Excessively Diverted

by Juliette Shapiro

Book Overview

In Pride & Prejudice, Jane Austen captured hearts with the passion-filled romance of Elizabeth Bennett and Fitzwilliam Darcy. Now, Mr. Darcy's Decision finds the newlyweds in their tumultuous first... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1589392647
• ISBN13: 9781589392649
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Virtualbookworm.com Publishing
• Length: 236 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

Pleasent and enjoyable!

Actually, I would give this 4 1/2 stars if I could, but I thought I would give it the benefit of 5 stars since so many others so strongly disliked it. I found it to be a pleasent read. Was it Jane Austen? No, but it came pretty close. It was a little lighter in the narrative than Austen. Which made it a quicker read than Austen's works. It might have touched on subjects in a minutely more up-to-date manner than Austen. But, none felt out of place or inappropriate. I felt Juliette Shapiro did a good job of bringing together both the original Austen work and the A & E 6 hour mini-series. She says that this was one of her goals in writing the book. When I read the book, I could really imagine Colin Firth saying those lines as Mr. Darcy. Maybe some of it was a little contrived. Mary, Kitty, Maria Lucas and Georgiana all find husbands by the end of the book. But, as a hopeless romantic, I liked that. The story was optimistic and the ending saw a change in attitude in a key character (Austen's plot style as I recall). It wasn't as heavy as Austen. You knew you where reading another author's work. I still liked it and felt Jane Austen might have been happy with the working of the characters. If you really want something that reads like Jane Austen, I would suggest "Sanditon". Jane actually wrote the first few chapters and the author of the rest of the book (who remains anonymous), does such a good job with the rest of the novel, that you really can't tell where Jane Austen left off and the new writer started. I would give that one 6 stars. It's like having another Austen novel on my shelf. Of the Pride and Prejudice sequels I have read, this is one I would like to have on my bookshelf and I wouldn't feel disloyal to Jane by putting it next to her novels.

Best Sequel Imaginable

I began reading this book thinking that an author would be a fool to even try to write a sequel to "Pride and Prejudice", the sprakling gem of the English literature. I was pleasantly surprised by Juliet Shapiro's style, attention to details, and doing of her research with respect to what Jane Austen related to her family (after publication of P & P in 1813) about what would become of some of the characters in Pride & Prejudice. I recommend "Excessively Diverted" to all Jane Austen's fans who are eternally fascinated with Pride & Prejudice.

A fabulous "read!"

Yes, I was "excessively diverted" by the novel! I am a great lover of fine literature, many of the classics in particular. I have read numerous sequels written by authors other than the original authors - and I was destined to be disappointed in each and every .one of them - until I read this one! I have just finished the book, and I hated to see it end! It was sheer delight, and I thoroughly enjoyed it!The style of expression was so like Jane Austen's that if I didn't know better, I'd have believed it was hers! I especially enjoyed the dialogue between Mr. and Mrs. Bennett - its humorous flavor was captured perfectly! Oh, and Mr. Collins was excellently portrayed. The sparring between Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Lizzy was done to perfection! I congratulate the author heartily and send her many kudos for your fine work!I must confess the only little piece I found hard to believe was Kitty's good fortune in securing such a likeable husband - considering her father's remark that she was one of the two silliest girls in all of England (Lydia being the other one), but I am happy for her! The romantic nature of Darcy and Elizabeth's passion for each other was extremely satisfying, too! Not explicit, but certainly dreamy! I highly recommend this "find" if you are a Pride and Prejudice fan!

Exessively Pleased

Brilliant book, I have read a number of sequels and this one is one of the best I have read. The ending was a little disappointing as I felt it could be left open to write a follow up if need be. The story suprised me and I found all the characters were just as Jane Austen wrote in Pride and Prejudice. I have recommended this book to a number of my friends and they all agree with me it is not a disappointing read, as other sequels have been.

Very Excessively Good

This book is the best sequel to Pride and Prejudice that I have read. I love the way it feels like Jane Austen wrote this book. I think my favorite part of the book is the ending. It left me with a satisfieing feeling and I would like to know what the author would write as a sequel to this book.I recommend this book if you enjoyed Pride and Prejudice. The characters have the same just and energy that Austen's did. Also, it offers many new events and many fun delights. I wholely recommend this book to any and all! Enjoy!