P&P September Post (late as usual....)

Okay but I have an excuse: I've been CRAZY job hunting and just started a new job at a Christian bookstore. We also celebrated Michael's birthday on the 24th with tasty Mexican food, cocktails, and cherry pie!!!

And I beat Diablo III..... so there's that.

Anywho, I DID manage to read and finish a P&P JAFF book: Pride and Prescience: Or, A Truth Universally Acknowledged by Carrie Bebris.

At the wedding breakfast celebrating the nuptials of Mr. & Mrs. Darcy-- and of course the Bingleys-Caroline Bingley does her damnedest to steal Elizabeth's thunder by announcing her engagement to a rich, friendly American. Keeping in line with Caroline's theme of "whirlwind romance," they plan to be married in a week, resulting in both the Bingleys and Darcys delaying their honeymoons in order to attend the event. Unfortunately Caroline's marital happiness is short-lived after several incidents of bizarre behavior frighten her betrothed, family, and the Darcys. Is Caroline Bingley really going insane, or are far sinister motives at work? It's a mystery only Mr. & Mrs. Darcy can solve.

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I enjoyed Bebris's writing, capturing both Elizabeth's wit as well as the newlywed dynamic between her and Darcy. And by that I should clarify that I don't mean sex though there's some cute flirting; it's the feeling out of each other's personalities and learning to work as a husband/wife team. The story itself was a fun, easy read with a few eerie moments and a couple intense scenes... not to mention a bit of murder and intrigue! Putting the Darcys in a mystery is a clever idea and worked well.

However, it was predictable which is a problem I run into a lot with JAFF. There was one supernatural twist at the end that threw me because the book doesn't have a supernatural tone, and I'm curious to see if Bebris carries that over into the rest of the series. That's right: SERIES. There are 6 total books in this mystery series, each one involving characters from every Austen novel. I've begun Suspense and Sensibility and so far I'm enjoying the direction of the plot. I'm hoping Bebris's storytelling matures as the I continue through each book.

Bride & Prejudice film: August P&P Pick

While I have a particular weakness for Indian RomComs, I'd never actually seen a Bollywood production, and since I didn't have time to read any P&P JAFF I thought I'd watch some.

A little about Bollywood:

These films are HUGE productions with large budgets, lots of colorful costumes, and many many so many frickin' musical numbers. Like every five minutes for the first half of the almost three hour film.

Bride & Prejudice is a modern and interesting interpretation of Jane Austen's classic love story; if you're going to choose a present-day culture to set a story about a "Mama" trying to find four (Kitty was left out of the movie) daughters excellent marriages, India makes sense.

William Darcy is a rich American hotel mogul whose come to India with Balraj (Bingley) and his sister Kiran-- played by the amazing Indira Varma from Luther and Rome)-- for a huge wedding in which Balraj is best man. Balraj and Kiran are wealthy, well-connected, career driven Londoners. While in India, Darcy hopes to take a side trip in order to purchase a hotel. At the wedding, two of the bride's attendants are Lalita (Elizabeth) and Jaya (Jane) Bakshi. The men see the women, and BOOM, love makin' MAGIC.

Many of the plot points in Bride & Prejudice remain the same: Johnny Wickham shows up, Mr. Kohli (Collins) from LA gets rejected, and Jaya's heart is broken. You and I both know how it ends, but there are plenty of differences: Wickham actually got Georgiana pregnant, the character of Lady Catherine takes the form of Darcy's mother, and Kiran has no real interest in Darcy other than friendship.

If I'm being blunt (and I usually am), skip Bride & Prejudice. The film was far too long, the amount of musical numbers began to grate on my nerves, and the acting by New Zealander Martin Henderson playing Darcy was bad. It was frustrating seeing Literature's sexiest 18th century hero as a subpar, boring character with absolutely no chemistry between him and Lalita. I would've been more interested in a Bollywood adaptation with no Western influences. There's still plenty of Pomp and Circumstance, the music is good when not inhibiting the progression of the story, and the film is in English if you're not a fan of subtitles. However, I'd suggest subtitles anyway because many of the actors have thick accents and talk fast, plus the songs are in Hindi.

Not my cup of tea but if you happen to love Jane Austen and Bollywood, this one's for you.


Rating: 2 out of 5 Ribbons

P&P Bicentenary Challenge: The Unexpected Miss Bennet by Patrice Sarath

Thanks for the photo Goodreads

This might upset the Darcyholics, but I'm drawn more to a Mary Bennet love story than a Darcy and Elizabeth sequel. As much as every woman wants to be Lizzy, I have to be honest and admit that I relate to Mary more than any other Bennet daughter. Sure, she's awkward, pious, and overly serious, but I've always felt that underneath it all, Mary loves her sisters even though she doesn't understand them and they mock her. Not to mention the difficulty growing up as the third behind the otherworldly beauty that is Jane and the intelligence, wit, and beauty that is Elizabeth, then have the unbelievably silly Kitty and Lydia as younger sisters. Poor Mary has been invisible her whole life, in part because of her family, but also because of her own choices. 

Patrice Sarath explores those choices in The Unexpected Miss Bennet, a wonderfully written Pride and Prejudice sequel taking place one year after the Bingley/Darcy double wedding. Kitty is off to visit Jane, and consequently London, while Mary remains with her parents. Now alone, Mary begins to take walks, reanalyze her previously coveted Fordyce's Sermons, and stops playing piano. Concerned Mrs. Bennet has given up the search to find Mary a match, Lizzie brings Mary to Pemberly to help with the husband hunt. Like every fun P&P continuation, all our favorite characters must show up in one form or another, so the Darcy household eventually travels to Rosings where Mary begins an unusual connection with Anne de Bourgh and is given a tough life choice. Will Mary Bennet ever find love or will she remain the quiet girl in the corner with the serious countenance? 

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In three words: I loved it.

Sarath did an excellent job diving into the motivation and backstory of Mary Bennet, allowing us readers to watch her evolution and realize misgivings as well as strengths. Though the story lacked much drama (despite a small reference to the infamous Wickhams) and held few surprises, it's truly a character piece and kept me turning page after page to witness Mary Bennet go from girl to woman. In addition, Sarath gives Mr. Bennet a supporting role, I believe, as a chance to redeem himself from his P&P reputation as an indifferent father favoring only Lizzy. I also enjoyed the dynamic between Anne de Bourgh and Mary. However, the rest of the characters felt underdeveloped.

In addition, the romance didn't quite make sense and was rather sudden, though the book is a fast read and could've benefited from even more content. Yet the themes and lessons throughout made me think and I even earmarked several pages with excellent quotations. The story overall was sweet and enjoyable, but if you're one who loves lots of action in your Regency reads, this isn't the book for you. And while I mentioned the Wickham cameo above, it did feel a bit contrived, as if Sarath's editor wanted her to add more conflict so she threw Lydia in at the last minute.

All in all, this is the second Mary Bennet romance I've had the pleasure of reading and I'm thrilled I stumbled upon it in Barnes & Noble. It's a great addition to any JAFF library and is on my re-read list.... in fact, I almost started it over when I finished!

Rating

4 out of 5 ribbons

Go to Amazon and get your copy here

Click here to see my full list of P&P challenge books and find out more info about it.

Come back in May for my review of Pride and Precience: Or, A Truth Universally Acknowledged.