Hypothetically Married

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

By: Renata McMann, Summer Hanford

Narrated by: Catherine Bilson

What does an aging country attorney know about raising five young women? Apparently not enough, for the first of them to wed is the youngest, and her husband is a schemer. Trying to do better for his remaining wards, Mr. Phillips moves them to London.

Elizabeth is happy enough to visit London with her uncle and sisters, until town life throws her into the company of Mr. Darcy. She met him the autumn before, when he and his friends visited Hertfordshire, and found him thoroughly disagreeable. Now, it seems she must be in his company nearly every day.

Darcy is aware that Miss Elizabeth Bennet doesn’t care for him, which suits him perfectly. After all, he has no intention of courting the aggravating country miss. Even so, he must see her often and they develop a tentative friendship. Both make it clear to each other that it is friendship, not love. As those around them seek their help for their romantic relationships, Darcy and Elizabeth are steadfast in avoiding romantic involvement with each other. Or are they?

This is a Pride and Prejudice variation of approximately 59,000 words.

©2018 Summer Hanford & Renata McMann (P)2020 Summer Hanford & Renata McMann

A little rushed in the end.

Story was rushed in the end. Georgiana having children was quickly mentioned…. I think? But no mention of her marriage. The narration was not great, as the men all sounded monotone.

Disappointing Narration

Wholly new and unusual story premise . A lot of P&P variations have quite similar story premises. This one is different. Good Story! Narration was disappointing and difficult to listen to , The voice for all male characters sounded very much the same and was grating on the ears. This is the second book I've listened to, I think, by Ms. Bilson and I don't recall the previous narration having the same effect on me. I probably will listen to it again later, but won't like it any better than I do now. The story alone is why I've given it an overall 4 star rating.

Very nice story

I’ve read and listened to many books by these authors and have enjoyed them all.

Entertaining and fresh story

This story is a fresh take within this genre and an entertaining listen. I would have enjoyed the audio book more with a better narrator, while she voiced female voices pretty well, the make voice were unbearable. Darcy sounds like a monotone old troll. Eeewww, his voice alone would make me not fall in love with him. Also, a lot of the reading is lacking voice inflections that would have enhanced the story.

the story itself was a good one. Uncle Philips is the caretaker of the Bennet sisters in this one, which I've never experienced in another of this genre. Anne deBourgh also played a prominent roll in this one as well as Lady Catherine. They both were portrayed exactly as I would have expected of them and were a great addition to the character lineup. There were also a couple new characters that showed up that added to the story and fit the cast very well. The progression of all of the relationships happened in a way that was fitting, there was a slight bit of misunderstanding but good conversations to overcome it.

Overall, for it it was a great book that would have been more enjoyable with a better narrator. I tend to prefer longer stories, so the length was a bit of a bummer for me, but i purchased it on sale so that compensated a little.

Mr. Philips gets a leading role.

This was a very enjoyable variation; different, with Mr. Philips as the guardian of the Bennet sisters after the death of their parents. The ‘hypothetical’ premise also provided an entertaining and engaging story. Catherine Bilson’s narration is also very good. Recommend.

lovely story but narrator needs work

This was a delightful variation. My only problem is the with the narrator's voice used for the male characters. She used a very gruff and somewhat robotic tone that lacked all expression. Even when the text said a sentence was spoken tenderly she still read it in a monotone and somewhat angry way. The story was good enough to overcome this but it really detracted from my enjoyment.

Nice story

In this story we meet Elizabeth and her sisters as they live with mr Philips. Mr. Wickham has compromised Lydia. Then they move to London and meet with miss De Bourgh. Intricate and witty.

A very different premise, but more than tolerable

Characters are mostly true to cannon, but the story line is significantly altered. I loved the interactions between Darcy and Elizabeth, but the narrator's voice for the male characters sound dreadfully robotic and detracts significantly in what would otherwise be an enjoyable read

The idea of Lady Catherine being friends with Mr Phillips along with Kitty's relationship with Colonel Fitzwilliam is preposterous, however I still enjoyed the romance between Darcy and Elizabeth enough that I could let it slide.

Another win for this duo

I have always enjoyed the stories this team puts together and this was another sweet enjoyable story. The only problem I had with this production was the voice of Darcy. It was quite monotone and not at all romantic.

A very pleasant listen

Very sweet, clean, and pleasant listen. Perfect length for a car trip to and from somewhere. Light angst, lots of character development, well paced. Highly recommend.