REVIEW: An Assembly Such as This by Pamela Aidan
“Pictures of perfection make me sick & wicked.” — Jane Austen
Even though he might look like perfection onscreen, my most beloved Mr. Darcy is a flawed and complex character. It is a testament to Austen’s genius that a character that spent so little time actually speaking has been the subject of so much fascination — and fiction — down through the years. Pamela Aidan, with her trilogy of stories entitled A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, brings us her charming and satisfying vision of Pride and Prejudice, seen from Darcy’s perspective. Her first volume, An Assembly Such as This, covers the time between the assembly at Meryton and Darcy’s arrival back in London after the Netherfield ball.
I would imagine staying within the boundaries present in retelling a great work is a difficult path to walk. One cannot wildly contradict the novel without earning the disgust of people who have read and loved the original work. New characters must be introduced, else the readers will be bored. Pivotal scenes must be included again, but must be retold differently — improving upon Austen just isn’t going to happen, so the differences need to be distinct and unforced. Most importantly to me, the characters imagined by Austen must ring true. Please don’t give me a suddenly circumspect Lydia or a swooning Elizabeth, and never, ever give me a heckuva nice Darcy whose only fault is shyness. Happily, Aidan succeeds in all these areas.
Aidan’s Darcy begins as a man serenely confident in his superiority to his lessers. Though he remains quite worried for Georgiana after the near disaster at Ramsgate the previous summer, that event cemented his view of his and others’ rightful places in society. He is quite dismissive of the notion that the disturbingly fascinating Elizabeth Bennet would be uninterested in a distinguished gentleman such as himself. But as the story progresses, we see him unsuccessfully downplay his attachment to her and compromise his integrity by conspiring with Caroline to lie to Charles. As the novel ends, Darcy is irritable and discontented and lonely.
Aidan provides Darcy with new friends and servants. She brings us Fletcher, Darcy’s Shakespeare-quoting, astute valet. In another time Fletcher could have been Darcy’s equal and friend, but in Regency England they are firmly established as master and servant. These two intelligent and charismatic men manage a sort of relationship of allowed yet unacknowledged manipulation that is great fun to have a peek at. I wouldn’t have minded Fletcher being wrong once in awhile, but I enjoyed him all the same.
We also meet the charming and somewhat mysterious Lord Dyfed Brougham, a school-mate of Darcy’s whose brilliant mind hides behind the facade of a “charming fribble.” He can go toe to toe with Darcy in a way Bingley never could, and serves alternately as his confidant and inquisitor.
The novel certainly isn’t perfect: perhaps Aidan has included too many historical details in her eagerness to establish the novel firmly in Regency England, her prose tends toward wordiness, and I’m not sure a man of that time would have been quite so introspective. But these are small issues, and never served to seriously distract from my enjoyment of the book. The editing issues that plagued her self-published edition have vanished, at least to my non-copy-editor eye.
I have enjoyed this work since it was first published as on-line fan fiction, then self-published, and now published by Touchstone. Aidan has given us an enjoyable and believable view of Pride and Prejudice from Darcy’s perspective. Fans of the novel will be delighted by this respectful and intriguing companion to Austen’s masterpiece.
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I can only second this review. Pamela Aidan’s trilogy (or rather: novel in three parts) is my all time favourite published Pride & Prejudice paraliterature.
I liked the book, too, though I kept wanting to say to Darcy, à la Lady Russell, abuot Brougham, “Is not Bingley companion enough for you?”
But as you said, Bingley’s not in a position to give advice to Darcy; much more the other way around.
It’s definitely one of the better published works, though.
I loved this trilogy, too — with a few caveats. Here comes the nit-picking: First, I was a bit disconcerted by Georgiana’s religious turn in Parts 1 and 2, which sort of fizzled out with no real explanation or resolution in Part 3. The characterization of Anne De Bourgh was, erm, unexpected, but not implausible. But I REALLY was put off by the weird intrigue of the main storyline in the second volume. Yes, it was necessary to find something for Darcy to do between the Netherfield Ball and Rosings, but this was just a bit out there for my taste.
These are fairly minor complaints, though. On the whole, I just loved the feeling of getting inside Darcy’s head and heart. I think Aidan really managed to give the reader some insight into the responsibilities and concerns he might have had. His fascination with Elizabeth, as it slowly turns to love, is touchingly portrayed. I cried more than once as they read these books, and when I now reread (or rewatch) Pride and Prejudice (1994 version, thank you), I smile when I think of certain passages in Aidan’s work (and when I watch the DVD, in the scene where Darcy is dressing to go to see Elizabeth at the Inn at Lambton, I can’t help but think, “Ooh! There’s Fletcher!”).
I highly recommend this as ancillary Austen reading.
Is this book now available at Amazon?
Another huge fan of the trilogy checking in! Indeed, there are so few really GOOD sequels/prequels/other viewpoints when it comes to Austen literature. I’ve read (and groaned) my way through so many, but this is one of the best. The only others that have come close is the finished version of Sanditon (by Jane Austen and ‘another lady’) and Letters from Highbury, with the story of Emma told in a correspondence between Mrs Goddard and her sister. ‘Consequence’ (follow up to P&P) was also not too bad, although the author’s inclusion of charachters or their children from all Austen’s other novels at a ball felt a bit forced. In any case, I would not hesitate to recommend these books to to anyone who loves Austen.
Nevermind, I’ve answered my own question. I actually found it at the book store this morning. Can’t wait to read it!
Am very curious to hear your impressions, Jessica! What Julie says, the somewhat ‘Gothic’ intrigue in the second part does not quite fit in with the rest, but I’ve always just considered it as a kind of ‘wink’ from Aiden towards Northanger Abbey.
Good heavens! I just clicked the link above and discovered the delightful BBC website for “Pride and Prejudice!!!!!!” Wowee! This will help me waste a LOT of time.
I was chagrined however, to see that the *BBC* of ALL sources, misspelled “Lizzy.” Never fear — I have emailed them and hope they will correct this egregious error ASAP.