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Book Reviews of Old Friends and New Fancies

Old Friends and New Fancies
Old Friends and New Fancies
Author: Sybil J. Brinton
ISBN-13: 9781402208881
ISBN-10: 140220888X
Publication Date: 6/23/2007
Pages: 384
Rating:
  • Currently 3.6/5 Stars.
 20

3.6 stars, based on 20 ratings
Publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

4 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed Old Friends and New Fancies on + 68 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This book takes several of Jane Austen's most loved characters and continues on where she left off. Very enjoyable. Kitty Bennet, and Georgiana Darcy are the main subjects of this book, but you will also see many of your other favorite characters here.
reviewed Old Friends and New Fancies on + 9 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
If you are a true Austin addict, you will enjoy this book. Brinton brings many of the Austin characters to one location where they all interact in society.

For me, not having read many for quite a while, I had to think hard to remember who they were, which storyline they represented, and it got complicated.

A true old style book with typical social gatherings, couplings and dialogues.

Fans will enjoy.
reviewed Old Friends and New Fancies on + 18 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
This is one of the better Austen spin-offs that I've read. It does pull in characters
from all the novels, and assumes that you know their backstories, so you'll be totally
lost if all you know is "Pride and Prejudice" and "Sense and Sensibility". The
characters' behavior is generally consistent with what we already knew of them, and
various incidents from the novels are echoed in this one. We get at least a little
of all the heroines, plus everyone's favorite villainess, Lucy Steele.

The story follows Georgiana Darcy, who naturally ends up married, and there are
three other couples paired up along the way, after varying degrees of difficulty.

I found the lack of proof-reading in this book distracting. It's a reprint of the
1913 first edition, so I'm not sure if the problems were introduced then or now. It's
not a matter of typos, such as you get with books that have been scanned, but whole
words missing or repeated or mistaken. Some examples: "Mrs. Garret" where "Mrs. Grant"
is meant. "I ... have come to the conclusion that it would not be bad at all a bad
thing." "...he would believe that she did not care for him and did not want to care.
What a wonder if his feelings towards her underwent a change!" (Here what is meant is
exactly the opposite; it would be a wonder if his feelings didn't change.)
dizz avatar reviewed Old Friends and New Fancies on + 626 more book reviews
I agree that this book was well written, in tone with much of Austen's style (although I thought it lacked her acerbic touch), but I couldn't stay interested. I didn't feel that any of her characters came to life, and I thought the matchups she envisioned were unlikely. It was a curiosity, no more. I should add that I'm not much on crossovers or mashups in general; perhaps this would work well enough for someone who likes them.