The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy: Book Review
“The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy”, written by Mary Lydon Simonsen, is a sequel to Pride and Prejudice. In the sequel, though the author carries the same story plot designed by Jane Austen, she adds her narrative between the events. It is more like filling in gaps as the original displays more of Elizabeth’s perspective.
The book begins by summarising the events of Pride and Prejudice but more from Darcy’s perspective. Unlike P&P, this book has been written through various perspectives, thus giving a profound view of each character’s thinking behind their actions.
In this book, Darcy is close to her cousin, Anne De Bourgh. So, he confides in her and tells her about the rejection from Elizabeth Bennet. Anne is a frail-looking but confident and determined woman. She uses her tactics to orchestrate a plan so that Darcy can meet Elizabeth in Pemberley and get another chance with her.
In Anne’s tactics, Georgiana (Darcy’s sister) helps her. She is a confident and sensible woman ready for her societal debut. At first, she was oblivious to her brother’s unrequited love. But, Mr. Darcy happens to tell her regarding an intelligent woman once telling him that “one bad sonnet was sufficient to drive love away”. She uses her wit can assuredly tell that his brother has fallen for Ms. Sonnet.
In this book, there is a slight difference in characters. Elizabeth, while in Kent, already starts to regret her rejection. By the time she finishes Darcy’s “do not be alarmed madam” letter, she starts to wonder if they could have been happy together. Even Darcy is more devoted to Elizabeth. He even conjectured to meet her in Longbourn, but Anne executed her plan earlier.
Unlike in P&P, Georgiana is more confident, bold, and composed. Jane Bennet’s Character is very distinct from the original one. She realizes Caroline’s fake friendship and resolves to secure her family’s future by accepting courtship from a young man.
The book also introduces two new characters from Darcy’s past. One is the former love of Darcy and the other his mistress before he fell for Elizabeth. I didn’t admire this part as I prefer to see Darcy as a saint delineated in P&P.
Nevertheless, I enjoyed Anne’s character in this book, which the original text didn’t display much. Her determined comportment, even after her weak lungs, was commendable.
Furthermore, the way the author was able to keep up with the original plot while connecting it with her work and simultaneously portraying different perspectives was sterling.
All in all, it was another phenomenal and incredible sequel to Pride and Prejudice. I would recommend the bibliophiles and Jane fans to try this sequel.
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