When I was younger, I used to love those “choose your own adventure” type books, which let you explore all the different possibilities in one story. Would you choose to follow the creepy looking guy yourself or alert the police? Would you take the brightly lit path or the dark and shadowy one? Each choice would change the course of the story. If only we could do the same thing with other books.
No matter how much we love a book or story, sometimes we wish things had happened just a little bit differently. If only Romeo had just waited patiently for Friar Lawrence or even waited a few minutes longer to drink the poison! We could have had a happy ending, instead of a tragedy.
How different would these beloved stories be? Would they be better? Worse? Somewhere in the middle? Would they even still be the stories we know and love?
In the seemingly endless world of Jane Austen “sequels,” spin-offs and adaptations, Abigail Reynolds has take the “what if?” question to new heights. She’s well known in the Austen-verse for her Pemberley Variations novels – a series of books that explores Lizzie and Darcy’s story if things had happened differently.
What if Lizzie had accepted Darcy’s first proposal? What if Darcy attempted to change Lizzie’s mind after she refuses him? What if Darcy suddenly found himself with a worthy competitor (i.e., not Wickham) for Lizzie’s affections? How might Austen’s Pride and Prejudice world change, adapt or even stay the same?
I recently finished The Last Man in the World (also known as Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy) and have just begun Impulse and Initiative (also known as To Conquer Mr. Darcy). In The Last Man, Reynolds imagines a world in which Lizzie is compelled to accept Mr. Darcy’s proposal at Rosings, despite her disdain and dislike of him. Forced into the very thing she swore she would avoid – a loveless marriage – Lizzie must reconcile her feelings with her new life as she comes to a greater understand of the man she married and herself.
I truly enjoyed the opportunity to imagine how things might have been, especially considering all the misunderstandings and half-truths Lizzie and Darcy believe. It was also quite fun and interesting to see how Reynolds portrayed the shifts and changes in their personalities, each one reacting to the other. I liked how she weaved in original plot points, to keep the story familiar, while at the same time, adding her own spin and flair to a beloved classic.
There were a couple of things, however, that did irk me a bit. First, and foremost, was Reynolds’ depiction of Lizzie as being extremely passive and quiet after her marriage. Though she attempts to explain it as Lizzie’s way of avoid Darcy’s displeasure, it seemed so very un-Lizzie-like to me. Gone was the spirited, playful, witty and intelligent young woman that first caught Darcy’s eye. In Reynolds’ alterna-world, Lizzie is fearful and obedient, never pushing back (no matter how gently) to Darcy’s stoic reserve. Though this slowly abates as Lizzie and Darcy grow closer together, it still seemed like such a drastic departure from one of Austen’s most vivid heroines.
The other thing that I’ve questioned is the assumption of a happy ending. Now, don’t get me wrong – I love a good happy ending and firmly believe that every Pride and Prejudice, Lizzie/Darcy variation should have a happy ending. I’m just not convinced it should have happened in this case. I’m speculating that all of Reynolds’ Variation books end with Lizzie and Darcy together – the assumption being that, no matter what happens, Lizzie and Darcy belong together and will always end up as such. That’s all good and happy, but it’s not very realistic.
In the particular case of The Last Man in the World, Lizzie is essentially rushed into a marriage she doesn’t want. While it is conceivable that she could eventually come to love Darcy (as she does in Reynolds’ book), it’s also just as conceivable that she would end up resenting him, quite strongly, for taking away her choice in the matter and for (possibly) preventing her from ever marrying for love. Though romance writers would love for us to believe differently, the truth is that many loveless or convenience marriages during Jane Austen’s lifetime never did overcome that particular obstacle. As much as we would want them to be, why would Lizzie and Darcy be the exception?
Still, those are relatively minor criticisms of an overall enjoyable book – which I think is obvious by the fact that I immediately sought out more of the Pemberley Variations from my library once I completed the first. I would definitely recommend Abigail Reynolds’ The Last Man in the World to any ardent Pride and Prejudice fan, if only for the chance to imagine all the possibilities of the road less traveled.
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