"Well, my comfort is, I am sure Jane will die of a broken heart, and then he will be sorry for what he has done."--Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice
Determined to right a wrong against her family by reuniting her sister with the man she loves, Elizabeth finds that Society's expectations and decorum are only a few of the things standing in her way.
Upon discovery, will she forgive the one man who has been the means of disappointing the hopes of a most beloved sister?
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In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Miss Elizabeth Bennet comes from a modest family of five sisters. Her most dear sibling Jane develops an affection for the delightful and wealthy Charles Bingley, who is obviously far above her in the social strata. His close friend, the sometimes haughty Fitzwilliam Darcy, feels it is in Charles’ best interest to not become involved with the lovely yet middle-class Jane Bennet and takes measures to keep them apart.
In Bewitched, Body and Soul, author P.O. Dixon develops Austen’s original plot in similar and entirely new ways. Miss Elizabeth discovers Darcy’s efforts to thwart this budding romantic relationship and is horrified at his assumptions and interference. Seeing Jane’s dejected state of mind, she takes it upon herself to call on Mr. Darcy to try to right the wrong he has done. Unfortunately, she is caught in a rainstorm and is forced to spend more solitary time with Darcy than she had ever intended.
P.O. Dixon’s novel may be a brief one at only 165 pages, but what it lacks in length it makes up for in quality. The writing is superb, balancing modern readability with period customs and turns of phrase. The characterization of these classic figures is just perfect; the choices made in this incarnation of Austen’s world could easily have been made in the original work. And while the plot choices were very reasonable for the genre, I was kept guessing in between the established beginning and the expected outcomes.
I also appreciated Dixon’s choice in keeping things very chaste in her romantic scenes. There is certainly more detail than was given in Austen’s original work, but compared to many Austenesque novels in today’s market, this one is decidedly clean. Bewitched, Body and Soul may have a sultry title, but in its world, the ultimate gentleman not only feels great passion, but he is devoted enough to his future bride to keep it in check until the appointed time.
Bewitched, Body and Soul cannot be recommended highly enough. I have given it a rare five-star review on Goodreads.com. My only complaint for this novel would be that I wish it had been longer. Dixon could easily have spent more time with Jane, Bingley and Caroline, giving us more of her excellent storytelling. This was my first exposure to her writing, and I’m eagerly looking forward to reading more of her. I offer my highest praise to P.O. Dixon, and congratulate her on a fabulous work of Austenesque fiction.
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P.O. Dixon Around the Web
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Bewitched, Body and Soul Giveaway! (USA)
As much as I enjoyed P.O. Dixon's novel, I'd like to share my gently-read copy with one of you! Be sure to read the guidelines below, enter via the Rafflecopter widget, and good luck!
- The contest period ends at 12:01am EST on July 8th, 2012.
- Contest is open to U.S. entrants only. Sorry-- gotta stay domestic on this one.
- Make sure you leave your email address in the one required portion of the Rafflecopter form. Should you win, I will contact you on Sunday, July 8th. Please take measures to ensure that my email will make it past your spam filters, lest you miss my message. (CalicoCritic@gmail.com) You'll have 72 hours to respond before I pick another winner.
- All entries must go through the Rafflecopter form. For example, if you leave a blog post comment and would like it to count toward your contest entry, be sure to indicate this through the "Leave a Blog Post Comment" button on the form.
- You may tweet about the giveaway once per day for bonus entries. Please report the direct URL to the tweet in the Rafflecopter form.
- Entries will be verified. If a fraudulent entry is detected for the winning name, another winner will be drawn.
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Stop by So Little Time and enter! (Ends July 1)
Extrapolating Austen's plots and characters is a time-honored practice, perhaps the best known examples by the late children's author Joan Aiken. Glad to hear there are some new voices in the field. I'd be happy to win this book and check it out. Thanks.
ReplyDeletethis sounds like something i would enjoy!!!
ReplyDeletethank you for the chance to win a copy......
I love the idea of exploring the Jane and Bingley aspect of the P&P story. This does sound like a good read.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your review and for the giveaway opportunity.
I've always loved Pride and Prejudice, and reading a book about characters from said book seems very interesting.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the giveaway!
I did enjoy reading Pride and Prejudice and this spin on it sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteThanks for review would love to read it.
ReplyDeletevery excited about this and your excellent review! this variation sounds like a timeout read ~ Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI've read BBaS on my Kindle, but I would love to win an autographed print version! The book is really good - very interesting read.
ReplyDeleteRobin:
DeleteIt is really good, you're right! My giveaway copy isn't autographed, but I bet you could manage to get it signed sometime.
Looking forward to your trilogy, too!
Laura