The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy
by Mary Street


amazon.com
Hardcover - (November 2003)
Thorndike Press; ISBN: 0786256664
amazon.co.uk
Hardcover - 224 pages (30 April, 1999)
Robert Hale; ISBN: 0709064314
amazon.ca
Hardcover Largeprint edition - (November 1, 2003)
Thorndike Press; ISBN: 0786256664

        Review by Jennifer Scott, August 12, 1999
I think this book will be hard to come by in a year or so as it is a short run and is not getting much publicity.

It is quite well written.  Tells the story of P and P from Darcy's angle and gives some original details of his dealings with Wickham and with Lady Catherine de Bourgh amongst others.  It is better than the other one which alleges to do the same,

An interesting if not earth shattering read.

        Review by Linda Waldemar, September 11, 1999
 First we had Darcy's Story (which I liked), then The Diary of Henry Fitzwilliam Darcy (which I did not like),  now we get another author endeavoring to tell the story of Pride and Prejudice from Mr Darcy's point of view.  This one, I think, is closer to the mark than the other two.  The author does not include unaltered chunks of Austen's novel as did Janet Aylmer.  Neither does she change characters nor add gratuitous thoughts unnecessarily as did Marjorie Fasman.

This novel takes place over the exact same time frame as P&P.   The story is told by Darcy in the first person.  Of course, we have different scenes because we follow Darcy instead of Elizabeth. Throughout, she follows Austen's story very closely.  Her descriptions of Darcy's feelings are very plausible.  There are only a couple of small instances near the end where I think that Mary Street contradicts Jane Austen.  However, I concede that a case can be made that even these points are in line with the original.

I think that she does a very good job of telling this story.  I would venture to say that it is almost as good as some of the stories at Bits of Ivory.

I love her ending, though I will not tell you what it is as I recommend that you read it for yourself

          Comment by Jenny2, 1 October 1999
My favourites are Letters from Pemberley (about Elizabeth's feelings and thoughts) and Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy (not actually a sequel, but it gives an interesting picture of Mr Darcy).
        Written by Julie P. on November 4, 1999
I loved it!  I liked it much better than Darcy's Story, even after the second or third reading.  I thought that Street's Darcy was far more human and believable than Aylmer's.  The ending was adorable, and it makes me smile every time I think about it.
        Comment by Cecile A on August 10, 2001
Well after 3 years of looking, I finally got the Book above.  I read it in one sitting.  Great.  So happy to finally receive it.  It really fits JA's P&P.  It is wonderful what he was possibly thinking at the time, while we were watching Lizzie.  There are more out there. If anyone wants to try again for this book.  I am a happy woman.
        Written by Vania (4/7/2003 10:24 p.m.)
Finally got my copy--after almost 2 months! It's nothing remarkable, but I like it very well indeed ;) Unlike Darcy's Story it wasn't filled with JA's text, but it did not deviate from the plot either. There was none that I noticed, at least. I like it better than Darcy's Story.

The ending was very sweet. The way Elizabeth and Darcy acted was exactly as I thought they would. I finished this book with a smile on my face.

        Written by Anna (4/12/2003 12:24 p.m.)
My copy came at last! And it is really worth waiting. It is much, much better than "Darcy Story", which I can't read without irritation. Practically all heroes looks plausible and Georgina is one of the best I ever meet in sequels. The famous end is very sweet indeed. 

        Written by Lynne Robson (4/13/2003 1:02 p.m.)
A Excellent Read. I got my copy from the library and enjoyed it a lot better than Darcy's Story or The Diary of Henry Fitzwilliam Darcy the latter is not worth the paper it is printed on. 

        Written by Susan Eileen (4/15/2003 8:10 p.m.)
I also enjoyed it much more than "Darcy's Story", I thought the latter was tolerable, but not passionate enough to tempt me. Although I do wonder why you found it irritating.  "Confessions" gave me the romance, without going off the deep end with the characters, so I thought it was fun. 

        Written by Mary Frances 2 (4/21/2003 12:14 p.m.)
Of course, I loved it, as one cannot get enough of Darcy and Elizabeth. It is the first retelling/sequel that I have read (other than BOI). While it was very light reading, I thought that the missing scenes with Georgiana and Bingley were exceptionally well done. [spoilers removed] Thanks for the recommendation for this book, RoP!

        Written by Vania (April 29, 2003 )
The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy isn't a sequel, but a take on his view of P&P. I liked this book, but I haven't read any other published sequel that I would recommend to anyone.  
       Written by Vania (March 23, 2004 )
] May I ask what makes The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy so successful for you (if you can remember the details)?

Personal taste, I think
1. language - straight-forward, Mary Street didn't try too hard to sound like JA.
2. plot - followed JA, the fillers for the time Darcy was away were very plausible
3. Darcy himself - firm, reserved, honorable, intelligent, decisive, but still flawed; his demeanor, the tone, reasoning of his thoughts were JA's Darcy, IMHO
4. quality of the book itself - hardbound and unlike most books in this category, I only detected one typo (small cheer =)
5. a 'real' parallel story - The only new characters that I remember were Col. Fitzwilliam's brother (the Viscount) and his family who probably did exist in P&P and they weren't major players here either.
6. My favorite line, Darcy to Lady Catherine:
'No lady bearing the name of Mrs. Darcy will be censured, or slighted or despised, madam. Certainly not at your instigation. You are not so high you can browbeat me.' Gentleman to the rescue!

It's not the stuff of brilliance, but among the Darcy POV's it's still my favorite. You actually made me think of why I like it. 'An Assembly..' has the advantage in its details, however.

       Written by Sharondio (5/21/2004 10:28a.m.)
"The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy" was a quietly delightful read. It stayed true to the events in the books and it endeavors most successfully to explain some of the actions of Mr. Darcy which have kept us occupied speculating about for some time.

That said, it was not nearly as entertaining as "An Assembly Such As This", which infused more personality into Mr. Darcy and let him indulge in other escapades amidst his introspections. Still, in some ways the gentle wit displayed by Ms. Street is more suited to a P&P sequel and more true to JA's own gentle handling of the topic.

I fully admit that I'm addicted to hearing more of Mr. Darcy's possible and probable emotions and reasoning for his actions. It is so fascinating to see what others suppose and their supporting logic.


       Written by LynneRobson (5/21/2004 5:36 p.m.)
I loved this book as well, I thought it was a lot better than Darcy's Story and The Diary of Henry Fitzwilliam Darcy. To me the other two either lent too much on Pride and Prejudice passages and especially the diary was very childish as he never seemed to grow up in the book. He still seemed much of a child, a spoilt one at that, all through the book until the end.

I loved the author's wit in this book but was disappointed in the end where she did not take it through to the marriage and afterwards. I liked the bit in it about the Georgiana episode where he mentioned that she would have been a widow as soon as she had become a wife as he would have killed him and swung for it. Even the Lady Catherine episode is good as he well and truly puts her in her place.

        Written by Kathleen Glancy  (6/6/2005 5:35 p.m.)
It seems like more of an alternative viewpoint than a sequel, a popular area. My favourite of the sub-genre is the Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy, which I enjoyed very much.


        Written by William L (3/26/2007 5:10 p.m.)
My favorite: The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy by Mary Street. This is the most amusing JA sequel I ever read.

        Written by Sophie (4/10/2007 6:47 a.m.)
Yes, the ending is very cute. I have finished Mary Street's book, and I think that it's not bad (it did manage to keep my attention on the airplane, and I am extremely nervous and distracted on airplanes). I still prefer Pamela Aidan's trilogy because it is so detailed, but Mary Street's Darcy is different and interesting too.

        Written by Karentea (5/31/2007 7:14 p.m.)
I really enjoyed The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy. It really brought out his thoughts and feelings, the characters remained unsullied and the author didn't "lift" half the dialogue.