Review

December 06, 2011

Book Review: An Arranged Marriage by Jan Hahn

I used to think that one of the best compliments I could give a book was to say I read the whole thing in one sitting because it was so good. I read the first 3/4ths of An Arranged Marriage in one sitting and then purposefully slowed down to savor the last bit over several days because I didn’t want it to end. I believe I have a new best compliment.

An Arranged Marriage, by Jan Hahn – A Review

21 August 2011 by Christina B.

An Arranged Marriage, by Jan Hahn (2011)Guest review by Christina Boyd

Debut author Jan Hahn’s novel, An Arranged Marriage, begs the question, “can a marriage of convenience ever lead to true love?” In Hahn’s impressive alteration of Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice, days after Miss Elizabeth Bennet stringently refuses the proposal of Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy at Hunsford, her beloved father dies, leaving the family with meager resources and an estate entailed to their toad-eating cousin, Mr. Collins. Half a year later, as the ladies of Longbourn are packing to make way for the new owner, Mr. Darcy offers for Elizabeth’s hand once again. Despite her passionate dislike and distrust of the man, Elizabeth, with a grievous and bitter heart, accepts his proposal, saving her family from ruination and despair. Refreshingly narrated from Elizabeth’s keen and often caustic perspective, we are privy to her inner most thoughts as she struggles to conquer her turmoil of the loss of her father; the disgrace of her youngest sister; the humiliation of her eldest sister; the anxiety of nearly losing her home; and of course, the distress from this arranged marriage. And yet most disconcerting to her psyche is her blossoming passion for the last man in the world she could ever be prevailed upon to marry.