Darcy relaxed a bit. “The old Thompson place?” She answered with a nod. “You’re one of Tom Bennet’s daughters? I was told he had a herd of them.” Almost immediately he recognized how his choice of words could be considered an insult, but it was too late.
The girl’s voice was ice cold. “Tom Bennet is indeed my father, sir, and I thank you for your kind observations about my family. Now, if you’ll pardon me.” She pulled her reins to return from whence she came, only to be halted by Darcy’s words.
“I’ll escort you back to the ford, miss, if you don’t mind.”
She looked over her shoulder at him. “I do mind. You’ve made it clear that I’m not welcomed here, and I can see myself home. Good day.”
(from Pemberley Ranch, pages 23-24 in the ARC)
Now that I’ve read so many retellings of and sequels to Jane Austen’s novels, particularly Pride and Prejudice, I’m worried that I’m going to tire of the books that have become my guilty pleasure. I just love revisiting Austen’s characters — although these books will never outshine the originals — and the more unique, the better.
Pemberley Ranch is the first Austen retelling I’ve encountered that is written by a man, and that alone grabbed my attention. Jack Caldwell takes the basics of Pride and Prejudice — the misunderstandings of a stubborn young woman and an arrogant young man from two different worlds who find themselves unexpectedly attracted to one another — and makes the story his own.
Set just after the Civil War, Will Darcy is a Confederate officer who returns to Texas to run the family cattle ranch and care for his younger sister, Gaby. Beth Bennet’s family — father Tom, mother Fanny, and sisters Jane, Mary, Kathy, and Lily — leave Meryton, Ohio, for a farm in Rosings, Texas. Beth and Will’s first meeting is less than pleasant, with Beth caught riding her horse on Pemberley land, and it doesn’t help that carpetbagger and scoundrel George Whitehead, a friend of the Bennet family, has nothing but rotten things to say about Will.
Stories about the Wild West aren’t usually my thing, but Pemberley Ranch was a book I just could not put down. Using only the barest skeleton of Pride and Prejudice, Caldwell builds a story with romance, murder, unscrupulous business dealings, post-war Union vs. Confederate tension, segregation, and the lingering horrors and loss of war. I found Caldwell’s rewriting of Austen’s characters to be especially interesting, with Mr. Collins turned into banker Billy Collins, Bingley into a doctor, George Wickham into deed recorder George Whitehead, Col. Fitzwilliam into Pemberley ranch hand Fitz, Lady Catherine into the ruthless ranch owner Cate Burroughs, and Charlotte Lucas into the daughter of the sheriff. Caldwell also pays homage to other Austen heroes, with characters named Henry Tilney, Edmund Bertram, and Mr. Knightly, which I thought was a nice touch.
Pemberley Ranch is an engaging read on its own, and I forgot early on that I was reading a retelling of Pride and Prejudice. But I must admit it was fun to picture Mr. Darcy as a handsome cowboy with a twang and to see all the shady characters in Austen’s novel portrayed as being truly evil. Caldwell does an admirable job balancing the lightness of the romance with the darkness of dirty deeds in a small town. You definitely don’t need to have read or even loved Pride and Prejudice to enjoy Pemberley Ranch, and while most people will read it because its an Austen reimagining, Caldwell should get some credit for being a talented storyteller in his own right.
Disclosure: I received Pemberley Ranch from Sourcebooks for review.
© 2010 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.
I can’t quite picture Mr. Darcy as a cowboy, but I’ll take your word for it. I bet my mom would like this one.
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Really, it works. But the stories are so different, so you’re really reading about another Mr. Darcy.
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I’ll have to borrow this one for the Civil War Challenge in 2011!
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Yes, definitely!
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I’m not a fan of westerns in the slightest but yours is the millionth positive review of this book — I must get it, clearly!
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Since I started blogging, I learned not to say I’m not a fan of any particular genre because there’s always one book that proves to me I can enjoy it. I don’t think I’ll run out and start reading tons of westerns, but I’m so glad I gave this one a try.
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I love your opening sentence! I can just visualize Colin Firth saying this!!!
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Totally!
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aww Austen fic 😀 And by a man, wow, and cowboys, I can’t wait to start this one
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Oh this book is definitely up your alley!
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Oh, I bought this book this afternoon!! I’m so happy to read that you couldn’t put it down 🙂 It will be the first Austen retelling that I’ve read. I just wasn’t tempted until I heard about this book.
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I’m so glad! Looking forward to reading your thoughts on it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
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I’m reading this one, so I skipped over your review and just read your thoughts at the end. So . . . did you picture Colin Firth as Colonel Darcy? He will forever be Darcy in every form, for me. 🙂
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I would love to see Colin Firth in a movie adaptation of this book. Tight jeans, cowboy hat. I’m sure he could pull off the accent. 😉
He’s my Mr. Darcy, too. 🙂
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This version sounds great and what a terrific cover!
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I absolutely love the cover. The image is so crisp, it’s like you can almost feel that dress.
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I’m totally jealous that you got a copy of this to review. Like you,I really love books that re-tell Austen’s stories and this one sounds like it is a great one!!
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You definitely must add it to your to-read list.
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[…] and Prejudice out of Regency England and out to the Texas plains just after the Civil War. Read my review for all the details and my thoughts, but just know that it ranks among my most favorite Austen […]
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I, too, can testify that it is a very entertaining read. Thanks, Anna.
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My pleasure, Mary. Glad you enjoyed it, too.
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I liked it too!!
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Glad to hear it. Looking forward to your review.
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Got to admit, when I first saw the title “Pemberley Ranch” I thought, “Oh dear, yet another re-telling of Pride and Prejudice.”
However, after reading your review, I’m going to look for the book! This looks fun and enjoyable.
I’ve got to hand it to Jane Austen. You know it’s a great plot when writers are still re-telling it a couple of centuries later!
Hope you’ll check out my review!
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I definitely will!
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This sounds good. It sounds like an interesting take on Austen’s original characters. Very cool 🙂
And I love the cover.
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The cover is gorgeous!
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wow, this sounds amazing, something that I would definitely enjoy
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I hope you give it a try since it’s something unique on the Austen front.
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Anna great review! I’m glad you enjoyed it as well!! It really was interesting to read it from a mans perspective. I hope more men will give writing JAFF a try!
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I hope so, too. That would definitely offer a fresh perspective on the characters and relationships…and prevent Austen reading burnout. 😉
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[…] Pemberley Ranch by Jack […]
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[…] 108. Carney’s House Party by Maud Hart Lovelace 109. Maps and Shadows by Krysia Jopek 110. Pemberley Ranch by Jack Caldwell 111. The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien 112. Northanger Abbey by Jane […]
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[…] ISBN: 1402241283 ♥ Goodreads ♥ LibraryThing ♥ Amazon ♥ Author Website Personal copy won from Diary of an Eccentric […]
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[…] touch of masculinity that Caldwell adds to Austen’s novels in The Three Colonels (as well as Pemberley Ranch), but he pays close attention to his heroines as well. He addresses the changing roles of women […]
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