Letters from Mrs. Darcy During Her Unexpected and Unwanted Marriage
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Source: Review Copy from Publisher
What if Mr. Darcy performed a gallant rescue and the gossips of Meryton compelled him to offer his hand?
In her delightful debut release with Quills and Quartos, author Aniinna Sjöblom creates a forced-marriage scenario that has Elizabeth escaping Mr. Collins undesired marriage proposal only to be unwillingly joined together with Mr. Darcy. How does Elizabeth cope with her new life? How can these two face their future as husband and wife when they can barely have a conversation that doesn’t end in a quarrel?
I love epistolary novels! Like diary entries, letters can be windows into a person’s soul. And what a perfect time to have a look into Elizabeth’s soul – removed from her home and family, isolated from society and nature because of the wintery weather, and living with a man who is a stranger to her. In this variation, readers are privy to Elizabeth’s letters to her sister and her aunt. Through this correspondence, Ms. Sjöblom deftly illustrates Elizabeth’s progression of feelings for Mr. Darcy, from their first encounter, through their days of being Meryton’s scandalous couple, and concluding with the recognition of their love for each other.
I cannot help but admire this portrayal of Elizabeth, she is so resilient through the massive upheaval and transition in her life. And while she is honest about her unhappiness and discloses their lack of marital felicity, she does not dwell long on her misery. It is true that our Elizabeth Bennet is not formed for ill-humor. I was endeared to Elizabeth because of her strength, courage, and selfless nature. And I thought Ms. Sjöblom perceptively and expertly captured some of Elizabeth’s key personality traits – her playful wit, her resistance to change her mind once formed, and her penchant for sketching characters.
In addition, I appreciated the journey Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy took in this variation; their relationship developed naturally and satisfyingly. I was amazed to discover that, even though all accounts of him were secondhand, I was still falling deeply in love with Fitzwilliam Darcy! I loved learning about his interactions with Samuel Reynolds (who is soooooo adorable!), and I so admired his actions “to save wayward Bennet ladies from the grips of a scandal.”
I will admit that I did feel that, because we don’t see any other letters than those Elizabeth writes, this story sometimes felt one-sided. There are moments where Mr. Darcy’s actions are described but left open to interpretation. And while the reader can make suppositions, I sometimes wished to be inside his head and learn what it all signified! However, I did appreciate how Ms. Sjöblom included some “busy nothings” into her letter exchanges to convey some of what the other correspondents shared. Judging from Lizzy’s comments, readers know that Jane and Ms. Gardiner shared occasional humorous anecdotes, family news, and gossip with her. I loved the authenticity of their correspondence sharing such everyday matters.
Skillfully imbued with humor and heart, Thaw is a unique and cleverly-composed Pride and Prejudice variation. If you are wary about reading a story full of letters, I entreat you to still give this lovely story a try. Elizabeth’s letters are so forthcoming and revealing that the story still feels wonderfully complete. Congratulations to Anniina Sjöblom on her lovely debut!!!
Note: I greatly appreciated the thoughtful pages of Notes & References included in the back denoting any reference to a Jane Austen line or historical explanation that the author inserted into these letters. I was surprised to see how many I didn’t catch!
Meredith, thanks for your review. Looking forward to reading this new release. Jen ♫
Thanks for checking out my review! Hope you get to read it soon!
Great review Meredith as usual!
I love this book! I too couldn’t see how the story could be told just by Elizabeth’s letters but it certainly was.
Her descriptions of their life along with her comments on letters received definitely made the progress of the relationship between Darcy and Elizabeth clear.
Yet another book on my reread list! It’s almost getting to the stage where I must stop buying to reread all my favourites 🙂 (as if that could ever happen?) No, the solution is obviously to spend more time reading. I mean who needs sleep? Right?
Thank you, dear Glynis! It is an impressive feat for Anniina to give such a a complete story with only one-sided letters!
Definitely a good solution to spend more time reading! I hope to do the same one day! 😉
I did read and also enjoyed this variation. Excellent review, as always, Meredith.
Like you, Jennifer, I have so many stories that I bought and have not yet read as well as books I want to reread that I am thinking about cancelling my KU membership for a month or two to do some catching up.
Thank you for checking out my review, Sheila! I appreciate your comment!
Thank you so much for the lovely and thoughtful review, Meredith!
The pleasure is all mine! Thank you so much for writing an epistolary novella about Elizabeth being forced to marry Mr. Darcy! I loved it!
I’ve heard a bit about this book in the last few days. I also enjoy epistolary novels and this one sounds like a truly enjoyable read. Thanks for your review, Meredith!
I am always ready to read an epistolary novel! Letter are such a wonderful way to capture a character’s voice and inner thoughts.
Thaw was one of my favorite books last year and one of my rare 5-star ratings. It felt like I was personally corresponding with Elizabeth. Loved it!
I am so happy to hear your praise for this story! You are so right, it did feel like a personal correspondence with Elizabeth!
I enjoyed Thaw also Meredith and agree with much of your assessment. It was a very challenging format for a debut writer and I look forward to reading her next book.
Very true, Laurel Ann! Anniina did a marvelous job with this challenge! So glad to hear you enjoyed this debut!
You’ve convinced me to give it a try! And I am very impressed with your output this month, Meredith–it seems as if you have a new post nearly every day!
Yay! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! This waa one of those weeks where I squeezed in 4 posts instead of 3. Don’t know if it is something I can keep doing regularly, though. 🙂 Trying to keep up with all the books I want to read!
Another on my TBR list! Thanks for the review!
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!!
I read the book and I think your review was perfect. I loved it, and the way it was written using only letters to tell the story, and I know it will be reread multiple times. I hope to see lots more from Anniina Sjöblom in the coming years. I wish her all the success on THAW!!
Thank you, Michelle! It was fantastic, and I am so happy to hear you sing this book’s praises. Same here!! I love discovering new authors to follow!
Those letters remind me of what I read was an original format of P&P, and I would be very interested in such a story. Thank you so much for this wonderful review!
Thanks for reading my review! Wouldn’t it be fascinating to find Jane Austen’s original manuscripts?!