Alias Thomas Bennet

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

By: Suzan Lauder

Narrated by: Jacq Ainsworth

Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's Summary

Of most interest to Bennet was Mr. Darcy of Pemberley. 

When Fitzwilliam Darcy attends the Meryton assembly, he befriends a quiet, intelligent gentleman. In frequent visits to his friend’s home, he becomes acquainted with the Bennet family of Longbourn. Yet Mr. Darcy is distracted by a strange feeling of having met some of them before. 

This is a different Bennet family from the cleverly crafted one in Jane Austen’s Pride & Prejudice. This Mr. Bennet is a responsible gentleman who takes an active role in the education and upbringing of all five of his daughters, manages Longbourn to be prosperous, and displays loving guidance toward Mrs. Bennet - a gentle, caring mother and wife. 

There is a mystery lurking at Longbourn - a secret unknown even to Elizabeth Bennet - and Mr. Darcy is entangled in its extraordinary revelations. 

Who is Thomas Bennet? 

This book contains one brief scene of nonexplicit sexual violence that may be concerning to sensitive listeners. The sexual violence does not include Elizabeth Bennet.

©2013 Suzan Lauder (P)2020 Suzan Lauder

trigger warning ⚠️ RAPE

What the actual hell!?! Just after all the Bennett family is introduced in a lovely way, there is a flash back to Mrs. Bennett's coming out party where a detailed account of her being RAPED is forced upon you the listener. I don't care what it adds to the story line later on. I'm done. Do not come at me with that garbage with no warning. Bullshit.

The Mysterious and Enchanting Bennets and Romance!

Variations can be such fun adventures off the map. This one asks the question 'what if Mr. Bennet was a different person?' How would this effect the P&P story? And folks, let me tell you, the answer to that is A LOT. I enjoyed the mysterious atmosphere around the Bennets that led to some amazing reveals as the story progressed.

I loved exploring a Bennet family and household where Mr. Bennet is not just clever, but dutiful, loving, industrious, firm, and has a lot of secrets. There was the trickle effect of a wife who has a tendency toward nerves, but keeps them well regulated with his help and thus can focus on her children, of a home and estate in much better condition so that the family circumstances aren't as bad, of daughters who are fundamentally the same, but have been guided and taught so that the good traits and skills learned shine.

The author let the sequence of events parallel events in the original story- the arrival of the party at Netherfield, the Assembly, arrival of Wickham and Collins, the Netherfield party departing to London, Hunsford, misunderstandings answered, Lady C and Wickham drama again.

But, not only does each scene alter greatly because the players are altered, there are also situations that arise. Because think if Lizzy and Lydia do not succumb to Wickham's wiles, he will turn them on someone else. And there are other changes that set off a new chain of events. It was clever how the author incorporated these with events that are recognizable.

And lest you think everyone is perfectly perfect and we don't have any pride or prejudice in sight, not true. Darcy has his pride though it isn't as severe because the Bennet aren't so objectionable. Lizzy has her prejudice toward Darcy's pride though she's not as blind as to not see through Wickham's woes and flirting. Caroline, Lady Catherine, and Mr. Collins are still amazingly full of folly to keep one entertained.

I think my favorite part of the book was Thomas Bennet. Shazam! He gave Darcy a run for his money in the hero department. This was definitely his story.

The story clips along at a good pace with moments of drama and suspense to keep things interesting. There are some disturbing elements of classical gothic darkness like the blackhearted ravishing Marquess in the beginning who is the catalyst for all that comes after. Wickham is much more dastardly, too.

I will say that the romance elements have some decided spice to them. Darcy and Lizzy are lustier versions though they keep to the correct side of the line. I enjoyed all the storylines that even include a romance for Mary and the continued romance of the older Bennets.

This was my first time with narrator Jacq Ainsworth and I delighted in her rendition of the character voices. She caught the tone of the story and captured gender, class, and individual traits in the characters so well that I was entranced and reluctantly set the story aside when I had to.

All in all, I had a fabulous time with this story that greatly varied from the original to do a fascinating 'what if' exploration of Mr. Bennet. Austenesque fans should really give it a go.

Really lovely story

Very well written and what an adventure they had. I was so entertained that I could hardly put the book down (or my iPhone while listening) it was so good. I highly recommend this book to a Jane Austen fan fiction lover.

Okay, but NO!

I wish I could give this a better rating but... Jesus Christ.

First of, the narrator's intonation annoyed me so much. Especially in the beginning, she does this thing where every sentence follows the same intonation pattern, dropping a little in tone on the last few syllables. That would be fine if it was once in a while, but it felt like every other sentence in the beginning. It does seem to get better as the story progresses, but I am still not sold on the narrator.

Secondly, the story... oh, the story. It doesn't feel like the Longbourn that we know and love. Yes, it is a "what if?" story, and as such, it seems to work (I still have 5 1/2 hours left, but was compelled to leave this review now due to my next point), but it just doesn't really feel like Pride and Prejudice. It's just a little too removed from the source material.

Thirdly, why I decided to review this with 5 1/2 hours still left; I know that some P&P sequels like to delve into a more, shall we say, sexual version of the story. I personally prefer that they don't, but of done tastefully, it can work. However, in this story, I felt like one second we were hearing about Elizabeth's intellectual prowess, and the next second, Darcy is quite literally stroking himself to the thoughts of her. It seemed disjointed and I physically cringed when it came out of nowhere. It wasn't handled in a way that fit into the story or rang true to the original character.

It's a somewhat decent story, just no really as a reimagining of P&P - it's a few degrees too removed for that.