England, 1809

THE CONFESSION OF FITZWILLIAM DARCY is not the first attempt to flesh out Darcy's part in Pride and Prejudice I've reviewed, but, much to my surprise, it is highly effective and most entertaining. First of all, Darcy is narrator. It is his voice and his point of view that carries the whole. And Ms. Street has his character down to a T. The story begins at the assembly at Meryton where Darcy and his friend Bingley first encounter Elizabeth and Jane Bennet, the eldest of the five daughters of a local gentleman. Darcy is all that we expect; he's insufferably proud, arrogant and superior in his belief that he is above such countrified society. He's joined in his disdain by Bingley's sisters, Miss Caroline and Mrs. Hurst. From this meeting, the three see the attraction Jane Bennet has for Bingley and they unite to separate them.

At the same time, however, Darcy fights to quell an unwilling fascination with the lively and clever Elizabeth Bennet. She only grows more attractive the more he sees her. He admits to himself that she and Jane, the serene beauty of the family, are acceptable, but he holds the rest of her family connections in disdain. He owes his name to cut the connection.

While the outline of the plot follows that of the P&P's, much of this new novel is original. Instead of tediously recreating every pivotal scene, the author has Darcy ruminating on his words and actions, especially as he dealt with Elizabeth. This gives us greater insight into his evolution from self-centered pomposity to true gentlemanly ways. In fact, it is this focus on Darcy's enlightenment that makes THE CONFESSION OF FITZWILLIAM DARCY so successful. His wooing of Elizabeth is not the sole benefactor of his conversion; it spills over onto his relationships with Bingley, his cousin Fitzwilliam, and most heartwarmingly, with his sister Georgiana.

I will let the experts compare how often original speech is used. I found a couple of instances of where a sentence or phrase matched Jane Austen's words, but on the whole, Ms. Street's work is fresh and charming in its own right. The enigmatic Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, a gentleman of fortune and noble connections, has long fascinated scholars and readers, and many studies and novels have appeared about him. THE CONFESSION OF FITZWILLIAM DARCY gives detailed insight into his psyche that has the ring of truth, yet it's a light and lively account of only two hundred some pages. In my past review, I urged readers who haven't read Pride and Prejudice to go to the original. With THE CONFESSION OF FITZWILLIAM DARCY, however, I recommend it to anyone, Austen reader or not. Reading it will not take anything away from P&P, and it may very well send a new reader to Austen. It's a win/win situation.

Jane Bowers