Mr. Darcy's Proposal

By: Susan Mason-Milks

Narrated by: Marian Hussey

A Pride and Prejudice What if? Story

This re-telling of Pride and Prejudice asks "what if" events prevented Fitzwilliam Darcy from proposing to Elizabeth Bennet that day at Hunsford parsonage? Darcy arrives with marriage on his mind, only to find Elizabeth has just received news her father is critically ill and not expected to live. In the process of offering his help to her in traveling home, Darcy discovers what she really thinks of him - and it's not good. Should Darcy deliver Elizabeth home to be with her family and then disappear from her life, or should he propose another kind of help? Will Elizabeth be willing to sacrifice her future happiness to save her family from financial ruin? Or, do she and Darcy, two very stubborn people, have a chance of finding happiness together?

©2011 Susan Mason-Milks (P)2013 Susan Mason-Milks

OK and enjoyable.

Where does Mr. Darcy's Proposal rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

4 stars. A tad too long but still nice.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Marian Hussey?

No. Her interpretation of Elizabeth felt as if she was always about to cry. It kind of annoyed me. The rest of the characters, including the men were fine.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

Any additional comments?

I just wish Ms. Hussey's Elizabeth sounded a bit less whiny.

Didn’t love the narrator, or the book

This one was a challenge. E wallows and indulges in self pity while surrounded by people who want to love her amidst the splendor of Pemberley. It seems to go on and on. At first she is committed to trying and pragmatic about her marriage to D. Then she just becomes an Ill tempered lump, seems to give up on correspondence and wonders why she is lonely.
The narrator doesn’t have enough variation and reads the story as if on the edge of incredulity. I suspect the narrator may have not particularly enjoyed the novel either.

Fans of Pride and Predjuice beware

Is there anything you would change about this book?

make it follow the story line

Has Mr. Darcy's Proposal turned you off from other books in this genre?

no

What would have made this romance irresistible?

make it follow the story line

Any additional comments?

Has anyone involved in the production of this book ever actually read Pride and Predjuice? In the first five minutes I found a huge plot flaw, following that was mistake after mistake and the charecters were greatly changed

Very frustrating- but worth it

I have listened to several versions of Pride and Predjudice. This one frustrated me . You come to expect certain elements of the storyline. I had a difficult time listening to a whinney Elizabeth and her trying relationship with Darcy. This was a fairly realistic portrait of how easily happily ever after takes work.

Make it end

It was a story of repeat misunderstandings with an unrecognizable Elizabeth that could have been portrayed in half the words. The story kept repeating the same cycles ... misunderstanding, temper, I'm sorry. with little to no progression of character growth.

It could have been so much more

The story dragged. There were points brought up such as Elizabeth’s grief and decline that didn’t seem to make sense and didn’t pull through the story. She was unhappy but didn’t know why. — maybe because she was already in love with Darcy?

Story dragged in places and in others dropped plot arcs.

A Long Haul Getting Through This

What disappointed you about Mr. Darcy's Proposal?

As a long time reader of Jane Austen fanfiction, I found this book so long and drawn out and unrealistic, even by Darcy & Lizzy misunderstanding standards, that I couldn't wait for it to be over and even skipped ahead a chapter or two a couple times.

What was most disappointing about Susan Mason-Milks’s story?

As fans of Pride & Prejudice know, Lizzy is smart and opinionated and not afraid to express what she's thinking. Why would she, even knowing that her husband finds her attractive and claims he loves her and shows her affection in between times of pulling away from her for no good reason, why would she go MONTHS and never ask him why he won't come to her bed and consummate their marriage? It makes absolutely no sense to me that she never calls him on this, especially as her feelings toward him get more loving and she thinks about the children she hopes to someday have with him. She is not the Lizzy I know and love and it's all very frustrating. They seem to make some headway and then he backs totally off again and she doesn't question him about it. The book should have been half as long.

What aspect of Marian Hussey’s performance would you have changed?

I didn't care for her voice for Darcy and even when there was specific "direction" in the written word as to how something was said, she didn't usually read it in the right way. Disappointing.

What character would you cut from Mr. Darcy's Proposal?

None. There were few extraneous characters in the book.

Any additional comments?

I am familiar with the author's other works and maybe this just isn't her best. Maybe it's an earlier work before she has improved and tightened up her writing style. I wouldn't waste my money or credit on this one if you are a true lover of P&P and Darcy & Lizzy.

No story, no imagination. So painful to get through.

I kept hoping this would get better. It…did…not…. The narrator did her best but Elizabeth cries for the first 2/3 of the book, is too weak to even tell Darcy she’s upset or frustrated. I really dislike it when authors take amazing characters like Elizabeth and Darcy and turn them into insipid losers. There was no brilliant or interesting interpretation, it’s literally just a super lame rip off of the actual book. Skip this one!