Mr. Bennet's Dutiful Daughter

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

By: Joana Starnes

Narrated by: Stevie Zimmerman

When Colonel Fitzwilliam's disclosures are interrupted by the bearer of distressing news from Longbourn, Miss Elizabeth Bennet is compelled to accept an offer she would have otherwise dismissed out of hand. An offer of marriage from the all-too-proud Mr. Darcy. Yet how is she to live with a husband she hardly knows and does not love? Will she continue to feel trapped in a marriage of convenience while events conspire to divide them? Or would love grow as, day by day and hour after hour, she learns to understand the man she married, before she loses his trust and his heart?

(Given the "early marriage" premise, the issue of growing affection and intimacy is central to the story. The relevant scenes are not graphic, but the novel does address mature themes.)

©2016 Joana Starnes (P)2017 Joana Starnes

P&P gets an interesting twist

Loved the narration. Enjoyed the storyline because it put both Darcy & Elizabeth in a new twist. Well done. These stories are for mind escape and fun.

Loved the story!

Engaging story, just enough angst, the chasers recognizable with Austens characters. I’ll definitely listen again

Heart-wrenching and Emotional P&P Variation

"Serve and obey, a terrifying burden when one cannot also love and honor. How could she sacrifice herself thus?"

In this Pride and Prejudice variation, Col Fitzwilliam's revelation of Darcy's interference in Bingley and Jane's budding romance is interrupted by a letter from Longbourn with disastrous news. Mr. Bennet has been struck down by an apoplectic fit and lies at death's door. Darcy recognizes that Mr. Collins will cast out the Bennet family the moment Mr. Bennet passes and immediately proposes to Lizzy. His proposal is tempered with apologies for the timing and kindness in his consideration of her current condition. He offers to convey her to Longbourn and on the way Lizzy considers his offer.

Lizzy only knows that Darcy is cold and capable of cruelty to those once considered friends, she believes that he is a proud and reserved man. But she also perceives the love he has for her and the closeness and companionship he shares with Bingley and Fitzwilliam. She recognizes the advantages to her family, and that close association with Bingley may bring him back to Jane. Lizzy agrees to marry him, and Darcy is overcome with joy. But simply saying "yes" can't solve their problems. Lizzy struggles in a marriage of unequal affections, and Darcy wonders what happened to the lively and charming girl he fell in love with.

Poor Lizzy! and poor Darcy! Without Lizzy's words of refusal to dispel Darcy's pride, and Darcy's letter to clear up her misconceptions, Lizzy continues to willfully misunderstand Darcy and he remains blissfully unaware of her true feelings of disapprobation. Darcy makes blunder after blunder and repeatedly insults her family, while Lizzy rails at her lack of choice in the marriage but won't speak up for herself. Both of them are the losers in this situation. Things finally come to a head after Darcy learns that Lizzy didn't marry him for love, and their woeful failure to communicate leads to some of the most heartbreaking scenes in any P&P variation I've read.

The author made me feel Lizzy and Darcy's pain deeply, the emotional turmoil she created was incredible. I spent chapters unable to work because I was blinded by tears, and I haven't been able to begin a new book yet. This isn't a lighthearted or frothy read, but a well written novel about love grown through gratitude and two very different people coming to understand each other. Ms. Starnes' writing was impeccable, and she lifted my heart with warm loving scenes between our couple, then ripped it out of my chest with wrenching descriptions of their pain.

Who better to narrate this beautiful retelling than Stevie Zimmerman? Her voice is quickly becoming synonymous with Pride & Prejudice to me. She is able to masterfully perform the male character's voices, and her normal speaking voice is so pleasant. She has the perfect accent, tone, and voice for each character. They came alive and lived and loved through my speakers.

I received a copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. I have this book on my reread list, and it is well worth an audible credit.

A hard lessened learned

If you could sum up Mr. Bennet's Dutiful Daughter in three words, what would they be?

Misunderstanding, love, and forgiveness.

What did you like best about this story?

Elizabeth growing to love her husband and trying to make him happy. Let’s say it was hard work, more than I’m could have imagined.

Which character – as performed by Stevie Zimmerman – was your favorite?

Elizabeth of course. Stevie Zimmerman made All the characters come to life and is always a pleasure to listen to without any of the characters sounding hokey.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Mrs. Bennet causes havoc wherever she is but what else is new.

Any additional comments?

I enjoyed listening to the audiobook. I wanted more.

Wonderful Story and Audible Narration

This is a wonderful P&P variation, wonderfully narrated by Stevie Zimmerman. This book includes part of the story told via Mrs. Reynolds, the Pemberly Housekeeper’s diary. That is a nice touch. I highly recommend Mr. Bennet’s Dutiful Daughter to anyone that wants to read a really good love story.

A must read or listen

I listen to many P&P variations and I must say this is so fabulous! I cried when Darcy left and loved every minute of it. Please continue to write Joana, you are so gifted. Will always look for your new books. I also love Stevie Zimmerman's readings. She is great too.

Heart-Felt Journey to Love

She marries 'the last man in the world' she would ever marry to save her family when a family tragedy looms over them all. But, is Mr. Darcy the ogre she imagined or a man she might come to respect and love? A P&P variation that begins at Hunsford and weaves its way to the lovely shades of Pemberley as told by the fabulous narrative work of Stevie Zimmerman.

Mr. Bennet's Dutiful Daughter opens when Elizabeth gets the sad news that her father is gravely ill. It is the arrogant Mr. Darcy who steps up to help guide her dismal family affairs and make her a startling offer of love with his hand in marriage. At this point, she has only her own unfavorable impressions and Wickham's lies about the man, but she has no other recourse with Mr. Collins ready to toss the family out of Longbourne as soon as her father passes away. So, with no love in her heart and a great deal of love and little humbleness in his heart, they wed.

This is not the first time I have read this plot variation for Pride and Prejudice. I've read a couple of good ones, actually. This did make me a little wary going in, but only a little because this author has proven time and again that her quality storytelling can stand the test.

From the beginning, I was vested in both Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. There is a great deal of feeling wrought out of the words so that I was emotionally vested and suffering with them as they worked through a marriage of unequal affection and the difficulty of outside caprice. I actually pulled away from the story after a bit because my personal taste is not for this much emotional angst particularly the sort that is introspection. Elizabeth generates a load of churning thoughts and feelings and much of it was her own stubborn refusal to give the man a chance especially when she saw evidence that he might not be only and exactly what she thought. She leaped to the worst conclusion over his every look, manner, and verbal expression and then when he was over the line, she really charged in with the vitriolic emotions. I was not looking forward to the moment when Darcy discovered that he had opened himself up to a woman who couldn't stand him. If she would have been honest at some point well before that moment... And, boy was I right. The pain was palpable. So, I said all that not as a criticism for the story, but just that it was a bit much for me personally though I could value how well done it all is as a whole and appreciate the ending even more for what it went through to get there.

In essence, this was a beautiful story of unrequited love triumphing on one side and marriage of inconvenience becoming love on the other- an unequal affection becoming something more. I was glad the author made the changes in their relationship gradual and difficult so it was quite believable and triumphant by the end. Other than a faithful few, they had lots of outside characters causing them grief which compounded their troubles. I was really rooting them on to get past that.

On a side note, I loved Mr. Bingley in this one. He and other side characters were steady and strong and decisive in balancing out the torchy Darcy and Elizabeth.

As I said, Stevie Zimmerman was lights out fab and was a perfect match for the story. She has such a lovely flexible voice that gender, age, class, and tone were rendered perfectly. I love how I see the story coming alive.

All in all, this hard-fought emotional story tugged at my heart and left me emotionally exhausted but oh so happy for how it ended. Those who are familiar with the Pride and Prejudice story would get more out of this, but I think any historical romance fans who enjoy a pinch of spice and deep emotions in a slowburn romance should give it a go.

One of the very best in JAFF!

This book is both expertly written and narrated. The story is full of ups and downs, misunderstandings, self discovery and, ultimately, HEA.

Beautifully written and elegantly narrated.

If you could sum up Mr. Bennet's Dutiful Daughter in three words, what would they be?

Eloquent, elegant and intriguing

What did you like best about this story?

A completely different take on P & P which managed to tell a totally different story but still be authentic, period appropriate, and really sensitive

What about Stevie Zimmerman’s performance did you like?

Stevie's voices and accents are impeccable. You believe every conversation and hear the characters come to life completely. She can be funny and sad and serious and joyous.

Sudsy

the author certainly can spin a tale. I do wish that she would keep modern terms like rolling one's eyes aligned with the proper use of the term in the period in which she's writing. for example oh, she is his rolling your eyes in the sense that a teenager would roll his eyes at something his parent is saying. until the 1950s that was not how it was used.