Heather Lynn Rigaud - Fitzwilliam Darcy, Rock Star

I am no stranger to romance novels; I've read different books that fall under the ambiguous genre such as paranormal ones, the Lords of the Underworld series for example, and the more mundane, the first in the Sinners on Tour and numerous chick-lit books, and I'm not particularly prudish when it comes to matters of romance so this modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice intrigued me where I knew the relationships that I had enjoyed from Austen's classic escalated to a greater degree than the original, something that could be interesting if handled well.

Fitzwilliam Darcy: Rock Star is the modern-day adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice written by Heather Lynn Rigaud.  Most people know the story, having read the book or seen the film and/or TV series; Pride and Prejudice follows the exploits of Elizabeth Bennett and her four sisters as they meet Fitzwilliam Darcy and his friend, Charles Bingley; immediately, Elizabeth and Darcy clash because they find one another to have too much pride and events conspire to keep them apart even though they slowly fall in love with one another.  It's a classic love story which makes many people swoon and has been retold in many ways, Fitzwilliam Darcy: Rock Star is just one more to add to the collection, providing someone else's perspective on the story.

Rating: 8

Recommended To: Romance fans; not for the Austen purists

Favourite Characters: Darcy

Favourite Part: Darcy's lips curled.  "I think I like calling you Elizabeth.  It's something no one else does."
Elizabeth nodded.  "Except my mother, when she's mad."
Darcy lost the battle against his self-control and leaned over and kissed her smiling lips.  "Perhaps you could call me Fitzwilliam, since no one else does," he said conversationally, the tone of his voice was greatly relaxed.
She replied in the same easy tone, "Not even your sister, when she's mad?"
Darcy shook his head.  "No, she hits me when she's mad."
"That's because you're a moron," Georgiana grumbled from ahead of them.
Elizabeth laughed, her buoyant joy warming Darcy as he watched her, completely bewitched. - Page 312

Good Points: Characters adapted well into the story; shows other points of view; music being a connection between Elizabeth and Darcy

Bad Points: Sex scenes become excessive; missed the Bennetts

Set in modern day America, Elizabeth and Jane Bennett are in a band called Long Borne Suffering with their friend, Charlotte Lucas; together they play clubs near New York.  Though not well known, they are good and have potential which is why Fitzwilliam Darcy and his fellow bandmates, Charles Bingley and Richard Fitzwilliam, AKA Slurry have come to watch them play.  Slurry need a new opening act for the American leg of their tour after their previous act dropped out and having developed a reputation as being difficult to work with, Slurry are out of well-known options.  Though reluctant to join their tour after overhearing Darcy being rude about her and her friends, Lizzie agrees along with her fellow bandmates to join Slurry as it will allow them to gain a bigger fan base and more publicity for their band.

While some reviewers outright disagree with this, I feel Rigaud has translated and adapted the characters of Pride and Prejudice well into modern day America.  They still have their basic essence but have been tweaked and modernised along with the plot to fit a modern setting, making them a bit more relatable for this time period but are still characters we loved.  The story may be predictable as it fits the stereotype of musicians sleeping around, it's enjoyable to see characters we have known for years to fit into a story so well; I honestly hope there are more books out there where classic characters have been adapted into another story where they are still the same but there's something slightly different about them.  It's interesting to read and I wish to read more.

What I love about Rigaud's adaptation of Austen's Pride and Prejudice is that she has added more points of view to the story - the six main characters - as they negotiate their way through the world as musicians, working alongside each other on tour.  It allows the reader to connect with each character more because we're not getting a biased opinion from Elizabeth's point of view of Darcy or anyone else but different accounts, allowing us to form our own opinion of each character and event.  While this could be irritating keeping track of which character we are seeing the world , it allows us as readers to get to know them better, Darcy particularly as Rigaud places us inside his head as he ensures his friends and family are okay and understand the motivations behind his actions.  Seeing more than one point of view allows the readers to see both sides of each relationship as well as allowing more time to be focussed on Jane and Bingley as well as Charlotte and Fitzwilliam instead of just Elizabeth and Darcy.  This was fascinating for me because it brought more insight into each of the characters and the world they live in.

Music is what drives this story given that the six main characters are musicians and having music being the initial connection between Elizabeth and Darcy is a great idea because they are equally passionate about it so they can understand that about each other.  They connect professionally at first, watching each other become immersed in their own music which then leads to something intimate as their passion drives them.  As they work together, respect sparks between them, especially as they perform together which then leads to trust which seems natural for musicians.  I would expect nothing less for a romance novel featuring musicians for the connection between a couple to be music but for Pride and Prejudice, it's an intriguing way to start a relationship as normally it's a gradual realisation for Elizabeth but finally triggered when she sees him in his own environment and meets his sister and learning the truth about his past with Wickham.

Darcy has always been one of my favourite fictional characters because once Elizabeth lets her guard down around him, he comes across as a sweet, caring man with a great capacity for love.  In this modern adaptation, while still proud, Darcy doesn't have the same arrogance as he has done previously so while he is slightly different, it made him more likeable, Rigaud has kept her version as close to the original as possible but has allowed us to see more as I've said through his point of view.  He may be arrogant still or at least comes across that way but he means well as he is just protective of his friends and family as well as himself.  He has even created a separate rockstar persona so to ensure that those around him won't get hurt.  Being inside his head at certain points seems to help because he is easier to connect with as his actions are explained rather than just observed, as I have mentioned, and we as readers can see his feelings for Elizabeth develop over time as he watches her and interacts with her and through these moments, we can sympathise with his as he longs for Elizabeth.  On a completely vapid note, Rigaud describes Darcy as a tall, dark-haired, handsome guitarist who is loving, passionate, committed and self-sacrificing which are all positives in my book.

I am all for characters getting down and dirty with one another, some of my favourite books have scenes that engage in all kinds of passion and lust, but sometimes, there is a time and a place and for me, backstage before your room, in a room anyone can walk into, without any real reason other than pure lust isn't the time or the place even if I wanted someone in that moment, that is what doors with locks are for.  Sometimes, no one has done anything remotely suggestive and they still snog then sleep together right there and then and it can become ridiculous.  Having all six protagonists as musicians and playing on the stereotype of musicians constantly having sex is just predictable and lazy, especially when they sleep with someone within the group then don't make a commitment which causes more drama as it fits the stereotype and is expected; Rigaud did go against the stereotype with Jane and Charles but she could have done more to subvert expectations, just to make a bit more different.  While predictable but illogical at times, I did enjoy these scenes as it did allow the reader to learn a bit more about the characters as how they behave in key moments of relationships is important to discovering their true character.

With the eldest Bennett daughters being musicians on tour, there wasn't a lot of the Bennett family in the story because Elizabeth and Jane weren't at home and in the original book, Mr. and Mrs. Bennett were two of my favourite characters as she wailed and complained and he poked fun but they loved one another and I missed their interactions and it wasn't quite the same.  There is more of a focus on the romance angle in this story rather than the background of the characters as it seems to be assumed that we know their background as we would have read the original.  With the absence of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett, I wouldn't recommend Fitzwilliam Darcy: Rock Star for Austen fanatics as it may be too far from the source material as it is fan fiction, just not posted on the internet.

Darcy's lips curled.  "I think I like calling you Elizabeth.  It's something no one else does."
Elizabeth nodded.  "Except my mother, when she's mad."
Darcy lost the battle against his self-control and leaned over and kissed her smiling lips.  "Perhaps you could call me Fitzwilliam, since no one else does," he said conversationally, the tone of his voice was greatly relaxed.
She replied in the same easy tone, "Not even your sister, when she's mad?"
Darcy shook his head.  "No, she hits me when she's mad."
"That's because you're a moron," Georgiana grumbled from ahead of them.
Elizabeth laughed, her buoyant joy warming Darcy as he watched her, completely bewitched. - Page 312

Darcy and Elizabeth are just really sweet in this moment as they talk properly without their bandmates around, just their younger sisters who are ignoring them.  Through all of the sex and arguments, this moment stood out because it was just a nice, calm moment as the two main characters give into their feelings properly, acting out of love rather than lust or passion.  It's a redeeming quality as it brings to mind how Darcy and Elizabeth are towards the end in Pride and Prejudice and could possibly satisfy those that were expecting a similar tone.  Also, seeing the world from Darcy's point of view as well as Elizabeth's allows the reader to hear his thoughts and feelings on certain moments and this one, as he is "completely bewitched", is just lovely because it is just so easy to imagine, this goony-eyed look on his face as he watches her laugh at his expense; for many, or at least those I know, that is why they read romance novels, for the sweet moments amongst the more charged ones as we see characters fall in love.

After I bought this book and read some reviews, Fitzwilliam Darcy: Rock Star seems to be the Marmite™ of books, you either love it or hate it but I went in with an open mind and I thoroughly enjoyed it in the end for a number of reasons.  Adapting a classic story can be difficult but Rigaud has done well in my opinion as they were still the characters I loved from Austen's original but more modern and more likeable instantly for me because you can see the story from each of the main characters' point of view, placing you inside their heads.  Using music once again as a bonding device between Lizzie and Darcy was a great benefit to the story, much like how they connect in the original, as it allows them to connect over the course of the book slowly, it isn't rushed.  However, having the six main characters as musicians just seems to be an excuse for them to have sex whenever as a common plot device in books of this genre, for example The Black Falcon series, and it just seems lazy to me as it is predictable, even though the scenes were enjoyable.  Overall though, I loved this book as it was good to see a different spin on old characters, even if I did miss the Bennetts' presence as they are continuously present in Austen's novel but only brought in a few times in Rigaud's which is a shame but not a major problem for me.  If you want to see Austen's characters in a different world and not a stickler for tradition then I would recommend Fitzwilliam Darcy: Rock Star to you just for a change as it's just bringing a modern spin to a classic story.