Colonel Brandon's Diary (A Jane Austen Heroes Novel)

I love this book. Could not put it down. I have read several of this authors stories and look forward to reading many more. This book will be one I will reread over and over again.

Colonel Brandon relates the "back story" of his life. He has achieved a fortune and become an honored military man. But he lost the love of his life and turned his sadness into helping others. He is a hero in all areas. There is a happy ending .

Do you find Colonel Brandon romantic? Do you sometimes think he is better suited for Elinor than Marianne? Do you think he fell in love with Marianne because she resembles Eliza? Perhaps you'd like to get to know Colonel Brandon a little better and discover the answer for these questions yourself... If you are unfamiliar with this series, it is the retelling of Jane Austen's novels from the perspective of the male hero. No, it isn't all new and original material, but there is much understanding to gain by hearing the same story from another person's point-of-view. In "Colonel Brandon's Diary," Amanda Grange brings us new insight and comprehension for the seemingly silent and grave Colonel Brandon. In addition, she illustrates a heartrending backstory of his tragic love affair with his father's ward, Eliza.As a young man studying law at Oxford University, James Brandon is looking forward to only one thing on his holiday from school, and that is spending time with his beloved Eliza. He anticipates spending hours in her company, basking in their love for each other, and discussing future plans of marriage together. When his father announces that Eliza is to marry his libertine and alcoholic brother, James desperately seeks for a way to save Eliza from this fate and unsuccessfully attempts to elope with her. Unfortunately, James is unable to stop the marriage and in his anguish decides the best course for him is to join the army and leave England.Fourteen years later Brandon returns to England and inherits Delaford since his father and brother have both passed away. The only family he has remaining is Eliza's orphaned daughter, also named Eliza, who spends most of her time away in a boarding school. Colonel Brandon takes on the position of estate owner with adroitness and determination, and he works on restoring and improving Delaford and the land surrounding it to its former state before his mother died. He establishes a nice quiet life for himself with friends, tenants, and a ward. Yet this quiet life of his he will soon discover is not complete...Having read all the other books in this series, I was very eager to read "Colonel Brandon's Diary." Although "Sense and Sensibility" is not my most favorite Austen novel and Colonel Brandon is not my most favorite hero, I was looking forward to seeing him in a new light and acquiring a new sense of appreciation for him. Ms. Grange did not disappoint, just like with "Captain Wentworth's Diary," she created a viable and enlightening history for Colonel Brandon. I was delighted that she spent one third of the book outlining his life prior to meeting Marianne Dashwood, and I took pleasure in witnessing the emotional and poignant journey he experienced as a youth and observing how it impacted his character.In "Sense and Sensibility," Colonel Brandon is portrayed as a quiet and unassuming hero, not a dashing, passionate, and Byronic hero like Willoughby. However, after reading "Colonel Brandon's Diary," the reader will conceive that Colonel Brandon, with his strong character, devotion, patience, and yearning for Marianne is one of the most romantic heroes Jane Austen created. I enjoyed the accurate characterization of Colonel Brandon as well as the seamless integration of "Sense and Sensibility" with Ms. Grange's original material. Ms. Grange always approaches Jane Austen's novels and characters respectfully and knowledgeably and I admire her creativity and perception. My only wish is that she would dig deeper into these characters, tell their story a little more leisurely with more specifics and details.Austenesque Reviews

I have read four of Amanda Granges Diaries from the point of view of the men in Jane Austen's books. Jane Austen is my favorite author and I was looking forward to reading these books in order to get some insight into how the leading men in each book viewed what was happening in each story line. Amanda did not disappoint.

This novel was just okay. The only thing that kept me going: I pictured Alan Rickman in the title role.

Amanda Grange fleshes out Colonel Brandon's character very believably. I enjoyed this complement to Jane Austen's Sense & Sensibility very much. I would recommend to all Jane Austen fans.

If you are looking for a clean continuation of Jane Austen's novels without any sex scenes, this book is for you! I was disappointed to discover that so many of the Austen continuations were basically bodice-rippers in disguise. I really enjoyed reading about the events of "Sense and Sensibility" from Colonel Brandon's point of view--especially about the events regarding his ill-fated love for Eliza, his father's ward. As much as I love the movie version (and Alan Rickman), I enjoyed envisioning an entirely different Brandon.

I loved the original Sense and Sensibility, and the 1995 movie. I don't normally buy into the Jane Austen "sequels" and knock-offs, but Brandon is a favorite so this title intrigued. I thought it was well written and provided an interesting supplement to the story. I wish, however, the story hadn't been so balanced (50% of the story covers Brandon's life before meeting the Dashwoods, while the rest is S&S told from his POV). I would like to have read more pre-Sense narrative. Not sure if the diary format lends itself well to that, though. Still, I did enjoy the book.

Very good condition, item as stated, Prompt delivery. Thank you.

Ich kann es allen Austen-Fans nur ans Herz legen. Ist ein schönes Buch, auch wenn man die eigentliche Geschichte schon kennt. Man muss aber offen dafür sein, Charaktere ein bisschen anders und einfach aus einem anderen Blick kennen zu lernen.

J'ai toujours beaucoup aimé le Colonel Brandon dans Raison et Sentiment de Jane Austen, alors en savoir un peu plus sur ce qu'aurait pu être sa vie est un bonheur. C'est un Journal très fidèle à l'histoire d'origine et facile à lire pour des étrangers ayant un certain niveau d'anglais.

Es muy bueno, parece que la misma Jane austen lo haya escrito para describir el otro lado de la historia!!

Thank you, Amanda Grange, for realising the heroic and romantic potential of Colonel Brandon, which is merely suggested in Austen's `Sense and Sensibility'. Also, thank you for the first `parallel novel', or `missing scenes' tribute to a classic story, which not only works, but is beautifully written and well researched.Forgive my gushing praise of this delightful book, but every word is well deserved!Though not a fan of Austen's books, the patient, caring and devoted Colonel Brandon instantly won me over, despite the fact that he is absent for a good part of the story! Modern, younger readers of `Sense and Sensibility' - if there are any teenagers who discover Austen for themselves, without having her `genius' thrust upon them at school - will no doubt appreciate Willoughby more and wish that Marianne could have married her first love, but on second thoughts, I think that Austen made the right match for her more passionate heroine in the end. Yes, Willoughby is young and exciting and charming, but he is also shallow and selfish. Colonel Brandon is older - not elderly, at thirty-five, just older than Marianne's seventeen years - but he is deeper, wiser and his love for Marianne far more constant than the pretty playboy. So what if he will be a father figure as well as a lover to her - a calmer, more mature Marianne will need both companion and suitor to keep her happy.`Willoughby was nothing but a tawdry tale bound in gilt and leather, whereas you, dear Colonel, have in you the poetry of Shakespeare, though your cover is not so fine.'Colonel James Brandon - he doesn't even merit a first name in Austen's story! - is worth waiting for. For the many other readers who, like me, fell for him in `Sense and Sensibility', but felt cheated out of his company, `Colonel Brandon's Diary' is the perfect complement to the original novel. Tempted by the recounting Brandon gives to Elinor of his tragic love affair, and the contrast of a once lively and loving youth with the older, heartbroken man he becomes, Amanda Grange obviously had to bring this `good man' to life. And such is the author's familiarity and expertise with Austen's characters, in her dialogue and descriptions, that she can employ them expertly in her own version. Mrs Jennings is just as funny, but Miss Grange also adds her own wit in the form of Brandon's Wodehousian aunt and Eliza's landlady (`And then she said, "Maybe he's got the smallpox," but as I said to her, "I hope it's not the smallpox. Just think of my sheets," so then she said he probably dropped off his horse, as gentlemen have a habit of doing.')Whereas Austen also makes me laugh, however, only Amanda Grange's take on the story really touched my heart, or made me *sigh* with feeling. Reading this novel, which I absorbed in one day and will no doubt return to soon, I was struck with the realisation that Austen left the best scenes out of her book! Brandon's angry confrontation with his dissolute brother, his beloved Eliza's death and the tender love he has for her daughter, only to find that Willoughby has broken her heart and ruined her. The duel they fight, which is passed over in a line in `Sense and Sensibility', is all the more dramatic when experienced from the Colonel's point of view. His judgement sharpened by concern for Marianne - and perhaps a touch of jealousy - Brandon is able to see through the young pretender from the start: `he is all surface, with nothing underneath'. Willoughby's heartless treatment of both young Eliza and Marianne leaves him seething with rage, and the reader can only sympathise (and wish him good aim!)The story starts in 1778, with Brandon studying at Oxford and returning to Delaford only to learn that his father has promised Eliza to his elder brother, and opens his diary and his heart to the reader through disappointment, travel abroad, a change of fortune, grief, and hope, to his marriage with Marianne in 1798. Grange captures his voice and inner thoughts so well, growing older and darker with experience, but also makes Marianne an appealing and (more importantly) willing match. The Colonel sees and admires in her the same qualities that make her my favourite Dashwood sister, who is `as honest and open as the day' with her opinion. And whereas Austen's last word on their union is rather depressing, almost forcing Marianne to marry him for his money, Grange gives Marianne a rousing speech bidding `adieu', once and for all, to Willoughby (`And for whom did I almost die? A man who did not deserve my love') and shows her growing love and admiration, long overdue, for Colonel Brandon. The final scenes are so intimate and touching that I have now officially substituted Austen's hurried summary for Amanda Grange's thoughtful and lingering courtship:`You have loved and suffered, and yet it has not made you bitter, for you have the courage to love again. It is you who are the figure out of romance.'Colonel Brandon and Marianne have both loved and lost, which is ironic for her - who proclaimed that she did not believe in second attachments - but makes them right for each other. Bringing them together slowly and with patience, instead of pushing them together in the last paragraph, is the difference between a May to December arranged marriage and one of the sweetest literary romances I have ever read. And the difference between Jane Austen and Amanda Grange.