Echo from the Past: A Darcy and Elizabeth Pride and Prejudice Variation

by Maddie Rowden, A Lady

She’s adored him since that brief encounter — until she met him againElizabeth Bennet met the youthful Fitzwilliam Darcy when she was a child, and she never forgot him. For years, she dreamed of marrying her handsome childhood hero. Now she is all grown up. The thought of meeting him again thrills her, but she cannot imagine how it would happen. When she meets him at the assembly, he is nothing like the hero she had imagined. This man is arrogant and dismissive. Why has she wasted so many years thinking of him? He is the very last person she could ever marry. His thoughts are haunted by the memory of his incautious words at that brief encounter more than a decade ago.It is the cruellest luck that he and Georgiana encounter her again. She is a lady now, and he must get far away from her. Miss Bennet seems distinctly unimpressed by him, and he finds her family intolerable. Not even her lively dark eyes and quick wit can compensate for those disadvantages. He resolves not to waste any more time on the low-born lady. So why does he find it impossible to walk away? Echo from the Past is a sweet and clean Regency novel of over 70,000 words

Genres: Romance, Fiction

392 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 13, 2018

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up to 5 stars

There's a lot that I really enjoyed in this story, starting with the high quality writing. It's always a delight to read a book that doesn't distract me with misspellings and grammar errors. In this case, it also flows nicely without unnecessary repetition slowing down the pace. The major characters are engaging and interesting.

I especially love the relationship between Georgiana and Elizabeth, which is key in this story. The two become childhood friends when both are in London playing in Hyde Park under the supervision of maids from the Gardiner and Darcy households. On one occasion, Georgiana's 14-year-old brother joins them and reluctantly participates in a wedding game to humor his little sister and "proposes" to an 8-year-old Elizabeth.

This faux engagement works as a convenient excuse for both to avoid unwanted attachments- Darcy to stall Caroline Bingley's pursuit, and Elizabeth to refuse Mr. Collins.

This is one spot where I have trouble with the logic of the plot. There is no indication that Caroline digs to discover the name of her rival, and I'm sure she would have been desperate to learn that information. The same with Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. They just accept Elizabeth's statement that a gentleman proposed to her but hasn't approached her father yet. Neither accuses her of lying, and they show no curiosity about this man's identity. Not credible.

Otherwise, I was charmed by the combination of canon events and tweaks to the familiar story. Darcy has the initial fear that Elizabeth will remember the game and use it to force them to marry, making him very wary of spending any time with her. (As absurd as his concern may sound, the author actually makes it work.) Elizabeth's correspondence with Georgiana plays a significant role in furthering the feelings of the "betrothed" couple.

Nicely done, for the most part.

[Les · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book and I just didn't get along. The author uses a Trope I am not fond of, Lizzy and Darcy meeting as children. I have often criticized P&P Kids as Regency Muppet babies (Muppet babies was a cartoon where the child muppets had adult thoughts). This author avoids some of it but writes 8 year old Lizzy Bennet as if she were perhaps 28 and highly educated

Elizabeth did not argue, seeing how resolute her friend was. She would certainly never be permitted to bring home such a pet, but then perhaps such eccentricities were acceptable for the wealthy, Elizabeth thought.

- 8 Year old Lizzy

The author took a further turn to the absurd having A young Fitzwilliam Darcy playing with 8 year old Lizzy and 5 year old Georgiana and Georgiana making them act out a proposal. Now you might say how cute, except this silly bit of nonsense becomes a plot point when several respectable adults later tell Darcy he might be required to marry Lizzy should she insist.

This is so ridiculous I almost hate to ponder it further but I must. A woman, girl, child under the age of 21 could not give permission to marry. It was entirely up to her guardian. So unless 14 year old William went to Mr. Bennet this was merely a silly conversation. But because I am a loon let's imagine a world were this worked. I like Lord X so I invite him to a house party, get him to act in a play with me, get his character to propose, I say yes and Hooray we are engaged HA take that Match making Mommas.

I mean this is a level of idiocy up there with people being compromised in a room full of people because of a ripped hem. But the author carries it through almost the entire book until someone of sense and reason finally points out it is ridiculous.

Anyway back to the story So after the Regency play date we are back to P&P regular except Darcy brings Georgie to Netherfield and Georgie remembers her 12 years previous play mate. Then Georgie is banished when Wickham appears, there is the same not tolerable etc. I don't think that Jane falls ill at Netherfield, there is a ball and Bingley's party leaves.
Jane goes to London, Georgiana and Lizzy are correspondents, Georgie calls Lizzy Eliza supposedly at Lizzy's request (did the author read P&P?) Lizzy goes to Kent, Darcy goes to Kent, disastrous proposal, letter etc. Lizzy returns to London. The Gardiners and Lizzy go to Derbyshire (earlier than in canon for no apparent reason) When Darcy learns this he decides (??) to take his sister, cousin and the Bingleys on a hasty trip to Pemberley. Why did he invite the Bingleys? Who the hell knows it makes no sense because in the same scene Bingley is longing for Netherfield so why didn't Darcy just tell Bingley go to Netherfield. And then go himself to Pemberley?? (Search Amazon for Nerf Kindle)

Once this trip is underway more stupid for the sake of stupidity stuff happens which finally concludes with Darcy riding ahead in hope of catching Lizzy in Lambton because and this is a direct quote "If he missed her, he had no hope of securing a meeting with her." Because it isn't like he knew where she lived or had a friend with a house in her neighborhood.
And of course he gets to Pemberley and there she is. And of course he doesn't need to introduce his sister so Lizzy comes for dinner.

And then in a plot twist so utterly unnecessary and stupid that an decent editor would have removed it completely; Lizzy falls desperately ill and must be taken to Pemberley. At first I thought this is all good because it replaces Lydia and Wickham but No It just adds to Wickham and Lydia.
So of course Wickham and Lydia elope and Darcy's assistance is the name of his solicitor. Thanks Darce, he doesn't even send Col. Fitzwilliam along for assistance. Okay I have to admit I wasn't sure about this because the author seems to have a hard time juggling all of her characters and keeping them in the plot, so while I knew (thought, surmised) that Col. Fitzwilliam was at Pemberley there was also the possibility he wasn't. But he was because after Lizzy recovers he takes her and Georgiana for a phaeton ride.
Eventually Darcy gets rid of the Bingleys and sneaks away to London to help Mr. Gardiner. And all is right with the world and ODC get engaged.
And then the book gets more ridiculous, with Lizzy deciding she will marry from London and the Gardiners going along with it and a bunch of stupid subplots about said plan. Only to have the whole thing over turned when Jane and Bingley get engaged.
And then there is an epilogue

[Carol Perrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Echo from the Past: A Darcy and Elizabeth Pride and Prejudice Variation

Very enjoyable story in which a five year old Georgiana Darcy with a vivid imagination meets an eight year old Elizabeth Bennet with a flair for drama in Hyde Park. In the imagination of Georgiana, she somehow gets her thirteen year old brother to play act and propose to her friend Lizzy. This friendship develops after Lady Anne Darcy's death, and Darcy so happy to see his little sister laughing and smiling, plays along. Years later, Darcy again meets Miss Elizabeth while he stays at Netherfield. Unfortunately, he makes the same regrettable comment at the Meryton Assembly shattering Elizabeth's dream of her hero, William. The combined lies of Wickham and the continued advances of Caroline Bingley (Darcy uses his proposal to eight year old Lizzy to shut Caroline up) cause Georgiana and Darcy to return to London. At the Lucas party Georgiana does reconnect with Elizabeth and they begin writing. When Elizabeth travels to Hunsford, Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam's travel to Rosings. Still have the unfortunate Hunsford proposal, Darcy's letter, and ODC's despair. When he finds out Elizabeth is traveling to Derbyshire, he quickly decides to go to Pemberley. Unfortunately, the Bingleys and Hursts are included. Their first meeting was awkward, but Elizabeth could see the loving thirteen year old boy return. The next morning Elizabeth is deathly ill and Darcy has her moved to Pemberley to be treated by his doctor. In her delirium, she tells her Aunt Gardiner about their childish betrothal. When she repeats this at dinner meant as a joke, it is taken most seriously and with shock. If ever there was a story where you wanted to take a 2 x 4 to Miss Bingley's head, this is one. To save Darcy from this ridiculous marriage, she literally proposes to him. He did not take her interference kindly. The Bingleys left shortly after her latest fiasco. Thrown in all this confusion is the elopement of stupid, silly Lydia. Handled, Darcy proposes for the third time and is accepted. Bingley returns to Netherfield without his sisters and is accepted by Jane. The story closes with Darcy play sword fighting with branches with their three children - daughter, Anne and twin sons, William and Robert. In her fourth London season, Georgiana is excited to become betrothed to Richard Fitzwilliam. Overall a happy story for several dear couples.

[Elin Eriksen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5* rounded up to 4.

I love when ODC meet as children and this was done beautifully in this book.
A fourteen year old Darcy proposes to an eight year old Lizzy under some duress from a five year old Georgiana. This incident will have some profound influence on ODC but not change their course as much as one might think.

As the story catches up with the timeline of canon, there was twists and turns and especially the periode spent in Meryton was ladled with delicious suspense. When they venture off to Kent however, the rewriting resembled canon too much for my liking. I believe it is an occupational hazard of reading too many PnP variations (just kidding, one can never read too many), at least to my jaded self, that one starts to prefer the variations that ventures far off canon.

We have the unpalatable Caroline which is slightly more forward than in canon while there was no change to Wickham and Lady C.

Waiting impatiently for the story to deviate from canon, the new twist comes at Pemberley but it was not interesting enough to redeem it fully in my eyes.
Ends in a short epilogue with some adorable children and a hint of Georgiana's HEA.

I recommend this book as it is well written and edited.

[wosedwew · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in. ~ Graham Greene

The future enters the lives of Elizabeth Bennet and Fitzwilliam Darcy at a London park when she is eight and he is fourteen. Elizabeth had befriended young Georgiana Darcy who is mired in grief for her father. Georgiana insists her brother propose to her friend so she could plan and attend their wedding.

The “engagement” ends when Elizabeth returns to Meryton. Years later, Elizabeth and Darcy recognize each other at the Meryton Assembly.

I am not a writer but it seems to me that creating dialogue and introspection from a child’s mindset must be one of the more difficult writing dilemmas – so few authors do it well! In this book, 8-year-old Elizabeth speaks as well and thinks as deeply as a thirty-year-old. Her philosophy of life and love is set already.

The reader must also believe that an agreement entered into by an 8-year-old and a 14-year-old would be legally binding – impossible even today and certainly not in the Regency.

Apart from these issues, the story had a lot of charm for me; well-written and proofread.

Did you know that childhood is the only time in our lives when insanity is not only permitted to us, but expected? ~ Louis de Bernières

[Sam H. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aside from the very cute scene in which an 8 year old Elizabeth becomes "betrothed" to Darcy and later, when she falls I'll with fever and needs to spend time at Pemberley, this is very much similar to canon. So much so that I found myself skipping loads of pages to get to fresh material.
Well written, if somewhat wordy. .

[abmom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elizabeth becomes friends with five year old Georgiana during her visit to the Gardiners. During their game, Georgiana makes her brother propose to Elizabeth. So, you naturally expect this to have some impact on the story. But nothing of significance happens except Elizabeth having a crush on Darcy. Georgiana and her friendship doesn't contribute any change to the story at all. The story goes the usual path till Elizabeth reaches Pemberley only thennit deviates a bit. But the thing I don't understand is that why everyone is making such an issue of that playful proposal. For God's sake, all three were kids including Darcy who was only in school and Elizabeth was eight, Georgiana five. Ofcourse, much could have been done with that proposal and friendship but nothing different happened and the story sort of dragged at parts. Not a very compelling read.

[Polly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m prettyyyy sure an offer of marriage made by a 15 year old to an 8 year old in the pretext of a game (orchestrated by a 5 year old) would not be considered a real commitment of any kind by anyone of sense. lol

[Teresita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Engaged from childhood

Lovely story. Having Elizabeth and Georgiana know each other as children opens wonderful opportunities between Darcy and Elizabeth. "I'm a mother now, I know everything!" So true! A very enjoyable tale.

[Barbara K. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good in the beginning, with little Lizzy and Georgie and young lanky Darcy in Hyde Park. That was a great start. But overall I found the story didn't depart that much from the original, in which case why not just reread the original? Other than that, this seemed well done, and there were some passages that stood out for me. It was romantic too, though like many P&P variations, it can't equal Austen for the subtle sarcasm and social commentary of her original work. I read P&P variations for other reasons, for some varied twists in plot. There weren't really many here. However, if you are interested in reading a P&P variation that includes more of Darcy's point of view, you might like this.

For me, the idea that children proposing to one another in a game would ever be taken seriously as an engagement seems preposterous. Even then, if he wasn't of age, his offer of marriage would not be taken later as a breach of promise. So that seemed like a bad set up for anything but a very little embarrassment.

[Carol Perrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Echo from the Past

Very enjoyable story. Elizabeth had met five year old Georgiana Darcy when she was eight years old. Suffering from the death of her mother, the girls became good friends. At fourteen, Fitzwilliam catered to his young sister even playing silly games with the two young girls. During one such game, Georgiana wants William to play wedding to Lizzy. He consents complete with a proposal. Fast forward twelve years. Bingley has rented Netherfield and along with Caroline Bingley and the Hursts, comes Fitzwilliam Darcy. Elizabeth has kept in her dreams the young gentleman that she was so fond of. The dream bubble bursts at the infamous Meryton Assembly where she finds out that she is tolerable, but not handsome enough to attract him to dance. Georgiana and Elizabeth recognize each other at Lucas’ party and renew their friendship. When Darcy sees Wickham in Meryton, he heads for London with Georgiana. When Georgiana reveals that Elizabeth is going to Hunsford, Darcy and Colonel Fitzwilliam make their yearly appearance at Rosings. Unfortunately, the equally infamous Hunsford proposal is spoken, and the equally harsh refusal is also given. With Darcy’s letter in hand and read for the umpteenth time, Elizabeth realizes that she has misjudged Darcy somewhat. On the Gardiners’ holiday, they and Elizabeth tour Pemberley. Elizabeth notices his change in manners. Elizabeth gets sick and Darcy brings them to Pemberley to recover. Lydia’s elopement causes the usual problems, but when Darcy returns from London he renews his love for Elizabeth. This time ODC attain their HEA. Bingley and Jane are reunited and are engaged. After several London seasons, Georgiana is headed for her HEA, too. Quick read.

[Joan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Avid Reader

This is the second novel that I have read by this author, and I enjoyed it just as much as Artifice and Attraction. Thanks to five=year old. Georgina, Darcy at 14, and Elizabeth at eight become engaged. Obviously more than a decade goes by before they see each other again, and as usual, Darcy nicks it up. Georgina remains the glue that keeps them from totally jettisoning the relationship. She eventually gets to plan the wedding that has taken 13 years to come to pass. The usual characters interfere, but OFC prevail.

[Madenna U · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 9 year old Elizabeth meets a young girl in Hyde Park. Together with the girl’s older brother they pretend to have a proposal and plan a wedding. As years pass, Elizabeth has fond memories of the two siblings but lost contact.

At the Meryton assembly Darcy and Elizabeth realize that they now each other but each pretends they don’t. As they spend time together they find their happiness and the fact that the proposal made years ago was a big deal.

[Ree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice, sweet variation
A sweet story having ODC and Georgiana meet as children. Playing a game with Georgiana, she has Darcy propose marriage and Elizabeth accepts. They meet as adults, where the story closely follows canon, with some changes at Pemberley. I enjoyed it, but found myself quick reading through parts closely associated with the original story. Minimal proofreading errors were appreciated also. Well done.

[James S · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if Lizzy and Darcy are pretend betrothed when she was a child

SPOILERS

Not much would be different.

Same insult at assembly.
Same refused bad proposal.
Same meeting at Pemberley
Same elopement by Lydia and Wickham
Same private Darcy to the rescue of Lydia’s reputation.

Meh

[Anne Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, from page 1 to the end.

Wonderful treatment of the story, the characters, and added twists of the plot. The writing just happily carries the reader along. I highly recommend this. I have already purchased Maddie Rowden's other P&P variation.

[Zhora · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Patricia Munn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Echo from the Past

This has 2 different scenarios; 1. Elizabeth meets Darcy at 8 years old, and, 2. Elizabeth gets sick in Lambton. The rest is the same.