Dancing on the Wind

The Regency Intrigue Series, Book 8

By: M. C. Beaton

Narrated by: Lizzie Stanton

A unique spin on the romance genre from New York Times bestselling author Marion Chesney

I am going to die, Polly thought. The crowd clamored for a speech. Polly raised her hands, and they fell silent. From the foot of the gallows, she asked the spectators why she, a poor woman, should hang for theft, while the abbess of Covent Garden can commit murder on the souls of innocent country girls over and over again and yet go free - and then she condemned them to hell.

©2013 M. C. Beaton (P)2013 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Wow!

I loved the story and the reader. Marion Chesney aka M C Beaton never disappoints. Her stories are wonderful.

A step above her usual regency book

Some of the prose in this book struck me more than most other Chesney/Beaton books. I found this book and the characters somewhat more unique than most of her books. It contained several moments of extremely uncomfortably pointing out class distinctions.

A Dickensian tale with a strong female character.

Chesney (Beaton) doesn't write typical regency romantic fluff. Her characters are usually harder, more self-centered, and less sympathetic than found in other books of the genre, and she often exposes the realities of a world in which women had little-to-no power. Nor does she romanticize the period: her books provide many details about the less attractive characteristics of an era plagued by serious class discrepancy, unrelieved poverty, unchecked crime, universally poor hygiene, and ridiculous fashions and practices among the wealthy.

Like a Dickens novel, this particular story is full of intrigue, plots, counter-plots, pitfalls, scrapes and escapes; and the many historical details bring the period vividly to life as the story unfolds. The book has the strongest central character I've found in a Chesney book so far - a young woman who manages to take care of herself through a combination of physical strength, native cunning, a sensible brain, a kind heart, and the ability to take life as it comes. I think this is my favorite Chesney book outside of her Traveling Matchmaker series (which is a bit "fluffier" than this story).

Very good, one of the best

One of the longer, more detailed tales of gothic drama and romance. I enjoyed this one immensely! You will too.

Depressing and Dark

Narrator made so many errors in pronunciation that it became unbearable and embarrassing. Storyline was dark and unpleasant which is realistic but I don’t listen to MCB’s books for a grim history lesson. I want light, entertainment. This was not fun or particularly entertaining. .

Racier than usual and terrible reader! Ugh!

Doesn't anyone listen to these BEFORE they sell them? They certainly should! Faux?? It is not the same as Vauxhall, right? Maybe in 1790s England? Nope. Probably not but correct me if I am wrong. But it just gets worse... Even the accents are wrong. For such thoroughly researched books with so many period details they should get a reader that is willing to do some research too. When it's a librivox recording you take what you get. But there's no excuse here.

Horrible Narrator!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Narrator spoiled the audiobook. Struggling to finish. Will never buy another audiobook with this narrator. Sheer torture to listen.

Would you be willing to try another one of Lizzie Stanton’s performances?

Never buy another audiobook with this narrator.

Narrator was JUST FINE!

I honestly don’t know what people are complaining about! This narrator did a fine job. I even tried increasing the speed to 1.1x and that was good, too. But ultimately, I ended up preferring her ordinary reading speed, and loved her throughout the entirety of the book.

As for the story, it is not as light and fluffy as the usual MC Beaton fare, but that was all to the good. It was still her brilliant writing style, but this time with less humor, and more darkness; a bigger glimpse of the darker side of the Regency era than she usually gives us. And at over 9 hours, it was much longer than her standard 4 to 5 hour book! Which is a win for any true Beaton fan.

I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I felt that THIS specific narrator’s delivery fit the somber tone of this book’s storyline perfectly. Don’t listen to the naysayers, this book was worth a credit.