‘Mr Darcy, Vampyre’ is a sequel to Pride and Prejudice with a twist (can you guess what it is?) Amanda Grange’s book begins at the end of Jane Austen’s novel, first thing in the morning of the day of Elizabeth’s wedding to Mr Darcy – and of course, Jane’s to Mr Bingley. However, before the day is out our heroes have left Meryton for Dover on the English south coast. Slipped into Lizzy and Darcy’s wedding messages was a shocking piece of news, which leads the gentleman to insist they leave for France immediately on an impromptu honeymoon tour of Europe.
On their travels, Elizabeth begins to wonder why her new husband hasn’t visited her in her bedchamber. She starts to fear the worst; perhaps he is regretting having married her. Eventually we learn the real reason behind his reluctance to… ahem… visit her. Unsurprisingly, it turns out to be something rather more sinister. Again, can you guess what it is?
‘Mr Darcy Vampyre’ is a fun read, with lots of romance, atmospheric prose and pulse-raising scenes. Not many Pride and Prejudice characters are included in the novel, with only Elizabeth and Darcy followed throughout, and the strongest supporting role given to Lady Catherine de Bourgh. However, Elizabeth and Darcy’s characters are written with love and careful attention. Elizabeth is as delightful as can be expected, given the terrible journey on which she is taken, and Darcy is as complicated as ever – perhaps more so, given the addition of the whole man-beast problem.
The sensual prose immediately – and I do mean from the first page – sets it apart stylistically from Jane Austen’s novel. There is more detail in Amanda Grange’s description of the view from Elizabeth’s window than Jane Austen gives of Pemberley, Rosings and the Peak district all together. The plot is also very linear in comparison with the complex, interweaving storylines of Pride and Prejudice. Letters are used, and do become important later in the book, but they generally serve just to recap what we have already learned, rather than to shove the story along. Furthermore, as you’d expect from any book with ‘vampyre’ in the title, it’s generally a lot darker, more emotionally direct and more hot-blooded than the ‘light and bright and sparkling’ Regency novel.
These aren’t really criticisms, however, but readers who love Jane Austen for the language, the light, ironic touch and the labyrinthine plot might not find much to enjoy here. However, if you are interested primarily in the two main characters and you don’t mind a little absurdity, then you should find ‘Mr Darcy, Vampyre’ perfectly agreeable. True Austen experts might enjoy the book as an homage to the Gothic novels that Jane Austen herself loved, but I’m not sure that casual Austen fans and lovers of general horror will find their bloodthirst quenched. It’s not particularly gory and it’s not until the final third of the book that it’s completely clear what’s going on (unless you had the foresight to read the novel’s title, that is!) so there are sure to be plenty more horrible horrors available, but for a light-hearted play on Pride and Prejudice, this is a pleasantly distracting read.
