"In this humorous re-imagining of Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet's pet cat causes an unfortunate accident to befall the haughty Mr. Darcy, forcing the injured gentleman to reluctantly take up residence at Longbourn-- more specifically, in the parlor of Longbourn!
In pain, forbidden to leave by his doctors, Mr. Darcy cannot escape the ridiculous antics of the Bennet clan.
And when Georgiana Darcy, Colonel Fitzwilliam, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh arrive to visit the invalid, chaos, confusion, and hilarity ensue!
Inspired by the classics of comedy, author Jack Caldwell transforms Austen's beloved novel into a tour de force of farce. The Regency will never be the same!"
Warning: This book is not to be taken seriously, hence this is a Pride and Prejudice farce, not a variation.
To start off, Mr Darcy on laudanum is the funniest thing: his treatment of Mr Collins and also Lady Catherine de Bourgh who turns up is wonderful.
You know in situations with Mr Collins and Lady Catherine there are times when you know exactly what characters are thinking but they just can't say it, however much you want them to? Well, Darcy on laudanum does say the things he is thinking! (As well as sings a rather interesting song for the ladies of Longbourn...)
It was extremely clever with conversations we know from the original slotted in here and there, often spoken by different people to different people and about a different subject!
Mr Darcy is so wonderful in this version. He is the knight in shinning armour (even though he did fall off his horse) and eventually, one by one, he makes all the Bennet ladies fall under his spell. Seeing Mr Darcy's relationships with all the different members of the household change was really interesting - Mr Bennet in particular - it was a great way for Lizzy and the reader to be shown Darcy's true character, through his actions towards others.
Ok so I would have liked more time between Darcy and Lizzy, but that isn't really the focus of this story as it is through his actions with the rest of her household that Lizzy too falls under his spell (but there are some sweet moments (and funny moments!) between them.)
The relationships between the Bennet sisters themselves and how they change through the story was also nice to see. I really enjoyed the further exploration of the characters of Mary, Kitty and Lydia, Mary and Kitty in particular who are very untouched in the original.
The ending few chapters were a lot of fun! They show what happens to all the characters in the future (which I always like to read about) - a few characters from her other novels make some very interesting appearances! I particularly liked Col. Fitzwilliam's and Charlotte Lucas' fate! (But I won't give it away!)
As humour is the main objective of this Pride and Prejudice farce, a final epilogue with Mr Wickham and Mr Collins really finishes the book with a bang - it was brilliantly funny!
This is a wonderfully clever, witty and laugh-out-loud book! I highly recommend it to anyone who wants a good laugh - I was laughing from start to finish!
Your affectionate friend,
I heard about this farce and it really seems a good laugh! So much books to read and so little time...
ReplyDeleteIt is so very funny! If you need a book to make you laugh this is the one to read!!
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