Amanda Grange's novel "Wickham's Diary"

Noted novelist Amanda Grange has made her career out of retelling Jane
Austen's favorite novels from the hero's point of view. In this book, instead, she
gives us a diary of one of the villainous male characters from the Austen canon.
Unfortunately, it does not follow the same format as her wildly popular books
based on the diaries of Fitzwilliam Darcy ("Pride and Prejudice"), Colonel
Brandon ("Sense and Sensibility"), Mr. Knightley ("Emma") and Captain
Wentworth ("Persuasion"). This time, she tells the story of G~orge Wickham
BEFORE he enters the drama of "Pride and Prejudice", and somehow, that
strikes a false note for me.

While I love Grange's writing style - her words go down as smoothly as a Brandy
Alexander in a fancy steakhouse - my enjoyment of this book is lessened by the
fact that she gives her readers Wickham's early life, and not the story as covered
by Austen in her novel. That probably would not have been as jarring had I not
already read Grange's many other Austen-inspired novels.

This book does have some positive aspects - it does fill in some psychological
details not found in Austen's book, which is appealing to the modern reader-who
(like me) wants to know WHY a character does something, 'But I still feel
cheated. I would have preferred if Grange had followed her format, and given a
nice story of what Wickham thought of Elizabeth Bennet in the time period
covered by Austen, because that would answer a nagging question, for many
readers .of "Pride and Prejudice" - did Wickham really like Lizzy, or did he always
have her youngest sister in his romantic crosshairs? But that question goes
unanswered by Grange, since she ends this novel with Wickham fleeing to
London after trying and failing to seduce Mr. Darcy's sister, a scene which
happens before P & P's events begin.

In summary, this book was written for a reader who just wants to pick up a good
book and read something pleasant for a few hours. For die-hard Grange fans,
however, who like me may have hangups and a history with the author and her
style, this book is about as satisfying as snack-sized Halloween candy - it gives
you a taste of something' good, but leaves you wishing for something more.

Submitted by Gerti