Expectations: A Continuation of Pride and Prejudice

By: Samantha Adkins

Narrated by: Elizabeth Winstanley

Six months after Pride and Prejudice, Darcy and Elizabeth are deeply in love. Elizabeth is planning her first ball at Pemberley, while Georgiana Darcy considers a life of spinsterhood. Wickham has used her so terribly, she cannot face another prospect.

However, her handsome neighbor, Phillip Lawson, is a continual distraction. Then, Lydia Wickham arrives uninvited with an alarming announcement. Can the Darcy's love survive?

©2010 Samantha Adkins (P)2018 Samantha Adkins

An Excellent continuation of Pride & Prejudice

I became a fan of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice at the age of “ten and six”. It was the first piece of classic literature that I truly enjoyed and opened my imagination to new genres. So, I am a huge fan and it would take a truly well written piece of work for me to find it a believable continuation of Austen’s original masterpiece. Samantha Adkins succeeded.

Expectations is written in three volumes: all are in this audiobook version. This story begins a short while after the marriages of Elizabeth to Darcy and Jane to Bingley. We revisit Pemberly and other estates known to us as well as some new places. As I said, Adkins tale really feels like we are continuing the tale of the Bennet family.

It was easy to become reinvested in the characters as originally imagined. Many of the characters continued to grow and change, but in a fashion that was true to how they were originally penned. If you ever wondered what happened to the Darcys, the Bingleys, the Wickams, the de Bourghs as well as the Bennetts et al, Expectations is the best choice I have come across to date.

The only concern I have about this version, is the quality of the audio. One can hear stops and starts throughout the story. That could be ignored if the narration was superb; however, I found it less exciting than expected. Elizabeth Winstanley has an aristocratic British accent - that aspect was a good choice. However, Ms. Winstanley did not create distinctive character voices which could have really added to enjoyment of the audio aspect. Personally, I would have enjoyed hearing Darcy have sexy and masculine voice. I have heard some female narrators achieve this. Unfortunately, this narrators voice, while lovely, sounded very mature. Her portrayal of Lady de Burgh and Mrs. Bennet suited; however, most of the characters are much younger, most under 30. That being said, I’ve noted there is another volume by Samantha Adkins also narrated by Elizabeth Winstanley and I intend to get it. If you are a fan of Pride and Prejudice, I strongly believe you will enjoy this continuation.

A Nice Version

I got this book via audiobook boom and this is my voluntary review. This might have been a nice version but it was difficult to listen to. The narrator repeated so many lines and sometimes the volume was so low I could hardly hear it. This occurred randomly throughout the story. Many of the parts that I could hear were enjoyable but it became a long and frustrating experience. I cannot really give it a good review since I could not get into the rhythm of the story because of the narration. I have listened to many versions and I believe this one fit with the others except for being able to hear parts of it. The humor was good though.

For a love of Jane Austen it's a great listen

The story is a takes up Pride and Predudice where it left off with all the expected cast. For me the narrator was spot on but there was a bit of noise that crept in the background once and awhile.

Wonderful Continuation- Terrible Sound Editing

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

No, I love the story but the sound editing was horrible- there was a lot of background noise, repeated sentences and even talking between the narrator and producer. The narrator did a good job and was pleasant to listen to. Had it not been for the sound editing issues, I would given the book a 5 star rating. I'm hoping they fix it quickly.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Another pride and Prejudice book.

I really liked the story and found it funny at times but the narrator put me off listening to it.

There was background nose and the narrator repeated herself at certain points. The audiobook needs editing.

I would recommend the book itself because I thought it was great.