Elizabeth: Obstinate Headstrong Girl

The Quill Collective, Book 5

By: Joana Starnes, Amy D'Orazio, Jenetta James, Karen Cox, Christina Morland, Elizabeth Adams, Beau North, J. Croft, Leigh Dreyer, Christina Boyd

Narrated by: Elizabeth Grace

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

“Obstinate, headstrong girl!”

For over 200 years, the heroine of Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennet has enchanted and inspired readers by being that “obstinate, headstrong girl” willing to stand up to the arrogance and snobbery of her so-called betters. Described by Austen as having a “lively, playful disposition,” Elizabeth embodies the perfect imperfections of strong-willed women everywhere: she is spirited, witty, clever, and loyal. 

In this romance anthology, 10 Austenesque authors sketch Elizabeth’s character through a collection of re-imaginings, set in the Regency through contemporary times. In Elizabeth: Obstinate, Headstrong Girl, she bares her most intimate thoughts, all the while offering biting social commentary about life’s absurdities. Elizabeth overcomes the obstacles of others’ opinions, not to mention her own flaws, to find a love truly worthy of her - her Mr. Darcy - all with humor and her sparkling charm. “I think her as delightful a character as ever appeared in print...” wrote Jane Austen in a letter to her sister Cassandra, in January 1813, and we think so too! 

Foreword by New York Times and USA Today best-selling author Tessa Dare. 

Stories by: Elizabeth Adams, Christina Boyd, Karen M Cox, J. Marie Croft, Amy D'Orazio, Leigh Dreyer, Jenetta James, Christina Morland, Beau North, and Joana Starnes.

Each anthology in the Quill Collective series is a standalone book.

©2020 Christina Boyd dba The Quill Ink, LLC (P)2020 Christina Boyd dba The Quill Ink LLC

Critic reviews

“Well paced, with lovely diction and an even lovelier accent, this is an audiobook performance that I could listen to again and again.” (BookWorlder)

“Elizabeth Grace gives the impression of an ensemble cast, not a one woman performance.” (Jorie Loves a Story of #SatBookChat) 

“The stories are all beautifully written. Each one feels true to the time in which it is set. The language and speech patterns all feel authentic and natural, which can be a difficult thing to accomplish. In all the stories, both Lizzy and Darcy are, for the most part, well-drawn and realistic.” (Readers’ Favorite)

Great Book, Extraordinary Narrator

What make a great book???
The NARRATION of course! E.G. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
I loved the different variations of P&P, But the narrator was so GOOD. I had to get other books by her. She portrayed each character with concise perfection. The Book had so many different ways to look at P&P, I had to adjust to some of the stories... But, E.G. Carried me through.😊

Outstanding

This is quite an outstanding collection of works. I enjoyed all of them but I enjoyed 1-7 & 10 the most.
I will definitely be listening to this audiobook again and again.

Marvelous!

Like falling in love over and over again! This was an excellent book of short stories, narrated by a beautiful voice! You must add this collection to your collection!

Superb narration. Fantastic Stories!

I have nothing but praise for Elizabeth OHG! Before I get into the heart of the audiobook. the narrator can really make or break the experience for me. Elizabeth Grace’s narration is superb. Her voice is calming with enough range to give feeling to each individual character. I was charmed a few sentences into the foreword.

What really hooked me on the idea of this particular audiobook was being able to listen to a story a day. I found myself actually looking forward to mindless chores in the morning because I knew I was going to be hanging out with Elizabeth and Darcy again. So, if you are like me and have a hard time focusing on a long drawn out audiobook. I highly suggest giving this one a go! The stories were fun, easy to listen to, and engaging.

I really enjoyed all of the stories, but my two favorite parts were actually the beginning and the end. Tessa Dare’s foreward is insightful and really sets the pace for the stories to follow. Christina Boyd’s story, which wraps up the collection, is powerful, thought-provoking, and tear-inducing. I found myself wiping away tears as though Elizabeth and Darcy had been life-long friends and I had been with them every step of the way. In one little story, Christina effortlessly shows why we keep wanting more of these stories -Because they are OUR Elizabeth and Darcy.

A Little Something for Everyone

Another excellent entry in Quill Ink's series of Pride & Prejudice-themed anthologies; I continue to be impressed with Boyd's tight curation of stories from a strong selection of authors who present interesting and varied takes on otherwise well-trod territory. I've long said short story anthologies are a great way to discover new authors, and these anthologies (The Darcy Monologues, Dangerous to Know: Jane Austen’s Rakes & Gentlemen Rogues, Rational Creatures, and Yuletide, which was an utterly delightful Christmas-themed collection) are an excellent illustration of that point. Each author really does bring a completely different perspective and style to the table, which means there's likely something for everyone, and maybe a new perspective or style or author that readers may find themselves taken with. (I did.)

Though there were times the collection fell a touch flat for me (and of course, with an anthology, one person's flat is another person's favorite), there were also stories here that I know I'll return to and reread (or re-listen-to!), potentially many times. Stories I'd love to see get the full-length treatment, even. I'm enthralled with the idea of Darcy and Lizzie amidst the glitz and fast-talking of Old Hollywood, in love with Lizzie-the-Suffragette, and surprisingly smitten with near-contemporary* tech-nerd Darcy and Lizzie. There are stories that are poignant, stories that are fun and flirty, stories that are traditional, stories that are modern. Really, there truly is something for every type of Janeite.

Elizabeth Grace's narration is smooth and engaging, and she even does a passable American accent when the story calls for it! Highly recommended for fans of Austenesque fiction.

*I'm not calling the 80s "historical," dammit. I refuse!

Excellent

The narrator did an excellent job with all the different accents. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the stories in this anthology.

I LOVE IT

I read the book and loved it and the audiobook is just as great. Elizabeth Grace does a fantastic job at the different voices and changing the pitch or timbre of her voice to differentiate between the characters. It is fantastic and I highly recommend it.

Wonderful anthology

The complete anthology was absolutely brilliant, the stories was well written and the narration was completely enjoyable. I especially loved the regency set stories, especially the busy lane at Longbourn was my absolute favorite story. But everyone of the stories was really good.

Another great anthology

To my great pleasure some of the best JAFF authors got together and wrote stories about our beloved heroine Elizabeth Bennet. From Regency to Modern times she remains a delightful and infuriating obstinate, headstrong girl. And Darcy never fails to fall under her spell. Their falling in love was always a pleasure to read about, though their misunderstandings were numerous as usual. The stories were funny, romantic, sad and joyful, our beloved couple always stayed true to themselves.

I'm a great loved of Regency variations and those written by Amy D'Orazio, Moana Starnes, Christina Moreland and Elizabeth Adams were excellent.

I'd like to mention separately a debut story written by our incomparable editor Christina Boyd. It was beautiful, insightful, with a touch of sadness. I'm looking forward to reading more of Christiana 's stories.

I liked Modern stories as well, but it's not the first time that I enjoyed them more listening to them than while I had been reading them. It has all to do with excellent narration by Mrs. Grace, a narrator I hadn't known before but I'm looking forward to listening to again. Resistive Currents by Karen Cox and The Last Blind Date by Leigh Dreyer were especially pleasurable to listen to cut to the narrator 's talent of distinguishing different backgrounds in speaking. Her slightly stuttering Darcy was absolutely adorable.
Congratulations on the release of this wonderful new anthology.
Highly recommended.

Delightful!

I enjoyed this one tremendously. I’ve already listened to Dangerous to know and Rational creatures from Quill collective and found them entertaining, but this one is almost a perfect win. Every story except maybe the Age of Nescience captured and excited me. There’s something magical about hearing the essence of Lizzy portrayed across time, space and possibilities. I’m sure I’ll revisit this one 🥰

Wonderful book, wonderfully narrated!

What a treat! Elizabeth Grace reads with such clarity and versatility that you forget that you're listening to her and simply become fully emersed in the narrative, the characters and the story lines. She becomes the living embodiment of the work.
Elizabeth also has a beautifully warm and engaging tone and a stunning range of accents at her finger tips. Superb!