Me and Mr. Darcy
by Alexandra Potter
Published by Ballantine Books
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Reviewed by Carrie Padgett
After a string of disastrous dates, Emily Albright decides to stop looking for Mr. Right. A chance encounter at the bookstore that she manages, gives her the opportunity to take a literature lover’s tour through England, visiting Jane Austen and Pride & Prejudice sites. Of course, the only man on the tour bus is a jerk, completely unlike Austen’s epitome of romantic heroes, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. Or so Emily thinks. As she spends more time with Spike Hargreaves, a journalist interviewing women about Mr. Darcy’s appeal, Emily begins to see that what she thought she wanted in a man, is maybe a little overrated.
Me and Mr. Darcy is a lively read, quick and light. Its biggest problem is deciding what it wants to be when it grows up. It’s written in first person, present tense, with a sharp-tongued, savvy heroine and plenty of pop culture references, like a classic chick lit. But it also follows the plot of Pride and Prejudice, the epitome of romance novels. Emily swears like a stevedore who hit his thumb with a hammer, making her a poster child for the postmodern generation. There are also some time travel/fantasy parts. All the competing elements make it hard to love this book.
Emily is an endearing heroine, but she keeps forgetting that her literary Mr. Right is from another era—one when a woman rode sidesaddle, and viewed flower arranging as an exciting pastime. I didn’t believe someone as intelligent as Emily is supposed to be, would tell Mr. Darcy he’s sexist and then be surprised that he took offense. She really is not all that bright, for someone named Albright.
Eventually, the parallels between her journey and her favorite novel become too obvious for even Emily to ignore and she realizes that what she wants most is right in front of her, in her own space-time continuum.
Armchair Interviews says: Jane Austen would be proud.