The Darcys & the Bingleys: A Tale of Two Gentlemen's Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters

By Marsha Altman

Book Overview

A Tale of Two Gentlemen's Marriages to Two Most Devoted Sisters

Three days before their double wedding, Charles Bingley is desperate to have a word with his dear friend Fitzwilliam Darcy, seeking advice of a most delicate nature. Bingley is shocked when Darcy gives him a copy of an ancient, illustrated book of sensual secrets--but it does tell him everything he needs to know.

Eventually, of course, Jane finds this remarkable volume and in utmost secrecy shows it to her dear sister Elizabeth, who goes searching for a copy in the Pemberley library...

By turns hilarious and sweet, The Darcys & the Bingleys follows the two couples and the cast of characters surrounding them. Miss Caroline Bingley, it turns out, has such good reasons for being the way she is that the reader can't help but hold her in charity. Delightfully, she makes a most eligible match, and in spite of Darcy's abhorrence of being asked for advice, he and Bingley have a most enduring and adventure-prone friendship.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1402213484
• ISBN13: 9781402213489
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.03 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.8" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Highly Recommended to Jane Austen Fans

I just finished reading this book and really couldn't put it down! It's a great sequel that is true to the originial and finds its own identity as well. I would recommend it!

My Favorite Variation ever!!!

LOVED this book beginning to end!!! I laughed I cried & I laughed some more!! Absolutely perfect book! Especially loved how Darcy & Bingleys relationship was - they are close friends, & pick on each other etc.. it was so fun! Ya gotta read it!

Funny, great plot, wonderful character development

I have been following Marsha Altman's writings for awhile now and - without a doubt- her stories along the post-Pride and Prejudice line are the best out there! I have read other stories in the same field and find that they can only hold your attention for about half the book. Marsha not only keeps the plot going with very fun twists and humor, but her characters grow and develop in wonderful ways. We cannot expect for people to remain the same - we know that they grow and especially after major life changes such as marriage. Marsha takes her expansive knowledge of the P & P characters and the time period to give us stories that do justice to Jane Austin and all Austin fans! I HIGHLY recommend this book to any Jane Austin (specifically P & P) fans and plan to have this be a great b-day gift for all of my friends. Actually - anyone interested in the Regency era will find this book exciting and entertaining. It must be shared - it is so wonderful! :)

Hilarious sequel!

I found this sequel to be laugh-out-loud funny and a wonderful take on the friendship between Darcy and Bingley. It starts with Bingley coming to Darcy for advice about his upcoming wedding night. Darcy, being the reticent man that he is, refuses to talk about "it" but agrees that he will help his friend...cue Kama Sutra book! It continues to explore how Darcy's and Bingley's friendship came to be in the first place and how it grew to what it is now, full of hilarious male competitiveness. We get to watch how these couples adjust to married life and then parenthood with the arrival of their children. When Bingley comes to Darcy yet again for more advice when Caroline has a suitor that the "find-the-good-in-everyone" Bingley has a problem with, he asks for his friend's advice yet again. This time Darcy and Bingley set off to do a little investigating about the suitor with a new found wealth and things may not be as we think they are. (With a little help from Elizabeth and Mr Bennet.) We also get a little peek into the mind of Caroline Bingley that, believe it or not, is not as bad as we'd like her to be. There are new characters introduced in the second half of the story, but they only add to the dynamics of this wonderfully suspenseful, funny tale. Ms. Altman's writing is witty, hilarious and right on the mark with where I'd imagine Darcy and Bingley's friendship to be. Darcy is always known for his reserve around a large group of people and especially strangers, but we get to that side of him that he only shows to his wife, Elizabeth and his closest friend, Bingley, and it's that side that we all fall in love with. A definite must for any P & P fan!