Pemberley's Promise in Austen Variations

May 07, 2014 Sheila Majczan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I bought this in paperback as "Pemberley's Promise".

I looked this author up on Amazon many years ago at the recommendation of another very popular JAFF author. When I was reading this book's plot, my first thought was that this story was going to be "too far out in left field", too much of a deviation from the original P&P story. BUT I found it to be a page turner, despite the stretch. I won't go over the story line as other reviewers have covered such. Scenes which stay in my imagination: the s ...more

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Dec 05, 2022 Sheila Majczan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I looked this author up on Amazon many years ago at the recommendation of another very popular JAFF author. When I was reading this book's plot, my first thought was that this story was going to be "too far out in left field", too much of a deviation from the original P&P story. BUT I found it to be a page turner, despite the stretch. I won't go over the story line as other reviewers have covered such. Scenes which stay in my imagination: the scene at Pemberley during which Elizabeth discovers h ...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Sophie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favourite-favourites, jane-austen-related, favourites

Update: Having just re-read this wonderful story I had forgotten how much I loved it and it was even better than I remembered! I highly recommend this story!

What a delightful story! I absolutely loved it! I was wondering how realistic it would feel with Darcy and Lizzy making their way across to America on a ship... but it surprised me how it really did seem feasible. I was also worried about the length, it being quite a long story compared to the other variations I had read, but I didn’t need Update: Having just re-read this wonderful story I had forgotten how much I loved it and it was even better than I remembered! I highly recommend this story!

What a delightful story! I absolutely loved it! I was wondering how realistic it would feel with Darcy and Lizzy making their way across to America on a ship... but it surprised me how it really did seem feasible. I was also worried about the length, it being quite a long story compared to the other variations I had read, but I didn’t need to worry as the story flowed so well and I didn’t want it to end! I think the story didn’t seem to drag at all because of the amount of ‘screen time’ Lizzy and Darcy had. There were not many scenes or large periods of time where Lizzy and Darcy were not together, which is good as the best scenes are always when they are together!

I loved the prologue; Darcy and Lizzy meet in a carriage 2 years prior to the meeting on the ship and they get off to a good start and have an interesting conversation. However, neither finds out who the other is, so when they meet 2 years later, they both have that feeling of having met before but it takes a while for them to properly put two and two together. I really liked this running theme through the story and the question of when the other was going to realise they had already met!

The first half of the book was wonderful. All the scenes on the ship were full of detail and the relationship between Darcy and Lizzy and how it developed was fun to read. Darcy was the perfect gentleman and he was so considerate to Lizzy; what he did for her was an act of the utmost chivalry. We see their relationship flourish through morning walks up on deck and many incidents aboard the ship, Pemberley’s Promise. Darcy and Lizzy are both portrayed very well and she captures the essences of their original characters really well.

I thought it was very clever and interesting seeing how a prior meeting between our heroine and hero would affect the events which we see happen in the original; the meeting at Netherfield, the Netherfield Ball, the visit to Pemberley, Lady Catherine’s ‘visit’ to Lizzy, Lydia’s elopement. I found it a lot of fun to see how some of the iconic conversations which take place in the original are affected because of this prior relationship as well, and seeing Caroline Bingley’s rising suspicions about the two of them!

Georgiana was a fun character. Her relationship with her brother was very sweet and I really enjoyed seeing her caring side towards her brother and also her detective nature coming out when trying to work out the reasons behind Darcy’s low spirits and who this mysterious Elizabeth from Longbourn is.

The romance in this story was wonderful. Whilst being completely clean, it was still highly romantic; secret meetings and stolen kisses. I was very pleased with how the question of when the couple’s mutual love would be realised wasn’t drawn out for too long and (without giving too much away) that once it was realised, it was never doubted; it annoys me when a heroine keeping thinking ‘he loves me’, ‘he doesn’t love me’, ‘no wait he does!’ the entire story, or vice versa! The ending was wonderful; it links in very cleverly to the beginning of the story which takes place on the ship and it is a very satisfying and pleasing end! There is also an epilogue showing what happens to each of the characters in the story, which I like to have at the end of a story.

So, I shall bring my thought about this wonderful book to a close. If you can’t get enough of Darcy and Lizzy and want to read a story where they are thrown into completely different circumstances then this is for you. The trip to America is a very different approach to the story and it is accomplished extremely well. It was a highly enjoyable, witty, romantic and interesting story to read; I highly recommend it and I look forward to her other work!
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Feb 09, 2012 Nicole Barton Sasser rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: review-on-amazon, p-and-p, jaff, physical-library

I gave Darcy's Voyage only three stars because I cannot help but compare it with all the other P&P inspired novels I have read. BUT, I did enjoy it enough to read it in one sitting! I would recommend Darcy's Voyage to anyone who loves this literary couple as I do. ...more

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May 18, 2010 Anna added it · review of another edition

Shelves: austenesque

Darcy’s Voyage proved to me that I’m still not growing weary of the numerous sequels and re-tellings of Jane Austen’s novels. In this re-imagined Pride and Prejudice, Kara Louise takes readers on a completely different journey while staying true to Austen’s beloved characters and arriving at the same conclusion.

Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy meet in a carriage, and after enjoying a lively discussion, they part ways. Two years later, Elizabeth convinces her father to let her travel alone Darcy’s Voyage proved to me that I’m still not growing weary of the numerous sequels and re-tellings of Jane Austen’s novels. In this re-imagined Pride and Prejudice, Kara Louise takes readers on a completely different journey while staying true to Austen’s beloved characters and arriving at the same conclusion.

Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy meet in a carriage, and after enjoying a lively discussion, they part ways. Two years later, Elizabeth convinces her father to let her travel alone to America to visit her Uncle and Aunt Gardiner. After boarding Pemberley’s Promise, she runs into Mr. Darcy, and they strike up a friendship, not realizing he is the man from the carriage and the owner of the ship. Elizabeth is booked in steerage, and she willingly gives up her bed to a pregnant woman whose daughter falls ill. And when Elizabeth also becomes sick and injures her ankle, Mr. Darcy devises a plan that will allow her to sleep in the extra bed in his cabin — and joins the two of them together permanently.

Of course, misunderstandings separate them once they reach New York, but after returning to England, they are reunited at Netherfield, and readers are reunited with the rest of the cast of Pride and Prejudice. In addition to the complicated situation carrying over from the voyage, Darcy and Elizabeth still must deal with George Wickham’s evil ways, Caroline Bingley’s arrogance, and Lady Catherine’s rage. Louise handles these things (and more) much differently than Austen, breathing fresh air into a story I know inside and out.

Although I found it hard to believe that Mr. Bennet, being a gentleman, would allow Elizabeth to travel solo and that Elizabeth and Darcy didn’t recognize one another on the ship after being so smitten for months after the carriage ride two years prior, I really enjoyed Darcy’s Voyage. Because they meet in a far different manner, there isn’t the prejudice that Austen created, though pride is glimpsed here and there. Darcy’s Voyage is more about keeping love intact at all costs than about overcoming pride and prejudice. Louise puts a unique spin on events, with enough tension to carry the story until the end, where some things play out differently than in Austen’s novel. Darcy’s Voyage is among the most creative Austen re-tellings I’ve read in awhile.

Review posted on Diary of an Eccentric

I received a free copy of this book for review. ...more

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Mar 22, 2017 Melanie Stanford rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An excellent P&P variation!

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Jan 11, 2014 Staciel rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: jane-austen-inspired

While much of the tension between Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet is missing in this retelling due to storyline changes, it is still highly enjoyable if you are a fan of these type of books.

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