Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride by Helen Halstead

Originally posted on October 27, 2007

Jane Austen is and always will be one of my favorite writers. I remember I was so excited when I found a copy of "Pride and Prejudice" in our school library before…Well, actually I was only half excited, what with the fact that it was "Sense and Sensibility" that I was actually looking for. But I was still a struggling student then and didn't have any budget for books, unless I forgo lunch for days at a time, that is.  (These are among the reasons I wasn't all that picky, especially since classics were a bit hard to find. ) So yeah, I was quite happy to have found the copy and I started reading it right away. By the time I was finished, I was gushing all over the place over how handsome and how endearing Mr. Darcy is. LOL! I wanted to read more about the characters, be they major or minor. However, I was well aware that Jane Austen has been long dead. So I didn't really expect to find more. Now, over half a decade later, I find that some enthusiasts have written their own sequels to this Austen classic and my excitement over this find, I can hardly contain.

Well, what does an Austen aficionado do with this discovery? Why, the said aficionado rushes to the bookstore, of course! And yes, I have spent an embarrassingly high price again for books…my Papa will have a fit when he reads the bill on my credit card. Don't get me wrong. I pay my own bills. It's just that my Papa is the one who gets to see them first because he's the one who's always at home when the mail arrives. (Yeah, yeah! It's hard to have secrets when you're still living with your parents.) Still, I have no regrets with regards to the splurge whatsoever, especially when I finished reading "Mr. Darcy Presents His Bride" by Helen Halstead.

My first impression when I started reading it was "Jane Austen, she is NOT". But then Helen Halstead was able to more than redeem herself with regards to the overall plot of the story. I like it that she made the newlyweds seem like just any other couple, had arguments and some bouts of jealousy to spice things up. There was also the recommended dose of grief brought about by the new Mrs. Darcy's miscarriage of her supposed-to-be first born. I also liked what happened to Kitty, and the demise of the two-faced seemingly charming Wickham was also quite believable. The stubborn Mary also had quite an expected ending, which was true to the nature that Austen gave her on the original book. All in all, this book left me with a ridiculously huge grin on my otherwise scowling countenance…hahaha. Clearly, I have been reading too much Austen these days.

Oh well, I'm reading "Northanger Abbey" now…well, trying to. Wish me luck that it wouldn't take me months to finish this one. I am absolutely getting snail-like when it comes to reading lately. A fact I have been openly lamenting, but not really seriously striving to correct. *Sigh

Well, au revoir. I guess I won't be writing until the next finished book! …or until the next angsty episode…LOL!