The Best Part of Love

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

De: Amy D'Orazio

Narrado por: Sarah Jane Rose

Avoiding the truth does not change the truth.

When Fitzwilliam Darcy meets Miss Elizabeth Bennet, his heart is almost immediately engaged. Seeing the pretty lady before him, a lady of no consequence or fortune, he believes he should not form an attachment to her, unsuitable as such a woman is to be his wife.

What he cannot see, however, is the truth. That the simple country girl harbors a secret. Before she meets Darcy, Elizabeth has spent two years hiding from the men who killed her beloved first husband. Feeling herself destroyed by love, Elizabeth is certain she will never love again, certainly not the arrogant man who has offended her from the first moment of their acquaintance.

In time, Elizabeth surprises herself by finding in Darcy a friend. Even greater is her surprise to find herself gradually coming to love him and even accepting an offer of marriage from him. As the newly married couple is beginning to settle into their happily ever after, a condemned man on his way to the gallows divulges a shattering truth - a secret that contradicts everything Elizabeth thought she knew about the tragic circumstances of her first marriage.

Against the advice of everyone who loves her - including Darcy - Elizabeth begins to seek the truth, knowing she must have it even if it may destroy her newfound happiness with Darcy.

©2019 Amy D'Orazio (P)2019 Amy D'Orazio

The that time period

Great story, strong woman for that era especially and has some interesting twists to the story.

Standout P&P Variation

This P&P variation is different from most. Its additional characters, historical political context, Elizabeth’s prior marriage, and heartfelt heartbreaks and separations do this version well. Can’t wait to hear it again to gain all the little nuances that are missed in the first pass.

Romantic, great narration, so much angst!

I loved the fact we got to see ODC fall in love and the love was so strong. I feel weird about Lizzy or Darcy having loved someone before, but it was ok in the end. So much angst though. At one point I switched to reading/skimming some chapters because of that.
I love the narration. I don't know why anyone has a problem with it. One of my favorite P&P variation narrators.

Unique and original

Staccato, excruciating sow, tedious narration almost led me to quit the story several times but persevered because of the story I can also add that often could not understand the words and understand who was speaking among most of the male personages. Too bad as the author did a superior manuscript.

Would love this “if”

Stevie Zimmerman or Harry Frost narrated. I think there was meant to be humor in the story but with this narrator it was lost. So, the story comes across as too tedious. Saye is completely comic relief in “So Material A Change” a favorite of mine by Amy D’Orazio. She’s a very good writer that I enjoy but for Audible Sarah Jane Rose is not a match for her work although she did a serviceable job just not a match for this work. Well written otherwise and interesting story.

Great story but mediocre narrator

I read this story while it was being written on a Jane Austen fanfic website. I am a great fan of the author and loved the story. As with other favorite JAFF stories I really like, I purchased the audiobook so I could listen to it in the car or in bed at night and enjoy it again.

The story is very good. Unique for JAFF with great twists played against canon. But....the narrator really bothered me. Her pronunciation of words was off-putting, and she pronounced Georgiana Darcy's name differently back and forth through the story. I especially didn't like the voice she used for Darcy. It was too posh and effeminate. Mr. Darcy is first and foremost a man who is solid and straightforward. Giving him that slight accent really took away from the story for me. I will not purchase another book narrated by this narrator, but if you want a well written P&P story, Ms. D'Orazio is a really good writer.

Omgosh where has this been?

This is now my favorite P & P variation. I love love loved it. Laughter,tears and of course my now favorite. I shall listen or read again.

Amazing

Loved this story and all the twists and turns as well as the humor. The narration was wonderful and loved the different pitches she used for all the emotions of the characters.

Very Good Story. Shaky Narration.

I really liked this one. I like the premise. This one is an "Elizabeth as a social equal" variation, and it's particularly well thought out. In this story, Elizabeth is not only an equal, but is arguably superior to Darcy in rank and consequence. Her elevation in rank is the consequence of her being the widow of an earl when the story begins. Elizabeth's husband was killed in a dastardly plot full of political intrigue and familial greed, and a mystery surrounding his murder provides the conflict and angst in the second half of the plot.

The whole thing is well-written and original. A good editor could've removed several superfluous chapters that drag out the angst long beyond any suspense on the part of the reader, but the biggest complaint I had was the narrator. I've heard Ms. Rose narrate other books and enjoyed her performance, but this one was a struggle. She mispronounces SO MANY words and she does it so frequently that you can't escape from its distraction. She also reads the entire book, which is not a short one, VERY slowly and very haltingly. Worse, the performance often stops abruptly in the middle of sentences. This happens throughout the story, and the pauses are occasionally so long or so awkwardly placed that it changes the meaning of what was written.

Aside from the issues with the narration, it's worth getting for the story. Bump the speed up a little. It helps.

Quite long for a Pride and Prejudice Variation

At nearly 18 hours long, I wasn't sure this book would be able to keep my attention, but it more than did that, it absolutely enthralled me. The story was just so good, and the writing wonderful. However, I wasn't really fond of this narration (including a number of mispronounced words), but setting the speed at 1.5% (in other words, speeding it up beyond the 1.25% I usually use) did help considerably.