Nov. 3, 2014 – NEW COVER!! A Father’s Sins: Book One of the Men of Derbyshire series.How do Fitzwilliam Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet overcome the consequences of poor decisions made by their fathers when Darcy and Elizabeth were young?In A Father’s Sins, Mr. George Darcy, father of an illegitimate child raised by his steward, Mr. Wickham, agreed with his wife, Anne, that the firstborn son of their … firstborn son of their marriage would be heir to Pemberley. However, Mr. Darcy loved his eldest son, George Wickham, and indulged him by bringing him to Pemberley to live after the death of his wife. His heir, Fitzwilliam Darcy, paid a heavy price for this decision.
Mr. Thomas Bennet, an educated gentleman and father of five daughters, favored his second born, Elizabeth. Unexpectedly, his wife gave birth to a son and heir. Mr. Bennet, at the persistent urging of his wife, chose not to have his youngest children vaccinated for smallpox. When the plague hit Longbourn it devastated their family. Elizabeth paid the heaviest price for this decision of her father.
What happens when Darcy and Elizabeth meet? Will they be able to overcome the consequences of the choices their fathers made? When George Wickham, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, Mr. William Collins, and the Fitzwilliam family arrive in Meryton, how will that impact their growing attraction? How does the same decision by Mr. Bennet influence the relationship between Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley? Will love have a chance?
This is a stand-alone story.
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Visiting the sins of the father upon the children…or something like that.
This non-canon book was very different. I knew going in that it was going to be emotional. I just didn’t know how hard it was going to be. This Mr. and Mrs. Bennet were unlike any portrayal that I’ve ever read in JAFF. In every scene with them, I was horrified by their ignorant, self-absorbed attitudes and feelings.
I wanted to cry for the 15 year-old Elizabeth as she tried valiantly to nurse her younger sisters and brother [heir to Longbourn], when they fell victim to smallpox. She and Jane had previously been inoculated while visiting the Gardiner relatives in London. The Bennet’s refused to inoculate the younger children due to ignorance and fear. It was horrible as Mr. Bennet refused to face the fact that he and his wife were to blame for the deaths of their children. In his rage, he disowned his favorite daughter Elizabeth and sent her from the house demanding that she never returns. Through the kindness of the servants, she made it to London and proceeded to live with her Aunt and Uncle Gardiner.
One reviewer questioned how the Gardiner’s were able to afford to travel to the extent that they did. This seemed perfectly logical to me. Mr. Gardiner had many connections and his traveling was for and to promote business. I am sure some of those contacts owned ships and had business ventures in many ports of call. Since Mr. Gardiner was a successful broker and businessman, I see no reason why he and his family couldn’t travel first class in regard to those business connections and possibly at minimal cost to them.
It was through these travels that Elizabeth received the education of a lifetime. She was a voracious learner and was especially interested in healing and medicine. Throughout her travels, she learned the newest procedures, medical breakthroughs and medicinal therapy’s that had not yet reached the British shores. This would explain her attitude and demeanor being different than canon. We have to remember that her formative years were away from British soil. She grew up mostly in foreign and third world countries and did extensive traveling while on the continent. So, of course, she would be different.
This story examines the actions of both fathers, Mr. Bennet and Mr. Darcy. We see Fitzwilliam Darcy also coming to grips with and dealing with his own father’s sins. (view spoiler) His desire to join the estates of de Bourgh and Pemberley was another weigh with which young Darcy had to struggle against.
I read the many reviews and they are most excellent. They helped me decide that I wanted to read this excellent work.
We are presented with the usual list of characters:
Bingley Family: Charles, Caroline, Louisa and Mr. Hurst. Charles believes Miss Jane Bennet is the most beautiful woman of his acquaintance; however, her serene demeanor seems impenetrable to his attentions. So he backs away from her with regret. Caroline is the same scheming, [I will have Darcy as husband and be mistress of Pemberley or else] attitude. She is horrid to the servants and guests, even though they are Darcy’s relatives. Will she never learn to not bite the hand that she wishes to garner? She is in constant planning for ways to secure Darcy or to eliminate Elizabeth Bennet’s influence on him and Georgiana.
Bennet Family: Mr. Bennet, indolent to the ninth degree, disregarding the house and land management of Longbourn. He’s let the place fall into rack and ruin since Elizabeth was no longer there to manage things. Mrs. Bennet’s nerves are even worse than in canon, if that is possible. Jane’s demeanor comes across as near comatose to anything going on around her. Her serenity is wrapped around having peace in the house at all costs. She was horrid to her sister and blamed her for being away for so long. Very subdued behavior for our dear Jane. She was definitely off stride to canon.
Mr. Collins showed up and acted the toad as usual. Since Jane was reserved for a worthier match, he tried to garner the hand of Miss Elizabeth. Mr. Bennet insisted…no demanded that Elizabeth return to Longbourn immediately and marry the cousin [heir to Longbourn]. He felt that she owed it to the family to secure the estate for her mother and sister if he should die. Until that time, she could run things as she had before and at little trouble to him.
Fitzwilliam Family: Loved these guys. Lord and Lady Matlock and their two sons. There were many hero moments with the men in the family and WOW, some were almost too much to believe. Lady Catherine was awful. Anne de Bourgh was a surprise and I liked her attitude toward everyone.
Darcy Family: George Wickham was awful. There were several twists to canon that were different due to his ***x7fspoiler*** can’t say. His hatred of Darcy and Georgiana was so ingrained that he cared little for their very lives.
There were a few problems with propriety…there always are in these JAFF variations. It is hard to not have problems as we desire our dear couple to have those moments together to express their affections and love for each other. I also agree with the fact some of the action and drama was a bit fantastical. I mean superwoman meets P&P. Wow!!! Elizabeth could do it all. However, we love our hero moments for the women too. So, read with a grain of salt. Look for the HEA moments and know that there is a hard road to traverse in order to get there. The conclusion came rather quickly and several problems were solved a bit too smoothly.
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I question Mr. Bennet’s change of heart simply because he read the letter he wrote five years prior. Would his forgiveness come so quickly? He was being presented with a loss of a fortune, Elizabeth’s rebellion and his lack of control over her, and the complicity of the Gardiners, the Matlocks, and Mr. Darcy. I would think his anger would have been enraged beyond reason. I know the author wanted to have him repentant and forgiving… however, was it plausible at this time? Perhaps over time, but instantly… it seemed too soon. And then there were Mrs. Bennet’s crushed designs to shop until she dropped. Yeah, I bet that went off smoothly.
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