Compulsively Mr. Darcy

Benneton’s contemporary debut rides the wave of Austen-mania as miscues and misunderstandings threaten to separate Fitzwilliam Darcy, an obsessive-compulsive millionaire, and Dr. Elizabeth Bennet, an infectious disease specialist working in Vietnam. Darcy travels to Da Nang to support wealthy friends who are adopting a trendy Vietnamese baby, but he’s driven to distraction by imagined tropical perils and hides in his hotel room. Once he and Elizabeth meet, there is definite chemistry, but their courtship is doomed first by Darcy’s shame about his disorder and second by Elizabeth’s assumption that he and Charles Bingley are a couple. Worse, Darcy’s manipulative Aunt Catherine and her conniving stepdaughter have their own ideas about the shape of his marital future. Die-hard fans of everything Austen will enjoy this update of her classic tale. Agent: Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (Feb.)