Excessively
Diverted
by Juliette Shapiro
Softcover - 236 pages (September 2002)
Virtualbookworm.com Publishing Inc. ISBN
1-58939-264-7
Review by Linda
Waldemar,
October 4, 2002
This sequel recounts the first year of Elizabeth, nee Bennet,
and Fitzwilliam Darcy's marriage. Many things happen in that short
time;
four engagements/marriages, a reconciliation, two births and a death.
There
are many problems along the way, but all ends happily.
Most of the Pride and Prejudice characters are present here.
I am happy to say that the Darcys do not disappoint the reader.
Elizabeth
is still lively and teasing, though not quite so witty as Jane Austen
originally
portrayed her. Darcy, if it is possible, has actually improved. He
becomes
playful and less serious. This is very apparent when Mrs. Quinn,
Elizabeth's
maternity nurse, finds Darcy at his wife's bedside gazing intently as
she
nurses the newborn heir. When the astonished Mrs. Quinn comments, "Oh!
If you do not mind, Sir, the usual manner of husbands on these
occasions
is to take a glass of wine downstairs. This is not the place for a
man."
Without diverting his eyes, Darcy replies, "And of what are you afraid,
Mrs. Quinn? Do you imagine that I have not seen my wife's breast
before!"
Mr. Collins, true to character, is still an interfering,
manipulative
know-it-all. Georgiana is still very shy. The sisters, Kitty, Mary and
Lydia are as peevish, moralizing and self-absorbed as ever. Of course,
Charlotte remains sensible while Caroline Bingley persists in being
vindictive.
The Bingleys, Jane and Charles, are good-natured and tolerant. Mr.
Bennet's
temperament changes little; he is still aloof but not nearly so witty
and
amusing as the original. The Gardiners are only mentioned and Colonel
Fitzwilliam
appears briefly.
A young, rich and handsome landowner, Edwin Hanworth is one of
several
new characters introduced in this sequel. He is well received by Mr.
Darcy
and is generally admired by all, especially Georgiana.
In the author's "Additional Notes", Juliette Shapiro writes that the
characters adhere to their creator's wishes: Kitty and Mary marry and
the
Bingleys move to an estate close to Pemberley.
Even though there are references to events in both Jane Austen's
novel
and Andrew Davies' 1965 adaptation, there are several unexpected
alliances
and an unlikely reconciliation. One finds enough twists and turns to
make
this a worthwhile read.
Review by Jenny Scott,
November 24, 2002
A book which handles the life of the Darcys after their marriage in
a manner which would have pleased Jane Austen. None of her
characters
does anything she would not have approved of. The author creates
some interesting new characters and in Austenlike manner arranges some
appropriate marriages.
Written by
Lynne
Robson (4/13/2003 1:14 p.m.)
Loved this book, I liked the ending best of all in this book. It is
to me one of the better written sequel's to P & P not like Emma
Tennant
who makes Darcy out to be a unfeeling person in both her books, not
like
the Darcy in Jane Austen's book.
Written by Anna
(4/13/2003
5:21 p.m.)
You are too generous. Of course, in comparison with ET
almost any book looks well. But I can't say that I was exessively
diverted
by the strange transformation of Mrs.Bennet to the cunning shrew and
angelic
and absolutely implausible Darcy. And author has such problems with
dots
and commas that sometimes her heroes (indcluding Elizabeth) bubble
without
stopping. It is very irritating and spoil me the whole book!
Written by Julie
P.
(4/13/2003
6:40 p.m.)
I'm with you Anna. I thought Excessively
Diverted
was unreadable.
Written by
Amber
D. (8/29/2003 9:25 p.m.)
Excessively Diverted isn't bad
either, nor is Diary of HFD.
Written by Erin J
(9/14/2003 1:44 p.m.)
I've since found Excessively
Diverted and after reading it I was indeed what the title
suggests. It
was a bit sickly sweet but it was most definitley my cup of tea!
Written by Lynne Robson
(December 27, 2003 )
I have read this wonderful sequel and thourghly enjoyed it. I love what
she does to with the characters and how the story ends. I will not
spoil the book for you by telling you the plot but I can recommend it
as a wonderful read. You can buy the book off Amazon.co.uk or
Amazon.com. I don't think that you can buy it off the shelf in a book
store but you can order it online. I hope that you manage to get a copy
of this book.
Written by Melanie Z
(January 2, 2004 )
Absolutely my own opinion..... Indeed, IMO it is the best sequel. I
have reread it twice and it was just beautiful every time.
Written by Melanie Z
(2/9/2004 2:19 p.m.)
Maybe,
you would like
to try a more succeeded
sequel. I would recommend Excessively
Diverted by Shapiro or Jane
Dawkin`s suggestions for this hard case. I know very well, there are
other opinions, but I was delighted in reading this book.
] I mean, really, how does
ANYONE think they could write like Jane Austen?
You are absolutely
right,
nobody can write like JA!
Written by
Helena (8/24/2004 2:38 p.m.)
I read
Excessively Diverted and except for major grammar problems found it to be okay,
if not great.
Written by Rena G. (December 30, 2006 )
(Spoilers)
Well, I read this P&P sequel by Juliette Shapiro. I thought it was a good storyline, but there a
few things that did not quite make sense. For example, I don't think Colonel Fitzwilliam could have
married Maria, even if he wanted to, for I understand the Lucas girls are at least as portionless
as the Bennet girls and it was implied that Col. F could not afford to marry a girl without a decent
fortune. Also, the story about Lady Catherine bribing Wickham to ruin the Bennets doesn't quite hold
water with me. She didn't seem to know anything about an attachment between Darcy and Elizabeth until
after Wickham and Lydia ran off. And Darcy and Wickham making up so nicely in the end--it was sweet,
but not very plausible. Seeing as the end of P&P says that Lydia sometimes stayed at Pemberley when
her husband was elsewhere and Wickham was not permitted to stay there, I don't see Darcy giving them
a cottage on his estate. Finally, as I understand it, a patron/patroness, once they had given a living,
could not revoke it except on gross misconduct, and somehow I don't see being related to a girl who
married your nephew against your wishes as gross misconduct. I do not think Lady Catherine could
legally take Mr. Collins' living away, after giving it. Perhaps Julie W. can clarify if I am wrong.
Those facts aside, besides the major punctuation problems, I thought it was a nice story. Has anyone
else read it? I don't mind sharing opinions. :-)
Written by Deborah d'Bajor (January 3, 2007 )
(Spoilers)
I read this about 3 years ago, so my memory is a little hazy!
I did think the writing style was pretty good. Obviously it's not Austen, but who is? And of course
I've read much worse ;-)
There were a number of implausibilities in the plot, but overall it was quite an enjoyable read -
I may dig it out again some time!
I think I made some of the same points when I read it, especially about Wickham and the removal of
Mr Collins from his living. You're right that Her Batship couldn't remove him from the living -
although obviously she could make life very uncomfortable!
The same author has writen a completion of Sanditon which I read at about the same time and thought
it wasn't bad either.