Amanda Grange

Amanda Grange has written several bestselling Jane Austen continuations. We haven't fully forgiven her for making Lydia full-on evil (see the Bitter Aftertaste section) in her book Mr. Darcy's Diary, but we enjoyed Mr. Darcy, Vampyre, which we chose as one of our Featured Book titles.

Aftertaste:
We don't mind a little tweaking of Austen's characters, but in Mr. Darcy's Diary Grange makes some fundamental changes to the original portrayal of Lydia. In the scene where Darcy tries to remove Lydia from Wickham's "care", she not only refuses to go, she actually announces her desire for Wickham to marry somebody else, so the two of them can mooch off of the unfortunate woman's money! This moves her away from Austen's clearly defined selfish-and-silly characterization into outright evilness, and we frown upon that. Don't screw with greatness, Ms. Grange.

Availability:
Everywhere.

Other Recommendations:
Any of the approximately 10,000 Austen continuations currently on the market.