Scan barcode
A review by katkinney
Death Takes a Holiday at Pemberley by Kelly Miller
5.0
In this delightful Pride and Prejudice variation, Darcy is happily married to Elizabeth and father to two-year-old son, Bennett, when his horse is spooked by a snake on his ride home and threatens to throw him into a deadly ravine. Darcy opens his eyes and finds himself standing on the path beside his horse, miraculously alive, and an angel of death stands beside him. They strike a bargain (not that Darcy has much of a choice.) Graham (the angel) is to be allowed to accompany Darcy in his activities for the following week, and he will not take his life that very moment. But of course we learn later, there is always a catch…
In addition to the interesting supernatural twist of Darcy’s avoided death and Graham’s complicating the story by his presence in their household, Lady Catherine De Bourgh shows up, causing trouble. I’ve very much enjoyed several other of author Kelly Miller’s wonderful P&P variations and I always enjoy seeing which characters will be featured and what ways the story will be played with. In this one, I enjoyed the way she and her daughter Anne were brought to the forefront. Anne De Bourgh is not a character I can say I am usually fond of in the book, but some good gray areas were illustrated, along with some juicy drama to go with it, and I found myself eagerly flipping pages. (And oh, doesn’t Mr. Collins tire us all?) One thing I enjoy in all Miller’s P&P variations is the way secondary characters are fleshed out and given a second chance to shine. I rather loved the version of Anne we had here. Other favorite moments: Darcy’s trusty horse. All the cute moments with Bennett. All the puppies. (You can never have too many puppies.) Darcy and Elizabeth. They were absolutely in love in every scene here, especially the looks across the room in the musical scenes, and I ate it up!
In addition to the interesting supernatural twist of Darcy’s avoided death and Graham’s complicating the story by his presence in their household, Lady Catherine De Bourgh shows up, causing trouble. I’ve very much enjoyed several other of author Kelly Miller’s wonderful P&P variations and I always enjoy seeing which characters will be featured and what ways the story will be played with. In this one, I enjoyed the way she and her daughter Anne were brought to the forefront. Anne De Bourgh is not a character I can say I am usually fond of in the book, but some good gray areas were illustrated, along with some juicy drama to go with it, and I found myself eagerly flipping pages. (And oh, doesn’t Mr. Collins tire us all?) One thing I enjoy in all Miller’s P&P variations is the way secondary characters are fleshed out and given a second chance to shine. I rather loved the version of Anne we had here. Other favorite moments: Darcy’s trusty horse. All the cute moments with Bennett. All the puppies. (You can never have too many puppies.) Darcy and Elizabeth. They were absolutely in love in every scene here, especially the looks across the room in the musical scenes, and I ate it up!