Aunt Felicity

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

De: Shana Granderson A Lady

Narrado por: Karen Cass

What is one to do when a father arranges a marriage for them, one they find abhorrent, and will not listen to their opinions or desires?

Felicity is the daughter of Henry and Beth Bennet, and for his own reasons, her father decides to arrange a marriage for his daughter, who is seventeen, to the son of Augustus Collins, Clem. His reasoning is that he is not confident his son Thomas will ever marry, and if he does, he doubts the son's ability to produce a son. Given the entail to heirs male on Longbourn and that if there is no son of Bennet blood, the Collins line will inherit, Henry sees this as the only way to secure the future of Longbourn after he is called home to God. As a woman, the only recourse Felicity has is to refuse to say her vows, which her father has threatened will leave her banished from Longbourn with her dowry stripped from her.

At the same time, Lord Dryden Fitzwilliam, the Earl of Matlock, is determined that his second son, Reginald, will marry Lady Elaine Winston, the virago daughter of the Duke of Hertfordshire, as he craves an alliance with the powerful and extremely wealthy Duke. Her father had settled for a second son because none other would have her. Matlock wants another connection, as he had made when he married his older son, Jefferson, Viscount Hilldale, to the daughter of an earl he needed to be associated with.

Unlike Felicity Bennet, as a male, Reggie Fitzwilliam (who hates the hypocrisy of the Ton), being that he is well past his majority, cannot be forced to marry against his will as the settlement requires his own signature. He is training to be a barrister with the most prestigious firm in London when he is sent to Meryton to work with a solicitor who needs the services of a barrister. The solicitor is one Elias Gardiner.

The two whose fathers are attempting to bend them to their will, as far as matrimony goes, meet and end up eloping.

This tale tells of their early years together and their respective fathers' and families' reactions to their marriage. At some point, we arrive in 1811 with the leasing of Netherfield Park by Charles Bingley. A Darcy similar to canon is with his friend, and he behaves as we expect when he first meets the Bennets. He has, of course, no idea that his Aunt Felicity is also aunt to the Bennet sisters.

At the same time, the said sisters are not aware that they have another aunt, as, for his own reasons, their father has never mentioned her existence.

Not long after the infamous assembly, William Darcy writes a letter to his cousin and closest friend in the world, Richard Fitzwilliam, in which he shares his thoughts and reactions, including the slight at the assembly, with his slightly older cousin. Amused at his cousin's pride, Richard allows his mother to read the letter.

Felicity Fitzwilliam is not amused, and she decides it is time she met her nieces.

©2024 Shana Granderson A Lady (P)2025 Podium Audio

An Austenesque Family Saga

Loved Aunt Felicity's storyline more than ODC in this retelling of P&P. Some protagonists have exaggerated traits ( read off canon) but i chuckled and had heightened emotional reactions throughout. Jane/Bingley are again just too bland as a couple and i would have loved a twist to liven them up.
All in all, very enjoyable!

( It took me a while to get use to the narrator, but eventually it worked out well!)

Elizabeth’s unknown amazing aunt

I borrowed the book via KU, but then got the audiobook to go with. In this variation, we start many years before the canon Mr. Bennet is married. We watch as his father demands his only daughter to marry a violent Mr. Collins in order to secure Longbourn. Felicity Bennet is strong and vocal in her refusal to acquiesce to her father‘s demands. At the same time, Lord Matlock’s second son is being told he will also comply with an arranged marriage. As you can guess, these two meet and realize they could save each other, and they do. In this, they ended up discovering the classical “love match“. Much of his story from start to finish focuses around Felicity and her extended family, which includes the Bennets, but the Bennet family is unaware of her.

When we jump to canon time, Darcy is more forceful in repelling Caroline‘s climbing behavior. He still puts his foot in his mouth, but a letter to his cousin when read to his mother spurs her into action of reacquainting herself with the Bennet branch of the family. Her arrival changes so much in the Bennet household that it turns everything on its head.

Several things I enjoyed about this story was Darcy Sr was alive and he along with the rest of the family made things more interesting. Overall, I enjoyed this escape from reality. I can see myself listening to this again.

Almost perfect

I enjoyed the story of Thomas Bennet’s sister Felicity. Estranged from the Bennet family for many years, Aunt Felicity was unknown to the Bennet family, but in the meantime became a well loved relative in the Fitzwilliam and Darcy families. Darcy and Elizabeth were not aware of this connection when the incident occurred at the Meryton Assembly. This makes a very large difference in their story.
One thing causing me to give the story 4 stars was the glee with which the family dispatched the villains of the story. I am just uncomfortable when they are so severely dealt with and have no possibility of ever being redeemed.
But, this was a great story.

Well done expanded journey

I loved this story! Aunt Felicity is the sister of Mr. Bennett, this story starts when they are teens, when she marries a Fitzwilliam. So you get to see the earlier generation of both families before the part based on canon begins. She is a wonderful character full of intelligence and spunk, I loved her love story with Reggie Fitzwilliam, and the relationship she had with the whole family. This is a fun ride, full of lots of love, some tragedy, great relationship building and conversations.

I listend to another book by this author a bit ago and thought that book was ok, it lacked some depth and character I thought. This one nails it - it has really good character building and dialogue, the scenarios felt complete (it annoys me when stories jump from one scen to another without feelingn like the scene was complete or with out segway). the last book I felt like the narrator was a little flat - maybe that was due to lackluster dialogue - she was amazing in this book. Like SO GOOD!

I highly reccomend this story, it's funny, and witty, and smart and really well developed. And the narration was top notch! I may go back and re-listen to the previous book and see if I still feel the same way??

Aunt Felicity is as determined as her brother Thomas is indolent!

I loved the back story of Felicity and Reggie and their life together! The Bennet father tries to force a marriage on his daughter as does Lord Matlock on his second son. Years later and happily married, with an investigation the Bennet's done. Their nephew's insult at the assembly, brings Felicity, now a Countess back to Longbourn. Off canon characters, yes. Still Jane and Bingley (despite some improvement) are not especially interesting. I enjoyed the story and the villains getting their due, it seldom happens in real life, so that's why I enjoy fiction!