Haunting Mr. Darcy: A Spirited Courtship, by KaraLynne Mackrory – A Review

From the desk of Kimberly Denny-Ryder: 

One of the best parts about the Jane Austen fan fiction scene is its unlimited possibilities. Almost every genre and plot device has been molded and formed to accommodate the style and characters we all know and love from Austen herself. One of the more unconventional styles that have made its way into this arena is the paranormal genre. However, in all of these variations, I have yet to come across a book where ghosts have been included, until now.

Haunting Mr. Darcy by KaraLynne Mackrory begins with a terrible carriage accident involving Elizabeth Bennet. Although she survives the accident, she is left in a coma and doctors are unsure as to whether she will ever regain consciousness. While she is unconscious, a curious thing happens. Her spirit parts with her physical being and is magically transported to Fitzwilliam Darcy’s London home, where we find Darcy, residing alone for the winter. As if this wasn’t enough to agitate Lizzy, Darcy does not believe that her ghost is real and instead thinks that she is a manifestation of his amorous thoughts about her. How can she possibly begin to get him to trust and believe in her if he doesn’t even believe that she is a real ghost? Somehow, Lizzy has to convince Darcy of her fate, and together they must work to get her spirit back in touch with her physical body before it’s too late. Will this even be possible with Lizzy lacking any physical properties at all?

This book is a little present, wrapped up in charm and emotion and love. In a word, it’s adorable. One important thing to note is that the emotional content of the work is high. Darcy’s despair over losing Elizabeth is highly palpable and I felt as if I was Darcy and had lost a loved one myself. It brings to mind the way I felt when reading Consequences by C. P. Odom. Both novels weren’t afraid to “get dirty” with the writing. It went to dark places that made you feel despair, so when you arrived at a positive point in the work they were that much more poignant compared to the depravity beforehand. I felt the same way with Haunting Mr. Darcy. Darcy’s actions after losing Elizabeth are stark compared to the lighter portions. He locks himself away at Pemberley, immersing himself in work at a breakneck, exhausting pace to distract him from the pain. All he can think about is work so that his mind has no time to think of Elizabeth. Conversely, the absolute beauty of when Darcy and Elizabeth first tell each other that they love one another, as well as their subsequent first kiss, is made that much better when contrasted with these previous dark portions.

For those of you who are skeptical about reading a book that involves ghostly spirits and all the tropes that go along with them, I highly encourage you to throw away all your preconceived notions. As I said earlier, this book is just charming. Elizabeth as a spectral apparition is at times hilarious, especially when she tries to have conversations with Darcy knowing he can’t respond to her due to the presence of others. His reactions to the things that she says cause the people around him to think that he is going mad. One particular occurrence is when Col. Fitzwilliam gets drunk and begins yelling obscenities and Darcy is mortified of Elizabeth hearing this. His strong retort to Fitzwilliam to watch his language only garners more strong language from him. Another scene that follows this example is when ghost Elizabeth accompanies Darcy to his fencing club. Her exclamations about the good looking men and Darcy’s jealous reaction had me chuckling.

In all, this was one book that caught me by surprise. With its sharp writing, deep emotional connections, and great comedic scenes this has definitely been a highlight of my summer reading.

5 out of 5 Stars

Haunting Mr. Darcy – A Spirited Courtship, by KaraLynne Mackrory
Meryton Press (2014)
Trade paperback (286) pages
ISBN: 9781936009350

Cover image courtesy of Meryton Press © 2014; text Kimberly Denny-Ryder © 2014, Austenprose.com

Disclosure of Material Connection: We received one review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. We only review or recommend products we have read or used and believe will be a good match for our readers. We are disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”