A Covenant of Marriage

By: C. P. Odom

Narrated by: Christopher Jarvis

Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

A covenant of marriage - legally binding, even for an unwilling bride!

Defined as a formal, solemn, and binding agreement or compact, a covenant is commonly used with regard to relations among nations or as part of a contract. But it can also apply to a marriage as Elizabeth Bennet learns when her father binds her in marriage to a man she dislikes. Against her protests that she cannot be bound against her will, the lady is informed that she lives under her father’s roof and, consequently, is under his control. She is a mere pawn in the proceedings.

With such an inauspicious beginning, how can two people so joined ever make a life together?

©2019 C. P. Odom (P)2020 C. P. Odom

spoiler/trigger warning

I liked the writing, and the premise for the book. But that came to a screeching halt when the book started veering into rape culture territory. The victim is forced to bed against her desires, then the assault is deemed ok because her body responded to the "gentle" assault. No does not mean no in this book.

Painfully realistic

I think very highly of this story, no sugar coating of reality of women’s lives in Austen’s era. It is exactly as Lydia’s adventure would have ended had it not been for Darcy’s interference in canon. She would have been abandoned and most likely with child, probably without Mrs. Younge’s small mercy of providing her an address of a shelter.

The fate of the whole family would be miserable and the remaining daughters would be treated as pariahs. Very sad and disturbing but the society was unforgiving.

Seeing Lizzy so sad, disillusioned and angry was painful. No spark of liveliness, just resentment. Her anger at Darcy was caused by all the years of fears, disappointment, injustice of being punished for the wrongs she had not committed. Poor Darcy, luckily he is made of strong mettle. And I loved Mr. and Mrs Gardiners good judgement by pushing ODC together against all odds. As independent as Lizzy was, she knew very well what duties a wife had and would have not questioned them. Luckily a good and loving husband can do wonders to improve his wife’s wellbeing.

It was a second book narrated by Christopher Jarvis and I enjoyed it immensely. His one man performance with all sound effects and distinguishing narration from characters speech is engaging. I’m looking forward to listening to more of his productions.
Highly recommended for JAFF lovers, but with a warning to be prepared for cruel reality of women’s life in JA times.

Better to actually read this

I hate the performance. When the narrator speaks as the characters it sounds like he is talking down a tunnel, also the sound effects are distracting. Elizabeth at the point of the story I am at now, is a bitter shrew. I would not recommend this book, I wish I had the kindle book of it instead.

Really enjoyed this story

Like the story ‘A most Civil Proposal’ by C.P Odom this narrative was like a play at the theatre. Christopher Jarvis is very skilled at doing different voices. Also sound effects contributed to the narrative. Really enjoyed it. I love how witty Lizzy banters with Darcy. I laughed out loud many times. I highly recommend this book to a Jane Austen fan fiction lover.

Loved this

The story takes our beloved characters and adds new dimensions. It also stands a couple of them on their heads and shakes them! Georgiana, for example, is VERY influenced by the nasty Caroline Bingley and does not take the relationship between Lizzy and Darcy well...at all!!!

In the beginning, Lizzy is very, very, angry and bitter as well, even more so than in any other variation, and it’s hard to listen to her tirades. There are also a few twists and changes but it all stays very true to JAFF.

Will look for more by this author.

One of the Best JAFF Reads!

Loved the unique approach to resolving Elizabeth’s and Darcy’s emotional issues with each other especially with the role of Aunt and Uncle Gardiner. Also loved the sound effects. The closing and intro music got a little tedious with short chapters, but it was a nice change to straight dialogue. Christopher Jarvis’ voices were pleasing to hear. Great production and performance. Thank you!

interesting

It lost a star because I found the musical embellishment annoying. Also, Elizabeth's speaking voice was much too deep for my taste.

Another Good Variation by Odom

Very enjoyable story. A bit of a slow start getting into the meat of the story, but once it does, it’s quite good. Thank goodness for the Gardiners is all I can say! Elizabeth, ever the shrew for a time it seems, was determined to be contrary. As always, she comes around. I did love the married couple. The Colonel does what Darcy never would with respect to Wickham. A judgmental Georgiana and friendly Fitzwilliams. No Lady Catherine for a change.

Great narration by Christopher Jarvis. I especially enjoyed his performance of Darcy. This particular audiobook contains sound effects such as walking away, horses galloping, or doors closing for example. At first I found it a bit distracting, as the several seconds of musical interludes between chapters took away from the overall speed of completing the book, but I got used to it and ultimately did not find it unpleasant.

One of my top P&P variations

This is excellent. Great story. There were a couple of times I would have liked to knock Elizabeth in the head for her stubbornness and downright meanness. Mr. Darcy was extremely faithful and patient and I loved his character. Col. Fitzgibbon was superb. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner are awesome. Lydia is a total disaster. There are a few new characters (Tom Reynolds and his wife mainly) that I enjoyed. Wickham gets the best comeuppance ever in this book,
The narrator was good, but the production irritated me due to the frequent piano music interruptions. There were slight sound effects (doors shutting, carriage wheels on the road, background conversation) that were not bad or distracting at all, but the frequent piano music (end of a scene, end of chapters and beginning of chapters) that I absolutely did not like.
I definitely will listen to this again, and again.

A very poetical “what if”

The music and the quotations ad beautifully to the well written story. One of the best.