Review: Wickham's Diary

by Amanda Grange
publisher: Sourcebooks Landmark
date of publication: April 1, 2011
format: paperback
pages: 208
source: purchased
Amazon / Goodreads / B&N
challenges: Goodreads 2011 Reading Challenge

From Goodreads:

"This prequel to Pride and Prejudice begins with George Wickham at age 12, handsome and charming but also acutely aware that his friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy, is rich, whilst he is poor. His mother encourages him to exercise his charm on the young Georgiana Darcy and Anne de Bourgh in the hopes of establishing a stable of wealthy social connections.

At university, Darcy and Wickham grow apart. Wickham is always drinking and wenching, whilst Darcy, who apparently has everything, is looking for something he cannot find. Wickham runs through the money Darcy gives him and then takes up with the scandalous Belle, a woman after Wickham's own greedy, black heart."

What I Thought

This was a very quick read for me. I was stuck awake with heartburn and read it within an hour and a half. This isn't a very detailed book, but it does provide an interesting theory as to why Wickham is the way he is. It is a character study in jealousy and entitlement and I was left disliking him even more for knowing it. Grange details a possible scenario as to why Wickham tried to elope with Darcy's sister, Georgiana, as well as how he knew her companion, Mrs. Younge. He is every bit as devious as you would expect him to be.

The only thing that truly bothered me about this book was certain points in Wickham's diary. They were somewhat unnatural and didn't really sound like something I would expect him to say, nor was some of it conveyed in a way I would have expected. While his tone was captured some of the time, it wasn't as consistent as I was expecting.

I did like this chance at picking Wickham's brain, so to speak, and really enjoyed the conjectures that came to my mind as a result. Though this book is classified as a novella, I wish it had been a little longer and a little more detailed. Perhaps then his tone would have been captured more consistently throughout. Also, I felt that it was a bit over-priced at $11.99 US. With that being said, I would recommend this as a read for Jane Austen fans since it is so quick and allows for more imagination and conjecture on the subject of Wickham and his upbringing. My rating for Wickham's Diary is 3 hoots.