The perfect Mr. Darcy
January marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice , arguably her most popular work. To mark the anniversary, there are all sorts of events planned, from twelve hour readathons to themed balls . There have been a spate of articles this week about the book, including the one I saw today about all the different covers the various editions of the book have had over the last two hundred years. There have been a lot of them because the book has never been out of print. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Ms. Austen's book must surely be one of the most sincerely admired works of art ever. It sometimes seems that everyone and her dog has written a pastiche homage to the book. One of the latest of these was the dean of British mystery writers, P.D. James whose Death Comes to Pemberley came out in 2011. It was also one of the most successful efforts at channeling Austen's spirit, in my opinion. (I reviewed it here . ) A...