Mary Lydon Simonsen's novel "The Perfect Bride for Mr. Darcy"

This is the 1^st book I've read by Mary Lydon Simonsen, and like so many other
female authors being published today, she takes on the retelling of the famous
Jane Austen novel, "Pride and Prejudice." In this book, unlike some of the others
(like Amanda Grange's brilliant diary of Mr. Darcy), Simonsen both invents and
then focuses on the match-making efforts of two of Austen's minor characters
from the book. Here Mr. Darcy's younger sister Georgiana and especially his
cousin Anne de Bourgh are the forces that bring the famous lovers Elizabeth
Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy together after Anne sees that Elizabeth is "the
perfect bride for Mr. Darcy."

Much of the story-telling therefore is predictable, as the author of this book works
to follow the narrative path set by the immortal Austen in her novel. However,
when Simonsen goes off the rails is when she gives additional details of a
friendship between Anne and Elizabeth, and other, earlier, love interests for

Mr. Darcy. While the first is more plausible, the second totally destroys the

myth os that has been developed over the centuries since Austen first penned the
Darcy character of Darcy as a paragon among men.

Even more disturbing, since I have read the original work "Pride and Prejudice"
several times, and seen the movie versions countless more, some of the
narrative as Simonsen presents it here seems out of synch, and that was
extremely jarring to me. While I haven't the time or inclination to check her
storyline against Austen's timeline, these little missteps I think will sour the
reading experience for someone who knows the story well.

Of course Simonsen doesn't hold a candle to Austen, but she can't be expected
to. So the bottom line for the reader becomes whether or not this book is an
entertaining read, and I'd have to say both yes and no to that. While I do like
what Simonsen has done with sister Mary Bennet, by having her be the love
interest of one of sister Jane Bennet's former suitors, there is so much more that
I do not like, and that does not seem true to Austen's original characters
sketches. And while I know "The Perfect Bride" was written in the 21^st century,
the author seems to make little attempt to make her characters sound true to
their original setting of Georgian England. So while lovers of Jane Austen will
enjoy hearing the name Darcy bandied about, and will enjoy spending more time
with the Bennet sisters, Simonsen would not be my first choice if I wanted to
spend more time with those characters, as there as so many more talented
authors like Joan Aiken and Carrie Bebris traveling the same literary pathways.

Submitted by Gerti