The verdict is in for "Darcy and Anne."

Anne De Bourgh has some serious problems.

Most significantly her mother, Lady Catherine, is a domineering old hat, far too accustomed to her place as matriarch of her family and is strict about rank and place.
Anne is wealthy, but ill. She dreaded the thought of marriage to her cousin Fitzwilliam Darcy, not needing his money and not attracted to him at all. But now she has more problems than she can handle, with her mother furious over Darcy's new marriage to Elizabeth Bennet, Anne is forced to parade around a very shallow, very small pool of potential husbands. She is mortified and helpless.

So begins the story of Anne, whom Judith Brocklehurst brings to the forefront of this Pride and Prejudice sequel. Now our heroine, Anne's adventure begins when Lady Catherine, who has decided it is Darcy's job to find Anne a husband, makes journey to Pemberley.

En route, Lady Catherine falls ill and Anne must take over the little caravan of servants, decide a course of treatment for her mother and *gasp* send a letter all by herself!
Leaving Lady Catherine behind, Anne ends up on the makeover end of the Pemberley women, falls in love, decides to become an author and is disinherited by her mother.

First, I have to say Judith Brocklehurst's "Anne and Darcy" was my inspiration for The Pemberley Project. Why? Because I liked it. At only 190 pages, the book is easy to fall into, kept my attention, and didn't annoy me.

Of course I must take Brocklehurst to task over a few plot lines.

First, I disagree with the portrayal of Lady Catherine. Austen's Lady Catherine is nothing if not consistent and in this book she is wishy-washy. She lets her power over Anne slip through her fingers carelessly. She gives up the ultimate decision over Anne's mate to Darcy (which I can't believe because Darcy made "a most unsuitable match" in choosing Elizabeth). Brocklehurst leads Lady Catherine on a life-changing, mood-swinging ride, taking her from stuffy to fashionable. Worst of all, she marries Lady Catherine off to Anne's suitor! I could never believe that Lady Catherine would marry again and allow her considerable fortune to be controlled by a husband. We are talking about a literary control freak here. She would never be so careless with her ultimate upper hand.
Brocklehurst ends her little sequel with a letter from Lady Catherine to Darcy, in which she tells him she will not come to Pemberley until Darcy promises to cut all ties with Anne and her husband. This was unsettling to me as well, as Lady Catherine was willing to forgive Darcy for his "unseemly choice of wife" but not Anne for her equally socially appalling choice of husband. I especially think Lady Catherine would try to exercise her power over any children Anne and Edmund may have. Here she just gives all that control away.

Thank you to Brocklehurst, though, for bringing Anne's series of ailments and illnesses to a likely conclusion.
I agree with Anne's choice of husband in Mr. Edmund Caldwell, but Anne, whom Austen never described as particularly smart or witty, becomes an author in "Darcy and Anne."

Overall, Brocklehurst's story is fun and easy to read. She stays in the Regency manner, but the dialogue isn't heavy or clumsy. The characters - except for Lady Catherine - are fairly true to Austen's originals. Brocklehurst did a fine job in Anne, answering the unanswered questions, connecting the dots that Pride and Prejudice didn't connect for this glanced-over character.

So I answer these questions:
Would Jane Austen approve? Maybe.
Are the characters true to Austen's work? Mostly.
Would I recommend this book to my best friend? Sure.
Would I read this book again? Yes.
VERDICT: Three and a half out of five stars.

Darcy and Anne

Title: "Darcy and Anne"
Author: Judith Brocklehurst
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
website: www.sourcebooks.com
Cost: 12.99


Here we go again, friends.

While on a recent vacation to visit my in-laws in Detroit, I decided to pop into a bookstore to find something that would keep me occupied and out of the way. (Come on, we have all had those kinds of visits with the in-laws).

I had my heart set on something by Catherine Cookson, but found "Darcy and Anne" instead.

By Judith Brocklehurst, the tag on the front says "It is a truth universally acknowledged that Lady Catherine will never find a husband for Anne."

And of course the cover says "Pride and Prejudice Continues..."

"Anne has never had a chance to figure out what she wants for herself until a fortuitous accident on the way to Pemberley separates Anne from her formidable mother. With her stalwart cousin Darcy and his lively wife Elizabeth on her side, she begins to feel she might me able to spread her wings..."

I am particularly interested in the regency novels that focus on the futures of the lesser-known Pride and Prejudice characters, and for several reasons. I think I am more accepting of the little liberties authors take with Lydia, Anne, Lady Catherine, Mary, Charlotte, and Wickham. Austen didn't endear these characters to our hearts. She didn't give us the intricate details of their strong personalities. The characters are not so nearly developed as Darcy and Elizabeth, so we can accept a little more "stretching" in modern texts.

Anne, you see, is of particular interest to me. I have my own theories about her and her "What might have beens" in between the lines of Austen's Pride and Prejudice. No one shares my conspiracy theory and I am waiting for someone to connect the dots, so to speak, for Anne.

So what are Lady Catherine's (and Judith Brocklehurst's) plans for Anne? When we last left Miss de Bourgh she was a pale, sickly sight. Very rich but not very pretty, she waited in vain for years for her cousin Darcy to settle down with her and merge the estates of Rosings and Pemberley.

And of course, Lady Catherine is mad as a wet hen over Darcy and Elizabeth's union.

This could be a very fun book, don't you think?