enough justice. While the reader is aware from the very beginning of Mr. Darcy's true identity, it did get a little frustrating for me waiting for the sensible Lizzie to put things together and figure it out. Also, there are several instances where the author sets the scene up for some action or emotional drama sequence but then nothing really happens, because if it did then I missed the excitement about it.

Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, is a good read for any Austen fan, more specifically any Darcy drooler (like myself). Just read it and think to yourself, "Oh!".