NEWS ROUNDUP: Mr Darcy in Hyde Park

Q. What’s better than a twelve-foot tall statue of our Mr Darcy in Hyde Park? A. The news stories and comments generated on the back of it.*

(Photo embedded via The Guardian)

BOOK REVIEW: Fitzwilliam Darcy Rock Star

“A modern Pride & Prejudice that will rock your world … Sex, Drugs, Rock ‘N’ Roll” – Book cover

I picked up this 2011 modern retelling of our Pride and Prejudice from Glebe’s Sappho Books secondhand for $12 the other week – I spotted it straight away on the shelf (I think my brain is tuned into anything with the words ‘Darcy’, ‘Pride and Prejudice’ or ‘Bennet’ on it). I have struggled about where to begin with this review as I really enjoyed some aspects of it, and yet completely disliked other parts. Heather Lynn Rigaud has certainly succeeded in writing a book that will divide opinion, and my feelings are definitely mixed. By the end of it, you’ll feel as though you’ve gotten to know all the characters well, but you’ll also feel like you’ve run a marathon. Let me explain.

BOOK REVIEW: The Pursuit of Mary Bennet: A Pride and Prejudice Novel

“The day of the ball allowed no tranquility, no peace of mind. What I had hoped would be a time of sweet anticipation turned rapidly into a nightmare,” – Page 102, Chapter 11

I was honestly blown away by how much I liked this book. The first Austen-inspired book to come from Pamela Mingle (who wrote Kissing Shakespeare), and potentially one of my favourite Mary Bennet remakes out, The Pursuit of Mary Bennet is how I like my Austen fiction written. It may even surpass most other Mary Bennet versions just due to how inkeeping it is with what is expected from Mary, and the multiple pursuits happening within the book – emotional/love pursuits, actual chasing pursuits of scandalous characters and a deeper more personal pursuit for a place and meaning in life.

Book review and author Q&A: Jane Austen Junkie

‘A compilation of over 600 books and 50 movies inspired by Jane Austen’ – Jane Austen Junkie: Get Your Fix!

When it comes to things I like in life as much as I love Elizabeth Bennet, I’d put very few things on the list. But one item I’d happily add, is a good list itself. The pure act of listing things relaxes me – I write one every morning at work to simplify the rest of my day into something manageable. I also love to read lists. In fact, as a child I was once found “reading the thesaurus” – in actual fact I was reading little jump out boxes that had lists of related words in them on different topics, such as ‘pirates’ and ‘fabrics’. I never was a normal child. So when a book came along that combined my love of Jane Austen with my love of lists, I was ecstatic.