After Elizabeth Bennet rejects Mr. Darcy’s first proposal he returns home - his pride stung and his spirits low. When London fails to distract him he travels to Pemberley and there, arrives at two important decisions: first, he needs to pay more attention to his sister, and second, he needs a wife - one who won’t bewitch him with her laugh or wit. He just has to think it through…rationally. Georgiana is thrilled to be seeing more of her brother, and determined to show him that she is not the same naïve girl who fell for Wickham’s charms. What better way to do so then helping him in his search for a wife?
A retelling of “Pride and Prejudice”, “Mr. Darcy’s Pledge” is told from Darcy and Georgiana’s point of view with some slight changes to the original story. Fans of Austen’s tale will enjoy this story, in part to see Darcy and Elizabeth interact, but more for the emotional turmoil on Darcy’s side. Admittedly, though, the real heroes of the story are Georgiana and Darcy’s valet, who bring new life to the tale. In response to the wife-hunt characters, Georgiana undergoes some surprising but welcome character growth readers that will enjoy and Darcy’s valet will cause smiles and chuckles with every encounter. The main drawback is the constant quoting of the original work, which distracts from story development. Also, since this is volume one, it lacks any conflict resolution. Hopefully volume two will rectify that soon enough.
Sarah E. Bradley