Dancing with Mr. Darcy (mini-review)

Dancing With Mr. Darcy contains the best entries from the Jane Austen Short Story competition as judged and edited by novelist Sarah Waters.  The entries had to take inspiration from Austen herself, her work, or from Chawton House where she lived out her later life and wrote many of her most famous works.

On the whole, the collection is a nice, fun read.  Some stories are more serious ("The School Trip"), some are more lighthearted ("The Jane Austen Hen Weekend"), and some borrow from a more contemporary author, too ("The Delaford Ladies' Detective Agency" and "One Character in Search of Her Love Story Role").

The winning story, "Jane Austen Over the Styx", put Jane Austen on trial after her death in a prosecution lead by the odious Mrs. Norris (over the objections of Lady Catherine de Bourgh).  Her less-well-like female characters felt slighted, you see, and a rather interesting punishment is meted out.

Although I didn't like all the stories as much as I had the ones in Jane Austen Made Me Do It this was a nice book to finish up during the Readathon.

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