Madness in Meryton

A Pride & Prejudice Variation

By: Jayne Bamber

Narrated by: Amanda S. Brown

Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's Summary

When Jane and Elizabeth Bennet return home from Netherfield, two days of heavy rain confine them indoors with their unruly younger sisters, a mother in perpetual need of smelling salts, and the tedious Mr. Collins. When the rain clears, the ladies from Longbourn and the gentlemen from Netherfield are drawn to Meryton by the excitement of Market Day, setting in motion a series of significant events. 

That night, Mrs. Phillips hosts a card party for officers of the local militia, where the charming Mr. Wickham tells Elizabeth his shocking history with Mr. Darcy, a man who has only given Elizabeth offense since coming to stay with his friend Mr. Bingley at Netherfield. 

The next day, the same thing happens again. 

And again, the day after that - and so on, for what begins to feel like an eternity. Elizabeth takes increasingly drastic measures to further the budding romance between her beloved sister Jane and their handsome neighbor Mr. Bingley. Along the way, she arranges improvements in the lives of all of her family, in a effort to end the relentless redundancy that only she seems aware of. 

As Elizabeth’s frustration turns to madness, she soon realizes that her inexplicable dilemma is somehow connected to a certain officer and a certain gentleman of her acquaintance....

Elizabeth must forge unlikely alliances and devote her considerable wit to the task of achieving a perfect day for those she holds dear, while facing familiar Fitzwilliam friends and foes, as well as all the mortification and delight of falling in love. 

©2020 Jayne Bamber (P)2021 Jayne Bamber

Divine

Simply Exquisite storyline. At first I thought it was going to be another PNP meets Groundhog's Day but it is oh so much more. Of course, the book is no where near canon but it does not retract from it's enjoyment. I highly recommend it.

One of the best variations yet...

I loved this Groundhogs Day twist!! Very well written and the characters were believable for the most part. I especially loved the couple pairings at the end. Nicely done!

Groundhog day!

Loved this story. Then again I love time travel. So this was perfect. Also Caroline Bingley has feelings too.

The Best "Groundhog Day" Variation

This is without question my favorite of the Pride and Prejudice variations to tackle this kind of plot. It so expertly weaves together all of the characters major and minor and had several genuine surprises for me throughout.

I especially enjoyed Colonel Fitzwilliam in this variation, he was so much fun. Caroline Bingley even has a believable and well done arc that I really enjoyed, it wasn't over the top one way or the other like some of them can be.

As always Ms. Bamber truly utilizes the full cast of characters given in Pride and Prejudice and it makes it all the more fun.

I was really and truly impressed by this and if you are looking at it thinking "Ugh I've read this one before, or similar enough" then trust me you're wrong.

I also really loved the narrator, everyone had a distinct voice and she even brought a but of theatrics to her reading that really added to the story.

I would give it 100 stars if I could, well done!

Absolutely wonderful

This is an excelente Jaff. True to Jane Austen, funny and intriguing. One of the best I have read

Loved this version!

This was such a wonderful version and I’m so glad I listened! I was unsure about the voice actor as I usually listen solely Stevie Zimmerman but I loved the acting by Amanda and will be sure to listen to more from her!

Hilarious and constantly surprising

I couldn't stop listening, to the point I went searching for the book for those moments when I needed to have my ears available for other things.

Every time it seems as though a resolution may be reached, new complications arise. Who can be trusted, and how much can be revealed when time won't stop repeating? Sure, the results will reset with a new day, but they must be lived with until bedtime at least.

Jayne Bamber has a talent for taking Austen's characters and developing them in an unpredictable manner, yet keeping close to the original.

Amanda Brown is impressively versatile with the characters, yet never seems to make them so comical as some are portrayed in the film adaptations.

Thank you for some excellent entertainment while suffering a head cold.

Loved it! Fun, Funny and Romantic!

A lot of the events repeat themselves, as one would expect, but I never mind this with a Pride and Prejudice variation since I love the story and the characters so much!

Interesting new takes!

I've listened to and read a lot of JAFFs and I really liked some of the ideas from this story. My main issue is that it seemed a little longer than it needed to be, and I'm sorry to say but the narrator was extremely distracting to me for most of the story... the voices just didn't seem to match and it was hard to tell between the characters at times.

Very enjoyable!

One of my favorite Pride and Prejudice variations, with the interesting twist of Elizabeth channeling Bill Murray in Groundhog Day. Just like in the cult favorite movie, there are some days that are so tedious and exasperating, but each one brings you closer to the perfect ending.

All of the usual PNP characters play their role, mostly in character. I would have liked to have seen a bit more of Lady Catherine but there was enough of the sniveling Mr. Collins to make up for her absence. As always, some of the personalities take unexpected arcs that leave you guessing their true natures until the very end.

And the narration was fantastic! Well done all around.

This book was hard work

I really struggled to get through this book. The story really dragged, and there was so much silly primary-school-like pettiness. I got really bored and nearly gave up on the book many times. The narration was awful. The accent evidently didn’t come naturally to the narrator, and the intonation and voices were completely off. When a man sounds like an outraged little old lady, it’s hard to get absorbed in a story. Really disappointed with this book.

Entertaining stuff

This was a very different and quirky Pride and Prejudice variation. Very funny and enjoyable. I particularly enjoyed the tempestuous relationship Caroline Bingley gets herself involved in!

Excellent storyline, slightly strange narration

I really enjoyed the story, the twists and turns were amazing and I found myself shouting at the characters when I knew they'd done the wrong thing. Extremely engaging book with a brilliant twisting story that will leave you eager to listen to the next chapter!

My only complaint is that the narrator gets some English pronunciations woefully wrong - however, if you can forgive that then it IS worth it in the end!