Book Review: Mr. Knightley's Diary by Amanda Grange

[birdienl]

Jane Austen's works have always inspired other authors to write sequels, prequels or adapted versions, but the last decade the numbers of these Austen spin-offs have really rocketed. One of the most well-known serials in this genre of novels are the Heroes Diaries of British author Amanda Grange. As the name suggests, these books re-tell the story of Austen's novels from the perspective of the main male character. In these novels, Grange stays generally very close to the original storylines, so they are suitable to read for Austen purists, while still giving you a new insight into these well-known stories. I recently read Mr. Knightley's Diary, which tells the story of Emma.

   

While Mr. Darcy may be Jane Austen's most popular hero, there is no doubt Mr. Knightley is the most perfect gentleman in her novels. Grange has managed to capture this aspect very well in Mr. Knightley's Diary, in which we meet a hero who spends his days managing his estate, looking over his accounts and helping friends and neighbours, while in the evenings he dines with friends, spends time with Emma and Mr. Woodhouse and is generally very agreeable. In fact, the Mr. Knightley we find in this book, is from the first page onwards, a very satisfied man: with his friends and family, with his house and work. While some friends try to persuade him to marry, and Mr. Knightley does look around him to single women, he has no urge to marry just for the sake of marrying. So the story smoothly progresses, with Mr. Knightley dividing his time between London and his brother's family on the one hand and Highbury and his set of friends there.

And there you have it, this book, however undeniably pleasant it is to read, is also a bit boring. There's just not that much happening in the life and mind of our hero. Mr. Knightley might be more suitable for a husband than an engaging main character of a book! But this will surely change when he discovers he is in love with Emma, you say. Well, not as much as I hoped. While this discovery is indeed a shock to Mr. Knightley, he proceeds as he always does, sensibly trying to make out whether he has a chance to win the heart of his old friend and not falling into despair when this seems to fail. Mr. Knightly is the very opposite of Marianne Dashwood here ! Maybe in this respect Amanda Grange has made Mr. Knightley to tame (for lack of a better word). While in Jane Austen's Emma we don't get to know the inner feelings of Mr. Knightley well, I always feel there is a passionate heart behind the civilized exterior. His outburst to Emma after Box Hill and his declaration speech are nothing if not passionate, right?

So, while I think the portrayal of Mr. Knightley is a bit one-sided, and the largest part of the book consists of descriptions of dinner parties, this is a nice book to read for any fan of Jane Austen's works. Not a book which will change your view of Emma forever, but a good one to while away a rainy Sunday afternoon. And it has a sweet romance on the side of which we hear nothing in the original novel, but which I'm sure Jane Austen would approve of!