AN ASSEMBLY SUCH AS THIS is the first installment in Pamela Aidan’s Fitzwilliam Darcy series.  Ms. Aidan, a librarian, resident of Coeur d’Alene, and lifelong Jane Austen devotee, weaves this tale to tell the story of one of Austen’s more obscure heroes.

AN ASSEMBLY SUCH AS THIS introduces the reader to cool and aloof Fitzwilliam Darcy, a player in Jane Austen’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. This first installment of the trilogy speaks of his visit to Hertfordshire accompanying his sometimes bumbling friend Charles Bingley.  As soon as the household arrives, they meet the local gentry and are fascinated and at the same time repulsed by the large Bennet family.  While Bingley is openly enchanted with one of the Bennet girls, Darcy experiences a growing fascination with Elizabeth Bennet, a young woman with a rapier wit and an intelligence to match anyone’s.  Even though the young ladies are overshadowed by their somewhat greedy mother who seeks to marry them off quickly and richly, they soon stand out in their own rights.

AN ASSEMBLY SUCH AS THIS is a clever novel.  Taking an already existing novel, especially one as famous as Jane Austen’s work, and then spinning off a series of novels that further develop some of Ms. Austen’s characters is no small feat, yet one that Ms. Aidan does admirably.  Taking nothing away from PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, but instead deepening a reader’s understanding of the lives and times of the characters, this novel is a wonderful piece of writing that moves fast, is true to its source, and allows a glimpse into the time of regency era England with its foibles, strengths and weaknesses.  A thoroughly enjoyable book!