Yours Forevermore, Darcy

"I am trying my best to forget you." (quote from the book)

Beautiful prose and an exquisite symphony of love and letters.

The premise of this wonderful book was based on letters Mr. Darcy wrote to Elizabeth Bennet, but are never meant to be sent, was unique and extremely moving. I don't think I could come up with enough fabulous adjectives to do this book justice.

"Yet now those thoughts were darker, blanketed with soot from the burn of her words as he now had the distinction of knowing he could not have her should he choose it." (quote from the book)

We get to see from both Darcy and Elizabeth's point of view how they each dealt with their feelings about each other after the Hunsford proposal and his letter to her. Darcy is a tortured soul and Elizabeth's feelings are a jumble. To help him deal with his pain he writes letters to her and secrets them away in the hidden compartment of his traveling writing desk or the old tome in his study that is hollowed out. My heart just ached for both of them, but especially for Mr. Darcy. The depths of his love for Elizabeth has you gasping for breath. No hero can compare to Jane Austen's Mr. Darcy and Ms. Mackrory has taken us into his psyche.

Yes, there is much that goes on around this tale, but for me the journey between Darcy and Elizabeth was heart-wrenching, poignant and completely swoon-worthy. I sincerely recommend this as one of those books that you hear people say 'you must read'...truly you do.

This book was very (and I mean VERY) slow pace. But it's to be expected considering there is not much going on here. The story starts after Darcy's proposal and tells how D&E finally come together. Honestly, other than Darcy's love letters (which I'm not even convinced he would be writing to begin with) there is really nothing exciting or even interesting happening here. Does this book merit five stars on Darcy's love letters alone? The short answer is most definitely, NO.

Not my favorite JAFF book. I do love the genre and read 2-3 a month when I can find them. This had an interesting story line but no action and very little character development. Pages were spent describing feelings and the routines of the day with little interaction and dialog. I got bored with it. Then (spoiler) for the letters to magically get to Elizabeth was a bit far fetched.

"It is always difficult to look upon oneself and see with perfect acuity our faults and mistakes" Darcy winced and knew that, in part, Georgiana knew this from experience. "But I am convinced that it is a necessary part of healing." Fitzwilliam Darcy – “Yours Forevermore, Darcy.”

I began with this particular quote because it hits home for a lot of people, especially me. I call it looking in the mirror and evaluating oneself. Here, it is Elizabeth Bennet who is the mirror in which Darcy sees himself and later Georgiana. I liked the hard route the two lovers took to reach each other on the other side. Darcy and Elizabeth gave each other just enough information (at the Parsonage) to be angry and then to finally see what was lacking in their characters.

I have always wanted to see Darcy reveal all his true deep and heartfelt feelings and as we all know men, in those days anyway, were wont to express them, I was not disappointed. Ms. Mackrory poured out Darcy's feelings in such a way as to not leave us wondering his true feelings. It was the first time he had been honest with himself, always with others, but never himself. We all know how passionate Mr. Darcy is towards “his Elizabeth” However, we never knew just how far and how painful it was for such a man to reveal himself in such a way.
In “Yours Forevermore, Darcy” Ms. Mackrory does just that and more. I love this Mr. Darcy and I have found myself deeply moved by his emotions, sympathetic at his plight, and mostly his willingness to change, not just for the woman he loves, but for himself. He did not like being with the “ton” because of those behaviors he himself has, cathartic to say the least. Elizabeth, through the letter Darcy, gives her at the parsonage, sees those very same faults she accused Darcy of in herself, only in a slightly different manner and to admit to herself how wrong she truly was, not just in her behavior to Darcy. The one thing she learned, which in my opinion was the hardest, was her ability to sketch someone’s character. She ought to have sketched her own before she did others and that was Miss Elizabeth’s cathartic moment.
Another wonderful book by Ms. Mackrory. It seems to me that she has the ability to:

"May I ask to what these questions tend?" [Darcy]

"Merely to the illustration of your character," said she, endeavouring to shake off her gravity. "I am trying to make it out."

She shook her head. "I do not get on at all. I hear such different accounts of you as puzzle me exceedingly."

"I can readily believe," answered he gravely, "that report may vary greatly with respect to me; and I could wish, Miss Bennet, that you were not to sketch my character at the present moment, as there is reason to fear that the performance would reflect no credit on either"

This is another quote by Darcy and Elizabeth I had to use because this is exactly what Ms. Mackrory did; she sketched both their characters in a job akin to Ms. Austen herself.
*Pride and Prejudice – Netherfield Ball

"It is always difficult to look upon oneself and see with perfect acuity our faults and mistakes" Darcy winced and knew that, in part, Georgiana knew this from experience. "But I am convinced that it is a necessary part of healing." Fitzwilliam Darcy – “Yours Forevermore, Darcy.”

I began with this particular quote because it hits home for a lot of people, especially me. I call it looking in the mirror and evaluating oneself. Here, it is Elizabeth Bennet who is the mirror in which Darcy sees himself and later Georgiana. I liked the hard route the two lovers took to reach each other on the other side. Darcy and Elizabeth gave each other just enough information (at the Parsonage) to be angry and then to finally see what was lacking in their characters.

I have always wanted to see Darcy reveal all his true deep and heartfelt feelings and as we all know men, in those days anyway, were wont to express them, I was not disappointed. Ms. Mackrory poured out Darcy's feelings in such a way as to not leave us wondering his true feelings. It was the first time he had been honest with himself, always with others, but never himself. We all know how passionate Mr. Darcy is towards “his Elizabeth” However, we never knew just how far and how painful it was for such a man to reveal himself in such a way.
In “Yours Forevermore, Darcy” Ms. Mackrory does just that and more. I love this Mr. Darcy and I have found myself deeply moved by his emotions, sympathetic at his plight, and mostly his willingness to change, not just for the woman he loves, but for himself. He did not like being with the “ton” because of those behaviors he himself has, cathartic to say the least. Elizabeth, through the letter Darcy, gives her at the parsonage, sees those very same faults she accused Darcy of in herself, only in a slightly different manner and to admit to herself how wrong she truly was, not just in her behavior to Darcy. The one thing she learned, which in my opinion was the hardest, was her ability to sketch someone’s character. She ought to have sketched her own before she did others and that was Miss Elizabeth’s cathartic moment.
Another wonderful book by Ms. Mackrory. It seems to me that she has the ability to:

"May I ask to what these questions tend?" [Darcy]

"Merely to the illustration of your character," said she, endeavouring to shake off her gravity. "I am trying to make it out."

She shook her head. "I do not get on at all. I hear such different accounts of you as puzzle me exceedingly."

"I can readily believe," answered he gravely, "that report may vary greatly with respect to me; and I could wish, Miss Bennet, that you were not to sketch my character at the present moment, as there is reason to fear that the performance would reflect no credit on either"

This is another quote by Darcy and Elizabeth I had to use because this is exactly what Ms. Mackrory did; she sketched both their characters in a job akin to Ms. Austen herself.
*Pride and Prejudice – Netherfield Ball

TYPE OF AUSTENESQUE NOVEL: Pride and Prejudice Variation

TIME FRAME: The day after Darcy’s first proposal through several months later

MAIN CHARACTERS: Darcy, Elizabeth, Colonel Fitzwilliam, Mr. Bingley, Jane Bennet, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, Georgiana Darcy, Mr. Wickham

SYNOPSIS: Mr. Darcy has a secret habit of writing Elizabeth Bennet soul-revealing and heart-purging unsent letters. His letters help him sort out his feelings, expel his longing, and cope with his despair and Darcy began writing them the night of the Meryton Assembly. What will happen if Darcy’s secret is found out? How do these letters change the course of Darcy and Elizabeth’s lives?

WHAT I LOVED:

- Thrown Together Again: Within the first hour of departing Rosings the Darcy carriage encounters some trouble and Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam must return to Rosings. I love this twist in the story! Darcy has come to the conclusion that Elizabeth was correct about his selfish propensities and ungentlemanly proposal and is very anxious about encountering her again. I loved seeing the development of Darcy and Elizabeth’s relationship over these extra and unexpected days – the changing perceptions, the new understandings, and the forging of a tenuous amicability. I could feel Darcy’s agony and torment through these passages and I greatly admired Elizabeth’s open-mindness and consideration.

- Eloquence, Thy Name is Darcy: Watch out, Wentworth! You aren’t the only Austen hero that can write a swoon-worthy and heart-wrenching letter! 😉 I think it is lovely that Darcy writes letters to Elizabeth, especially after just meeting her! It is adorable how he uses these letters to find the words he wants to say – to explain his actions and vent his frustrations. I love that many of the letters are included in the text (later on in the story) and I thought Darcy, while tongue-tied and foot-in-mouth in person could express himself beautifully on page…

- Elizabeth, Brave and Bold: When the truth becomes clear to Elizabeth and certain revelations are made, Lizzy is determined she should do and say what she must to appease her own conscience. This includes saying something to Mr. Wickham! I greatly enjoyed Lizzy’s actions! She doesn’t act out of character and stays within the bounds of propriety, but at the same time she finds a way to say what she needs to and effect change. I admire you, Elizabeth Bennet!

- “Lizzy is Quite Fond of Mazes”: There are two delightfully beautiful maze scenes in this book. *sigh* What a romantic place to encounter Mr. Darcy! I would say more, but I don’t want to spoil anything! I will admit though, Lizzy isn’t the only one with a fondness for mazes!

WHAT I WASN’T TOO FOND OF:

- Some Small Quibbles: I mostly loved all aspects of this book, but there were a couple things holding me back from giving it five stars. Such as wanting to see more scenes of Darcy and Elizabeth together, they spend a lot of time apart and their scenes together at the end left me wanting more! In addition, I noticed that Darcy was introduced to the Gardiners twice and didn’t remember their first meeting earlier in the book.

CONCLUSION:

Beautifully written words and heart-felt emotions are woven together skillfully in this new Pride and Prejudice variation from KaraLynne Mackrory! I found Yours Forevermore, Darcy to be deeply satisfying with its introspective tone, pleasing development, and happy outcome for all characters involved. Ms. Mackrory has a talent for including charming details and engaging motifs in all her tender romances and I greatly admired all the subtle little touches that made this work interesting, unique, and memorable.

Austenesque Reviews

This book was really sweet and I loved seeing how Elizabeth and Darcy's relationship and feelings for eachother developed and evolved throughout the story. I thought the author captured their characters really well and I definitely plan on reading more of her Pride & Prejudice Variations.

Loved it