Let the reading begin

On a whim and following a conversation with a friend, I have, some may say rashly, decided to spend a year reading regency books. Why this era? Partly because of the appeal, partly because I live in a regency era town and partly because I was struggling to find books I enjoyed reading whilst I commute. 

I decided that the criteria I am using is that the books I read should be set in, about or written during that era. Theoretically giving me a variety of different storylines, writing and language styles to stop me getting bored. 

So how do I begin? 

I started in August with the Pamela Aidan Fitzwilliam Darcy trilogy: An Assembly Such as This, Duty and Desire, and These Three Remain. A friend of mine recommended them as they were suggested by her book group, and we read them at the same time.

I found the trilogy to be slow going, and although Pamela has a good knowledge of  Regency era Britain there is a lot of American creep such as alluding to Thanksgiving celebration instead of Harvest Festival and the spelling and terminology. (Although it may just be because the set I have were published there). I didn't like that she alluded to modern events of the time, it was not necessary to the actions of any of her characters. Her chs moving between the BBC adaptation and the original text. 

Annoyingly the second book doesn't feel it fits, sending Mr Darcy off on some mysterious adventure, having his head turned. I liked the storyline but it would have been better as a standalone and not part of the trilogy, and it made it harder to pick the original one back up in book three. 

Finally the third book she decides to have Darcy not plunge into the lake when he see's Miss Bennet again, having utalised the BBC programme for the majority it feels churlish to not as we approach the end. 

All in all I felt it was worth the read, the passages with the interview between Darcy and Wickham were interesting  but I won't be re-reading them again.