Duty and Desire

June 5, 2006
The second installment in Aidan's Fitzwilliam Darcy trilogy has the Pride and Prejudice
hero wrestling with his infatuation with Elizabeth Bennet. While Aidan's Darcy exhibits the class snobbery and noblesse oblige readers expect of him, he also has a purpose: Darcy decides he must find another woman "of his own station as beautiful and blessed with wit as Elizabeth Bennet, whose charms would banish her from his mind and displace her in his heart." While searching for this woman, Darcy looks after his sister, Georgiana, who is emerging from a long depression. Aidan is comfortable with the overwrought Regency prose and tropes ("The horses, atremble with desire for home, broke into a canter from which no one in the coach wished to dissuade them") and, instead of imitating Austen, convincingly makes Darcy's story her own. Darcy and his loyal valet, Fletcher, travel to Norwycke Castle for a house party where murky inheritances, debt, husband-hunting aristocrats, the supernatural and dead ancestors commingle, resulting in a good time for fans of the series and those enamored of Austen.

September 1, 2006
For the umpteenth time, Jane Austen's classic "Pride and Prejudice" is retold, now from the perspective of her romantic hero, Fitzwilliam Darcy. But the authors employ very different approaches. Aylmer, the pen name of an Austen enthusiast who lives in Bath, England, incorporates huge sections from Austen, including entire conversations. She explains why in her introduction, which also includes an analysis of Darcy's character that she attempts to demonstrate in her reworking. Unfortunately, too many of Aylmer's additions may annoy rather than enlighten Austen fans. Such insertions as -replied Darcy - or -she asked him with surprise - impede rather than clarify their exchanges, and including information on things like Wickham's relationship with Georgiana early in the story reduces Austen's narrative complexity. Why settle for a pale imitation that includes so much of the original?

In contrast, Aidan creates plot lines scarcely hinted at in Austen. After an impressive start in "An Assembly Such as This", the first title in her -Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman - trilogy, originally self-published, she now tackles the months during which Darcy is absent in "Pride and Prejudice". Darcy is delighted to observe Georgiana's growing self-confidence after her rescue from Wickham, although he is somewhat uneasy about her intense religious devotion. Attempting to forget Elizabeth and find a suitable wife, he visits a university friend at his country estate, where he evades a love charm, interprets mysterious portents, and uncovers the true identity of an Irish -servant - scheming for revenge. Readers who enjoy Gothic romance might be intrigued by Aidan's foray into the genre, though others may see this volume as filler until Darcy and Elizabeth meet again in the trilogy's final installment. Libraries may want to wait for that book to see whether Aidan succeeds as well as she did in the first and to decide whether this bridge volume is a necessary purchase." -Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State Univ. Lib., Mankato"

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2006
What is it about Fitzwilliam Darcy? Two hundred years after he captivated Elizabeth Bennett, readers still can't seem to get their fill of him. This title is just the latest in Darcy-inspired Jane Austen "fanfiction." It's better to forget " Pride and Prejudice" and read Aidan's knockoff on its own terms. " Duty and Desire " takes place during a few short weeks following Darcy's departure from Netherfield. After spending some time in London with his sister Georgiana and noting some puzzling changes in her interests, he sets off for a house party, determined to put Elizabeth Bennett out of his mind and find himself a more suitable partner. At first the aristocratic group gathered at Norwycke Castle seems to offer matrimonial possibilities, but soon Darcy is embroiled in a somewhat improbable mystery, which is solved thanks in part to the below-stairs access of Fletcher, his resourceful valet. Plenty of period detail, witty dialogue, humor (including a scene in which several characters discuss the new novel " Sense and Sensibility" ), and elements of the gothic will keep readers entertained. This is the middle book in a trilogy, preceded by " An Assembly Such As This" (2006) and followed by " These Three Remain. " All three were originally self--published. Simon & Schuster will bring out " These Three Remain " early next year. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)