Have any of you read Abigail Reynolds's Pride and Prejudice "variations"? She appears to have written several, each one featuring an alternate ending for the novel. Her previous stories are available as Sourcebooks e-books, but her most recent effort--Impulse and Initiative: What if Mr. Darcy Didn't Take No for an Answer?--is coming out as a trade paperback.

I have no idea if this will work (and I'm not thrilled about that subtitle, as it makes Mr. Darcy sound like a creep), but I have to give Ms. Reynolds props for her bravery: the world is full to overflowing with Austen-inspired continuations, prequels, and fresh-point-of-view retellings, but very few people have the guts to screw around with her actual plot structures.

Note: I hope the ampersand in the title is darker on the actual bookcover. When I first saw it, I thought the title was "IMPULSE INITIATIVE", which I found off-putting--it makes it sound like an x-rated sci-fi novel, and I'm assuming that wasn't what the author was going for.

Labels: fanfiction, Jane Austen