Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll

 I have been reading a lot of Jane Austen knock-offs as well as history, and this one was mentioned several times by different authors. It's an incredible undertaking with fantastic imagination and vocabulary. The sexy parts are not especially graphic and are almost comical in their ardor. I think this aspect of the story is most trumpeted and the least well-done. However the story line and the characters and the language are pretty good! I was impressed by the commitment it would take to fashion such a long and complicated and well-written work. I think the author was mostly true to the characters as well, though I didn't like thinking that Bingley was a philanderer... And I didn't end up admiring Darcy or Elizabeth as much as I do when I read Austen herself. Yet this novel was a fun romp...and it was satisfying to see Lydia and Wickham get their due...

The Jane Austen Project bu Kathleen A. Flynn - on Libby audio - 11 hours

 This author, Kathleen A. Flynn, was chosen by Natalie Jenner, the author of The Jane Austen Society, to interview Natalie for an endpiece to her audio book. Jenner mentions in the interview that she chose Flynn because she so admired what she had accomplished in this book on Austen. That intrigued me, because I really enjoyed Jenner's book, and value her opinion. I'm not fond of fantasy or sci fi, so this was a stretch, but because it came so highly-recommended, I went for it.

It was a fascinating listen on many levels! The story begins in the future when two people are chosen and trained to travel back to Jane Austen's time. The few aspects of the future that are revealed are interesting and believable. The tension that's created with wondering if they'll be able to return to their own time after their research keeps the story lively. And the philosophical and ethical dilemmas abound! Like, how much are they interfering in the "probability field" that will change the outcome of history? Is it too much to help a poor chimney sweep's boy? Or to give medical care to Jane to prolong her life and thus enable her to write more?

In addition to these dilemmas, of course there is sexual tension between the two researchers, a man and a woman from the future, trying to fit in to Jane Austen's world and win her confidence. Those struggles are fascinating too. It's just fascinating in every regard, though it also felt a bit dark at times. I liked how Jane Austen and her brothers were portrayed, and it was fun to hear the researchers and Jane discuss some of her characters. There' is an abundance of information and dates about what was going on in Jane's life when, much more than I was aware of. It made me want to go walk the countryside around Chawton and see the places that feel almost familiar to me now. 

There are some rather graphic sex scenes, but not too much...And Flynn did an excellent job in capturing the tone of conversations from that time period. It was an expecially fun listen for 11 hours! It helped me prolong my walks around our new Monterey Drive neighborhood!