Is there a more famous opening line in literature than, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of … many romance novels, must be in want of a book boyfriend." Hold on—book boyfriend? Pride and Prejudice is at the heart of Freya Sampson’s original, poignant, romantic story, which riffs delightfully on myriad Pride and Prejudice offshoots, like Colin Firth’s Darcy and Janeites descending on Bath.
Once Londoner Zoe Knight thought of herself as a romance writer. She showed early promise, but her confidence withered under the hyper-critical analysis of her boyfriend and fellow writer Crispin Carter. During the years they lived together, Zoe was Crispin’s cheering squad, amanuensis, and a supportive Martha to his star turn as Mary. But after Crispin finally “sold his book to a prestigious publisher,” he broke up with Zoe and turfed her from his flat. Her life spirals downward: she’s broke, despondent, and lonely. Other than meeting her childhood friend Bianca every week for drinks and working at Cake Expectations, a café where the employees are expected to “dress up as famous fictional characters,” Zoe hibernates with her cat, Mr. Wickham, and escapes into a fantastical world inhabited by her perfect man, Fitzwilliam Darcy. She and Bianca are passionate about romance novels—so much so that if you overheard their conversations, you’d think Edward from Twilight and Anthony Bridgerton were real people.
Every romance needs a meet cute, right? But what happens after Zoe ducks into Baskerville Books, trying in vain to escape a deluge worthy of Noah’s Ark, is anything but cute. She’s written the bookstore off because of its off-putting window display.
It’s just that it’s filled with what my best friend, Bianca, and I refer to as “dick lit”: books written by middle-aged men, for middle-aged men. There are different genres within dick lit, such as “Action DL” (often featuring plots to overthrow governments, car chases, and superfluous women with prominent breasts), “Motivational DL” (with titles like 30 Days to Get Rich and Win the Girl), and “Literary DL” (which are overly long, utterly pretentious, and win all the big literary prizes).
Back to drowned-rat Zoe. “In a blind panic,” she runs to the nearest shop (Baskerville Books), and collapses “in a heap of swear words, sodden hair, and see-through cotton.” Zoe perks up when she sees the beautiful interior of the bookstore. She asks, “Do you have a romance section?” “No.” What about Emily Henry? Nope. Marian Keyes? She goes on and on until she asks, “What about Jane Austen?” No, again. The rain has stopped but Zoe wants to know why the attractive bookseller doesn’t sell romance. Zoe and Nick Baskerville, a young man with striking blue eyes and a bedhead of “messy, dark-blond hair,” have at it, hammer and tongs. Zoe gets so exasperated, when she spots a dusty copy of Pride and Prejudice on a high shelf, she grabs it. When Nick refuses to sell it to her, she sticks it in her bag and runs out the door.
Zoe dumps the whole story on her friend Bianca and proceeds to get plastered. She falls asleep on a double-decker bus on her way home. Somehow, she pulls herself together in the morning and goes to work, choosing to dress up as Elizabeth Bennett. Unbelievably, Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy, in the flesh, walks into the café. Madness and mayhem ensue. Zoe takes Darcy home with her to shield him from his terrifying mind out of body experience. He sort of adjusts whilst hanging out at Zoe’s flat, falling for Nutella and RuPaul's Drag Race All Stars. Zoe hides away from the world, cherishing her platonic time with the fictional man of her dreams but soon enough, she starts to fret about Darcy’s sudden appearance. How did it happen, and why? Has this fictional time hopping ever happened before? All the while, Nick desperately tries to persuade Zoe to give him back the ancient Pride and Prejudice she “liberated” from his bookstore. Seems there’s a connection between Zoe’s purloined copy of Pride and Prejudice, her state of mind at the time, and Darcy’s appearance.
It all comes to a head at her bestie Bianca’s engagement party. Fitzwilliam Darcy, adopting the name of Will for the evening, accompanies Zoe. As fate would have it, Nick Baskerville is at the bar, having a drink (he’s a college friend of Bianca’s fiancé). Nick and “Will” get into it. It’s the stuff of fantasies—two gorgeous men fighting over Zoe. But reality can’t be ignored. Will the connection between the physical Pride and Prejudice book and Darcy’s appearance in the 21st century alter the plot of the book? Unintended consequences rear their ugly head.
Most Ardently Yours turns romance upside down. Don’t we all dream of the magic elixir that transforms our lives? Remember the cautionary tales of childhood fairy tales? What happens when the poor fisherman is granted three wishes? It’s Zoe who has the power to transform her life, if she but believed that.
It’s a perfect book to read on the beach or curled up in an armchair—a book for all seasons. Most Ardently Yours is transformative and LOL funny. Brava Freya Sampson.
Thank you Janet for swinging by the Bat Cave! For more reviews from Janet, check out her work at Criminal Element and her GoodReads page.
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