Wickham's diary by Amanda Grange is a great addition of Jane Austen's Pride and prejudice. It tells the life story of George Wickham through his childhood with Fitzwilliam Darcy, how they ended their friendship and how he tried to trick Georgiana Darcy into trying to elope with him. This wonderful journal takes us through Wickham's thoughts and life's decisions take takes us up to the time when we meet him in Pride and Prejudice. This story really lets us into the innermost thoughts of George and how he got to be the way he is. I felt sympathy for him at first when all he wants to do is live better than his parents. After the way he treats Darcy in college and then trying to guilt him into more money, it shows George's true colors. Overall this story was a great read and I would recommend it to anyone who loves Pride and Prejudice. This book is plausible yet original, something all Austen spin-offs should aim for yet few achieve.This is by far my favorite of Grange’s “diary of pick an Austen male” series. Her others feature the male heroes. This one features a villain – Wickham from Pride and Prejudice. And better yet, it’s a kind of “prequel” to Pride and Prejudice, so it doesn’t feel at all rehashed. Grange takes what info Austen does tell us about Wickham (his father is steward of Pemberley, Wickham was to have a living as a clergyman and took money instead, later to demand the living too, he tried to elope with Georgiana Darcy, etc.) and fleshes it out in her book. Novella, really. What most impressed me was how plausible it was. To an Austen fan, it seems inevitable that Wickham will fall. Yet were his actions inevitable? To what extent did a class-ridden society and familial influence and Darcy’s proud unforgiving nature force Wickham’s hand? To what extent did Wickham choose to throw away his advantages? Grange’s book does not give a clear answer, which I think is its brilliance. The Wickham in Austen’s P&P succeeds because he seems as willing to believe the stories he invents about himself. Just so, in Grange’s book the tales he uses to manipulate others in the end convince him. He is at once downtrodden and eternally optimistic. The reader is charmed into liking and believing Wickham, just like society, just like Wickham himself.Grange’s best invention is Wickham’s mother. We hear in Austen about his father being a man even the younger Mr. Darcy greatly respects. Who then shaped young Wickham’s character? His mother. Grange paints her as a kind of Lydia Bennet, only smarter. She is frivolous, spends too much money, charms people, but has no feeling she is doing anything but doing what society expects of her. Wickham greatly loves and is influenced by his mom, which explains much about his later character. This move on Grange’s part is her own invention, yet it is completely plausible. And it makes us sympathize with Wickham – he is the way he is partly out of familial love and duty. Yet the great virtue passed from mother to son? Manipulating people.It is a treat to see Georgiana Darcy, Mrs. Younge, and Anne De Bourgh in their younger versions. Georgiana is pretty much as Austen described in the book. Mrs. Younge’s bad reputation is spelled out. And the overlooked Anne – Wickham pays her more attention than Darcy does, but out of kindness or seizing his own advantage? Both, I think, and Grange wisely leaves the reader to settle the balance. Darcy and Wickham start as friends, though not the closest of friends. Darcy grows to be unlikable in Wickham’s eyes, and to some extent, the reader believes Wickham is justified. Darcy has a lot of growing to do once he meets Elizabeth Bennet. The reader never sees her, but we can see both the pride and duty of the Mr. Darcy Lizzie first encounters.The book ends with a lovely lead-in to the beginning of Pride and Prejudice. I won’t give it away.
What do You think about Wickham's Diary (2011)?
Not a lot of surprises here, but it's kind of nice not to feel sorry for Mr. Wickham. :D
—jules
Good but too short! This needed some Lizzie and Lydia in it!
—pazia28
Really quick, enjoyable story about the Pre-Pride Wickham.
—chanika
A great bit of light reading for Jane Austen fans.
—francesca
