Today I have the pleasure of welcoming
Amy D'Orazio back to Babblings of a Bookworm with the blog tour for her latest
Pride & Prejudice variation,
A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity. I was lucky enough to reading the book for this stop, and I was really excited to do this, because I've spent many happy reading hours enjoying the stories she shared on the
A Happy Assembly site (login required). Amy was a contributing author to the popular anthology
Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen's Rakes and Gentlemen Rogues which I haven't read yet, but am looking forward to. She has also published a full length novel,
The Best Part of Love, which I haven't yet been brave enough to read! I was reading it in installments online, and the angst levels were too much for me wait for the next chapter! I was a little concerned that this would be an angsty read as well because I'm such a wimp, but I reasoned that it would be easier if I had access to all the chapters and could find out what happened immediately!
I'll start off by sharing the blurb with you and then we will move on to my review of the book. There's also an opportunity to win a copy.
Book Description:
Is not the very meaning of love that it surpasses every objection against it?
Jilted. Never did Mr. Darcy imagine it could happen to him.
But it has, and by Elizabeth Bennet, the woman who first hated and rejected him but then came to love him—he believed—and agree to be his wife. Alas, it is a short-lived, ill-fated romance that ends nearly as soon as it has begun. No reason is given.
More than a year since he last saw her—a year of anger, confusion, and despair—he receives an invitation from the Bingleys to a house party at Netherfield. Darcy is first tempted to refuse, but with the understanding that Elizabeth will not attend, he decides to accept.
When a letter arrives, confirming Elizabeth’s intention to join them, Darcy resolves to meet her with indifference. He is determined that he will not demand answers to the questions that plague him. Elizabeth is also resolved to remain silent and hold fast to the secret behind her refusal. Once they are together, however, it proves difficult to deny the intense passion that still exists. Fury, grief, and profound love prove to be a combustible mixture. But will the secrets between them be their undoing?
My Review
A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity picks up about a year after the events of P&P, but things have not ended as they did in the original book - instead of staying behind at the inn at Lambton to read Jane Bennet's letter, Elizabeth went for a walk with her uncle and aunt and bumped into Mr Darcy. There she had a chance to apologise for her previous behaviour towards him, he had a chance to renew his addresses to her, and so began a short period of exquisite felicity, 9 days to be precise, where Elizabeth and Darcy were betrothed. No announcements were made, as Mr Bennet's consent was yet to be sought. Then Elizabeth sent Darcy a letter breaking off the engagement. No explanation was proffered by her, or sought by him, regarding why the engagement was broken. Darcy has spent the last year trying to get over his broken heart, and trying to understand why.
'It astonished him to think it had been above a year since he had last seen her. A year since he had heard her laughter and witnessed the sparkle in her eyes. A year since he had felt the lightness of her touch on is arm and—dare he think of it?—felt the warmth of her breath against his mouth and tasted the sweetness of her lips.
A year since she had savagely ripped his still-beating heard from his chest and stamped it beneath her dainty little foot.'
The past year has seen many changes in the Bennet family too - Mr Bennet has died, and three of his daughters have married. Jane is now Mrs Bingley, Lydia is Mrs Wickham, and Mary married the parson who replaced Mr Collins at Hunsford, plus both Jane and Lydia have become mothers. Lizzy has lived with a more distant relation for the best part of the year, at a spa town, as she has been quite ill during the last year.
Darcy joins the Bingleys' house party initially believing that Elizabeth is still away. Once he realises that she will be joining the party he is torn between never wishing to see her again and feeling compelled to do so. He needs to know why she broke off the engagement but shrinks from finding out in case the answer to that question may hurt him even further. Is a short period of exquisite felicity all the happiness he can ever expect in life? To forgive her seems as impossible as ever loving another.
'The notion of seeing her might put him at sixes and sevens, might fill him with despair and sorrow, and might rob him of sleep. But still, the alternative—to go away and not see her—was far, far worse.'
I felt like this was a book of two halves, in one respect. The first half was quite slow moving. We see thoughts and feelings mostly from Darcy's perspective, but we are also privy to Elizabeth's and both of them are so heartbroken. They are fearful of being hated by the other, he is angry, she is sorrowful, and they are both in such pain. I felt that this part of the book went on for too long once they were able to be on civil terms, particularly as so much could have been cleared up just by having a simple conversation. You just wanted them to hurry up and speak to one another, and the only thing that prevented them from doing so was that neither took the opportunity to do so.
After the halfway point the story really took off for me. There were some plot points that I foresaw, but there were some twists that I wasn't expecting, and I love that in a story, particularly as due to the nature of JAFF, a lot of stories have similarities.
Some of the characters weren't as I expected either. You so often see them presented in the same ways that you come to anticipate particular behaviour, yet, if you go back to Austen's characters, so many of them are lightly sketched, so that there is scope for them to be different. A particular character was moved quite a way from their usual JAFF persona which may not please everybody - it's not a character I am particularly fond of from Austen's book, so it didn't bother me at all!
I liked that Elizabeth learned something about her own character - she is a very private person in P&P, and this is something that is considered here. In P&P Mr Darcy is also very private, but he opens himself up to Elizabeth, making himself vulnerable. Elizabeth keeps things to herself until far later in the book.
A minor character I particularly enjoyed was the elder Fitzwilliam brother. We never meet him in P&P, though of course we know he exists as Colonel Fitzwilliam is the second son, so this is an opportunity for an author to have free rein in creating the character. Lord Saye is so funny, and came up with some very Oscar Wilde style quotes.
'Saye cleared his throat. "This is neither proper enough for polite society nor scandalous enough to interest me, and therefore, I beg you would stop."
I would recommend this book to JAFF lovers, particularly those who are fond of angst. Although the level of angst isn't that deep, it goes on for quite a while. I would make sure you have planned in some reading time because I wouldn't have wanted to break off during the angsty bit and pick up later. I started the book early enough in the evening that I could read right through
Once through the angst, there were some plotting twists and turns which you could either try to fathom out, or just sit back and see where the author takes the story. I enjoyed the fresh take on the characters away from the norm, the betrayal that I only partly suspected, the magnifying effect of character flaws on events. A particular highlight of this book for me was the dialogue, it's often witty and sparkling. I would have liked a bit more romantic page time between Elizabeth and Darcy, though, as a lot of their time together is spent very uncertainly.
There are no sex scenes in the book but the book isn't prim and proper and there are references to bawdy behaviour, though not by E&D.
For me, this was a four star read. I look forward to reading more of Amy D'Orazio's works as they are published.
Buy Links:
Amy D’Orazio’s Author Biography:
Amy D’Orazio is a former breast cancer researcher and current stay at home mom who is addicted to Austen and Starbucks in about equal measures. While she adores Mr. Darcy, she is married to Mr. Bingley and their Pemberley is in Pittsburgh PA.
She has two daughters who are devoted to sports which require long practices and began writing her own stories as a way to pass the time she spent sitting in the lobbies of various gyms and studios. She is a firm believer that all stories should have long looks, stolen kisses and happily ever afters. Like her favorite heroine, she dearly loves a laugh and considers herself an excellent walker.
Contact Info:
Giveaway Time!
8 eBooks of A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity are being given away by Meryton Press and the giveaway is open to international readers. This giveaway is open to entries from midnight ET on February 21 – until midnight ET on March 8, 2018.
Terms and conditions:
Readers may enter the drawing by tweeting once each day and by commenting daily on a blog post or review that has a giveaway attached to this tour. Entrants must provide the name of the blog where they commented.
Each winner will be randomly selected by Rafflecopter and the giveaway is international. Each entrant is eligible to win one eBook.
