Old Friends and New Fancies by Sybil G. Brinton

Old Friends and New Fancies is the appropriate title for the one hundred year old book by Sybil G. Brinton. Reprinted this year, for the first time in decades, this book has given me and many others very mixed opinions. Sybil G. Brinton took many of the beloved characters from all of Jane Austen's completed novels. While that may sound like every Austen fan's dream come true, I felt that the story left a lot to be desired.

Brinton's idea to bring characters from different books together, crossing paths and becoming friends, is brilliant. However, she pushes the limit by weaving too many people together, some thirty-nine characters in al. Even an avid Jane Austen fan like me has trouble keeping all of the characters straight.

I found myself having to scan through the original novels to refresh my memory about some very minimal characters. It seems that the publishers realized this, as they gave us a reference list of characters and the books they were originally found in.

I feel the need to strongly warn anyone that reads this book. While Brinton does take the characters directly from Austen's writings, the names, places, and all past events are all that remain the same. She takes many liberties with Austen's characters, changing them and their circumstances to satisfy her badly patched together plots. I am convinced that were Jane Austen alive today, she would detest the mutilation of many of her beloved characters.

The book begins with Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy undoing he betrothal of Georgiana and Colonel Fitzwilliam. Elizabeth engineered the betrothal because she wanted them both married, and she felt they should be happy together. This Elizabeth deeply contrasts Jane's Elizabeth, who would never try to force a marriage upon anyone. While Georgiana has mysteriously lost her shyness, she is still unable to tell her new sister that her impending marriage is unpalatable. She spends most of the novel being unhappy, either with herself or with her situation.

Colonel Fitzwilliam, however, falls in love with Mary Crawford after a chance meeting in Bath. Unfortunately, the two spend very little time with each other. It is through exchanges of society gossip, that we learn that not only is Mary on very friendly terms with Mr. William Price, but also that general opinion is that she was badly misused by Edmund Bertram. While Jane's Mary is selfish and indulgent, Sybil's Mary is loved by almost all who know her.

Not all of the characters have been changed, however. Lady Catherine was just as hateful as ever, and Emma and was still up to her matchmaking tricks. Kitty was still trying to get a man, and Mr. Bingly was jut as amiable as ever. However, they all lacked the depth that Jane gave them.

I wasn't halfway through the book before I wished I had never begun. This book had not been published for a hundred years, and there was a very good reason for that. It isn't that good!