Also Sophia Rose is on vacation so it may take her a little extra time to respond to comments.
Enjoy!
Being Mrs. Darcy by Lucy Marin, Narrated by Harry Frost
Historical Romance
Publisher: Quills and
Quartos
Published: 9.1.20
Time: 17 hours 45
minutes
Rating: 4.5 stars
Narrator Rating: 5 stars
Format: Audio
Source: Narrator
Seller: Amazon
ADD TO: GoodReads
GoodReads Blurb:
One distressing night in Ramsgate,
Elizabeth Bennet impulsively offers Georgiana Darcy aid. Scandalous rumors soon
surround the ladies and Fitzwilliam Darcy, forcing Elizabeth and Darcy,
strangers to each other, to marry. Darcy despises everything about his marriage
to the daughter of an insignificant country gentleman with vulgar relations.
Georgiana, humiliated after a near-elopement with George Wickham and full of
Darcy pride, hates her new sister. Their family look upon Elizabeth with
suspicion and do little to hide their sentiments. Separated from those who love
her, Elizabeth is desperate to prove herself to her new family despite their
disdain. Just as she loses all hope, Darcy learns to want her good opinion. He
will have to face his prejudices and uncover the depths Georgiana’s misdeeds to
earn it, and Elizabeth will have to learn to trust him if she is to ever to
find happiness being Mrs Darcy.
Sophia Rose's Review:
A forced marriage scenario, bitter
recriminations, and a deeply emotional slow burn romance made for a momentous
first encounter with the author’s respectful nod to Jane Austen’s most famous
classic. Lucy Marin is a nearly new to
me author whom I’ve been wanting to read one of her full-length stories for a
while and, when I spotted Harry Frost was voicing the story, I had not a doubt
in the world that I was not going to be disappointed.
Being Mrs. Darcy asks a few
fundamental ‘what if’ questions in this P&P variation that takes an off
scene dramatic encounter that occurred chronologically before the events of
Austen’s original story that effects the whole rest of the story. First, what if Georgiana Darcy’s interrupted
Ramsgate elopement had been interrupted not by Darcy, but Elizabeth? Second, what if the situation that ensued
threatened to damage their reputations rather than Georgiana’s so they are
forced to marry? Third, and of the
greatest significance is now that their marriage takes place before his Pride
has been properly humbled and he doesn’t realize the jewel of a woman he
married until it is too late.
Being Mrs. Darcy separates Elizabeth,
a comfortable small estate owner’s daughter, from her relatively humble origins
and pitches her into the world of wealth, high society, and entitled people-
literally titled, actually. Her husband
is disgusted and her new sister in law hates her. Her father inexplicably sent her into exile
breaking her connection with her family.
And, now she is undergoing a grueling and humiliating experience with
Darcy’s paternal and maternal relations while she learns what it means to be
Mrs. Darcy. Isolated and lonely, she
takes the good advice of her aunt and does her best, but her best will never be
enough for these people.
However, slowly, Darcy is on a
personal journey of the heart and Elizabeth has no idea she’s the teacher. He has all the voices from family and his own
bitterness telling him he’s being punished with such a wife. Only, slowly, he realizes that she’s bright,
intelligent, lovely, and his household, tenants, friends, and neighbors including
his resentful sister and judgmental relations are all in Elizabeth’s good,
capable hands. It takes a betrayal from
one close to him and Elizabeth’s good will finally being all used up before the
stunning truths all coalesce for him. Is
it too late?
Being Mrs. Darcy was emotionally
exhausting, but captivating to listen to.
Darcy dug a deep hole and Elizabeth, well, she was pretty much a
candidate for sainthood early on. The
author didn’t make a forced marriage between two strangers from different social
classes easy and she didn’t make it easy once everything was out in the
open. Elizabeth was in agony for the
first half – trust me, it got ugly with characters like a mean, uppity
Georgiana with a bitter, resentful Darcy- and Darcy had to work hard for much
of the second half- felt like good balance to what he put her through early
on. Totally worth it to see them through
it all in this strong character-driven plot which lagged at times, but steadily
made it to a fabulous finish.
Harry Frost vocalized this large cast
of characters masterfully and he got the emotional depth of the story so well
that I went through the feels right along with the characters. His work accentuated an already fab story
making it even better.
All in all, whether familiar with
Austen’s work or new to it, this is an excellent choice for sweet historical
romance fans who like a hard-fought forced marriage situation.
Author’s Bio:
Lucy Marin developed a love for reading at a young age and whiled away many hours imagining how stories might continue or what would happen if there was a change in the circumstances faced by the protagonists. After reading her first Austen novel, a life-long ardent admiration was borne. Lucy was introduced to the world of Austen variations after stumbling across one at a used bookstore while on holiday in London. This led to the discovery of the online world of Jane Austen Fan Fiction and, soon after, she picked up her pen and began to transfer the stories in her head to paper.
Lucy lives in Toronto, Canada surrounded by hundreds of books and a loving family. She teaches environmental studies, loves animals and trees and exploring the world around her.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LucySMarin1
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lucy.marin.355744
Sophia’s Bio:
Sophia
is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing,
piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments,
restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible
man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes
Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and
Chocolate.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that
Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a
prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many
wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading
tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and
romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose
I do love all ja variations. They are all so fun and all those what ifs
ReplyDeleteI was sucked into the deep emotional story. Yes, love those variations, B! :)
DeleteThe audio sounds wonderful Sophia!
ReplyDeleteHe's a super talented narrator and I really love his work.
DeleteIt does sound like Elizabeth went through the ringer! I'm okay with that if there is a proper amount of groveling to make up for all the horrid treatment. Sounds like that's the case here. I'm definitely interested in this one!
ReplyDeleteIt was painful at times just knowing that he was being terrible to her and that he was also falling for her so he would have a lot of ground to make up. I thought that made it more realistic for a forced marriage situation.
Delete