The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet

A Novel

By: Bernie Su, Kate Rorick

Narrated by: Ashley Clements

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

A modern adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice based on the Emmy Award-winning phenomenon, The Lizzie Bennet Diaries.

There is a great deal that goes into making a video blog. Lizzie Bennet should know, having become a YouTube sensation over the course of her year-long video diary project. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries chronicled Lizzie’s life as a 24-year-old grad student, struggling under a mountain of student loans and living at home with her two sisters - beautiful Jane and reckless Lydia. What may have started as her grad student thesis grew into so much more, as the videos came to inform and reflect her life and that of her sisters. When rich, handsome Bing Lee comes to town, along with his stuck-up friend William Darcy, things really start to get interesting for the Bennets - and for Lizzie’s viewers. Suddenly Lizzie - who always considered herself a fairly normal young woman - was a public figure. But not everything happened on-screen. Luckily for us, Lizzie kept a secret diary.

The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet provides more character introspection as only a book can, with revelatory details about the Bennet household, including Lizzie’s special relationship with her father, untold stories from Netherfield, Lizzie’s thoughts and fears about life after grad school and becoming an instant web celebrity.

Written by Bernie Su, the series’ executive producer, co-creator, head writer, and director, along with Kate Rorick, the novelist, TV writer, and consulting producer on the series, the novel features a journal-entry format, complementing the existing web series, while including plenty of fresh twists to delight fans and new listeners alike. The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet expands on the phenomenon that captivated a generation and reimagines the Pride and Prejudice story like it’s never been done before.

©2014 Bernie Su and Kate Rorick (P)2014 Simon & Schuster Audio

A truly intelligent modern Elizabeth Bennet

This is a version of Pride and Prejudice that I love. Of the modern interpretations I have seen or read, I find this one to be truest to Jane Austen. This Elizabeth Bennet is bright, funny and a feminist. It is narrated by the actress who played Lizzie in the original series, which won an Emmy Award! She sounds intelligent, and at appropriate times, very funny. I can't enjoy an audiobook if I don't love the voice of the narrator, and I love Ashley Clements' voice. I hope she narrates more books.

It is a truth universally acknowledged...

Read from July 01 to 06, 2014

Loved this novelization of the webseries ("The Lizzie Bennet Diaries") as much as I hoped and then some! I love getting the "behind the scenes" scenes---Lizzie with her parents, more of Dizzie and Jing, and more of Lizzie's thoughts, reactions, and insights on everything that happened, but, most especially, her relationship with Lydia.

And, of course, it was wonderful to hear it all in the voice of Ashley Clements, Lizzie Bennet herself. She did a pretty good job of imitating all of her costars from the series in the major roles. And, of course, her reprisal of the voices of Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.

It was also fascinating to get more information about Lizzie's "independent study" projects that she mentions from time to time in the webseries and to "see" more of Dr. Gardiner (and to read/listen between the lines to know that Dr. G was probably also playing matchmaker right along with Gigi).

Excellent, excellent way to round out this modern retelling of Pride & Prejudice. Now I want to rewatch the series!

IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THE WEBSERIES--do that first! You'll enjoy the book even more afterward.

Except for the Darcy voice ....

This is by far the best modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice I've read and worthy of a listen. I thought the reader/narrator/performer did an outstanding job bringing personalities alive through her vocal inflections and voices with one really disappointing exception. I thought the Darcy voice was overly "computer sounding" and even the modernization of the character didn't paint him as a geek - just an introverted workaholic. But the rest was terrific and well worth the listen.

Lovely, as expected

Just as good as the videos! Definitely something to read along with the videos! Give way more background than the videos can provide, but also just enough that both contents don't over do each other.

Funny!!

So funny!! Modern yet true to original story. Love Lizzies' vocabulary! A delightful and engaging treat for P&P fans.

for LBD fans, an extension of the series!

What did you like about this audiobook?

This book is true to the web series and an extension of what we see on screen. All the scenes we see on screen are in the book but all the bits in between Lizzie narrates. These bits added depth and insight into all the other characters but especially Jane. Not just a carbon copy of the series.

How has the book increased your interest in the subject matter?

More of a fan of the series then ever and more in love with the characters we don't get to see on screen as much.

Does the author present information in a way that is interesting and insightful, and if so, how does he achieve this?

yes.

What did you find wrong about the narrator's performance?

The beginning was a little stiff, similar to the actors performance in the web series but it quickly faded and I think it worked well with what was going on in the characters life. You know, putting her life on the web for all to see.

Good

Good character growth and great cast of characters who have different personalities that mostly develop for the better throughout.

Really loved it

Downloaded it for nostalgia! Used to love the YouTube channel and this book did not disappoint! I do wish we could have a sequel showing how happy they are!

Perfectly updated Pride and Prejudice

I have not found a modern P&P tale as true to the original spirit and plot as this one (except for humanizing Lydia, which is a huge bonus). This novelization of the web series was a great blend of the original story and extra information that couldn’t be shared on the videos. Ashley Clements is the perfect narrator. Highly recommend!

Great Lizzie Bennet

Where does The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I pretty much signed up for Audible for this book. I wanted to listen to Ashley read along the book and make the webseries experience even better. Basically, having Ashley read this is like an extended episode of Lizzie Bennet Diaires

Who was your favorite character and why?

Ashley's voice portrayal of everyone was great, especially Jane's and Gigi's. It legit sounded like Laura and Allison's. My only con was her voice for Charlotte. She definitely got the tone of Julia down, it just stayed monotone and kind of makes it hard to decipher the emotion Charlotte was feeling.

Have you listened to any of Ashley Clements’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Has Ashley read other books before? Cause I definitely will listen to them.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I pretty much did. This is one of my all time favorite portrayals of Pride and Prejudice so I was pretty excited for this book.

Any additional comments?

It's best to have watched the videos beforehand, because this book is pretty much a companion piece to the show. A lot of the entries in this book reference what happens in the video and a lot of the time, they don't say what happens, at least not in detail. So having knowledge of what happened in the video will make it less confusing.