Darcy And Bingley Get Kinky - A Pride And Prejudice Retelling
Fitzwilliam Darcy isn’t just an archetypal troubled bad-boy hero from a romantic novel. He is the archetype. For me, as with many Jane Austen fans and avid readers, Darcy represents the ultimate fantasy hero who is most welcome to stomp his way into my life and sweep me off my feet to his metaphorical castle to have his wicked, wicked way whenever he damn well pleases.
It’s not a Fifty Shades of Grey kind of sexy book, Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. There are no graphic sex scenes or bursting bodies, but that’s not to say that it’s not a steamy romance. There are desires aplenty, but they’re expressed through words and frustrating scenes in close (socially-acceptable) proximity – and although there are no written sex scenes or steamy moments, the passion between Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam is the stuff of legend.
And, it’s this “stuff of legend” that has inspired a generation of fan-fiction dedicated to bodice-ripping, breech-busting romances bursting forth from the pages of Austenian-inspired literature. Gone are the days when Darcy stares at Ms Bennet with disguised and hushed lust. Now, he’s larger than life: and Ann Herendeen has provided us with the latest in pulse-racing retellings with her novel: Pride/Prejudice: A Novel of Mr. Darcy, Elizabeth Bennet, and Their Forbidden Lovers.
The story revolves around the sexual stories of each of the much-loved Pride and Prejudice characters. What happens between Fitzwilliam and Elizabeth? What is the turning point that makes them eventually love each other? It’s not all Darcy and Ms Bennet either: Why exactly does Darcy hate Wickham with such fire? Why is Darcy so protective of his friend Bingley? What do Charlotte and Elizabeth exchange behind closed doors when they think nobody is listening?
Usually, you fill in these gaps with your overactive imagination and a burning desire to know the truth. That’s what Ann Herendeen has done, and she doesn’t leave much to the imagination. Put your Fifty Shades back on the shelf: this book is going to have you blushing from ear to ear.
Some questions are best left unanswered if you’re keen to preserve your Darcy-centric fantasy world. Such is the world of adaptions… anything can happen. This version of Pride and Prejudice features awkward erotic encounters between a rather forceful Mr Darcy and his former lover Mr Wickham (didn’t see that coming Jane Austen fans, did you?), and according to one reviewer, “Darcy nightly assaults Bingley-while he's asleep-with force. When Charles objects - Hell no!!! Darcy rape.”