Title: Pride & Pyramids: Mr Darcy In Egypt
Author: Amanda Grange
Genre: Pride/Prejudice Variation
Number of Pages: 320
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Source: Publisher
Fifteen years after the end of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth and Darcy are living their happy ever after, splitting their time between Pemberley and their London home and raising their six lively children. A surprise visit from Colonel Fitzwilliam's brother, Edward, fires Elizabeth with a desire for travel, as Edward has been infected with the Regency craze for Egyptology. Their Egyptian adventure sees a romance for Edward as well as buried treasure, a lost tomb and the mystery of the desert. But at the heart of the novel is the enduring love of Lizzy and Darcy as they raise their children and face the challenges and delights their continuing life together brings.
I really don't know what possessed to grab this book off of netgalley, except for the fact that I love anything to do with Egypt. I've only read one other book by this author and that was Mr. Darcy, Vampyre. I think what I admire most about Amanda Grange is her ability to make a variation story completely her own. I loved seeing Darcy and Elizabeth happily married and worrying about their children.
The Darcys decide to go to Egypt because of a visit from Col. Fitzwilliam's brother, Edward. He's obsessed with going there ever since he discovered a map that his father, Darcys father and a mysterious third person had. Darcy doesn't really want to go to Egypt but once he sees how much Elizabeth wants to go he can't say no. I loved watching all the preparations for the trip, and how Elizabeth chose Charlotte's youngest sister as her companion because she was getting over a broken heart. She had recently been passed over for a heiress by someone she thought she loved. Darcy hires a painter, Paul Inkworthy to go with them and there was just enough of a love triangle between him, Sophie & Edward to keep the romance lover in me happy.
Characters we know and love from Pride & Prejudice make an appearance here and there and it just made the novel that much fuller. I also liked how much of the storyline the children played had. Normally kids in books annoy me, but Darcy's & Elizabeths were great and total scene stealers. One of the dolls that their youngest child had totally creeped me out. There are also some new characters, mainly that of Edward, Paul, Sophie and Sir Matthew Rosen, whose dig they go on in Egypt. I was pleasantly surprised at how well developed each character was. The point of view in the book changes from each one periodically, and while it was jarring at first I quickly got used to it. All in all this was a quick fast read that fans of Darcy and Elizabeth will enjoy. This book has made me want to read more by this author and fall in love with Darcy all over again. This is one of the best books I've read by this publisher in a long time.
