Letter from Ramsgate

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

By: Suzan Lauder

Narrated by: Ofelia Oliver

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A simple letter shatters illusions and turns the world upside down!

On holiday in Ramsgate, Elizabeth Bennet befriends shy, romantic Georgiana Darcy, who shares and adoring description of an ideal elder brother. When Georgiana discloses a secret infatuation with her brother's "close friend" Mr. Wickham, Elizabeth's altered perception of both men affects her actions and alliances. The secret within an anonymous letter from Ramsgate ties Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth together, but also separates them. A second missive unlocks the disguise, but Mr. Darcy realizes his true passions too late to assist Elizabeth in her darkest hour. Will the shocking disclosure of a forgotten letter transform his understanding of her heart and lead them to embrace their future?

Letter from Ramsgate is a Pride and Prejudice variation suitable for most audiences.

©October 14, 2016 Suzan Lauder (P)2020 Suzan Lauder

Very Good

I first read this book in 2019 and enjoyed it. I believe I enjoyed it even more with the audiobook. Ofelia Oliver presents an excellent narration and a steady and not overdone performance, I definitely recommend this book and audiobook, as well as the narrator.

Douche Darcy

This is a well written beautifully narrated story. Truly, both the author and narrator did a wonderful job. All of the characters new and old were interesting and well illustrated. This with one glaring exception- Darcy. This Darcy was stupid, self-centered and prejudiced beyond all reason. He was all the worst of Darcy’s traits magnified 1000%. In this major area, the heart of the story is lost. It’s hard to root for a Lizzy and Darcy match in this story.

Enchanting story

Different start. In this book Elizabeth meets miss Darcy before she meets mr Darcy. She helps prevent the elopement but mr Darcy does not know. He believes she is a fortune hunter and acts accordingly. Very interesting romp. Enjoyed the narrator too.

What if Elizabeth Bennet Helped Rescue Darcy's Sis

Five years ago, I had the joy of reading this book for the first time and, this time, I had an all new appreciation for the writing and story because I was able to re-read in the audiobook format with new to me narrator, Ofelia Oliver.

My general impressions did not alter much from the first occasion. I was delighted that the book is a prequel-variation and focused on an off-scene portion of the original story that has always intrigued me- Georgiana's misadventure with a rake in Ramsgate. The author's colorful and unique take on familiar characters and scenes, adding in her own original characters, historical detail, and infusing some more turbulent, emotional and pivotal moments gives old fans of Austen and new historical romance lovers equal appreciation.

But, it's always interesting what adding the audio narration to a book can do. What felt emotional or slightly angsty before felt even more so. Darcy's thunderous reaction when he gets Elizabeth all wrong was painful to listen to. My heart broke for them both and I really wanted to kick him in britches for screwing it all up. But, of course, he had to go through this to come out at the other side a better man who was wiling to see his errors and change.

Another nuance that changed for me was how much more difficult the flips in timeline were to follow when listening because I sometimes didn't pay as close attention to the date/time announcements when I was caught up in the story and would end up getting confused until I realized we had backtracked and caught the situation from a different perspective.

This is a beautiful romance, but it is more than that. In truth, a goodly portion of the story, Darcy and Elizabeth are apart and interacting with others. There is a potential love triangle though not a real one when Darcy is determined to ignore his complicated feelings about Elizabeth because he never saw her letter of explanation and marry for duty. There is also Elizabeth's time with her family and friends and resignation that her love would remain unrequited. The longed for reunion struck me both times. Very satisfying, but also Elizabeth seemed to react oddly to me.

Ofelia Oliver's work as narrator was good. Soft and easy to engage from the start. Her voices, her tone and pacing, and the change of emotion with each scene was sensational. I'd definitely listen to her work again.

All in all, this was emotional, intense at times, and all around engaging. Those who enjoy Austenesque variations and/or sweet historical romance would be a good match for this one.

Georgianna and Elizabeth are friends

In this version Georgianna meets Elizabeth before Elizabeth meets Darcy. Georgianna tells Elizabeth that she plans to elope with Wickham and swears Elizabeth not to speak of it to anyone. Elizabeth wants to save Georgianna from making a tragic mistake. Mrs. Young is complicit with Wickham in his quest to elope with Georgianna and take her huge dower of thirty thousand pounds.

Darcy was horrible in his treatment of Elizabeth - the worst of any book I have read (except A Willful Misunderstanding - which is my favorite P&P variation). If I were Elizabeth I never would have forgiven him. I think the author portrayed Mrs. Young more sympathetically than she deserved and Wickham got off too lightly. The book was interesting in places, but was a little disjointed for my tastes and the characters did not shine as much as I wished they would.

Really slow middle

I enjoyed the narrator much more than the story which dragged quite a bit at the middle.