| Title | : | A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Kindle Edition |
| Number of Pages | : | 334 |
| Publication | : | First published August 11, 2016 |
Jilted. Never did Mr. Darcy imagine it could happen to him.
But it has, and by Elizabeth Bennet, the woman who first hated and rejected him but then came to love him—he believed—and agree to be his wife. Alas, it is a short-lived, ill-fated romance that ends nearly as soon as it has begun. No reason is given.
More than a year since he last saw her—a year of anger, confusion, and despair—he receives an invitation from the Bingleys to a house party at Netherfield. Darcy is first tempted to refuse, but with the understanding that Elizabeth will not attend, he decides to accept.
When a letter arrives, confirming Elizabeth’s intention to join them, Darcy resolves to meet her with indifference. He is determined that he will not demand answers to the questions that plague him. Elizabeth is also resolved to remain silent and hold fast to the secret behind her refusal. Once they are together, however, it proves difficult to deny the intense passion that still exists. Fury, grief, and profound love prove to be a combustible mixture. But will the secrets between them be their undoing?
A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity Reviews
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Fun fact: Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion are two of my favorite romance novels ever. So to read a Persuasion-esque situation in a Pride and Prejudice variation is an incredibly happy day for me. A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity delivers angst, heartbreak, and a well-deserved happily ever after mixed with a healthy dose of mystery.
Things diverge from the canon after Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy meet at Pemberley. In A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity, E and D come to an understanding soon after their reunion at Pemberley during E and Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner's trip to the north. There are a few days of bliss when Elizabeth accepts Mr. Darcy's proposal, but it all comes to an end when she leaves Derbyshire. The only marriage that happens is between Mr. Bingley and Jane.
They meet again more than a year later at Netherfield when both of them have been invited by the Bingleys to spend a few weeks with them and a group of people. Darcy would rather not see Elizabeth again, but there's a part of him that wants to know why she left him. For closure, he tells himself. But when Elizabeth arrives, instead of answers, Darcy gets more questions instead.
He can't exactly confront her any time since there are other people at Netherfield, and the Bingleys have found it their mission to pair them off with the other eligible strangers. And when they have the chance to hash it out, people and circumstances try their best to tear them apart.
Aside from the tension between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy as they try to avoid each other to no avail, there's a mystery as to why she jilted him. It's obvious they love each other, but only after a few days of being engaged, Elizabeth sends him a letter telling her she won't marry him. There's Lydia and Wickham's marriage—fixed and paid for by Mr. Gardiner in this variation—to consider, but there's more to it than that.
I love the Elizabeth and Darcy of this book; I think they acted the way I think they would act in such circumstances. Elizabeth is more subdued, more introspective, but you can still see a glimmer of her sharp wit and spunk buried in the heartbreak and burdens she's been carrying on her own for more than a year. Darcy, who started out as angry and bitter, is still a man irrevocably in love with Elizabeth.
There are characters who were painted in a different shade than the usual. Colonel Fitzwilliam, in particular, isn't the usual champion of Elizabeth. And to an extent, Georgiana. They saw what Darcy went through after Elizabeth jilted him, so it's understandable that they'd have bitter feelings, too. But Colonel Fitzwilliam acts as if he's the one who's been jilted, and it was frustrating.
While I was diverted throughout the book, I have to admit that there were a few parts that felt dragging and/or unnecessary to the story. I agree with
Debbie Brown that the book could have gone without some parts in the middle. The story picks up again after that bit of plateau, and more than makes up for it. The author drops bomb after bomb of revelation, some expected, others shocking.
This book will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions—angst, heartbreak, anger, then awe, shock, and love. The author's writing is wonderful, and overall I enjoyed it very much. I'll definitely re-read this when I'm in a mood for an angsty Pride and Prejudice read.
P.S. Even with only a brief appearance, Lydia is an insufferable unapologetic, and selfish human being who got off scot-free.
Tropes: Pride and Prejudice, Second Chance
POV: Third Person
Standalone: Yes
*ARC received in exchange for an honest review.
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Honestly, I came very close to abandoning reading this about halfway through. This unpublished story is off the charts on the angst meter, and it's the stupid kind of angst where if you could get the hero and heroine to just sit down and talk to each other without other people trying to keep them apart and/or the two getting interrupted for, like, FIVE WHOLE MINUTES, there'd be no misunderstanding and they'd sweep right into Happily-ever-after Land. I freely admit that I have a much lower tolerance for that than many other JAFF readers, so it may not bother you as much as it did me.
However, I did persevere, and I will state, unequivocally, that the payoff at the end is of the fall-off-your-chair, you've-got-to-be-f**king-kidding-me variety. And then, when you've recovered from one bombshell, there's another unexpected WTF revelation that comes up several years later. Yowza! It's one of the greatest all-time one-two punch surprise endings I've encountered in JAFF, so I have to give props for that.
This is sort of a mash-up of Pride and Prejudice and Persuasion. Darcy and Elizabeth had a brief period of betrothal during her visit with the Gardiners to Pemberley. Then the sh*t hit the fan with Lydia. Darcy did not learn of the crisis, which was dealt with by Mr. Gardiner and resulted in a very pregnant Lydia getting married to Mr. Wickham, who blackmailed Elizabeth into breaking things off with Darcy. Wickham threatened not to marry her sister if she didn't do so. Elizabeth unwillingly wrote the Dear John letter (except it's a "Dear Darcy" letter) that Wickham dictated (probably as he was cackling evilly and twirling his handlebar mustache, though the author doesn't say so...).
Shortly after that, Mr. Bennet, who had been ailing, died. Now Mr. and Mrs. Collins inhabit Longbourn, although Mrs. Bennet still maintains residence in the mistress' suite. While Bingley and Jane have reunited and gotten married, neither Elizabeth nor Darcy attended their wedding for fear of seeing the other. Both have spent the past year in an agony of heartache for their lost love. Elizabeth has been seriously ill with consumption and, while mostly recovered, her spirits are still low and Jane is quite the mother hen. Darcy's family- specifically, Georgiana and Colonel Fitzwilliam- know about his devastation and the cause, and both now hate Elizabeth. While Darcy wants to hate her for the pain she's given him, he continues to fight his warmer feelings for her. Elizabeth knows he must be furious with her and grieves for herself as well as the pain that she's caused him.
It's now more than a year since the star-crossed duo have seen each other, and the Bingleys are hosting a house party at Netherfield to encourage some of their eligible single friends to pair up, including Elizabeth and Darcy, neither of whom know the other will be in attendance when they agree to come. The houseguests are of various character types. Naturally, Caroline Bingley is one of the attendees, and Lady Sophie Woodbridge is cut from the same catty cloth. Miss Jenny Haverhill barely says a word to anybody and doesn't factor much into the story. Of the ladies, Miss Olivia Lacey is the most down to earth and becomes friendly with Elizabeth, but even she gets swept into the game-of-Secret type of gossip that ends up ripping Elizabeth's reputation to shreds before the house party ends. Among the men, there's the charming ladies' man (Mr. Robert Egremont), the horse buff (Sir Edmund Hynde) and the aptly nicknamed "Jolly Rolly" (Mr. Wallace Rollings). Eventually, Colonel Fitzwilliam turns up, as well. There are lots of interesting dynamics within the group as they socialize and participate in the planned (and some unplanned) activities.
Of course, much awkwardness ensues between Darcy and Elizabeth. He gets jealous whenever one of the men seems to pay Elizabeth too much attention, and the same is true of her when she sees Darcy showing interest in any of the ladies. Angst abounds as they try to figure out what the other is feeling, and every encounter between the two of them is fraught with uneasiness.
I try to make my GoodReads ratings consistent regardless of whether a work is published or unpublished (and I HAVE given some unpublished works 5 stars, so I believe that's only fair). This one has to start at 4 stars max because of numerous spots where paragraphs are misplaced (very confusing to the reader!!), and there are various minor uncorrected grammar and spelling errors. In addition, the book is just too dang long and would benefit from a LOT of pruning.
I also take issue with the logic of one of the main storylines.
This is a very gifted author, and I admire her writing style. The new characters she creates here and her depictions of the familiar ones are wonderful and creative. There's the one significant part of the plot that doesn't work and I wish the impediments keeping Darcy and Elizabeth from communicating were more substantial, but the rest of it is very good, and the ending is just killer. I'm sure this could be turned into a 5-star book with some re-working, but it isn't one in its current form. -
I first read this story as an unpublished book.
In the book description above the author tells us that she “wondered what might have happened if Darcy had found himself in the shoes of Frederick Wentworth...jilted by the woman he loved but still worse, at the behest of a man who has already taken so much from him. Can he/will he forgive her?”
But in this variation, the author wanders far a field in assigning roles and behaviors to those we think we know...even those we may have fond attachments to in canon or in other variations. Who might you think she means when she says, “a man who has already taken so much from him”? Ah, yes, the first 10 or so pages give us that premise. So much of this story is going to turn you around in your preconceived ideas (as per canon) and totally shaking up the world of JAFF. I have my favorite characters and here I cannot mention names as it would give you hints as to how Dear Amy has taken the path least traveled in portraying supporting characters here.
We begin with Elizabeth and Darcy already engaged but how they came to that relationship is presented differently as we glance back, and they are keeping it a secret as Darcy has not yet spoken to Mr. Bennet. (Two people outside of ODC learn of this and they react to later events with “fangs and claws” exposed to protect this man they love, who has given so much to each of them.)
When Darcy came to the inn in Lambton on the morning Elizabeth received the two letters from Jane…Elizabeth has not yet read the letters and so knows not of Lydia’s elopement. Thus Darcy does not know of that either as he leaves after proposing. Uncle Gardiner handles the confrontation with Wickham (as Mr. Bennet is very ill and later dies) and seems to have it all in hand…then Wickham finds out about Darcy’s relationship with Elizabeth and so it all changes. Wickham now has demands and it is not money – it is how can he best use that news to destroy Darcy’s world…to bring him everlasting pain? And he is successful!
Now the main premise comes to bear as we read the rest of the story. ODC has had 9 short days of happiness in August but a year later we read of how they are both finally in one another’s presence again – against their will, against their wishes! So many misunderstandings. Gossiping – whisper down the lane…despite promises not to tell. A reputation in shreds. A “cut” in public! Don’t look but something else has gone down!
Can’t this couple ever find time to really have a sit down and talk with openness? Each comes to the conclusion sooner or later, that they cannot trust the other, and as they have never spoken since the Lambton proposal, there is so much taken in the wrong way, so many assumptions…if it were not for bad luck I’d have no luck at all - so it seems with both Darcy and Elizabeth and then at the end: the worst kind of betrayal. "(What they do) (They smile in your face) All the time they want to take your place. The back stabbers (back stabbers) (They smile in your face) All the time they ..."
This story is a tale of various events mixing together with ironic results.
Jane and Bingley bring a number of single people together at Netherfield about a year after the aforementioned events and like a dance, people are squaring up, stepping forth and backwards, looking for the best partners and looking to know backgrounds, connections and worth. Elizabeth has been living with an aunt as she “was very ill or so the family says” and has missed the wedding and then the christening of the Bingley’s firstborn…as has Darcy. Caroline and Elizabeth are now to live with their “brother and sister”. Can you imagine Elizabeth and Caroline as sisters? Watch/read as Bingley takes very seriously his role as guardian to both!
I could not put the story down and I did have tears at times. Amy writes quite a whooper of a good story.
I have now read this as a published book and again am breathless with all the emotions this story has had me experience. I could not put it down even the second time around. -
2022- Another relisten. How do I forget each time Col. F's roll in their suffering.
I know that I enjoy Stevie Zimmerman's performances, but Harry Frost is just perfect, especially when the majority of the story is Darcy's POV.
The one thing that gets to me is, that NO ONE in her whole family can tell that something is seriously off with Elizabeth enough to actually do something about? Address the issue face to face? Minor concern is there, but the more I think about it the more it seems that is a seriously selfish family Elizabeth came from! No wonder she acted so solitarily and didn't turn to anyone else for help.
2021-9-11 2nd read thru. AD is the queen of emoting melancholy and lament. and Oh Boy I forgot all about Col. F!!!
2020- Wow, so well written. And a very different take on the fave P&P story. My heart was swept along with Elizabeth and Darcy throughout.
Not sure I can get behind the Fitzwilliam character as portrayed is this rendition. Or, the very ending.
Def worth the read! -
This is an author I truly admire. I've read most of her unpublished JAFF, and she is exceptionally talented. Ms. D'Orazio has a beautiful, elegant writing style. and she creates characters that come alive for the reader. She has the creativity to put Darcy and Elizabeth in interesting, different situations, as she does here.
In a meshing of Jane Austen's Persuasion with Pride and Prejudice, Darcy and Elizabeth encountered each other as in canon at Pemberley. They swiftly came to an understanding. He only needed to approach Mr. Bennet for his blessing. But then Jane's letters arrived, announcing Lydia had run off with Mr. Wickham. Darcy wasn't there when Elizabeth read them, and Elizabeth never told him. Fortunately, her Uncle Gardiner was able to find Wickham and induce him to marry Lydia. As an additional complication, Lydia is with child. This is the backstory.
In the Prologue, Wickham approaches Elizabeth before he signs the settlement papers and makes the heartbreaking demand that she break things off with Darcy or his wedding to Lydia will not take place. Believing that her future with Darcy will be destroyed either way (he certainly couldn't be expected to marry her with the scandal attached to her family if Lydia has her child out of wedlock), Elizabeth writes the cruel letter Wickham dictates, which is sent to Darcy at Pemberley.
As Chapter 1 begins, a year has passed. Jane and Mr. Bingley have married and are living at Netherfield. Their marriage has eased the financial conditions of the Bennets despite Mr. Bennet's death the previous year. Although Mr. Collins and Charlotte now own Longbourn, they are kind enough to allow Mrs. Bennet to reside there. Elizabeth had been living with the Gardiners in London but became very ill with consumption and went to Cheltenham "for the waters there." She's now returning to Netherfield to live with Bingley and her sister.
The Bingleys plan a house party for a number of their unwed family and friends, hoping to encourage others into the state of marital felicity they enjoy. They invite Darcy, who did not attend their wedding because he didn't want to see Elizabeth. He accepts in order to reestablish his friendship with Bingley, not knowing that Elizabeth will be there.
Great set-up! Darcy's furious with Elizabeth and positive that she'll be gloating over his heartbreak, while she stoically prepares herself for the anger she knows she deserves from him.
Things don't play out that way. As soon as he sees her, he knows he still loves her, and he also can't understand her sorrowful, solemn demeanor. Something doesn't add up here.
And it doesn't add up for me in this whole section of the story. Darcy's desperate to talk with Elizabeth for an explanation, and she's desperate to talk with him to apologize. This kind of angst just annoys me after a while because it's just too easily overcome with one simple conversation. The reader must slog through pages upon pages of his despair followed by pages upon pages of her despair, with them alternately approaching and rebuffing the other. Angst is one thing, but this gets overcooked from well-done to charred-to-bits.
Meanwhile, there are other eligible matches around at this house party for both of them. Darcy and Elizabeth each gets jealous whenever he/she sees the other speaking with one of them. Then Colonel Fitzwilliam shows up uninvited as soon as he learns Elizabeth is there, and all he wants to do is get Darcy outta there.
He manages some impeccable timing, as Darcy and Elizabeth FINALLY get some honest communication going between them (when Darcy is drunk), but the Colonel packs him up in a carriage and spirits him off the next morning. Why doesn't Darcy return immediately after he's recovered? There's an explanation based on misinformation the Colonel gives him (for his own good), but it's pretty weak.
The Bingleys go to London, and so does Elizabeth. More stuff happens that makes Elizabeth certain that Darcy hates her again(!!), and things lead to a major confrontation. Once again, our hero and heroine finally make some communication headway but-- WHOOPS!--
Now Mr. Bingley gets all big brother on Elizabeth, decides that Darcy is a stalker or something (even though he should know better), and decides the household is leaving London and heading to the country to get her out of his reach. (This is the least credible part of the story.) Once again, Darcy doesn't go after them. (C'mon.. he's rich! It's not like they're fugitives.)
Through all of the above, Elizabeth NEVER brings Jane into her confidence about what's happened between her and Darcy. This is also hard to fathom.
When Mr. Bingley misses London and decides in early Spring that it's time to return, it's a journey of several days. Their last night at an inn, Darcy happens to walk through the door and Elizabeth happens to be on her own. The story finally gets interesting from here to the end.
This is at roughly 72% on my kindle. I wish the first two-thirds of the book either had been pruned to a fraction of that length or that the couple had been given more tangible obstacles than the author provided.
The rest of the book gradually brings to light a mystery that kind of hovers around during the previous pages. Now it really delves into it. After persevering through all the nonsensical angst, I will state, unequivocally, that the payoff at the end is of the fall-off-your-chair, you've-got-to-be-kidding-me variety. And then, when you've recovered from one bombshell, there's another unexpected revelation that comes up several years later. Yowza! It's one of the greatest all-time one-two punch surprise endings I've encountered in JAFF, so I have to give props for that.
The explanation for one of the instigators of misery for Darcy and Elizabeth, honestly, is kind of weak, but it's so darn good I don't mind that as much as what I read in the earlier portions of the book.
As I stated earlier, I've read most of Ms. D'Orazio's stories, and generally her unpublished works are exceptionally good. I was surprised when this was the one she chose to publish, as I felt it was her weakest plot. I hoped it had gone through a lot of changes before publication, and I grabbed it as soon as it was available. To be fair, it is now free of any editing-type errors and I know there have been some tweaks to the storyline (as well as I can remember from more than a year ago). However, I still found myself increasingly aggravated with the repetitive, depressing introspection by Darcy and Elizabeth.
I have to give this 4 stars because the writing is so exquisite and the ending is awesome. I know other JAFF readers are more masochistic than I am and will love all the angst that I hated. I will happily go online and read one of Ms. D'Orazio's other works and hope that eventually she publishes more of THOSE. -
It was after 2:00 A.M. when I finished this unpublished work. I simply CNPID [could not put it down]. The ending reveal left me so horrified that I could not go to sleep right away. I cannot believe the author thought of such a thing. OMG!! I am still reeling. Excuse my ranting, but I am freaking out.
Needless to say, this was AWESOME. I cannot find the words. OK angst people, this work is fraught with angst. I mean… how much can a person take? Poor Darcy and Elizabeth are the center of this vortex of disaster. Everything that could be thrown at them was… and by the people they loved.
Purist and canon lovers, go somewhere else. Those looking for a peaceful, flower smelling, gentle walk through a fun fluffy story… forget it. For those who love a good gut wrenching, love that survives the test of time, this is your story. It is not for the faint of heart. Adhere to my caveat as my warning is valid.
This is the middle of the P&P story with Elizabeth in London. We have references to all those points of interest throughout the P&P story as Elizabeth and Darcy reference those high and low points of their contentious relationship, and then the letter regarding Lydia. I cannot tell you how I loathe hate and despise Lydia at this point, and her dastard lover.
Wickham [slime rat-bastard] gets his final revenge on Darcy by convincing Elizabeth to break off their engagement. The rest of the story is the ramifications of that action and Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s reaction to that decision.
This was not a tsunami of one big crash and burn angst wave. This was a white-water rafting ride from beginning to end. Wave after wave of angst, horrid words, reactions, misunderstandings, accusations, scandal, grief of the acutest kind and finally despair. I wanted to cry, rant, rave, rail at the injustice of the actions of a slime-trail slug and his harlot b-witch. I am still so upset I could scream. What a story, yeah, it invoked a reaction from me. I do believe I was properly moved.
The OOC [out of character] behavior may disturb come readers.
Bingley put on his big boy pants and man did he ever rise up in righteous indignation. I’ve never seen him in this light. He was supportive of a wounded relation and stood his ground in ways unlike his canon character. Boy, did he ever stand up to Darcy.
Caroline was her usual self, snide, conniving, vindictive, overbearing, b-witch and she actually got what she wanted. Whether that was really what she wanted was still to be discovered.
We had a lot of new characters that were vying for Darcy’s attention, wealth and property, em… hand in marriage. They added to the drama, conflict and angst.
Georgiana was a little snot; however, she was acting in, what she thought was, defense of her brother and under false information generously supplied by Caroline and another society gossip monger b-witch. Yeah, it was a good day in the neighborhood, when she gave Elizabeth the cut direct, and in public.
Our dear Colonel Richard Fitzwilliam, beloved character that we all love, went through the most drastic emotional gut wrenching evolution of all. I could cry my eyes out. Oh-my-goodness, how I hurt for him. This cousin/brother relationship with Darcy has been long standing through most, if not all, JAFF variations. Oh, I hurt for him, this was brutal. Where are my tissues?
There are short appearances from Lady Catherine and Anne de Bourgh. This was really a cute scene where Anne stands up to her mother and does something so outlandish and AWESOME that I wanted to cheer for her. She was so funny.
Emotional Gems: this was a long story. However, within the belly of the beast, so to speak, were gems of scenes that will rock your world. There are conversations with revelations that dig deep into the emotional psyche. When ODC [our dear couple] finally have opportunities to talk, they dig deep and pull out the grief that has gripped them for nearly two years. I wanted to cry as Elizabeth finally broke and discussed her family, her father in particular, and her deepest grief as her true emotions were revealed regarding what had happened. Oh, I was so awed by how the author finally allowed Elizabeth her time to rail at the unfairness of what had happened. I wanted to cry.
The final reveal was so jaw-droppingly horrid and amazing that I wanted to scream at the injustice of the whole thing. Amazing… I am still reeling. This is a story that will not leave you anytime soon. You cannot walk away and not be affected. I am an emotional wreck. I ache for our dear Colonel. I am a peaceful, gentle, kindhearted person, but… I can honestly say that I loathe, hate and despise Wickham and Lydia for the slash and burn devastation and wasteland they left in their wake with no regard for anything but their own selfish pleasures. You will not believe.
Final Notes: As this is an unpublished work, I think it could be trimmed just a bit. Several times explanations were given too many times. That message could have been conveyed in different ways rather than repeat the same dialogue over and over. There were a few editing things, but that’s the only problems that I encountered. Now, I need a vacation at a spa where I can simply chill and not speak for a few days. -
Wow!! DAMN !! This is a unique, brilliant, inventive P&P What if that truly takes a unique look at the story
What if: Darcy Proposed at Pemberley and Lizzy accepted his hand? And the Gardiners and Lizzy learned of Lydia's folly but left Lambton without informing Darcy. And then Mr. Gardiner and his agents locate the couple without Darcy's help. and Lydia is suffering from more than a loss of reputation but a long passed loss of virtue so she MUST marry. and then Wickham demands that Lizzy must make the ultimate sacrifice to guarantee his cooperation and he forces her to jilt Darcy.
A year passes; Jane and Bingley have wed and are hosting a house party at Netherfield where Lizzy and Darcy must meet as indifferent acquaintances. But neither are really up to the task. Lizzy is broken and Darcy is bitter. Lizzy never shared the story with anyone and left to grieve alone while Darcy now has two protectors who loath Lizzy, the Colonel and Georgiana. The atmosphere gets to Lizzy and she flees to Longbourn to tend her mother while Darcy writes a scathing. unsent, letter which damages Lizzy's reputation.
Darcy is desperate for an explanation and his cousin is set upon him not getting one. Soon Lizzy's family will be set upon protecting her from Darcy, while Darcy's family is set upon protecting him from Lizzy.
The course of true love never runs smooth but this story is like shooting the rapids in a barrel. There are twists and turns and rocks all the way down. -
Unputdownable!
The excruciating angst in this book left my heart pounding and my hands trembling, literally. Deliciously emotional read, intersped with a few laughs and sighs as well. The lovely ending did contain sufficient tender and romantic moments to reset my equilibrium which made all the agony worth it.
A couple of major plot twists was also to be had towards the end, OMG did not see that coming.
I absolutely loved it.
A year has passed, since the nine days of exquisite felicity at Pemberley, before Elizabeth broke off their engagement...
Invited to the same house party at the Bingley's, ODC has an awkward and painful reunion in the midst of several eligible ladies and gentlemen.
As Elizabeth never told Darcy about Lydia's elopment, he has no idea why she broke the engagement. Elizabeth has never told anyone in her family about the engagement either which leaves them both with much to conceal.
As soon as the colonel is appraised that Darcy and Elizabeth resides in the same neighbourhood, he comes to Darcy's rescue. Hauling him back to London when ODC finally was on the verge of a much needed talk.
Reuniting in London. A cut direct starts the unravelling of the secrets and we are treated with revelations until the last page.
Heartily recommend this book!
It will not surprise me if this will be voted as JAFF book of the year 2018. It was beautifully written and deeply felt. -
Would that more books I read were so beautifully written, so intricately plotted, and so exquisitely detailed in characterization. This is a brilliantly conceived story, more than just a P&P variation, and does honor to the literary legacy of Jane Austen. As with JA, SPEF goes beyond a mere love story, but shows how two people are formed for and by each other. Wonderful pacing, and truly exquisite angst and poignancy (along with some great and witty repartee). Lovely work by one of my favorite authors.
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My gosh, this first 1/3 of this story was so gut wrenching to me, my little heart was aching for Elizabeth and Darcy.
By the time I was in the middle I was furiously skipping ahead to see what had happened to force her to jilt Darcy.
So much angst, it was so hard to put the book down at times to perform life’s activities of daily living.
But the ending!
I won’t rehash it all as others have already reviewed the book so much better….but Colonel Fitzwilliam! He behaved terribly. Thank goodness for Saye to offer some comic relief at the end.
I wonder why Colonel Fitzwilliam was demoted to major?
And then Lydia! Beyond redemption. Beyond forgiveness.
I don’t know how Amy D’Orazio does it but she’s a wizard story teller. In my top 3 for JAFF.
I’ll read anything she writes.
Definitely a keeper and read again worthy. -
4.5 stars...this novel grabbed my attention from the beginning.
A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity, the newest release by A D’Orazio, begins at Netherfield. In the hopes of helping their friends find the same happiness they share, Charles and Jane Bingley, now married, with a son, are hosting a house party. They have invited an equal number of single men and women, including Fitzwilliam Darcy. Darcy, hesitant to attend for fear of seeing Elizabeth Bennet, decides to accept, believing Elizabeth will not be in attendance.
Elizabeth Bennet, living in Cheltenham for the past year, has agreed to make her home with the Bingleys. A changed woman, Lizzy is not the impertinent woman of the past. Her arrival during the house party sets the stage for the events and trials that follow.
Go back a little over a year when Lizzy visits Pemberley with the Gardiners. The misunderstanding that came from the Hunsford proposal has been resolved. Lizzy accepts Darcy’s second proposal and for a short period, they experience exquisite felicity, thus the title. The title is referred to several times throughout the book and those references are apropos.
Lydia’s unfortunate adventure/misadventure with Wickham proves too much and Lizzy calls off the engagement with no explanation. Not only does she call if off, she does so in a letter. Darcy has been jilted and he cannot imagine why. Heartbroken he refuses to attend Bingley’s wedding nor does he visit until the house party. There is much more to Lizzy’s departure than the reader will know until nearer the ending. Lizzy and Darcy struggle while trying to come to terms with what happened, what could have been, what each does not know, and their inability to quit loving each other. Throw into this mix, eligible men and women and some sparks will fly. Oh my, let the fun begin!
Lizzy’s reason for living in Cheltenham is questioned. Rumors fly and one source of those rumors caught me totally offguard. Even Darcy begins to believe some of the rumors. Will they make a difference in those feelings he still has for her or will they put an end to those feelings forever?
This novel grabbed my attention from the beginning. I felt invested in the characters and the story, enough so that I got a bit frustrated at times. I wanted to shake Darcy and Lizzy and tell them to please sit down and talk to each other. When they finally did try, they kept getting interference from first one and then the other. The angst was not only caused by Darcy’s and Lizzy’s misunderstanding but also by the so-called ‘help’ of friends and family. Anytime there is angst, the romance, when it happens, will be all the sweeter. That certainly is the case in this novel.
A D’Orazio is an excellent storyteller, and her novel is well-written. It kept this reader up late into the night. It had some twists and turns that I never saw coming. Amy’s first book, The Best Part of Love, was exceptional and I eagerly awaited the publication of her second. It did not disappoint. Thank you, Amy, for such an entertaining read. -
I have been re-reading a lot of past favorites on my kindle in the Jane Austen fanfiction genre because the last few buys were "good, just not great". I read all day in my day job and so I expect much from my pleasure reading. When I heard a favorite Austenesque author, A D'Orazio, was releasing this new novel, I was primed to buy. Last night my plan was to read until I got tired and finish it tonight (because it is about 300+ pages.) Well... "A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity" is my very favorite kind of "Pride & Prejudice" reimagining... The kind where Mr Darcy is absolutely and painfully in-love with Miss Elizabeth, and she loves him but has no hope of his love being returned. And lots of wonderful twists and turns until they finally make it to their happily-ever-after that we expect and they deserve. Oh! Delicious angst from page one. And it did not let up. His devotion to her, even through his anger and hurt, was poignant and almost palatable off the page. All the canon characters are familiar and the new characters are fresh and equally strong. I think this is the one novel that I didnot like the colonel but then Miss Austen gave us so few clues about him, not even his first name, that I found this spin on his character interesting.
And my alarm went off at 6am with still 10% left on the kindle so... Today I will be walking around like a zombie and suffering from an acute book hangover -- but well worth it. This book is one I will surely re-read. I ordered the paperback copy too so I can add it to my shelves. It's that good! Warning: block out time to read. You won't want to put it down once you start -
Review to follow on Monday 26 Feb, when the blog tour stops by at Babblings of a Bookworm :)
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Loved this! I so look forward to Amy's first book coming in January. I hope this one gets published.
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Awesome
One of the best variations I have read. I could not put it down until I had finished. "Good" thing I am home with the flu and didn't have to get up for work! I don't want to give anything away but grab some tissues, you're going to need them. I am already looking for another book to read from this author.. -
A Pride and Prejudice variation where Darcy and Elizabeth are engaged and happy for about a week then she releases him by letter with no explanation. They both suffer greatly but he doesn’t seek her out for an entire year until they meet at a Netherfield house party hosted by Mr. and Mrs. Bingley. Many of the characters are altered from canon, including one of my favorites Colonel Fitzwilliam. I kept wondering why he was being such a jerk. I much prefer it when the Colonel is trying to help Darcy and not hinder him. Then the big reveal comes after D&E finally talk things through. The epilogue delivers another punch. There were quite a few unbelievable scenarios, for example, I can’t imagine Mr Darcy playing kissing games with house party guests, or Mr. & Mrs. Wickham becoming courtiers. It’s a compelling story that I stayed up late to finish, but with angst-overload and characters acting decidedly out of character, this is not a favorite.
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Well written story but...
There was maybe to much angst. But that would not be so disappointing if the HEA wasn’t so half-hearted. We read about the deep love and we see signs of a deep love but...we don’t “feel” the deep love.
And even worse there aren’t many good guys left by the end and we don’t “sense” that Lizzy and Darcy have enough good friends left to have anything but a HEA that is somewhat one in isolation. Perhaps Darcy wouldn’t mind that but I feel Lizzy might.
And even worse than, the epilogue isn’t filled with as many instances of joy is has instances of worries and a really large surprise that is...well, icky.
Good author who has a poor ratio of happy to sad in the story. Not a 3 star story but not a 5 star story either, imho. -
Misperceptions and Other Confusion
Ms D'Orazio could have fallen into the traditional trap that awaits those who seek to bring her another Austenesque novel into being using the "Lizzy shows up with a toddler" plot. She did not. Rather D'Orazio used her remarkable writing skills to transform her characters into three-dimensional portraits. So satisfying! What always is amusing is how Darcy can be such a dunderhead. In any event, this work is a worthy edition to any collection of InspiredByAusten fiction!!! -
What If Elizabeth Jilted Mr. Darcy?
TYPE OF AUSTENESQUE NOVEL: Pride and Prejudice Variation
TIME FRAME: Begins 1 year after Elizabeth visits Pemberley
SYNOPSIS:
Darcy and Elizabeth were blissfully engaged for nine days when Elizabeth sends a letter regretfully terminating their engagement. Now the two are about to re-encounter each other for the first time while attending house part at Netherfield, and they both are prepared to suffer torture of the acutest kind! Poor Mr. Darcy is torn between anguish and anger, he doesn’t know or understand Elizabeth’s reason for breaking their engagement and despises her for now twice ripping his heart out and destroying it. And poor Elizabeth is suffering too, she is carrying a secret pain that no one – not even Jane knows about – and now she must watch as the man she loves vehemently despises her and interacts with other eligible females.
WHAT I LOVED:
- Persuasion Nods: Ever wonder how Mr. Darcy would react if he was in Captain Wentworth’s shoes? Here is your chance! Similar to Persuasion, we see what happens when a couple with a (partially) secret past is forced into company with each other again after a period of time. There is some bitter resentment, some changed circumstances, and lots of fresh pain. It was interesting to see how both Darcy and Elizabeth reacted to each other in these new and agonizing circumstances.
- Well-Executed: Ms. D’Orazio tortures us all by keeping readers in the dark as to the “why” and “what happened” with Elizabeth when she terminated their engagement It may be hard for some readers to wait for these answers, but I thoroughly enjoyed the painstakingly slow reveals and hard-won moments of truth. And they seemed plausible in these situations where both characters felt as they did. It felt very in accord to their characters and what they believed at the time. In addition, this premise was most definitely not predictable as there were numerous twists and turns that the reader will not see coming! Prepare yourselves!
- What Is Love?: Through all this heartache and torture, Ms. D’Orazio illustrates a very moving tale of an unconquerable love that cannot be extinguished. I loved the moments where we see how fervently devoted to each other Darcy and Elizabeth are…even when they don’t believe they have a future together. *sigh* I also loved the lesson Darcy and Elizabeth learned about love, and about what key ingredient they were missing.
- Moments Together: There are so many significant encounters between Darcy and Elizabeth in this story. Even though they are often amongst a large party of people, Ms. D’Orazio found inventive means to give them some spare moments alone. And each encounter was diverse and fraught with emotion, whether it be: awkwardness, volatile anger, fragile amicability, or passionate ardency. I will long remember many scenes from this story (the library meeting, the dance, the call at Davies street, the Frost Fair) because of these significant encounters that were rendered with palpable feeling.
- Secondary Characters: I enjoyed the well-drawn original characters added to this story, especially as some became new romantic interests for some characters. And I really enjoyed how even though this story was mostly Darcy and Elizabeth centric, Amy D’Orazio gave prominence and detail to many of the secondary characters featured.
WHAT I WASN’T TOO FOND OF:
My only quibble might be that the knife twist at the end was maybe a little too painful, and perhaps, unnecessary. I don’t mind when creative liberties are taken with Jane Austen’s characters and in this tale there were some unique deviations in this variation that definitely took me by surprise. I’m just not sure if that last bit was maybe a little too much.
CONCLUSION:
Filled with intense emotions, heart-wrenching secrets, and unexpected developments A Short Period of Exquisite Felicity is the type of romance that will completely consume and captivate the reader. Be ready to embark upon a most poignant and compelling emotional journey that will stay with you long after you finish it.
Austenesque Reviews -
This is one of the best JAFF writers! She has an incredible style of writing and really connects to her readers. This was a great story, but be forewarned that it is also a very melancholy book. The angst just never seems to end, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just not a light and fluffy romance. My only hesitation is the Colonel Fitzwilliam plot. There are situations where I could deal with the Colonel being a bit of a villain, but it was too big of a stretch to me that he would recruit Wickham both in Meryton and again in London after what Wickham did to Georgiana. The Colonel truly cares for Georgiana in this variation and so for him to meet Wickham with anything other than the threat of violence or death seems hard for me to accept. That is my only reason for 4 instead of 5 stars. Definitely a great read!
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4.5⭐️ Wow, just can't get enough of this author's writing. She is truly talented and has such creative premises and plots. You're always in for a treat.
I'll leave the traditional review to the other readers. All I have to say is there are so many obstacles for your dear couple D&E to overcome before they get to their HEA. In addition to that there are many twists and turns that will have you shocked to the very end.
I'm a bit bummed that the Gardiners didn't have a bigger role in this story though, but nevertheless it was a great story. Can't wait to read more from this authors! -
Update April 2018: I just read this story again as the published work and enjoyed it as much. I wanted to slap Darcy so hard and say wake up!!!
*****
What an amazing story with so many twists and turns. Elizabeth chooses to save her family by ending her engagement with Darcy. How they handle it, how they find each other not just physically but emotionally.
There were two parts that stood out the most to me - Darcy's conversation with Wickham and Elizabeth and Darcy's chat where they lay all their 'cards' on the table. The author took the concept of pride to the next level and really had the characters come to a better understanding through all obstacles.
The usual characters are joined by a few new ones that keep the plot going. The surprises and confessions in the story are heart stopping and incredible and I could not stop reading! -
me: i wanna read a really angsty book that will make my heart wanna burst out of my chest
amy d'orazio: hi -
I read this quite a while back, but just added to GR today. I know I will read this again at some point and come back with a fresh review.
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Update August 1, 2018:
I didn't intend to reread this book, especially so soon! But after someone on Facebook mentioned the Thames having frozen over a few dozen times in the past and them wondering about stories that incorporated that phenomenon, I remembered that this story took place in 1813-1814, and it not only mentioned the 1814 Frost Fair but spent an entire chapter there. In the course of remembering which book I'd read that in, I picked it up again, and discovered that I wanted to reread it. I'm glad I did, because I was more prepared for the emotional content this time, and found I wanted to raise my rating of it yet again, to 5 stars. It was well worth the second reading.
Prior review, March 20, 2018:
This started out to be a difficult book for me to rate or review, because although I think it was so well written, and so true to human feelings and behavior, it left me feeling badly, so much so that at first I gave it a lower star rating. I had what I would call a genuine book hangover from this one, last night and this morning. I had to journal about it a little this morning before I felt better. I think I know why that is, and it does not at all make it an inferior book. When I thought about the job the author did and what she achieved, and how the story stayed with me, I had to raise my rating to five stars.
In fact, as Pride and Prejudice variations go, I would say this is stellar. It provided an idea of what might have happened that I'm sure most readers and fans of P&P had never considered. The author, according to another reviewer, has stated she was inspired to some extent by Jane Austen's novel Persuasion to write this story as she did. That makes a lot of sense, and even before I knew about that, there was a point in the story when I was reminded, just in essence, of that other novel.
I would say that some themes of this story are sacrifice, loneliness, trust/mistrust, betrayal, personal accountability, and resentment. It reveals, in almost too emphatic and realistic a way for me, that we humans are not very forgiving creatures, and how we tend to make snap judgments, and how we tend to project our own horribleness onto others, sometimes making up stories about them in our minds, to justify our resentments. We don't want to own our faults. We make them someone else's. I had to think that through, this morning, before I began to feel better about the story.
If all that gives you the impression that it's a depressing story, well in many ways it is. We follow the main characters, as well as some others, through a kind of dark night of the soul, but one that lasts for more than a year of their lives. There is a happy ever after for our immortal couple, never fear (which is a given in romances and in P&P variations), but the path there is strewn with heartbreak and misunderstandings, and there are casualties. I think that not many forgiving souls could consider it a completely happy or satisfying outcome in human terms, but story-wise, everything comes together by the end.
Most of our favorite characters from P&P are here, and true to character as Jane Austen created them, even though they turn in some different directions. One character, though, who has been a favorite of mine in most variations was written quite differently here. Colonel Fitzwilliam is a harsher person here than usual, and I found him quite uncomfortable throughout the story. Also, mainly because she listens to him, to some extent so is Georgiana Darcy.
Of course we didn't learn much about either Colonel Fitzwilliam or Georgiana in the original P&P so it's not really a deviation, it's just a different way of fleshing them out. And while Caroline Bingley is also true to Jane Austen's portrayal, I wound up almost liking her by the end of this one. Not because her character improved, but because to my relief she was consistent and even reliable, and pretty much harmless in the big picture of this version of the story. There were no uncomfortable surprises there.
I'll give a little of the background that doesn't contain spoilers, as most of this comes out early on. Before our story begins, imagine if you will that after her refusal at Hunsford, things go along much as in P&P for Elizabeth, until she again runs into Mr. Darcy at Pemberly, and meets Georgiana. In this variation, he proposes to her again at Pemberly, in his mother's rose garden, and she accepts. For nine of the most blissful days of Darcy's life, they are engaged. But on the morning that Elizabeth receives her bad news from home, she doesn't share it with Darcy. She's too ashamed and mortified to confide in him, and in addition to Lydia's elopement, in this variation Mr. Bennet is very ill, in fact dying. Lizzy hurries home without explaining any of this to Darcy and days later, also without explanation, she writes to Darcy to break off their engagement.
Darcy is shocked, heartbroken and angry. He assumes the worst of her, that she was playing some hurtful game. Colonel Fitzwilliam also expresses resentment of Elizabeth for breaking Darcy's heart, and his intent from that point forward seems to be to keep Darcy away from her, to get him over his heartbreak and on the road to marriage with some other woman, almost any "suitable" woman. Georgiana is also quite upset on behalf of her brother, although she's uninformed about what's happened and therefore also confused.
Elizabeth and Darcy are out of touch after that for about a year. Then Charles and Jane Bingley, now a happily married couple with a baby son, decide to quit Netherfield for good. They decide to have a final house party there and invite a group of friends, mostly single friends whom they'd like to see make good matches. They know nothing of Darcy and Lizzy's broken engagement. In fact only one or two people in the world know about that. Lizzy is just coming to live with them after spending months in Cheltenham recovering from a serious illness, and Darcy who's been out of touch with the Bingleys for some time feels an obligation to attend the house party. Neither of them expects to encounter the other until they arrive. So it is that Darcy and Elizabeth meet up at Netherfield. This is the story of what happens next.
It's an intriguing story, well written, intricately plotted, also perfectly titled, and it kept me reading for hours on end. I had trouble putting it down. But expect some agony, some angst, some depression, and to seethe a little over the injustices and resentments. There is a tiny bit of lightness and comic relief, but this is not an easy story on the emotions. However, everything is neatly tied up at the end, if not to our complete relief. There is a definite tragic tone running through this story. I do not recommend it to anyone looking for a feel-good bit of light entertainment. But if you have the fortitude, it's an honest and excellent story about human beings.
