The Elizabeth Papers: A Pride & Prejudice Variation

De: Jenetta James

Narrado por: Catherine Bilson

"There are men, who if they knew the full truth, would say I have been a fool.”

It is 1817 and Elizabeth Darcy is mistress of Pemberley, adored by her husband and splendidly happy. She does not know what adversity awaits her family: mistrust, scandal, tragedy, and a secret that must be kept at all costs.

Almost 200 years later, Evie Martin does not even know that she is descended from the Darcys of Pemberley when their history disrupts her life. Who is Charlie Hayward, the charming, cynical private detective and why has he contrived to meet her? What are the elusive Elizabeth Papers, and why did Elizabeth Darcy herself want them destroyed?

The full story - both truth and lies - unravels in The Elizabeth Papers, an era-spanning tale of mystery, deception, and love triumphant.

"If we live it, then it shall become the truth."

©2020 Jenetta James (P)2020 Quills & Quartos Publishing

Sequel - Multiple Timelines

I liked this. Unlike many/most of the variations, a retelling/alternate history ... this is a "sequel" per se, taking place after the original P&P ended. There were three storylines: letters written by Darcy (1860), a journal/book written by Elizabeth (starting in 1817, 1st person/some present tense/some past) and then a "present day" (2014) timeline (3rd person/past tense, POV of Evie and Charlie).

I think one frustration I had was that the Table of Contents didn't reflect these POV divisions. Often, I might want to go back and re-read all the letters, or double check Elizabeth's entries, but I can't tell which is which from the TOC, they are just generic/numerical chapters. Even though it wasn't difficult to decern which timeline we were in, I think I would have appreciated headers or something of more distinction than just the date. In print, the Darcy letters were in italics. I happened to notice in audio, that for Chapter 1 (Elizabeth's diary) that a date was given in audio, but was NOT printed in the Kindle copy (and it is needed!)

A struggle with all sequels is ... it spoils the HAE. No life will be completely happy, with no issues, but sometimes it's hard to think of beloved characters continuing on with life's struggles. Here, there are some marital misunderstandings between D&E ... unhappiness(perceived?) with the birth of daughters and no son. An illegitimate babe. Secrets. Death.

In the "present day" one of the Darcy heirs (Cressida ... my pronunciation would match Bridgerton, Cress-i-da. Here in audio, it was Cress-SEED-a) suspects that some heirs receiving portions from a legacy trust may be questionable, and wanting their share for herself, wants to prove illegitimacy. We get to see this portion from the PI she hires, and from one of the heirs.

While the Darcy letters sound like actual letters ... any minute examination of the Elizabeth chapters do NOT sound like journal entries or something written by the character (which is almost always the case with "journals"). Always too much detail, dialog ... it always sound more like, well, a novel, written by an author.

There was a Bennet Darcy in this book's epilogue (as had been in another recent variation). I have always thought that would be a cute name for a Darcy heir.

AUDIO ... didn't love the narration. At the start, there was audible swallowing at the end of sentences. I almost had to give up on the book. It was also slooow. I had started at 1.5 speed, but had to up it to 1.75 (which is faster than I've listened to anything else). I probably could have sped it up further. I'm not sure if the speed reduced the swallowing sounds of if the narrator stopped them as the story continued.

Text included with KindleUnlimited.
Audio included in AudiblePlus.

Interesting story

A very interesting tale about Elizabeth and Darcy and how their life effects their descendants now living. Very well written and I recommend this book to a Jane Austen fan fiction lover. Great narrator as well.

Another great book!

Having read Jenetta James first book, Suddenly Mrs. Darcy, and absolutely loving it, I’ve had The Elizabeth Papers on my “to read” list for years. I finally picked it up and I’m so glad I did. It was silly of me to think that I would listen in short amounts everyday. Instead I ended up listening whenever I could because I just couldn’t put it down. This definitely is one of my favorite P&P centered novels.