Colonel Darcy: An Elizabeth and Darcy Story

By: Timothy Underwood

Narrated by: Virginia Ferguson

Childhood friends torn apart by war....

Fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Bennet thought Fitzwilliam Darcy, her friend Georgiana's brother, was the most wonderful, handsomest man in the entire world. When he went to India to fight Britain’s enemies, she made him promise to write her along with Georgie regularly. There wasn't anything improper, since Georgiana and she had sworn to be sisters. When Elizabeth and Georgiana learned that Fitzwilliam was captured, they kept writing letters to him, so that when he was released, he would know that he had not been forgotten by those who loved him.

During the years of his imprisonment, Darcy never forgot his promise to write to little Lizzy Bennet, though he was sure she had long since forgotten about him. Before setting sail to England with the survivors of his regiment, he received the stack of letters written by Lizzy and Georgiana. Lizzy's letters were chatty, friendly, and confiding. He read and reread her words during the long voyage to England, and during those months, he fell in love with the kind, wonderful woman she had grown into.

But in England, Elizabeth's family had decided to force her to marry a wealthy man who terrified her....

©2016 Timothy Underwood (P)2018 Timothy Underwood

Really Enjoyed

It was hard to listen about stuff with Darcy & Elizabeth . I would definitely recommend it.

One of all time favorites.

If you could sum up Colonel Darcy: An Elizabeth and Darcy Story in three words, what would they be?

Heartbreak, love, and forgiveness.

What other book might you compare Colonel Darcy: An Elizabeth and Darcy Story to and why?

None that I know of, this story is about Darcy being a second son leaving England and being held prisoner in India. Then Darcy coming to Elizabeth’s rescue while losing contact with Georgianna because of prejudice by his family. There is a lot of heartbreak due to injustice for both Darcy and Elizabeth before they come together as a couple in love. I could not out the book down, then when the audiobook came out I had to have it!

Which character – as performed by Virginia Ferguson – was your favorite?

Darcy. His experiences and how they shaped him to overcome everything to give him peace and love.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Colonel Darcy and Elizabeth. I think that says enough.

Any additional comments?

This not your typical P&P. Darcy is a second son, Elizabeth’s family is horrible, even Jane. Darcy’s older brother is selfish while Georgianna is open and loving due to the early connection to Elizabeth. The Matlock’s are awful. The obstacles the couple face lessen when they finally come together, and learn to work together to save Georgianna from herself. You cannot help but cheer the Couple on.

Darcy is a second son

The narration by Virginia Ferguson is very good. She is animated in her delivery without being over the top and brings the characters to life. Her pace is a touch fast for me, so I slowed down the playback from 1.0 to .95, which worked well for me.

Note: The following book review may contain spoilers.

In this Darcy and Elizabeth story, Darcy is a second son with an army career. He and Elizabeth meet much younger, as their fathers are friends. Elizabeth is very close to Georgiana. When Mr. Darcy senior dies, they maintain their friendship via correspondence. Darcy is sent to war in India and is injured and captured. This is where the story becomes a little bit dark, with the start of much suffering for him. There’s a good measure of angst here, with Darcy seriously injured and scarred, and then becomes a prisoner of war.

After thinking him dead, the two girls learn he is alive and they write to him regularly, hoping he will have an opportunity to read the letters when he is released. He receives the letters as he is departing India to return to England and finds encouragement and love within the pages.

I always enjoy the second son trope, which gives Darcy an occupation other than master of Pemberley. As he ponders his return, he wonders if his ugly scars will turn Elizabeth away. He also suffers from PTSD when facing stressful situations. He will face many in this story and has to learn how to manage them when he is triggered.

Meanwhile, Mr. Bennet has died, old Mr. Collins inherits, and Jane marries young Mr. William Collins. Elizabeth is betrayed by friends and family and is being forced to marry a baronet who accosted her, but she refuses and is locked up in her room until she agrees. Darcy comes back to learn his brother has died and he is now the heir to Pemberley. He also learns of Elizabeth’s plight and immediately rushes to Longbourn to take her away and marry her himself.

The baronet isn’t about to easily let Elizabeth go and he insults her. Darcy challenges him to a duel which eventually leads to a charge of murder and a trial. This point I felt suffered a little, not giving our couple a chance to speak at said trial. There were lots of accusations by the baronet’s brother without any rebuttal, yet thankfully, Darcy is found innocent. There were also no repercussions for the accuser. I would have liked to see him at least receive some sort of set down. I also didn’t feel the reader was given sufficient reason for him accusing Darcy, since he knew his brother was not a good man. Simply vengeance, I suppose. Now ODC are faced with the backs of family and society and a forced separation from Georgiana.

Wickham’s circumstances are also different, as Darcy’s older brother had given him the living at Kympton. He’s still a reprobate though, and almost causes a breach in ODC’s marriage. Fortunately, it actually leads to the first real conversation between Elizabeth and Darcy about their true feelings for one another. Wickham isn’t finished though and will cause yet more problems.

I enjoyed the story and the narration. I missed an epilogue.

Interesting, but a bit much

Story could using objective editing. Too much stuff included. Too much space between chapters, too.

Lots of Angst

This is a well-written and imaginative story, quite a departure from P&P canon. We still have our Fitzwilliam Darcy, Elizabeth Bennett and Georgianna. I give credit to the author for a good story. I personally found this story to be dark, melodramatic, and laden with sad situations. Darcy suffers dreadfully in India. Elizabeth suffers dreadfully at Longbourn until she is rescued. Georgianna suffers dreadfully at the enforced separation from her brother. The Darcys new married life together is a story of suffering. The author does a brilliant job describing their suffering. This is not the kind of story I will re-read, so I cannot say it is a favorite of mine. But it is different and well done.

Having listened to narrations that completely spoil the anticipated pleasure of JAFF, I give the narrator a 4. She did a pretty good job and her narration did not detract from the story.

Heroes and villains and letters

Very well plotted from beginning to end. The story is really grim in the beginning and tough to get through. But our dear couple (ODC) are meant for each other and must have their happy ending.

Both Darcy and Elizabeth have been imprisoned, though for different reasons and on different continents and endured different degrees of isolation and punishment. The horror Darcy endured in the war taking place on India’s soil is incredibly brutal and gut wrenching. His hopes for the future are most of what holds him together even when he believes and even wishes he would die. And his future is Elizabeth. He falls in love with her through the letters that she and his sister Georgiana promised to write to him while he was away. And they continue to write even after they find out his regiment was all but destroyed in battle. They hang on to hope.

When Darcy gets home his sister brings him a letter she received from Lizzy, that she has been locked away in the attic for refusing to marry the despicable peer inhabiting Netherfield. She’s being starved and fed the bare minimum and worst of all most of her family is trying to change her mind and encouraging her to give in and marry the man. Here Jane and Charlotte come off as being the absolute worst, I was literally shocked at Charlotte’s actions, my goodness I hated her. I have rarely ever seen a Charlotte written in such a way. I couldn’t believe it. And Jane. She was like a robot out of a sci-fi movie. Humorous as that sounds it was really scary.

Darcy of course rescues Elizabeth, but this is only the beginning of a long complicated journey. A duel, a trial, a snake in the grass, ODC overcoming scandalous rumors and snubs from everyone they encounter. Elizabeth is isolated and lonely and has a long way to gain any respect from people who owe her every courtesy. Gosh, even Mrs Reynolds. Darcy suffering from episodes of rage from what we would now call PSTD. More rescues. Arguing with Earls.

The wedding back in Meryton is priceless. I cannot spoil that but it was all such good vindication, and also reunion with the deserving few.

Highly recommended for JAFF lovers.

❤❤❤❤

I really enjoyed this story. I have read it several times. I had go through it once again since the release of the Audible version of the book.
This is one of favorite JAFF P&P variations.

I hope more stories by this author are released soon on Audible.

Foul Language & Sexual Content

Great Performance. Well written but as stated above Foul Language & Sexual Content. I do not recommend this book to anyone!

Depressing

Lots of trauma, angst and generally depressing content. Don’t expect anything uplifting. Historical content is well done, but I like my history separate from Elizabeth and Darcy.
Very far from cannon. I’d advise against investing the credit.

Not my favorite PP variation

Too many differences in quality of main characters. Builds an interesting story but not enjoyable as many Pride and Prejudice variations. Too much war, injustice and too little witty Darcy/Elizabeth story.