Lizzy's Choice

by Clytie Koehler

Elizabeth Bennet Collins cannot bear to think of the life that awaits her at Hunsford Parsonage as the wife of her father’s cousin, the odious Mr Collins! Riding in the ‘Carriage of Doom’ with her gloating husband her mind alternates between dreading her future and reflecting with chagrin and mortification on her conduct toward Mr Darcy at the Netherfield ball - and what she learned from him then.

Arriving at last in the neighbourhood of the parsonage, Mr Collins insists that they must stop at Rosings Park - where a terrifying Lady Catherine de Bourgh greets her clergyman’s new bride whip in hand!

After the Netherfield ball and his confrontation with her, Fitzwilliam Darcy’s warm and tender but forbidden dreams of loving Miss Elizabeth Bennet suddenly become dreadful nightmares of attending her wedding to the odious Mr Collins!
Relieved to awaken from their nightmares, Elizabeth and Darcy each experience confusion about what really did occur on that fateful occasion. Each is deeply shaken by the revelations of the night.

Lizzy takes a long walk to Oakham Mount to work off the vestiges of her ill-humour and settle her spirits – well aware that Mr Collins, heartily encouraged by her mother, awaits a private audience with her.

Darcy goes for a long hard ride to work off his distress and order his thoughts – for he knows he must do something…
Their chance meeting on Oakham Mount both clarifies and complicates things. Darcy wishes to court her but discovers that he must first overcome Miss Elizabeth’s ill-opinion of him. He begins by agreeing to warn her father and the neighbourhood about Wickham’s predacious ways.

Unfortunately their efforts do not serve to protect Elizabeth’s young and foolish sister Lydia from seduction by Wickham. She and her sister Kitty are caught sneaking into the family home after meeting Wickham in the woods. Mr Bennet refuses to force a marriage between his youngest daughter and the cad but the Bennets must plan how to protect Lydia’s and Kitty’s reputations.

In the meantime, Caroline Bingley engages in a desperate plot to rid herself of “Miss Eliza’s” interference in her machinations to secure Darcy for herself. The results are quite shocking.

The Bennets prepare to leave Longbourn for a long stay in the north in case of an “increase” in the family. But they must have a plausible story to explain their departure – and where will they go?

Several unexpected alliances are formed as the attraction between Elizabeth and Darcy, and Bingley and Jane struggle to survive and find their way through everything from misunderstandings to deadly trials.

Genres: Jane Austen

414 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 5, 2011

Reviews

[Nicole Barton Sasser · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading the reviews beforehand really helped in this case…

I believe the whole reading experience was changed by knowing that there were dreams that might be confusing and that Elizabeth did not actually end up with the odious Mr. Collins.

I was able to enjoy this book with that preparation.

[Tamara Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Where's the sequel?

Great story, except for those italics, what was up with them? However, they left enough loose ends to knit a sweater! I want to know the rest of the story.

[Michelle David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

A rather interesting and different variation inspired by author Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice. A long but enjoyable read.

[Candy · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this Pride and Prejudice variation, Elizabeth confronts Darcy on the dance floor at the Netherfield ball about Wickham. Darcy leads her out to the balcony and tells her all...including the near elopement of Wickham and Georgiana. Later that night, Elizabeth has nightmares that she marries Mr. Collins. After the ceremony she is riding in the “carriage of doom” with Collins to Hunsford where Lady Catherine is waiting with a whip in hand! I found the dream, with the way Mr. Collins was looking at Elizabeth and Lady Catherine’s whip, all rather creepy!

Darcy also has nightmares of Elizabeth marrying Mr. Collins. He cannot let her marry Collins!! He decides he must do something to stop the marriage. He takes a morning ride to think things through. Elizabeth also needs to clear her mind, so she decides to walk up to Mt. Oakham. They cross paths and after much discussion they agree on a courtship of sorts. They have plenty of issues to overcome, so they decide to keep the courtship a secret for a while. However, they do agree to confide with Mr. Bennet.

While I didn’t like the beginning of this book, I thought it got better! There is a lot going on in this story, with Lydia being seduced by Wickham and the family having to decide what to do if she “increases” to Caroline Bingley becoming mentally unstable and displaying some bizarre behavior!

I absolutely loved Jane’s talk with Darcy. Jane is very straight forward with him and he finds out there is more to Jane than he thought, which leads to a better understanding between them.

There are a few things that I found out of place. One is the family meetings they would have where they came up with the “Bennet Family Code of Conduct”. That seems too modern for a regency novel.

Overall, I liked it, but I felt it lacked something, deeper emotions maybe.

[Charlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hesitant to read this book, because it seemed that Elizabeth was to marry Mr colins! That said I did start reading and was intrigued at first. There were some very distinct dreams/nightmares on both Elizabeth and Darcy. At first it was hard to tell that they were dreams and than as the book progressed you could tell the difference. The story started out okay but as it progressed my favorite characters were really not who Jane Austen herself would recognise. Lizzy was to needy and not impertinant or witty. Mr Darcy was not stern and also was way to needy and the Bennets were very unrecognisable. They rallyed and were able to be "normal" in the face of complete ruin. I found myself pushing to get the book over with. It really took a lot of resolve to finish this book. I don't think I would realy recomend this book especially for the P&P fans, it was very disappointing. Sorry to say so.

[Medea Yorba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun read. Opens the imagination to all of the what ifs.