Author: Carrie Bebris
Title: North by Northanger
I do wonder if Jane Austen has spawned more derivatives than any author. I certainly come across more of them. Such books have familiar characters you can latch on to immediately. The rest is in the hands of the author, how successfully they are able to carry the illusion of a story taken forward. Many fail miserably. They make a hash of beloved characters and take the story into unbelievable places. Carrie Bebris, thankfully, does no such thing.
Mr. and Mrs. Darcy, Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth, are still happily married a year after we left them in our beloved book. They are expecting their first child. On their way back from visiting Jane and Bath they are asked by Fredrick Tilney to stop by and visit them in Northanger Abbey as he wishes to reminiscence with them about friendship between their mothers, Anne Darcy and Helen Tilney. Mystified but curious, the Darcys agree. What follows is deceit, false accusations, loss of family heirlooms, unfair imprisonment and discovery of a beautiful friendship through letters.
The story draws you in immediately. The best part, in my opinion, is the very apt and beautiful quote at the head of each chapter taken from Jane Austen's correspondence with her sister Cassandra and also her various books. Sample these:
My hearing nothing of you makes me apprehensive that you, your fellow travellers and all your effects, might be seized by the bailiffs...
Jane Austen, letter to Cassandra
I do not want people to be very agreeable, as it saves me the trouble of liking them a great deal.
Jane Austen, letter to Cassandra
Pictures of perfection, as you know, make me sick and wicked.
Jane Austen, letter to Fanny Knight
These series go by the name of Mr. & Mrs. Darcy mystery. Mr. Darcy, in this novel, does the footwork; Visiting places and gleaning information, chasing and apprehending criminals. Elizabeth gathers information, reads clues and figures out the mystery. Oh, she also gives birth to a baby.
The only thing that annoyed me a bit towards the end, was the sudden popping in of all the family members. It seemed too contrived. I am pretty sure no one gatecrashed at each others houses in those days.
At the start of the book there was a little Rebecca like atmosphere as Elizabeth feels overshadowed by references to her late mother-in-law Anne Darcy. She is vital to the story, as most of the mystery Mr. & Mrs. Darcy are trying to unravel belongs to the past.
I loved the way the writer combines the characters from Northanger Abbey and Pride and Prejudice. I was sad that Catherine Tilney makes no appearance in it.
All in all this is a very interesting book. I look forward to reading other Mr. & Mrs. Darcy mysteries.
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