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Summary
Summary
Sourcebooks Landmark, the leading publisher of Jane Austen-related fiction, is excited to announce a major release: Mr. Darcy, Vampyreby international bestselling author Amanda Grange.
Amanda Grange, bestselling author of Mr. Darcy's Diary, gives us something completely new--a delightfully thrilling, paranormal Pride and Prejudicesequel, full of danger, darkness and deep romantic love...
Amanda Grange's style and wit bring readers back to Jane Austen's timeless storytelling, but always from a very unique and unusual perspective, and now Grange is back with an exciting and completely new take on Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet.
Mr. Darcy, Vampyre starts where Pride and Prejudice ends and introduces a dark family curse so perfectly that the result is a delightfully thrilling, spine-chilling, breathtaking read. A dark, poignant and visionary continuation of Austen's beloved story, this tale is full of danger, darkness and immortal love.
Author Notes
Amanda Grange is a bestselling author of Jane Austen fiction (over 200,000 copies sold). She lives in England. Sharon Lathan is a bestselling author of Jane Austen fiction (over 100,000 copies sold). She resides in Hanford, California. Carolyn Eberhart is a debut author and member of RWA. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Grange (Mr. Darcy's Diary) continues Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, beginning on Darcy and Elizabeth's wedding day and follows the two on their honeymoon trip to Paris, the Alps and Venice during a lull in the Napoleonic Wars. Told from Elizabeth's point of view, the story is about her expanding horizons as she leaves the sheltered life she led at Netherfield for her new world as a wife and a traveler outside England. Darcy's continued lack of physical attention to Elizabeth makes her realize that something isn't quite right, but the clues provided in the text are too subtle for her to figure out his secret. By the time Darcy reveals his true nature, more than two thirds of the way through the book, Elizabeth is able to accept his announcement (which she sees as less disturbing than her more mundane fears), but its impact on the reader is greatly diluted by the revealing title. Grange manages to capture the period in a manner that will appeal to Austen fans, but vampire fans are likely to be disappointed. (Aug.) Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
Booklist Review
The sequels and continuations of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice are almost too numerous to count, but 2009 has offered ghoulish spins on the beloved novel, first with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and now with this entry, which reimagines Elizabeth Bennet's beloved Mr. Darcy as a noble bloodsucker. Elizabeth's wedding is everything she hoped for, but after they're married Darcy opts for the Continent instead of the Lake District for their honeymoon. More troubling: though he's as affectionate as ever to Elizabeth during the day, he parts ways from her at night, and the marriage remains unconsummated. Making their way through France, into the Alps, and Italy, Elizabeth starts to wonder about her husband's mysterious friends and questions his love for her. Though Elizabeth is uncharacteristically and frustratingly placid and incurious about her husband's reserve and his determination to drag her all around Europe, there's some novelty to be found in the idea that Mr. Darcy's forbidding nature has to do with a dark secret he's keeping. Vampires are all the rage now, so expect interest.--Huntley, Kristine Copyright 2009 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Grange (Mr. Darcy's Diary) injects fresh life into the well-worn world of Jane Austen sequels by presenting Darcy as a vampire. Elizabeth goes through most of the novel oblivious of her husband's affliction, wondering why Darcy no longer seems to love her. The ending is pure gothic romance, complete with a chase, some dilapidated ruins, and the happily-ever-after that Austenites love and expect. Verdict Readers used to the over-the-top romanticism of most Austen sequels may not find it here, and they may expect an Elizabeth who is a little more headstrong and a lot less helpless. Also, Elizabeth's cluelessness to her husband's true nature goes on a smidgen too long. Sill, kudos to Grange for attempting a mash-up of Twilight and Pride and Prejudice, and for doing something different, even if it isn't entirely successful. [75,000-copy first printing.]-Nanette Wargo Donohue, Champaign P.L., IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
PROLOGUE| December 1802
My dearest Jane,
My hand is trembling as I write this letter. My nerves are in tatters and I am so altered that I believe you would not recognise me. The past two months have been a nightmarish whirl of strange and disturbing circumstances, and the future…
Jane, I am afraid.
If anything happens to me, remember that I love you and that my spirit will always be with you, though we may never see each other again. The world is a cold and frightening place where nothing is as it seems.
It was all so different a few short months ago. When I awoke on my wedding morning, I thought myself the happiest woman alive…
CHAPTER 1 | October 1802
Elizabeth Bennet's wedding morning was one of soft mists and mellow sunshine. She drew back her bedroom curtains to see the dreaming English landscape lying serene and beautiful beneath a soft white quilt. The mist was at its thickest by the river, lying voluptuously over the water, then thinning out as it spread over the fields and pastures before disappearing, wisp-like, into the trees.
The birds were silent, but there was a sense of expectancy in the air. It was as though the world were waiting for the sun to rise and burn away the gauzy veil, revealing the true
colours of the countryside, not muted white and grey, but green and blue and gold.
Elizabeth sank onto the window seat and pulled her knees up in front of her. She wrapped her arms around them and her thoughts drifted to the ceremony that was to come. Images floated through her mind: she and her father walking down the aisle, Darcy waiting for her, the ring slipping onto her finger…
She was not the only one to have risen early. Her mother was already awake, complaining to anyone who would listen to her about her nerves, and Mary was playing the piano.
Kitty was calling out, 'Has anyone seen my ribbon?' and Mr Bennet was adding a full stop to his dry reply by closing the library door.
Beside her, Jane was still sleeping.
As she watched the world waking outside the window, Elizabeth thought of the past year and of how lucky she and her sister had been. They had both met men they loved and now, after many trials and difficulties, they were to marry them.
Elizabeth could not remember whose idea it had been to have a joint ceremony but she was glad to know that her sister was to share the happiest day of her life--no, not the happiest, for she was sure that was yet to come--but the happiest day of her life thus far.
As the sun rose and the mists began to lift, Jane stirred. She blinked and then lifted herself on one elbow, pushing her fair hair out of her eyes and smiling her slow, beautiful smile.
'You're awake early,' she said to Lizzy.
'And so are you.'
'Here.' Jane climbed out of bed and took a wrapper from its peg behind the door, then draped it over her sister's shoulders. 'You don't want to catch cold.'
Lizzy took the wrapper and put it on, then she caught her sister's hand impulsively and said, 'Only think, in a few more hours we will be married. I will be on the way to the Lake District for my wedding tour, and you will be on your way to London, to visit Bingley's relations there.'
Jane sat down on the window seat opposite Elizabeth and Elizabeth made herself smaller, to give her sister more room. Jane raised one knee and let her other leg dangle over the edge of the seat, with her foot swinging idly an inch or two from the floor. She looked absently out of the window and twirled one fair curl idly round her finger, then she turned to face her sister and she said, 'Do you wish we were going on our wedding tours together?'
'Yes,' said Lizzy. 'And no.'
Jane nodded thoughtfully.
'I will miss you, Jane, but we need some time alone with our husbands,' said Lizzy, 'especially to begin with. You will write to me, though, won't you?'
'Of course. And you will write to me?'
'Every day. Well, perhaps not every day,' said Lizzy with a sudden smile, 'and perhaps not at all just at first, but I will write often and tell you what I am doing, and you must do the same.'
They heard the sound of footsteps on the stair and they knew it was their mother, who was coming to hurry them into dressing, even though the ceremony would not begin for another three hours. They greeted her with affection, being too happy to worry about anything this morning, and listened to all her anxieties, both real and imagined. They reassured her that Kitty would not cough in the ceremony and that Mrs Long would not steal Mr Bingley for her niece at the last moment--'for I am sure she would be capable of trying,' said Mrs Bennet.
'Mr Bingley loves Jane,' said Lizzy.
Mrs Bennet smiled complacently.
'I cannot wonder at it. I knew she could not be so beautiful for nothing. Now, girls, you must come downstairs.
Breakfast is ready in the dining-room.'
Elizabeth and Jane exchanged glances. They could not face the thought of a family breakfast, with their mother fussing and Mary moralizing.
'I am not hungry,' said Elizabeth.
'Nor I,' said Jane.
Their mother protested, but they would not be persuaded and at last Mrs Bennet went downstairs, calling, 'Kitty! Kitty, my love! I want to speak to you…'
Elizabeth and Jane breathed a sigh of relief when they were left alone again.
'We should eat something, though, even if we don't really want it,' said Jane.
'I couldn't eat a thing,' said Lizzy. 'I'm too excited.'
'You should try,' said Jane, standing up and looking at her sister with affection. 'It will be a long morning and you don't want to faint in the church.'
'All right,' said Lizzy, 'for you, I'll eat something, but only if we don't have to go downstairs.'
Jane swirled her own wrapper from the peg and let it fall round her shoulders, then she drifted out of the room. Elizabeth leaned back against the window and her eyes looked towards Netherfield. She imagined Darcy rising, too, and preparing himself for the wedding.
Her thoughts were recalled by Jane, who returned with a tray of delicacies, and together the two of them managed to make a passable breakfast. They broke off small pieces of hot rolls and ate them slowly, in between sipping hot chocolate.
'What do you think it will be like?' asked Elizabeth.
'I don't know,' said Jane. 'Different.'
'You will still be here, at Netherfield,' said Elizabeth, 'but
I will be living in Derbyshire.'
'With Mr Darcy,' said Jane.
'Yes, with my beloved Darcy,' she said with a long smile.