Open Your Eyes

Male perspective on P&P: I was blown away with Mr. Rowland’s perspective on Austen’s P&P. His writing the male POV gave new insights into the thinking and rationale of Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bennet, our dear Colonel and even Wickham. It was well known that Austen didn’t write about what she didn’t know; therefore, she did not write the male POV. Having said that, Rowland also did an excellent job in presenting Elizabeth’s POV. Her thoughts and introspection were provoking as she came to terms with her plight in the marriage market, her family’s social standing, her lack of dowry and her family connections to trade. She and Mr. Darcy had a score to settle and Rowland allowed them time to go through the process and didn’t rush them into instant love that often grates the nerves. We witnessed the evolution from her dislike and his disdain to their solving their misunderstandings by having those conversations we always wanted them to have, and then allowing time for the heart to catch up with the head. I thought he did an excellent job. There were still places where I wanted the story to go a different direction but, hey…I’m not the author and he has the final say.

I have given it five stars were not for the ending. The author did something that too many P&P variation authors do, she spent the last few pages telling the reader All About everyone's lives right up until their death. Personally I don't want to know how many children they had or how they lived their lives until the end. In addition, everyone's stories are coming along nicely but only Elizabeth and Darcy's feel Complete. The rest are relegated to a quick dissertation of what ended up happening to them.

One minor changes, andcwgat a different story could have come from p and p, a great excursion into the what if.