Something New to Observe
This vagary proposes an alternate telling of the original Pride and Prejudice and considers what may have happened should the characters have been afforded a slightly altered set of circumstances. What if Mr. Darcy had accepted quite early that he was falling in love with Elizabeth? What if Elizabeth was the least stubborn of her sisters? What if Mrs. Bennet was allowed to settle in mind and spirit? What if Mr. Bennet exerted himself on behalf of his daughters? What if Mr. Collins was in some way welcomed as the next owner of the estate? Those are only some of the twists within this tale, and while not canon, I hope I gave your favorite character a moment unto themselves that will make you smile.
One warning, two cautions, and a note:
WARNING: In deference to a truth universally acknowledged that men do not behave the same when no women are present as they do in mixed company, this vagary does have the occasional use of profanity. The men in my life would consider it amusing but naïve to afford the same semantics of conversation for wholly different circumstances such as these, or they would, should one of them choose to read it.
CAUTION: I want to specifically state that this vagary is not for all Pride and Prejudice genre readers. If one reads to find fault in what is not canon, I’ve been most forthcoming about the fact that it is a vagary, so you should already be on your guard and perhaps pass it by. For those of you who are strict authoress-guidelines conscious, I will argue that in all time periods people spoke with the use of contractions. To that end, I was true to life rather than follow her pointed non-use of them. Outside conversation, however, you will not find them, and I hope that soothes any feathers that may be ruffled at such a bold defiance.
CAUTION: My editor also requested that I issue a point of clarification on her behalf. I confess that as an author em-dashes drive me nanabas, so contrary to her excellent advice, I did not include many of them where she said they should be. Despise me for it if you must, but no novel, story, prose, or verse ever hinged on one’s use. The omission of a comma, however, has cost millions. I promise that for those, I let her fully guide me.
NOTE: My personal pleasure in writing this book was the intent to make any who read it find themselves staying up at night; not because ODCs are near death, have been forced to do that which they despise, or are off chasing Lydia again, but because I believe I am not the only one of us who dearly loves to laugh.
Reviews
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Jumped from 3 stars to 5.
I rarely stop reading a book before the end and came close on this novel. However, I'm glad I stuck with it. I highly recommend, P & P readers, to KEEP READING. Despite several chapters of heavy-handed ranting by various characters that bordered on abusive and sounded as if the author was taking out her rage on either her parents, men or both, I kept reading.Again, I'm glad I did. Eventually, came forgiveness of wrongs, followed by acceptance of differences and the understanding that each relationship with a loved one may be different. Whether family members or a future spouse, what counts is the willingness to work on it together.
The fourth and fifth stars resulted from: (1) a couple twists that surprised me; (2) the ending did not include the births of every offspring to each couples and the demise of characters. In so doing, the readers can imagine and hope for a sequel to this novel.
-k.m. kavanagh
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Delightful!
An incredibly clever story featuring all my favorite characters! The dialogue was masterful and the story engrossing. I couldn’t put it down.
-Sheridan Rose