I'm so sorry about how long I have taken in between posts, but I have a good excuse I promise! It just so happens that we have moved again, to Fort Myers, Florida (picture to follow). Let me tell you, I didn't think life got any better than in California...but it turns out it can! It's about 10 degrees warmer here but a little humid which I wasn't used to because the air in CA is very dry but, low and behold, I am a true Minnesotan and can conquer any type of weather so humidity can kick rocks! We have only been here for 5 days and yet we are already acclimated into Ft Myers life: we have taken 2 trips to the beach already, done shopping of sorts, and I have already cooked a very hefty meal for Michael and 2 of his teammates. Currently I am writing to you in our air conditioned living room (believe it or not my legs would be VERY sweaty if I took the computer outside and tried to write) and I remembered that on our trip cross country from California to Florida I finished a book that Mandy (also known as THE best friend) sent to me for Valentine's Day, Me & Mr. Darcy by Alexandra Potter.
First things first: obviously I was excited to get a started on this novel because once again, the length of the book takes place in England (love it!), and also because I am obsessed with Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice so anything involving characters from said novel get me really excited. The novel began with Emily, the manager of a quaint bookshop in New York whose ideal man is Mr. Darcy from Austen's classic novel, which if you can believe, I have never thought about but when you put all of his qualities together are actually the make-up of a nearly perfect man describing him as possessing such qualities as "dark, brooding hero who's incredibly dashing and has all this repressed passion that's just waiting to be unleased". In theory, Mr. Darcy does sound quite dashing and utterly romantic but by the end of the novel Emily learns that these qualities are not what she's looking for because "mysterious, dark, and brooding" are actually a pain in the butt to live with and would rather have a guy who just throws his feelings out on the table. The novel continues as Emily spends her holiday in England on a journey to view places that inspired Austen or places she lived, worked, etc. But what would a romantic novel be without a little love, right? So along the way our main character, Emily, seems to develop this love/hate relationship with another fellow on the trip; but the real kicker is that her relationship with this fellow completely mirrors that of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet from Austen's Pride and Prejudice. And this might sound ridiculous but the most annoying part is that Emily doesn't realize the irony of her relationship to her favorite novel until page 299 while the entire time I am thinking in my head "come on lady, get with the program! how do you not see the similarities?". Oh the irony of it all.
Emily continues with "Suddenly the parallels are too many to ignore and it's like a light goes on in my head. Hang on a minute. This could be written about me and Spike, just replace the names (of Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet) and it's us. No sooner has the thought struck than I can't believe I haven't noticed this before." Hallelujah! Finally she realizes it.
A very interesting twist to the book was that Potter decided to throw in a bit of "magic". Throughout, Emily encounters illusions? daydreams? of meeting THE Mr. Darcy. I really loved that Potter never clarifies whether Emily actually sees this brooding Mr. Darcy or whether they are figments of her imagination.
The book overall is adorable and I loved that the majority of it took place overseas it was just a littler unnerving that the main character was so slooowww to take notice to the similarities between her own relationship with that of Mr. Darcy and E. Bennet, oh well a slight hiccup in an uber-cute tale about, wait for it, pride and prejudice.
Fort Myers Beach, our new home. AKA Spring break central
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