Fiction — print. Simon & Schuster, 2007. 437 pgs. Purchased.
These Three Remain follows a humbled Darcy on the journey of self-discovery, after Elizabeth Bennet’s rejection of his marriage proposal, in which he endeavors to grow into the kind of gentleman he desires to become. Happily, a chance meeting with Elizabeth during a tour of his estate in Derbyshire offers Darcy a new opportunity to press his suit, but his new found strengths are put to the test by an old nemesis, George Wickham.”
These Three Remain is the third book in the Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy and by far my favorite. Aidan created a Darcy that made sense, a feat few Pride & Prejudice “FanFiction” stories have accomplished. In part because, in my opinion, she had a good sense of who Darcy was as a whole person, how he thought, what drove him to do the things he did, the type of brother and friend he was. So many others just steal all of the conversations from Austen and then add in the thoughts they think were going through Colin Firth’s or Matthew Mcfayden’s head as he played Darcy.
The story that seemed to wander in the second book, Duty and Desire, came together in a believable fashion at the end. And, if it’s at all possible, I fell even more in love with Mr. Darcy.
In short, I enjoyed every word. Aidan has somehow managed the impossible–to enrich Jane Austen’s marvelous story. It was great fun to read, and I thought Aidan captured the characters, setting, and speech very well.
Ardent Reader 