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Masseys Goodly Creatures is subtitled “A Pride and Prejudice Deviation,” and readers can expect just that, Although this retelling of Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice is much darker than any other Austeninspired novel Ive read, I was glued to the book for the entirepage ride.


In Goodly Creatures, Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy are connected long before he visits the Netherfield estate with Mr, Bingley and gets Mrs. Bennet all excited about the prospect of rich bachelors for the daughters shes so desperate to marry off, Darcy meets ayearold Elizabeth when she attends the theater in London with her aunt and uncle, and he is captivated by her reaction to Shakespeares play and her ability to make him laugh.
However, when they first meet, Darcy is a married man, having entered into a marriage of convenience with his cousin, Anne, daughter of the formidable Lady Catherine de Bourgh.


Darcy also is accompanied that evening by his cousin, Lord Wolfbridge, a wellknown rake and a pervert who enjoys compromising teenage girls with childlike features.
What happens between Elizabeth and Lord Wolfbridge during her time in London sets the tone for the entire book, sucking the life but not the impertinence out of Elizabeth.
She is broken by this incident, vowing never to marry because of her fear of men and her fear of this secret being exposed, but she exacts revenge in a way that both protects her sisters reputations and ruins Darcys opinion of her.


When Darcy and Elizabeth cross paths five years later in Hertfordshire, they are much different people from when they first met.
Elizabeth has endured years of gossip, but not even her dearest sister Jane or her father know her

secret, Darcy cant deny his attraction to her, but misunderstandings involving Anne and Mr, Wickham, the need to conceal their prior acquaintance, and the wall Elizabeth has built around her heart stand in the way of their happiness.


Its hard to say more about the plot of Goodly Creatures without giving too much away, Masseys take on Pride and Prejudice is quite different, and she indicates in the Acknowledgements that the novel is her way of righting the wrongs in Eliza Williams story in Sense and Sensibility using the basic plot and characters of Austens most popular novel.
In doing so, she raises a valid question: What if the compromised women in Austens novels werent merely silly girls who allowed themselves to be seduced And what follows is a story both fraught with pain and filled with hope.


I liked many things about Goodly Creatures, especially how Massey was fearless in injecting such dark themes as rape and murder into a novel Ive always thought of as a humorous social commentaryminus Lydia Bennets horrible fate.
Im not an Austen purist I can separate the original novels and characters from those of the sequels and retellings, so I dont mind when the characters become almost unrecognizable as long as the book is unique, interesting, and well written.


I thought the various literary and political discussions were interesting and added context, and I especially loved the allusion to Austens Persuasion through the character of Sir Walter Trent, the longtime friend of Mr.
Bennet who leases Netherfield to Mr, Bingley, moves to Bath because of his extravagant spending habits, and is overly concerned with his outward appearance very much like Sir Walter Elliot.
Massey also makes Mr. Collins more likable, and she allows us to imagine a world in which Lydia is sensible and not self absorbed and Jane is reckless and needs saving.


Although Goodly Creatures is a decent selfpublished novel, it would have benefited from some additional editing, I came across several typos and font formatting issues, and I grew tired of hearing Elizabeths secret retold in its entirety nearly every time it was disclosed to another character.
There also were several scenes that were more telling than showing one toward the end had Mr, Darcy traveling to quickly meet his cousin, Colonel Fitzwilliam, to take care of a very major problem, and it was all resolved in a single paragraph.


Even so, I enjoyed the book and appreciate what Massey was trying to accomplish in her handling of the characters, especially Elizabeth, who is haunted by her memories of Lord Wolfbridge and focuses on the happiness of her sisters because she doesnt believe shell ever be whole again.
I couldnt help but think that if Elizabeth and Darcy could overcome the obstacles Massey put in their path, then they could overcome anything.
Its amazing to think how many unique stories have been written in response to a single novel, and I just cant get enough of them.
If you love Austeninspired novels as much as I do and dont mind lengthy tales, then go ahead and give Goodly Creatures a try.


posted on sitelinkDiary of an Eccentric

I received a free copy of this book for review.
A difficult subject treated with respect

This is a story that, most of all, made me think that we haven't advanced much in certain things.
A sad story with an improbable ending that captured my interest and was hard to put down, Have lots of tissues on hand to read it, This Pride amp Prejudice variation deals with a very hard issue, . . rape, based on this I was leary to read it, but I was happy to find the details of the rape were not expounded upon and as I read on, I found the story very good! I loved how Lizzy deals with the situation, how very strong and brave she is.
How she is able to go on and help her family, There was a level of angst throughout most of the story that kept me wanting to read more! I had many late nights reading this, as it is a rather long story.


At age, Elizabeth is in London visiting the Gardiners, They go to the theater one night where they make the acquaintance of the Darcys, She becomes a visitor of Darcy House a few times until one day she finds herself alone with the Viscount, Darcy's cousin.
That's when her life is shaken and turned up side down,

I loved this Lizzy! Like I said, she is strong, I really liked how she didnt wallow in selfpity, even though she had her fears, sadness and guilt to deal with, as she kept this secret even from her family.
She also wanted to make sure her sisters werent as naive as she was,

There is so much going on in this story I cant possibly cover it all but let me say, I loved all the Bennet sisters and their new stories.
Lydia is a bit more discerning in this variation, she is still silly and loves a man in uniform, but she is able to read people a little better.
Mary is not as solemn, and I was amused when her and Mr, Bennet team up to solve a mystery! I loved Colonel Fitzwilliam, Georgiana, and several of the new characters Massey brings into the story, like Mr.
Reynolds, the nephew of Mrs, Reynolds. Amazingly enough I even liked Mr, Collins!

This story had me crying and laughing! But with all the emotions I felt through out the book, I felt the ending was a little flat.
Dont get me wrong they had their Happily Ever After, I felt for Lizzys pain, fear, and her brave front but I thought I should have felt more for her joy at the end.
I was happy for her, it just didnt evoke the same amount of emotion for me,

This story is a great read and I would definitely recommend it,

I was provided a copy of the book for review, .