These Three Remain (Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, Book 3)

I have been awaiting the release of this book -- the third in the trilogy -- and it did not disappoint! These Three Remain covers the period from Darcy's reacquaintance with Elizabeth at Hunsford/Rosings through their eventual engagement and marriage. As one of the wealthiest and most eligible bachelors in England, it never occurs to Darcy that his attentions to Elizabeth will not be welcome. He usually has to fend off women who are interested in him for all the wrong reasons. Her refusal of his proposal stuns and shakes him to the core sending him on a journey of self-discovery that changes the way he looks at himself and his world. It causes him to reexamine his relationships with those closest to him, especially his sister, Georgiana, and his friend, Bingley. With no expectation of ever seeing Elizabeth again, let alone winning her heart, he determines to become a different man, one who would be worthy of Elizabeth's good opinion. As we all know, he has the opportunity to see Elizabeth again when she and her aunt and uncle visit Pemberley. When he saves her sister, Lydia, from ruin, he does not want Elizabeth to know lest she feel some obligation to him. If he is to win her heart, it must be because she sees the changes in him for herself. I found it fascinating to watch how Darcy's love of Elizabeth matures and goes from being centered on his own needs to being focused on her. I highly recommend this book if you love the romance of Elizabeth and Darcy. It fills in some very rich details about these characters we love so well and helps us to see them with fresh eyes.

"These Three Remain" is perhaps the most artful and engrossing entry in this 5-star series that insightfully recreates and expands on the events and romance of "Pride and Prejudice" from Darcy's point of view. The author Pamela Aidan ties everything up properly and scarcely misses a pitch when it comes to fleshing out Fitzwilliam Alexander George Darcy's life and psyche.

Among many highlights is the character reveal of Lord Dyson Broughton, whose interchanges with his dear friend Darcy are a real pleasure. It's also a continual treat to read dead-on and vivid versions of the many scenes involving Darcy that are only sketched at second-hand remove in "Pride and Prejudice", such as Darcy's climactic interactions with Wickham, Lady Catherine, Mr. Gardiner, and finally Mr. Bennet when asking his consent for Lizzy's marriage.

Considering how ever-present she is in Darcy's thoughts, it was surprising to me how little Elizabeth is actually on stage engaging in any kind of "quality time" conversation with Darcy until their warm and lovely reconciliation at the very end, but that reflects the original. As such, this is a tale very much told inside Darcy's head, while at the same time filled with events appropriate for an active man of Darcy's station.

This is the third instalment in Pamela Aidan's reworking of Pride & Prejudice from Darcy's point of view and overall I'd say it was a great success. It's impressive that she is able to extract so much information from Austen's story and retell it in a fresh way. Also interesting that a woman is writing a man's point of view - as a woman myself I can't tell how realistic it is, but it seemed to ring true to me.

The additional characters that Aidan introduced in the previous two books appear again, particularly Lord Dyfed Brougham who is a well-rounded and interesting character. Perhaps his secret life is a bit unrealistic, as is the sub-plot about treason and the weird Sylvanie that rather spoiled Book 2: Duty And Desire for me, but if you gloss over those aspects and stick with the main story it's an enjoyable read.

Despite being a much thicker book than the previous two volumes it doesn't feel laboured and drawn out. In fact, I would level the small criticism that the end comes rather too soon - much time has been spent setting the scene and the betrothal seems to happen with less reflection than all the other events in the books so far.

There are a number of loose ends, having read this book, which leads me to suspect Aidan has more books in store. The loose ends are about her extra characters - the Dy/Georgiana semi-romance (will anything happen - when she is older, of course); the treasonous exploits of Lady Sylvanie and her band of Irish followers; Dy's involvement in spying; Georgiana's excessive religiosity and what this means for her. I suspect a book about Dy and Georgiana is at least on the cards and I, for one, will be buying it.

At certain times when reading the book I wondered whether Aidan had written it after seeing the BBC DVD adaptation of Pride & Prejudice. There were a number of small events in the TV series which seemed to be reflected here, such as Darcy trying to cure himself of his hurt at the rejection of his hand in marriage by Miss Bennet through fencing. I thought this worked very well into the story but it did serve to ground the story into those actors (good though they were); this would only really be the case for those who were very familiar with Austen's original so were aware what was outside of that work but was both in the TV series and this book.

As in books 1 & 2, however, there are some unfortunate Americanisms that have crept in and should have been spotted by an editor. Autumn has become "fall", people "inquire" rather than "enquire", "insure" where it should be rendered "ensure", the wretched appearance of "gotten" numerous times, "pled" instead of "pleaded", "normalcy" rather than "normality" and Lady Catherine is moved to "write his Lordship" rather than to "write to his Lordship". These American words and turns of phrase jar when read by an English person and are a disappointment when so many other period details are right. I was relieved, for example, that Mr Darcy spread jam on his toast rather than jelly, but because of the earlier Americanisms I found myself noticing this correct usage and once again it took me, however briefly, out of the story. A side note - although this is an American-published book by an American author, the spelling is generally English in words such as "favourite" or "endeavour", which is a real relief! Still, the random appearance of comments about Americans/Bostonians was yet another annoyance for an English Regency reader - why does every single American Regency writer insist on mentioning America?

Overall I enjoyed the book although I think the initial promise of Book 1: An Assembly Such As This was not realised as much as I had hoped in the two further volumes, although this one is better than Book 2. All in all I am impressed by Aidan's grasp of the story and her own slant on it, although I feel that she is most successful when sticking to Austen's original plotlines and that those made anew for this story are less convincing. But still a good read and streets ahead of an awful lot of other Pride & Prejudice derivative fiction.

These Three Remain, the third book in the Fitzwilliam Darcy Gentleman series, is the payoff for slogging through the second. I absolutely loved it. So true to the proper Austen form, Pamela Aidan shows us Mr. Darcy's hurt, anger, and growth. Gone are most of the contrived intrigues of the second book, and those included give me hope that the author intends on writing a sequel to Pride and Prejudice that will take us to life at Pemberley. I've read several sequels that have mostly dissapointed (with the exception of Conviction - see my other reviews). Pamela Aidan, of all authors, should be able to get it right. The first Darcy book was very good, the second was passable, and now the third is excellent. I remember how I felt the first time I read Pride and Prejudice, and the third book brought me the closest yet to those feelings. Based on that, and the hope for future books from the author, I recommend reading the whole series.

It finally came!!! I was so happy to find it how it ends even though I have read Jane Austen's version aand seen the movie time and time again. This was a very good re-telling of P&P. Showing Darcy's inner conflict and how he copes with loving Elizabeth was a real eye opener. I really enjoyed it. This was by far the best in the series.

There's no doubt about it. This is the best book in the trilogy. You won't be able to put it down. I know I couldn't. I was up til 5AM reading it, and I do not regret it.

The third book of the trilogy covers Darcy's trip to Kent to his marriage to Elizabeth. It is in this book that he undergoes the most radical change in character, having had his eyes opened by Elizabeth's refusal of his proposal. His new view of both life and itself is refreshing and highly enjoyable. His nervousness and desire to please Elizabeth at Pemberly just wins your heart, and then the end that all P&P fans know and love seals the deal. I couldn't possibly love this book anymore, unless there was more of Dy Brougham, one of Darcy's university classmates, introduced in book 2. Now that this trilogy is done, I'm hoping that Ms. Aidan has plans to write Brougham's story out.

The whole trilogy was wonderful, and the best of any of the P&P spinoffs out there. Every Austen fan needs to read it.

Okay --- I will admit it: I've never read Pride and Prejudice. But I was completely captivated by the miniseries with Colin Firth. I've watched it so many times that my DVDs are skipping and jumping. Why I haven't read the original, I'm not sure --- maybe I think it would ruin the amazing relationship that I have with the characters..... So, instead, I looked for books in the same world. I've tried a couple..... and.... this series stands alone!

The language and imagery is glorious! And told from Darcy's point of view, with such amazing care! Reading about his feelings and motivations and growth of character --- it dovetailed right into the Darcy of Colin Firth that I remember --- and that is quite a feat.

Props to you, Ms. Aidan. You've made me smile and blush to myself, prompting many a person to ask me what I was reading....

You've actually made me nearly shiver from delight. I've got around 50 pages left right this moment. Part of me wants to read it RIGHT NOW and part of me wants to savor it as long as possible.

Out of all of the Austen P&P novels out there --- this series can't be beat. It is completely and utterly satisfying! A great story (and much more) from the point of view of an amazing character, told by a really talented author.

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This is probably the best book in the trilogy (although Book 1 is pretty cool too). As other reviewers note, this book goes from Rosings through to Darcy and Elizabeth's wedding. Watching Darcy's transformation is absolutely fascinating and not to be missed.

It was almost painful to "experience" his reaction to Elizabeth's refulsal of his proposal at Rosings. But seeing him move from there to where he is when he returns to Pemberly (just before he unexpectedly meets Elizabeth again) is wonderful!

Don't miss this trilogy (although you may want to read quickly through Book 2, which is the weakest of the trilogy).

This is the third book of a single story, Pamela Aidan's remarkable retelling of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice but from the viewpoint of Mr. Darcy rather than Elizabeth.

The crucial moment upon which Pride and Prejudice turns is Darcy's rejected proposal and letter of explanation. That moment and the resulting journey of self-development undertaken by Darcy are the focus of this book. Aidan cleverly gives Darcy a companion who serves the same role of confidant to Darcy that Jane serves to Elizabeth. None of the characters mentioned in P&P would work for this role, so she invents a new one.

Besides making the transformation of Darcy as real as Austen made the transformation of Elizabeth, Aidan also greatly expands on the characters of Darcy's world. In particular, his cousin Anne and sister Georgiana are given much more depth than in Austen's novel. But the changes ring true, for the most part.

The one questionable decision by Aiden is to spend most of her second installment and some of this one describing Darcy getting tangled up in a treasonous plot to overthrow the government. This distracts from the romantic story, for the most part, and the typical reader will be eager for it to get out of the way.

The other indulgences which Aidan allows herself (Darcy's relationship with his dog, a side plot where Darcy's valet wants to marry one of Elizabeth's servants, and showing the wedding which Austen skipped over) are harmless fun.

However, it is the change in relationship between Darcy and Bingley which most shows that Darcy has actually changed. In Pride and Prejudice, we mostly see Elizabeth's view of Darcy changing, rather than actually seeing a real change in him. He professes himself to be changed, but we don't see it much. In this book, we see it very clearly.

All three of these books were interesting and fun to read, but this last one was by far the best of the bunch. I recommend this book (and the whole series) to anyone who has ever liked Pride and Prejudice.

I am a P&P fan from way back, and completely enjoyed the 1st book in the trilogy! Book 2 came, and I didn't love it as much, but was so anxious to read what came next that it didn't matter. Then I found out that Book 3 wasn't even published yet! Horror! I read as much as I could from Lady Pamela's website, but there's nothing like a printed book. When it finally arrived, I savored every word. I'm a purist, and although a lot of license is taken with the original, this was so much in the same spirit, that I felt right at home. On DVD, to those who really loved the A&E mini-series with Colin Firth, may I suggest the BBC version from 1980 starring David Rintoul (unbelieveably hunky) and Elizabeth Garvie. It's more true to the book, and you'll find yourself speaking right along with the actors.