Mr. Darcy, Vampire-Amanda Grange

Mr. Darcy, Vampire
Amanda Grange
Sourcebook, Aug 1 2009, $14.99
ISBN: 9781402236976

In October 1802, Elizabeth Bennett believes she is the luckiest woman in England because this is her wedding day to her beloved Mr. Darcy. It is actually a double wedding as her sister Jane is marrying Mr. Bingley. The ceremony goes off without a hitch. After the gala instead of going to the Lake District, Darcy tells Elizabeth they are heading to Paris since the truce remains steady between Napoleon and England.

In France, she meets Darcy’s friends, exuberant sybarites who disapprove of the marriage because of her bloodline. They feels he should have wedded one of his own. Elizabeth won his heart but though he loves her Darcy fails to consummate their marriage. From Paris they visit his uncle in the Alps, but at the chateau, t his blood relative tells them to go when a mob storms the places because they disapprove of Elizabeth. They head to Venice where she finally learns the truth about her husband when he kills one of his own kind. She must decide whether they separate, a thought she loathes, or consummate the marriage knowing what he is.

Mr. Darcy’s reservations, temperament and apparent aloofness are explained in a most unusual way by Jane Austin guru Amanda Grange (see the diaries saga) as he hides what torments him from his beloved. Readers tour the content with the pair, but see Europe through Darcy’s eyes that also enables the audience to learn more about him, past and present. Weird but entertaining as Ms. Grange understands Darcy as if he is a living “undead” family member she knew back during the Napoleonic Era.

Harriet Klausner