Miss Gardiner

A Variation on Pride and Prejudice

De: Martin Hunnicutt

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

When Elizabeth Bennet was a child, she listened to her uncle’s story about investing monies into trade ventures. With determination, she handed over her coin purse to Edward Gardiner and made her first investment. Just before Christmas while she was a teenager, Elizabeth’s purse disappears. That same afternoon, when Mrs. Bennet and her sisters return with cloth for new gowns, new bonnets, and new shoes, Elizabeth learns that her mother spent her savings, but Mr. Bennet refuses to intervene. He speaks plainly to Elizabeth about her future and in reaction, she asks to visit the Gardiners in London. At the house on Gracechurch Street, the Gardiners agree for Elizabeth to remain with them and she works with her uncle’s account books and the warehouse inventories in addition to sewing and reading. The young woman listens closely to the men calling on Uncle Edward to discuss sales to merchants and the delivery of goods from ships at the docks. A few years later, a mortgage foreclosure is forced upon Fitzwilliam Darcy by Lady Catherine de Bourgh, and he needs to raise funds before Christmas. Darcy approaches Mr. Gardiner, a successful tradesman, to help with the sale of luxury items stored haphazardly by his late mother in the London mansion. After viewing the treasures, Mr. Gardiner suggest they create an accurate inventory of all the items as they are removed from the Darcy home in Mayfair to track them properly. Mr. Gardiner asks Elizabeth to create the record of the items to be sold and to protect her reputation, she becomes ‘Miss Gardiner’ for two months, and she makes a lasting impression on Mr. Darcy. With Elizabeth in London, Darcy joins Bingley and his family at Netherfield that fall. Elizabeth is not there to help chaperone her sister Jane in Mr. Bingley’s company and the young couple become overcome by their passions. When Bingley deserts Netherfield following the ball, and Jane is discovered to have allowed Mr. Bingley favours reserved for marriage, the eldest Miss Bennet is disowned and forced from Longbourn in disgrace. Elizabeth rescues her sister and again she finds refuge at Gracechurch Street. With the encouragement of his sister, Darcy realizes that ‘Miss Gardiner’ is an exceptional woman and approaches Mr. Gardiner for permission to call on his niece. He is surprized to discover that the young woman is actually Miss Elizabeth Bennet, the missing sister from Longbourn last year. They begin a quiet courtship with the approval of the Gardiners as well as Miss Darcy. But the next summer Jane dies and when Elizabeth’s grief for her sister is too deep, Mrs. Gardiner arranges for Elizabeth to visit Hunsford. Serendipitously, Mr. Darcy is nearby at Rosings and they share daily walks with a local chaperone. When Mr. Bingley is reported coming to Rosings, Darcy takes steps to prevent Bingley’s arrival.

Elizabeth kind of NAB story

Elizabeth is not a Bennet (NAB) for most of this story. This is not a low angst book, warnings for character death, betrayal by lover, death in childbirth, and all the 1800s societal repercussions. Elizabeth meets Mr. Darcy in his London home, assisting her Uncle Gardiner and Darcy in accounting Lady Anne Darcy's forgotten items. Virtual Voice is not my favorite narration style, but listening to this book on 1.25 speed made it sound more human/natural to my brain. I will be keeping this book in my library for sure.

SPOILERS

Sad endings for beloved characters, HEA but a lot left unsaid. No resolutions for Georgiana Darcy or Col. Fitzwilliam.

Great story

It was a great story. Elizabeth lives with her aunt and uncle in London. She helps her uncle. Then she meets mr Darcy. A bad mr Bingley. Great Jaff

Okay

A little confusing at end. Sad situation involving Jane. Lots of unnecessary pauses in virtual voice performance. Not a lot of interaction with Mr and Mrs but they played a vital role in the story

Interesting off canon variation

The story is good and it is fairly low in angst. I have read the book and I think it is better experienced that way rather than through a “virtual voice”. The virtual voice isn’t terrible but it isn’t engaging either. The premise of the story is different and I appreciate that we were not treated to a snarky Elizabeth.

A very different point of view

I enjoyed the very different progression of the story. I was not fond of every twist , but love the basic story. It is a very good P&P book.