Fear not, despite the book’s name, there is only a very tenuous link to the Darcys :). There’s actually no scene involving any of Austen’s characters and that might be the reason why I enjoyed The Second Mrs. Darcy, my first novel by Aston.
The Second Mrs Darcy is about Octavia, who, while living in India, meets and marries Captain Darcy (a widow, hence the “Second”), a cousin of the original Fitzwilliam Darcy. When we meet her she’s 25, recently widowed and trying to figure out how she’ll live on the little money her husband left her.
Again, fear not! Soon after, she inherits a fortune from a conveniently long-forgotten aunt and decides to go back to England to take possession and deal with her Horrible Family.
You would of course expect a focus on the romantic story, but it only starts about 50 pages in, and even then there’s not a lot of it. This was surprisingly not a problem, because the best thing about the book was the glimpse into Regency life and seeing Octavia hold her own among people who underestimate her.
I liked that she liked fashion and building things with her hands, horses and architecture, traveling and decorating.
I don’t have much more to say about the book: it was entertaining and it gave me new hope for Austen spin-offs. Truth be told, the connection to Austen was almost non-existent, but I understand that an author also has to pay the rent…
Read for Advent with Austen.
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Other thoughts: Austen Blog, Stark Raving Bibliophile, Wannabe Inkling, Cassia’s Reading (yours?)
The Sleepless Reader 
8 comments
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December 20, 2011 at 9:46 pm
Steph
I know I’ve mentioned before that I really hate books that try to cash in on Austen’s success, and while I can see how this would be less offensive than many of the fan-fic-esque sequels and the like that get written, it seems to me like this could easily have been written without any allusions to Austen’s material, which makes me feel like yet again an author just wanted to try to capture readers who love Austen by using the Darcy cachet. Bah humbug, I say!
December 20, 2011 at 11:56 pm
Alex
This could indeed be a completely Austen-independent novel, but I guess there were two things: cashing in and the (relative?) popularity of Aston’s previous books, which actually include Austen characters.
It must soo tempting to put “Darcy” or “Austen” in the title and knowing you’ll get much more attention because of it.
December 20, 2011 at 10:06 pm
readingwithtea
Strange to make an obvious Austen link and then fail to capitalise on it but I suppose it is a quick way to an extra market segment.
December 20, 2011 at 11:52 pm
Claire (The Captive Reader)
I enjoy Aston’s books, mostly because the links to Austen’s characters are relatively remote. She chooses instead to work mostly with their offspring and relatives and that’s fine by me!
December 21, 2011 at 12:00 am
Alex
@readingwithtea: I think it was more because it was an independent sequel from her previous books. But the connection was so weak that it became something you notice. I think a lot of people would even feel it’s over-promising 🙂
@Claire: Agree! It clearly works much better for me as well! This way I’m not constantly thinking things like “Elizabeth would never say that!”.
December 21, 2011 at 6:47 am
Arti
Your last paragraph is so interesting “…it gave me new hope for Austen spin-offs.” That is spot-on. Not that I’ve read this book, but that I’ve given up Austen spin-offs. Anyway, with even P. D. James writing one, at 91, well, ‘sequels’ are here to stay… if only dear Jane’s around to collect the rent. 😉
December 24, 2011 at 2:41 am
amymckie
This might just be a good read! I haven’t liked the couple of Austen spin-offs that I’ve read but as this doesn’t include actual Austen characters… I like!
January 5, 2012 at 12:55 am
Alex
@Arti: Hope is the last thing to die and all that! I learned never say never, so I might be tempted (and rewarded for it) in the future!
@amymckie: think of it not as an Austen spin-off but as a Regency novel/romance. Austen’s characters are so secondary to the point of making the tile almost misleading 😛