Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife

Pride and Prejudice Continues

By: Linda Berdoll

Narrated by: Rosalyn Landor

Length: 28 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

Every woman wants to be Elizabeth Bennet Darcy - beautiful, gracious, universally admired, strong, daring and outspoken - a thoroughly modern woman in crinolines.

And every woman will fall madly in love with Mr. Darcy - tall, dark and handsome, a nobleman and a heartthrob whose virility is matched only by his utter devotion to his wife.

Their passion is consuming and idyllic - essentially, they can’t keep their hands off each other - through a sweeping tale of adventure and misadventure, human folly and numerous mysteries of parentage.

Hold on to your bonnets! This sexy, epic, hilarious, poignant, and romantic sequel to Pride and Prejudice goes far beyond Jane Austen.

©2004 Linda Berdoll (P)2007 Random House Audio

A perfect ending to an amazing classic

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

YES! Because it takes you on a journey that all of us have pondered, what happens after Elizabeth and Darcy Marry~!

What did you like best about this story?

I think it was ideal how Berdoll kept the same characters and personalities from pride and prejudice. When she did introduce the few new characters she brought them to life seamlessly within the story and made me comfortable with them.

Which character – as performed by Rosalyn Landor – was your favorite?

I Loved how she changed her voice from Female to Male, an EXCELLENT performance. mostly I enjoyed her as Darcy.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I'm not good at that tag line stuff. maybe LOVE, SEX, and ADVENTURE!??

Any additional comments?

I appreciate how Berdoll at the end finished the story- explaining what happened with each character not leaving anyone out. the characters she purposely wrote about had an ending and made you feel like you were informed about everyone.

What you expect.

There are plenty of reviews summing it up as it is: a really smutty, really long story with plenty of drama and scenarios that probably would never happen. But you know what? I listened to all 40-something hours.

Long but worth it

I've read many reviews of this book on either extreme end of the love/hate spectrum. I fell toward the loved it end. I loved the language, which becomes more relaxed and more easily comprehensible as the book unfolds. There are wonderful storylines and intriguing developments, however, this work would've benefited from editing some of the lesser-important characters' back stories and some of the repetitive plot points (repeated misfortunes, suffering, moments of passion) in favor of a tighter story arc wherein the point of some expository moments becomes clearer earlier. As it reads it sometimes felt like the story was adrift on irrelevant tangents and the suffering was a slog. I loved Darcy and Lizzie in this. The performance was excellent (if Darcy a little stodgy). It wraps up in an exciting, gratifying way. Worth it!

An epic novel!

I've read a few reviews for this that complain "This isn't Austen." Which it absolutely is not. This is more in the style of Gone with the Wind or East of Eden or Doctor Zhivago. It is a great epic novel spanning many years. Austen's style falls almost entirely into farce so the mood is really completely different. This story is 93 chapter broken into Three Parts, so it's a completely different animal than the relatively short Austen novels. That said, I believe all of our old favorite characters maintain their core traits and that events proceed in a way that is true to the original characters and the time period, even if it does not maintain the tone of the source material.

This is not a happy ride from beginning to end, but through it all there are still some laugh out loud moments that I thought were in keeping with Austen's example. The language in this story is somewhat cumbersome, even for a period drama, that being said I think the audio format really works in it's favor, making some of it a bit more digestible to modern ears.

I had so much fun listening to this. It was completely enthralling, action and intrigure from the first to the last. There are some jumps between characters and perspective that are, at first, a little jarring, and later can confuse the order of events a bit. As events progress and you get to know some of the new chsracters it's a little easier to tell when the time jumps back and forth occur. I think another reviewer said this but I'll throw my hat in as well and say I cannot believe this hasn't been made into a either a miniseries or just an outright series. I think the time jumps and perspective changes and location changes would transfer well to a large scale series like that.

The narration of this is excellent, I don't have a lot to comment on there because I barely had any conscience thought about the narration because I was so completely and utterly absorbed into the story. I think in the audio world that's probably the best compliment you can give. Flawless performance in my mind.

I'm not an expert on novels, or Austen, or anything in general but wow did I love this, just such a joy to experience. So for what that's worth I offer that up to you to decide whether or not you'd like to give it a try. I warn you, if you've been devouring Pride and Prejudice variations like I have, many of which are of extremely dubious quality, this will very likely ruin all the others for you because it's just on a completely different level from any of the others. That said, I'm just glad I stumbled upon this. In fact, I loved it so much I'm going to see if I can buy a hard copy just to have in my little home library.

Wow!

This story is amazing. I thought 28 hours sounded a long while, but it would have been a pleasure to listen to yet another 28. I normally do not read books filled with tons of drama, but this was written in an Austen style and the drama woven so well into the tale. I wept and laughed and my emotions were on a rollercoaster! I wholeheartedly recommend this book.

Excellent, but not for everyone

I know this book isn’t for everyone, but I unabashedly love it. Austen purists do not approve, but it’s fan fiction, and I do—approve, that is. Sure, some of the things that take place in the book are shocking and not what some readers might expect in the character of Darcy; and despite the many shortcomings of both he and Elizabeth, I love their story as written in this book. I think it’s an honest depiction of what may have happened behind closed doors at that time. I also enjoy Berdoll’s sense of humour. A good chortle now and then is always fun.

This audiobook is really outstanding. Rosalyn Landor is a truly talented narrator and performer. Her voices are well done and unique to one another. Her performance captures all the nuances of grief, pain and humour. Her pace is excellent and remains consistent and constant throughout this 28-hour listen. A credit very well spent. If I had one small critique, it would be that her Colonel Fitzwilliam sounded a little too old—more like a Lord Matlock would.

Mature content.

Interesting

I love Pride & Prejudice. I found this "continuation" interesting and enjoyable. There are some twists and turns that I never saw coming with many of the characters. Some I really liked and some I still find hard to believe but I still enjoyed the book. I would recommend for anyone who likes "what if" stories. I do. Also, Rosalyn Landor is exceptional as usual - you can't go wrong with her reading.

Love it love it !!

I really could not stop listening to this I listen to it on my long drive. I listen to it at home cleaning, organizing whenever I could. it was so good! it was just like watching a movie! I am looking forward to listening to it again
I feel I could just finish it and then restart it!!
It was the best audible book I have ever listen to!! The best voice drama!!

Amazing!!!!

Very entertaining and true to the characters. I enjoyed reading this book a lot and would recommend it to all Jane Austen fans

Decent book,,,

I liked this story it was ok. I think that it was filled with way to many events. I felt like saying give them a break ready. Also I wasn't a big fan of the story teller, an old woman. I think if they had used someone younger clouded to Elizabeth's age it would have been much more captivating.