Though most of us have always seen Mr Darcy as a character of extreme stability, there are hints in Pride and Prejudice that he is in fact a very feeling man, who is merely very adept at controlling his emotions to the point of seeming almost free of them. Reading those rare sentences, sometimes mere words, I always tried to envision how the unfortunate events at Hunsford Parsonage must have … affected him. Then one day I was inspired to write them down, starting this story.
And now you see before you the wholly-revised second edition of Revelations. To improve your reading experience, the story has been re-written in the past tense, it has been split in two parts, several remaining anachronisms have been removed, and the love-scenes (not before they’re married, of course!) have been toned down considerably.
Revelations started out as a serial with a weekly update and is about as exciting as most people’s normal lives, meaning not very. It is mainly enjoyable for readers who like to drown in the feelings of their favourite characters, and not just Darcy and Elizabeth, Georgiana finally gets her share of the action, too, and some real character. Mr Bennet, Mr Collins, Lady Catherine and all the other secondary personages already in possession of a distinctive personality remain true to their character when they make their appearances. Other personages of my own devising will unavoidably start entering the story from the moment the newly-weds arrive at Pemberley. Their role is still limited in this first part of Revelations, in the second and third part they will gain an ever larger influence on the main characters’ lives.
Despite my admiration for Jane Austen I am nothing like her, which means in my story servants, children, feelings, women’s place in society, sexuality and other important facts of daily life are given some attention. You can try the first chapters for free to see whether this story is for you. Please refrain from (inadvertently) placing spoilers in the reviews.
Darcy carefully closed the front door of the parsonage behind him, he had been humiliated enough, he was not going to add to his shame by slamming it with the anger he felt. For anger was the feeling foremost on his mind, as he legged it through the little garden of the parsonage, across the road into Rosings Park.
Didn’t he have every right to be angry? Hadn’t he been made a total fool of by a very young lady who was very much beneath him? She had been playing with his feelings for months, flirting shamelessly, whipping up the flame of his ardour with her witty remarks to his friends and his cousin, and her veiled allusions to himself.
‘This is one of my favourite haunts, Mr Darcy,’ her very words, weren’t they an invitation to meet her in the park, one he took her up on like she wanted him to, nearly sick with love and anticipation each time? Hadn’t he met her there as often as he dared, keeping himself from going every day with the utmost discipline, afraid of her forming expectations of him before he was ready to commit himself, his reason still so much at discord with his feelings? How dared she encourage him if she didn’t want him, despised him, actually?
more
Warning, this is Part 1, ends with a cliffhanger of love
When I first started this story, I was intrigued with Darcy’s POV and how he survived the disastrous Hunsford proposal. We were in his head and knew his thoughts, feelings, embarrassment, hurt and finally grief. He confessed those actions to our dear Colonel and it was the Colonel’s idea for him to write the famous letter and explain his actions. So, from this, we can already see minor tweaks to Austen’s canon, but not too overt to change the course of the story.
By Chapter 3, it was already summer and Darcy had left his traveling party behind in order to reach Pemberley for a meeting with his steward. This early arrival allowed him to run into Elizabeth and her relatives as they were touring Pemberley. Just as Darcy was thinking his world was finally righting itself, we, who are familiar with the story, know that Jane’s letters were in route to Elizabeth and her world was about to crash around her.
The deep introspection was very different in this work. I’ve read books from Darcy’s POV but not to this depth. I soon realized that our POV was more omniscient and we were given limited access into the thoughts of a several other characters, but not everyone. This story followed Austen’s basic outline, with minor adjustments that didn’t change the base story… only how that story was executed.
Rating: Be prepared: MA [mature audience]: sensual, seductive actions, and discussions. That business with Mrs. Younge was just wrong… wrong… wrong. Within the Darcy marriage, we have explicit sex with semi-graphic descriptions and explanations as our newly married couple explore their marriage privileges. I found it a little too adventurous for two virgins [especially only a few days after the wedding]. I don’t care if they did read a lot. Just saying.
I can’t put my finger on it, but there was just a note that was off as I continued to read this story. Part of it I contribute to perspective, the switching POV, the telling rather than showing, and the use of modern language was playing havoc with my train of thought. When would Elizabeth, or anyone else in Regency era, ever say that something was weird? The old English ‘wyrd’ referred to destiny, or a person’s fate, unearthly [as used in Shakespeare’s Macbeth]. Elizabeth’s use was purely a modern reference to something being strange or different. There was also ‘What is your problem?’ ‘But seriously.’ ‘Creep” as a description of a person, not the speed of travel. ‘Let’s hear it for…’ as an introduction. ‘Get it’ as a reference for understanding. Yeah, just a bit modern. Then we had the misuse of fiancée [female] and fiancé [male]. Fiancée is not universal between the sexes and does not refer to an engaged male. And, the missing words, and editing problems, etc.
There was minimal angst, although it was fairly dicey when the honeymoon was over and the Darcy’s returned to Darcy House in London. I really had problems with this situation with the servants. What was that all about? This was completely unacceptable as Darcy had to deal with ‘the love that dare not speak its name’ WTH [what the heck]? The behavior with the servants was so outrageous that I could not believe it was allowed to go on for so long. Other than that, nothing. I kept expecting the hammer to fall and it didn’t.
Who was this Darcy that he never noticed anything? What was Darcy’s problem? This guy was a watered-down version of himself. That he would allow a breach in propriety, a familiarity, with his servants? It worsened as the story went on. This Elizabeth and Darcy were a strange hybrid of themselves. They looked like E&D, they sounded like ODC, but they weren’t. It was one of those situations where you can’t put your finger on the problem. The picture presented to us, of the life and times of E&D, was a monochromatic view. It’s there, but you don’t have the vivid, bright and bold colors that you are accustomed to. That is the best way to describe it.
This story went on forever and in minute detail. I’m sorry, I couldn’t take it. And then, to discover that it was only Part 1. It ended at 97% with a promise of Part 2 coming in the spring. The rest of the book was excerpts from other works. I am ticked off royally. I’m to the point I don’t care what happens. Thank goodness this was a free offering through Amazon. Maybe I will have cooled off by the spring.