Something New to Observe A Pride and Prejudice Vagary

De: Kimbelle Pease

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

One warning, two cautions, and a note:

WARNING: In deference to a truth universally acknowledged that men do not behave the same when no women are present as they do in mixed company, this vagary does have occasional uses of profanity. The men in my life would consider it amusing but naïve to afford the same semantics of conversation for wholly different circumstances such as these, or they would should one of them choose to read it.

This vagary proposes an alternate telling of the original Pride and Prejudice and considers what may have happened should the characters have been afforded a slightly altered set of circumstances. What if Mr. Darcy had accepted quite early that he was falling in love with Elizabeth? What if Elizabeth was the least stubborn of her sisters? What if Mrs. Bennet was allowed to settle in mind and spirit? What if Mr. Bennet exerted himself on behalf of his daughters? What if Mr. Collins was in some way welcomed as the next owner of the estate? Those are only some of the twists within this tale, and while not canon, I hope I gave your favorite character a moment unto themselves that will make you smile.

CAUTION: I want to specifically state that this vagary is not for all Pride and Prejudice genre readers. If one reads to find fault in what is not canon, I’ve been most forthcoming about the fact that it is a vagary, so you should already be on your guard and perhaps pass it by. For those of you who are strict authoress-guidelines conscious, I will argue that in all time periods people spoke with the use of contractions. To that end, I was true to life rather than follow her pointed non-use of them. Outside conversation, however, you will not find them, and I hope that soothes any feathers which may be ruffled at such a bold defiance.

CAUTION: My editor also requested that I issue a point of clarification on her behalf. I confess that as an author em-dashes drive me nanabas, so in conflict with her excellent advice, I did not include many of them where she said they should be. Despise me for it if you must, but no novel, story, prose, or verse ever hinged on one’s use. The lacking or use of a comma, however, has cost millions. I promise that for those, I let her fully guide me.

NOTE: My personal pleasure in writing this book was the intent to make any who read it find themselves staying up at night; not because ODCs are near death, have been forced to do that which they despise, or are off chasing Lydia again, but because I believe I am not the only one of us who dearly loves to laugh.

Long and complicated

I absolutely dislike the virtual voice. It doesn’t have inflection and it’s hard to tell when it’s switching from one character to another. I wish you would go back to humans instead of computers.

Good Story

It's a shame it wasn't a traditional narrator. The story was good though. I wish there had been an epilogue.

Surprise ending!

I like how this author finds unique ways to enlighten characters who were notoriously ignorant in cannon. In this vagary, we see our beloved characters grow and evolve with a good dose of humor mixed into most scenes. The surprise ending is superb!

Why does a story set in Regency England have an American narrator?

Can u please change the narrator to a British accent. It is so painful to hear someone from modern day USA talking about reticules and all things Regency. If I could have given the performance negative stars, I would have. That being said, if you can change the accent, I will listen again and re-review. I enjoyed the story itself.

Unique storyline first half of book

I liked the uniqueness, but it got corny last third of the book. Very fast and predictable for me. The virtual voice had a lisp with many words, so that a bit distracting.

Confusing

Very confusing. Most of the time I listened I did not know what was going on. It was a pretty stupid book, all in all. The virtual voice performance was better than most I have heard.

What is the moral of the tale?

It is a moralistic tale with unrealistically brilliant female characters- accomplished and secretly rich. Unfortunately, I could not make out the moral of the tale. Apart from this, my main peeve is the flattening of the characters: there is just one personality shared by Jane, Elizabeth, Mary, and Charlotte to such an extent that it is difficult to distinguish among them. I usually do not mind the computer-generated voice, but in this case, I found it irritating.