Reviewer: Amy Lignor
Title: The Ballad of Gregoire Darcy: Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Continues
Author: Marsha Altman
Publisher: Ulysses Press
ISBN-13: 978-1-56975-937-0
Release Date: May 2011
Genre/Sub-genre: Historical Fiction
Year/Setting: 1800’s/The Jane Austen Haunts & More
Overall Rating: 3.0
Sexual Content Rating: None/Subtle
Language (Profanity/Slang) Content Rating: None/Mild
Violent Content Rating: None/Minimal
Marsha's Website/Blog: www.marshaaltman.com
Dear Readers:
Anyone who knows this writer can tell you, Pride & Prejudice was, and will remain, my favorite book of all time. I always believed that Jane Austen knew something the rest of the world just hasn’t figured out yet. Not to mention, she knew romance. When you look at the books today and realize the romances offered are usually between mortals and the "fanged ones," you sit and dream back to a time when there was one author out there in the world who always "hit the nail on the head" when it came to love - the search for it, and the strength and perseverance it took to get it.
Marsha Altman is also huge fan of Jane Austen, as anyone reading her books can attest to. She has put forth Whirlwind of Pemberley; Courtship of Mary Bennet; and the Torment of Gregoire Darcy, and she has done it well - carrying on the story of Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy without "messing" with the original thoughts that Ms. Austen once had. Now, I have to say that Gregoire Darcy is my favorite "new character" that this author has brought to life, so this new novel was something of a treat to receive in the mail.
To bring people up to date, Gregoire Bellamont-Darcy is the illegitimate half-brother of our beloved hero, Mr. Darcy, who was found in a monastery in France. In the last novel, Torment, Gregoire was the focus as he left his "easy" life in the Benedictine cloister, and stepped into Regency England’s upper crust, where he saw the Pride & Prejudice for himself. This is a man who is what you would call, inexperienced in the ways of the world, and he was suddenly surrounded by marriage contracts, secrets, and the "woos" of women in order to get this "other" Mr. Darcy to marry them.
Grégoire is now back in the "brotherhood" - in a Spanish monastery this time, where he feels the most safe and free. At the cloister no one cares what the Darcy names stands for, nor do they care if Gregoire came from an affair between an English gentleman and a French maid. Gregoire has retained his innocence throughout the tragedies that have come into his life, and he has also - according to the people of his new village - retained the fact that he may just be a true miracle worker. Now, his boss - the abbot, has explained to Gregoire that being seen as a "god" is most likely not a good thing, and could cause him more than a bit of trouble in the end. Gregoire is also trying to get his "Darcy" money in order to spread the wealth and help the town. The reader will be completely swept up in Gregoire’s pursuits, and quite interested to know that at the end of this novel, Gregoire will no longer be a single man…
The other storylines focus on Darcy’s hatred of the society and culture he and Elizabeth have to live in; and an Oriental journey that has Bingley sticking his head in a tiger’s mouth and standing in the "ring" while getting beaten on. With these extra paths, the story goes from good to very good.
Again, Ms. Altman offers a rich portrait of what may have happened to the Darcy’s after we left them years ago. And, although sometimes there seems to be way too many characters in these books (some old, some new), the story is always fascinating. But, in the end, as all "lovers" believe, the real Mr. Darcy and the real Elizabeth from the mind of Jane Austen can never be rewritten, elongated, changed, or continued, because it was sheer perfection to begin with. That was the beauty of the romance and the legend.
Until next time,
Amy
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