The Recovery of Fitzwilliam Darcy in Austen Variations

Mar 04, 2021 wosedwew rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2021, owned-books, 2024, 2025, book-reviews, audible, 2022, 2023

Where there is anger, there is always pain underneath. ~ Eckhart Tolle

The prologue reveals a horrific crime via a newspaper article. George and Anne Darcy’s toddler son had been kidnapped. Two of the villains were killed. The third was captured and revealed the little boy was dead.

More than twenty years later, Frederick Darcy encounters an old friend, Rupert Bennet, who invites Frederick to visit his home in Meryton. On the first day, Frederick meets 24-year-old William Lucas who is the image o ...more

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Mar 06, 2021 Sheila Majczan rated it it was amazing

There are three long reviews which cover most of the details of this long story. I am going to attempt to be more concise.

Yes, Fitzwilliam Darcy is kidnapped as a toddler and left by the side of the road. One of the kidnappers (Mrs. Wickham) claims he is dead. Anne Darcy dies of grief within 2 years while her husband mourns the lost of his only child.

Fitzwilliam is found and reared as their son, William, by William (later Sir William) and Georgina Lucas. He and Elizabeth become best friends, bot There are three long reviews which cover most of the details of this long story. I am going to attempt to be more concise.

Yes, Fitzwilliam Darcy is kidnapped as a toddler and left by the side of the road. One of the kidnappers (Mrs. Wickham) claims he is dead. Anne Darcy dies of grief within 2 years while her husband mourns the lost of his only child.

Fitzwilliam is found and reared as their son, William, by William (later Sir William) and Georgina Lucas. He and Elizabeth become best friends, both educated by her father. Their lives are turned upside down when an old friend of Mr. Bennet's comes to visit and immediately upon meeting young William Lucas questions his family ties. The Lucases admit that he was adopted and he is whisked off to Pemberley where his resemblance to George Darcy and early history make it clear that this is where Fitzwilliam belongs.

We read much of Fitzwilliam's conflicting feelings: he wants to be a good and obedient son but his heart has attachments to the family who reared him and the woman he planned to propose to on her 20th birthday. Directed to look to a cousin (who had thoughts he would be the Darcy heir) Fitzwilliam finds himself pushed to partake in unsavory behaviors. Sadly he only writes one letter to his old family and his disappearance is not explained to the neighborhood for many weeks. Elizabeth's thoughts are also conflicted. Fitzwilliam's lack of communication cause her to now think that his new position and wealth have turned his back on all that went before.

We even have a misguided proposal when ODC once again meet. Yes, after a long struggle Fitzwilliam finally has some long overdue discussions with his real father about his feelings and his loyalties. There is also a long epilogue.

I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat reading about all the conflicting feelings Fitzwilliam, especially, experienced. Well done and highly recommended by me.

I received an ARC of this story with a request for a review. The opinions here are all my own. ...more

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May 05, 2021 Dawn rated it really liked it

Shelves: dawn-s-2021-austen

3.5 rounded up. I feel like I had a love/hate relationship with this book. It started off well and I enjoyed the original idea of Darcy being raised in circumstances that were much more humble than the Darcy from canon. In this pairing, “William Lucas” isn’t the best match for Elizabeth, but since they have been life long sweethearts, it was accepted and sanctioned by both families and their forthcoming marriage was looked forward to with great anticipation. I thought their relationship was so s 3.5 rounded up. I feel like I had a love/hate relationship with this book. It started off well and I enjoyed the original idea of Darcy being raised in circumstances that were much more humble than the Darcy from canon. In this pairing, “William Lucas” isn’t the best match for Elizabeth, but since they have been life long sweethearts, it was accepted and sanctioned by both families and their forthcoming marriage was looked forward to with great anticipation. I thought their relationship was so sweet and heartwarming! Of course, the path of true love never runs smooth for ODC, so along comes Frederick Darcy and BAM, the lives of William/Fitzwilliam and Lizzy are turned upside down, inside out and every other uncomfortable and angsty direction.

William Lucas becomes Fitzwilliam Darcy and here is where my frustration begins. Of course, the shock and confusion and wide array of emotions one can only imagine, but it’s so hard for me to understand that the minute he is suspected of being Fitzwilliam Darcy, he is shoved into a carriage and carted off to Pemberley immediately without even seeing or saying goodbye to anyone, not even the woman he has had an understanding with for years. Here, while we can all appreciate the difficulty of such a circumstance, it seems the new Fitzwilliam loses not only his previous identity as William Lucas, but he also loses his character, his personality and seemingly his brain. Of course there would be some confusion and mixed emotions, but this Darcy just becomes a passive zombie like person who seems content for the most part to be led around by the nose without thinking for himself, speaking for himself, or sticking up for himself or anyone else. It got soooooo frustrating. For a father and son who have discovered one another after so long a separation, they sure didn’t seem to communicate or try to build a substantive relationship to make up for lost time. Darcy acted nothing like Darcy for way too long. I wanted to scream at the stupidity of this supposedly intelligent person! Okay, rant over!

When the lights finally come on for Fitzwilliam Darcy and he remembers that he actually does have his own brain and can make a few of his own decisions, the book improves dramatically and once I started recognizing Darcy as Darcy again, it became much more enjoyable. Of course he had some explaining and groveling to do, but things do finally start to come together and work themselves out.

Overall, I did like this book. The beginning and the end were very sweet, it’s just the middle was beyond frustrating and that part was dragged out for a very long time. While I expected it, I felt like it robbed Darcy too much of his essentials and that was difficult to endure for so long. I loved the originality of the book and would give it another chance in the future because it is a good story. ...more

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Mar 05, 2021 Lenora Robinson rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc-2021, jaff-read-2021, read-2021

I loved this story. Such a fresh take on this story.

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Apr 19, 2021 Adele rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ja-ff, 2021-jaff-reading-challenge, p-p-darcy-alt-path

Angst a plenty

Another excellent story from Lucy Marin. The synopsis does a good job of preparing you for the book. The evil George Wickham, William Collins, Caroline Bingley and Lady Catherine are either non existent or mentioned only in passing. They and their usual issues aren’t missed in this version. There are some dastardly relations that definitely made my blood boil. The characters were well fleshed out and the dialogue believable (within the Regency world). I got a little verklempt at on ...more

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Apr 12, 2021 Katie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-romance

In this Pride and Prejudice variation, the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet and William Lucas is so lovely that it's heartbreaking to see them separated so soon, and so painfully, by circumstances outside of their control. As much as I had been looking forward to reading this story, I was reluctant to continue because I dreaded to see them apart. I'm glad that I finally found my courage to proceed, because the story was well worth the effort. It's unusual to see such an uncertain Darcy, una ...more

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May 28, 2021 Martha rated it it was amazing

Deeply emotional

I thought the author did a remarkable job helping the reader feel the emotions of the characters, particularly early in the book. Some of it was a bit difficult (always mindful that it is fiction!), but good writing. I’m continually amazed (and thankful for) by the creative and varied ideas so many fan fiction authors write about and this one was no exception.

Won’t give away too many details will recommend it to others.

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Apr 12, 2021 Megan Wilkins rated it it was amazing

Can't put down!

I greatly enjoyed this book! The story is unique and a wonderful variation of our beloved P&P. Have no fear our dear couple find their HEA. it was truly a delight to read a variation that included Darcy's father still alive and other family members. This was a wonderful original story that I highly recommend! ...more

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Apr 26, 2021 Michelle David rated it it was amazing

Absolutely wonderful and emotional story about love and loss and staying true to who you really are and not who society wants you to be. Wonderful story and it will stick with you.

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