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Georgia Darcy: A Venetian Romance: A Contemporary Pride and Prejudice Variation Novella
In this companion novel to “Senator Darcy,” we get a glimpse of Georgia Darcy’s life in Venice.
Far away from home at her exclusive boarding school, Georgia Darcy is swept away by the romance of Italy, and the attentions of a handsome young man. But after her ill treatment at the hands of George Wickham, she has trouble trusting strange men who might only be after her money or her brother’s influence.
This sweet, clean romance is a contemporary exploration of Jane Austen's beloved characters and is suitable for all champions of Georgiana Darcy and lovers of Pride and Prejudice.
Far away from home at her exclusive boarding school, Georgia Darcy is swept away by the romance of Italy, and the attentions of a handsome young man. But after her ill treatment at the hands of George Wickham, she has trouble trusting strange men who might only be after her money or her brother’s influence.
This sweet, clean romance is a contemporary exploration of Jane Austen's beloved characters and is suitable for all champions of Georgiana Darcy and lovers of Pride and Prejudice.
130 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 31, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 29, 2018
I really like the idea behind this story: Over the course of the book, Georgia Darcy's character develops more maturity, self-confidence and a bit of bravery. I also like the premise. She leaves the Washington, D.C. area to put the mistakes of her past with George Wickham far behind her, and she lands in Saint Cecelia's School for Girls in Venice, Italy.
The writing itself is mostly free of incorrect grammar, punctuation and spelling beyond a small number of obvious editing-type errors.
However...
There's a juvenile quality to it so it often doesn't flow smoothly. At one point, there are a cluster of sentences where "Marco" is used repeatedly instead of pronouns he/him/his. (He's the only male in the scene.) It becomes distracting to the point where I wanted to shout "POLO" when the name came up yet again.
The execution of the plot has the most flaws, though. The previous book, Senator Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Contemporary Variation, probably covers exactly what has happened between Georgia Darcy and George Wickham, but we need to know more here. I read this as a stand-alone and any reader of Pride and Prejudice can follow the basic story, but more specific information about Georgia's past would help the reader understand her state of mind as this begins. I thought perhaps she was raped, but it could be instead that Wickham somehow took advantage of her relationship with Senator Darcy. It was frustrating not knowing what she was running away from.
The logic of the story as it develops is problematic, too. There are many examples.
First, it is explained that Georgia craves structure and plans to follow the rules at her new school after experiencing the disastrous consequences of her teenage rebellion back home with Wickham. When Georgia arrives at school, she is met at the gate by her new roommate Alessia, a native Italian. After a brief meeting with the headmistress, Signora Flavia, Georgia is immediately persuaded by Alessia to end her first day on campus by breaking curfew. I would expect her to dig her heels in hard and toe the line, especially when she WANTS to be obedient and doesn't know yet whether she can trust Alessia.
Then, when Georgia first meets Marco, Alessia's cousin, we're told, "...as she looked at the boy standing next to them, she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to form a coherent sentence again..." Sure enough, what comes out of her mouth mortifies her, and she's certain she sounds stupid. But a few pages later, "there was something about Marco that made her feel at ease... There was nothing intimidating about him." This seems awfully self-contradictory.
Marco, an aspiring filmmaker who works at a restaurant, shows his attraction to Georgia by constantly filming her, and she doesn't object. This is the same girl who just fled from the U.S. trying to disappear from the limelight. What exactly does he plan to do with this footage? Georgia doesn't ask, and it's never explained, even at the book's end.
He also has a secret that his father doesn't know. When Marco decides to tell his father, he asks Georgia, a girl he's known only a few days, to be with him for moral support. It would make far more sense for him to bring Alessia, a member of his family that he and his father have known all her life, especially since Alessia already knows his secret.
And there's Caroline Bingley. She's an alumnus of Saint Cecelia's who pops up unexpectedly. Her usual personal agenda motivates her to keep tabs on Georgia and show up when least wanted. As in Pride and Prejudice, Caroline wants Georgia and her brother to get together so she can get closer to Darcy. But Georgia is only 17 years old! Since Charles is Darcy's best friend, it's reasonable to assume he's much older than Georgia. Would Caroline really think this is a good idea? She's determined, but she's not so unhinged that she's out of touch with 21st century reality. Caroline's Plan B when she realizes Georgia won't let her cozy up to her makes a lot more sense and should have been the ONLY plan.
Senator Darcy does make a cameo appearance. I'm not sure why, except perhaps to tie this to the previous book. Georgia gets in trouble, Darcy meets with Signora Flavia, and Georgia gets another chance. Although his sister does confide everything to him at the time, there's no followup. He leaves, telling her to have fun (but not TOO much fun). P&P's Mr. Darcy would have set an investigating team to check on Marco and Marco's family as well as Alessia and all of Georgia's other friends, and he probably would have confronted Caroline and told her to stay the hell away from his little sister, too. Considering whatever trouble Georgia was in back in the States, this Darcy is curiously unconcerned.
I usually do my best to go with the reality an author is trying to create, but I just couldn't handle the frequent lack of logic here. If it wasn't such a short book, I don't think I would have finished reading it.
The writing itself is mostly free of incorrect grammar, punctuation and spelling beyond a small number of obvious editing-type errors.
However...
There's a juvenile quality to it so it often doesn't flow smoothly. At one point, there are a cluster of sentences where "Marco" is used repeatedly instead of pronouns he/him/his. (He's the only male in the scene.) It becomes distracting to the point where I wanted to shout "POLO" when the name came up yet again.
The execution of the plot has the most flaws, though. The previous book, Senator Darcy: A Pride and Prejudice Contemporary Variation, probably covers exactly what has happened between Georgia Darcy and George Wickham, but we need to know more here. I read this as a stand-alone and any reader of Pride and Prejudice can follow the basic story, but more specific information about Georgia's past would help the reader understand her state of mind as this begins. I thought perhaps she was raped, but it could be instead that Wickham somehow took advantage of her relationship with Senator Darcy. It was frustrating not knowing what she was running away from.
The logic of the story as it develops is problematic, too. There are many examples.
First, it is explained that Georgia craves structure and plans to follow the rules at her new school after experiencing the disastrous consequences of her teenage rebellion back home with Wickham. When Georgia arrives at school, she is met at the gate by her new roommate Alessia, a native Italian. After a brief meeting with the headmistress, Signora Flavia, Georgia is immediately persuaded by Alessia to end her first day on campus by breaking curfew. I would expect her to dig her heels in hard and toe the line, especially when she WANTS to be obedient and doesn't know yet whether she can trust Alessia.
Then, when Georgia first meets Marco, Alessia's cousin, we're told, "...as she looked at the boy standing next to them, she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to form a coherent sentence again..." Sure enough, what comes out of her mouth mortifies her, and she's certain she sounds stupid. But a few pages later, "there was something about Marco that made her feel at ease... There was nothing intimidating about him." This seems awfully self-contradictory.
Marco, an aspiring filmmaker who works at a restaurant, shows his attraction to Georgia by constantly filming her, and she doesn't object. This is the same girl who just fled from the U.S. trying to disappear from the limelight. What exactly does he plan to do with this footage? Georgia doesn't ask, and it's never explained, even at the book's end.
He also has a secret that his father doesn't know. When Marco decides to tell his father, he asks Georgia, a girl he's known only a few days, to be with him for moral support. It would make far more sense for him to bring Alessia, a member of his family that he and his father have known all her life, especially since Alessia already knows his secret.
And there's Caroline Bingley. She's an alumnus of Saint Cecelia's who pops up unexpectedly. Her usual personal agenda motivates her to keep tabs on Georgia and show up when least wanted. As in Pride and Prejudice, Caroline wants Georgia and her brother to get together so she can get closer to Darcy. But Georgia is only 17 years old! Since Charles is Darcy's best friend, it's reasonable to assume he's much older than Georgia. Would Caroline really think this is a good idea? She's determined, but she's not so unhinged that she's out of touch with 21st century reality. Caroline's Plan B when she realizes Georgia won't let her cozy up to her makes a lot more sense and should have been the ONLY plan.
Senator Darcy does make a cameo appearance. I'm not sure why, except perhaps to tie this to the previous book. Georgia gets in trouble, Darcy meets with Signora Flavia, and Georgia gets another chance. Although his sister does confide everything to him at the time, there's no followup. He leaves, telling her to have fun (but not TOO much fun). P&P's Mr. Darcy would have set an investigating team to check on Marco and Marco's family as well as Alessia and all of Georgia's other friends, and he probably would have confronted Caroline and told her to stay the hell away from his little sister, too. Considering whatever trouble Georgia was in back in the States, this Darcy is curiously unconcerned.
I usually do my best to go with the reality an author is trying to create, but I just couldn't handle the frequent lack of logic here. If it wasn't such a short book, I don't think I would have finished reading it.
April 15, 2018
Georgia Darcy is a companion novella to Senator Darcy. I'm not sure if the timeline puts it before or during the events of the Senator Darcy story, but it worked just fine as a standalone.
Georgia arrives in Venice for her first year at a new all-girls boarding school. She is looking forward to this clean slate opportunity after the trouble she encountered with a guy who pretended to be into her and used her for her family's fortune and influence. Now, she starts fresh with new friends.
I enjoyed the camaraderie with the friends Georgia made and the sweet romance she begins with Marco. Even the requisite mean girl Felicity and some Caroline Bingley sightings just made for some spice to life. The author entwines a bit of local color, school, friendship, beginning love, and a young girl finding her inner strength.
Georgia is an engaging figure with kindness and sweetness, but responsibility to her though she knows how to cautiously have fun and shows some vulnerability after her past mistakes. Loved the scene when her older brother shows up and she spends some time with him. I'm eager to read Will's story now after getting Georgia's.
All in all, this was adorable and sweet, but not insipid. I think Austen fans will enjoy this modern teen Georgia.
Georgia arrives in Venice for her first year at a new all-girls boarding school. She is looking forward to this clean slate opportunity after the trouble she encountered with a guy who pretended to be into her and used her for her family's fortune and influence. Now, she starts fresh with new friends.
I enjoyed the camaraderie with the friends Georgia made and the sweet romance she begins with Marco. Even the requisite mean girl Felicity and some Caroline Bingley sightings just made for some spice to life. The author entwines a bit of local color, school, friendship, beginning love, and a young girl finding her inner strength.
Georgia is an engaging figure with kindness and sweetness, but responsibility to her though she knows how to cautiously have fun and shows some vulnerability after her past mistakes. Loved the scene when her older brother shows up and she spends some time with him. I'm eager to read Will's story now after getting Georgia's.
All in all, this was adorable and sweet, but not insipid. I think Austen fans will enjoy this modern teen Georgia.
April 29, 2018
Sorry here, but the story did not engage my interest. Style was "off." Could not get past first 10 pages.
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