Part of the Introduction to Darcy's Story, by author Janet Aylmer

Since "Pride and Prejudice" was first published nearly 200 years ago, it has become one of the best-loved novels in the English Language.  Like many other people, I first read the book whilst I was at school, as did my children, and have enjoyed reading the novel again many times since then.  Modern media - radio, the cinema and television - have introduced "Pride and Prejudice" to many new audiences all around the world in recent years.  It was after watching the BBC television serial in 1995, and discussing it with one of my daughters, that my curiosity was re-awakened about Mr Darcy, and I decided to write this book for Rachel. That led to the idea that other people might also enjoy reading "Darcy's Story".

I saw the cinema film of "Pride and Prejudice" some years ago and can remember being very disappointed that the story was changed at the end. That seemed to me to distort the story as told by Jane Austen. So I started by making a conscious decision that the book must be totally faithful to "Pride and Prejudice" and not change that story at all. I looked very carefully at what the chronological sequence of events was in "Pride and Prejudice" and, almost as important, what Darcy would not have known about the story as told by Jane Austen. "Pride and Prejudice" covers a period lasting from the autumn of the first year to the winter of the second. Wickham's attempt to elope with Darcy's sister, Georgiana, had taken place before he met Elizabeth Bennet, although in "Pride and Prejudice" Darcy tells her about it in the letter after his proposal at the following Easter. So, in "Darcy's Story", Wickham's visit to Ramsgate to persuade Georgiana to elope with him comes near the beginning of the book.

Mr Darcy is only "present" in "Pride and Prejudice" for a few weeks at Netherfield (his friend Bingley's house) in the first autumn; for two to three weeks at his aunt Lady Catherine de Bourgh's house in Kent the following Easter; for a few days in Derbyshire in the summer; and then at the end of the story when he meets Elizabeth Bennet again in Hertfordshire. So Darcy's Story has to explain what happened before he went to Netherfield, whether it was just chance that he met Elizabeth Bennet again in Kent, and at last in Hertfordshire, and what happened in between.

A major decision was how much of Jane Austen's conversation between Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet to use.  Either Jane Austen's dialogue had to be changed into description only, or there needed to be some form of commentary to show that Darcy had a very different view of the situations and their conversations when he and Elizabeth were both present. I decided that the story would be more enjoyable if I used the second approach, even though that meant repeating some lengthy sections of dialogue which Jane wrote. What I could not do was use different words between them for the conversations which Jane Austen herself had "reported"!

I am sure that everyone who has read and enjoyed Jane Austen's novel has their own particular favourite passages in the book, and I used many of mine in Darcy's Story. As her novel was first published in several "parts", I also used quotations from "Pride and Prejudice" to introduce each of the seven parts in my book.

Every novel has a turning point, and "Darcy's Story" is no exception. Darcy's sister Georgiana seemed to me to have reached marriageable age in a story set in the 19th century, as had Elizabeth's youngest sister Lydia.  Georgiana was therefore at the point when she was changing from being Darcy's responsibility to becoming more his contemporary. So talking to Georgiana about his troubled frame of mind, after his first unsuccessful proposal to Elizabeth, fitted the story, and I made that the turning point in Darcy's "journey" to win the hand of the woman he loves.

Everyone who has ever read Jane Austen's novel will have their own idea of Mr Darcy's side of the story, and this book could be described as looking through the mirror of "Pride and Prejudice" from the other side. I am delighted that a story written nearly 200 years ago can still give pleasure in a very different era.  I have also been glad to learn that people much more knowledgeable than I am about Jane Austen and her work have also liked the book.

I have been surprised and delighted to discover that my need to know more about Jane Austen's hero  is shared by people all over the world.  At the time of writing, the book has been sold to readers not only in Great Britain, but in 37 other countries around the world via the Internet. The publishers have received many letters and emails expressing the enjoyment that so many people have found in reading "Darcy’s Story".  It seems that complementing "Pride and Prejudice" by writing this book has satisfied a long-felt need for many readers.

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