Mr. Darcy's Enchantment: A Pride & Prejudice Variation

I'm a great fan of Abigail Reynolds who lives up to her excellent fame with this new book as well. The setting is unique: an alternate universe where magic is real and fay creatures inhabit Regency England - although most humans can't see them after childhood. There are some downsides to the situation: only men are permitted to use magic, women with magical powers are subjected to a "binding spell" - so most women hide their magic, afraid or even ashamed of it, or practice magic secretly to help the poor folk in their illnesses as wisewomen or "hedge witches". This has some serious impact on Darcy and Elizabeth's relationship as she has secret magic and he is the nephew of Lord Matlock, the Master of the Collegium of Mages. However, once they are past this problem, there are greater ones ahead, affecting their whole world: the conflict between Faerie and the human world and the evil actions of some mages who turn to dark magic (sorcery) in their quest for power. Many secondary canon character are given a unique twist in this variation: Lady Catherine and her family, the Fitzwilliams, the Bennets - and there are delightful original characters as well, to make up for the fact that the storyline deviates from canon fairly soon as Darcy and Elizabeth and their friends/families take up the quest to heal their world and Faerie and fight evil magic. The world building is wonderful: the well drawn world of faerie and the fay people (building on traditional approach but enriched with original additions), the nature of magic and its different branches, the conflict of Oberon and Titania - to mention but a few aspects. There is an extraordinary cat who plays a great role and reveals surprising traits as the story goes on. Elizabeth's family situation gains an entirely new meaning with her backstory of connections to Faerie. There are several surprising twists, a lot of angst and excitement, and several young couples find happiness in the end. This is a very long read but it is never slow paced or (heaven forbid!) boring - in fact, I enjoyed very much the opportunity to immerse myself in this P&P fantasy world following Darcy and Elizabeth's story.

This is a work of fiction. All the characters in it, human and otherwise, are imaginary, excepting only certain of the fairy folk, whom it might be unwise to offend by casting doubts on their existence. Or lack thereof. ~ Neil GaimanBrownies! Dryads! Fay Folk! Mages! Phoukas! Redcaps! Sorcerers!Count me with those who rarely read Fairy Tales. Even so, this book had me hooked from the opening sentences.A complex plot that I won’t attempt to re-cap – and yet everything fits together and loose ends are not left untied.I especially loved the explanation for Mrs. Bennet’s simple-mindedness and the marital relationship between the elder Bennets. You won’t find that in any other JAFF tale.No half-hearted recommendations for this one – JAFF lovers; fairy tale lovers; well, really, any kind of lover: you gotta read it!The Realm of Fairy is a strange shadow land, lying just beyond the fields we know. ~ Author Unknown

Book Review: Mr. Darcy’s Enchantment: Abigail Reynolds: 5-starsRating: although clean, there are hints at mature adult themes and violence that may be squeamish to some, while the clash of religions may be unsettling to others. There is a paranormal aspect to this story that deals with the Kingdom coming to grips with magic, magicians, sorcerers, wise-women, mages and the rules that govern them. This review hopefully doesn’t contain spoilers.“When someone from Faerie ever tells you something, you can see it—you can feel it—you believe it. For the true value of enchantment and its glamour, is in the imparting of a truth—by truth’s own persuasion it makes itself real.” –Gabriel Brunsdon, Azlander: Second NatureThis story was beautifully written. There can be no arguments with that. The world building took a bit of time but Reynolds made the reader want to visit these amazing places and talk to people and creatures that we have only heard of in fairy tales and mythology. On the surface it was beautiful, dreamy and otherworldly. But under the surface, there existed a riptide of evil that wanted to destroy and devour. It was amazing how the author spun this web of evil that spread farther than was first revealed. My goodness. I didn’t see the far-reaching grip this web encompassed. There were many, many secrets and atrocities that were generations old and needed to be revealed and settled. The treaty between the worlds was in jeopardy and the lives of many depended on our characters acting quickly.“Whatever deceives man seems to produce a magical enchantment.” –PlatoVillains: OMG! Who wasn’t a villain? I’ve never seen such a web of villainy before in a JAFF story. Man, this was amazing. I can’t even mention anything without giving away a spoiler.“Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.” –Robert A. HeinleinReligious aspect: A protestant England, with the threat of Catholicism just below the surface, had to acknowledge the nature-worshiping characters of mythology and superstitions of old. For centuries their stories of groves, fairy rings/circles, and fertility rites were whispered around campfires, before hearths, to children at bedtime and were passed from generation to generation. Suddenly, the natural order of society was put into question, propriety was ignored and a new set of rules applied to what Regency could tolerate or would accept. On the surface, this was just a fun story. Underneath, however, there were hints of behavior that might be considered unsettling.“I was always interested in enchantment and magicians and still am.” –Christopher LeeIn Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer’s Night Dream,’ Titania, Queen of the Fairies and her Consort, Oberon king of the Fairies quarreled over the changeling boy. His mother had been a votaress of her order and died after giving birth to him. A votary was a monk or nun who made a vow of dedication to religious service. In this story, their quarrel was over another child entirely, whose identity wasn’t revealed right away. There was a lot implied on the births of several of our characters and their relations. Some of these implications were… disconcerting.This was a fun read and that is how you should approach it. Otherwise, if you dig too deeply, you will bog down with the weight of trying to reconcile the religious and social aspects of this work. That is not what the author intended. Just simply enjoy the story.

Oh my! Another fantastic book from Abigail Reynolds. Let me start off by saying that before you start reading this book make sure you have any snacks and drinks close to hand, that you have been to the loo so won't have to stop reading, and that you have an uninterrupted day to dedicate to it. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT start reading at 9pm on a school night as you will find yourself trying to ignore the clock ticking past midnight as you 'just finish one more chapter'.I will really struggle to review this without giving away any spoilers. If you love Darcy and Lizzy, and fae and fantasy, you will adore this book. We meet a lot of our old favourites in this Novel and a lot of new characters join them in their journey to ... Well possibly an HEA? Magic and romance, secrets and sorcery, twists, turns and action packed chapters. Old friends seen in a new light, and old enemies stirring the pot.This book is a fabulous, fantastical read and I highly recommend it!

A Midsummer Nights Dream, Harry Potter, Phillip Pullman, and Lord of the Rings, all recent fairy tales mixed with the principal characters of P&P, it was quite a clever concept and the author must have kept an encyclopaedia of the rules and characters of Fairyland (mostly made up as they went along).This book had a few good ideas but mostly it wasunmitigated drivel and I really don’t know how I managed to finish it.

It's 2 am and I had to finish this. One of Ms Reynold's finest, such imagination and detail with a central love story. The original characters have their parts to play, reflecting the original, amid a background of magic and sorcery, more mortal folk and there are the Faerie folk to add more layers to a story I've loved to read. I wish I was just starting to read this and I know I'll go back fairly soon. Well recommended.

I really enjoyed this book I just wish that there was a follow on book to keep the story going more about Jane and Anne and we'll all of them please think about writing more ❤️

I couldn’t put this book down! I have all this author’s books and often re read them and this is definitely going to be on that list. I loved that Elizabeth realised early on that she had been mistaken about Darcy and I loved their interactions in Faerie. Each page had another surprise! There were some astonishing relationships and some really tense moments. A totally wonderful book.