Pride Before a Fall: A Variation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

By: Mary Smythe

Narrated by: Stevie Zimmerman

To think that Mr. Darcy considers himself in love with me!

Elizabeth Bennet is horrified when, during a walk in Netherfield’s gardens with her sister Jane, she witnesses Mr. Darcy take a fall from his horse. Rushing to his aid, she is bewildered when he–seeming quite out of his wits–declares himself to her. Deciding the proposal was the product of a confused mind, she decides to disregard it.

Fitzwilliam Darcy had already dismissed any thoughts of an alliance with the enchanting Miss Elizabeth Bennet. When he learns of his addled declaration, however, he decides that his accident was a most fortunate one, revealing the true desires of his heart over more prudent objections. Alas, the object of his affections is less ready to accede, however, and so he finds he must win her as a proper suitor should.

Moved by Darcy’s sincerity and persistence, Elizabeth agrees to allow him the chance to court her properly before giving her final answer to his proposal. Darcy sets out to prove his lasting devotion and persuade Elizabeth they will be happy together. With various antagonists standing in the way of their happily ever after, it will prove to be no easy task!

Pride Before a Fall is a lighthearted, humor-filled Pride and Prejudice variation.

©2022 Mary Smythe (P)2022 Quills & Quartos Publishing

Delightful

A lovely romance that made me smile, narrated with perfection by the incomparable Stevie Zimmerman.

Loved the Premise

Stevie Zimmerman comes through once again with a superb narration and performance. I have listened to so many of her audiobooks now, that I’m running out of great things to say without sounding repetitive. She is a guaranteed satisfaction for me.

Book Review:
This wonderfully-lighthearted story begins at Netherfield while Jane is recovering from her cold. She and Elizabeth are walking in the gardens and observing Darcy’s riding skills. When noticing the applause he is receiving from them, Darcy’s self-pride has him lose focus when his eyes meet Elizabeth’s. Simultaneously, a pheasant frightens his horse and he is thrown. Elizabeth runs to give aid and a semi-conscious Darcy proposes and passes out again.

“Dearest…loveliest Elizabeth…be my wife.”—quote from book.

I love the quite literal circumstances that provide the perfect title of this book.

Darcy has no memory of the proposal. When Bingley, who, along with Jane witnessed the proposal, makes him aware of what happened and what he said, he decides to stand by his proposal.

As always, Darcy has been struggling with his feelings for Elizabeth. On the way to Longbourn, Bingley asks what he will say and is shocked to hear how he will speak about overcoming his scruples, and unaware as he is, demeaning her and her family in the process.

“Are you daft, man? You are not actually going to say that to Miss Elizabeth, are you?”—quote from book, Bingley to Darcy

What follows is some very good advice from Bingley which Darcy accepts. I love it when Bingley plays a key role. However, Elizabeth doesn’t exactly provide the response Darcy wants. Time to woo her properly is eventually granted and a quiet courtship begins. Working their way through past misunderstandings and the interference of those who do not wish for their attachment at all provides the reader with hours of page-turning entertainment.

I really loved this well-written novel. I found myself smiling—a lot. The plot is engaging, the romance sweet, and this Darcy is charming. The happy ending will come, but not before the author provides just the right amount of mild to moderately angst-filled moments—at least for me.

One tiny quibble—I would have enjoyed a bit more dialogue, as the writing leans more towards the narrative style. There’s a lot of telling. What dialogue does exist is well done, so I would encourage more of it, as I find good dialogue among the characters brings them even more to life.

Another great read from Ms. Smythe. Highly recommend.

Loved it!!

I was interested throughout the story. Performance as usual was magnificent. After reading over 70 P&P versions of the story, I was still delighted and interested to see how this would unfold!

Loved it

A great story. I really liked his first proposal :) and the narrator did a great job as usual. Loved it. Great Jaff

Fun plot!

Lots of funny bits. Good character development. A favorite! Have re-listened several times now.

Excellent Humorous Variation

I strongly suggest you pause this audiobook before taking a drink. Using the word smarmy to descibe Mr. Collins, and the phrase a clinging barnacle for Miss Bingley are just two examples of times I had to clean my quickly expelled beverage.
The author has quite a talent with humor and sarcasm in this witty version of P&P. It was delightful to listen to a book that was low on angst but high on diversions.
Stevie Zimmerman is her usual amazing self.

Great story and narration

I enjoyed this low angst story wonderfully narrated by Stevie Zimmerman. Highly recommended to all JAFF lovers

Cute, not too bad

It's a cute story to read, however there is nothing novel in this work. The wonderful narration by Zimmerman helps bolster the story. I liked the turn of events but it couldn't help be more predictable than the usual stories in the P&P variation genre.

Enjoyable Story

I quite liked the premise of this variation, and
I really enjoyed the dialogue between Darcy and Elizabeth's. The narration was excellent as usual.

Like reading cement

The premise sounds great, but the author seems to find more pleasure in describing spreading jam on toast and brushing hair than in developing dialog or character interaction. Such long, dull, pointless passages. It’s like this was written by a high school student with a word count to meet and no experience interacting with humans. I usually trust books narrated by Stevie Zimmerman as being decent enough— there goes that theory.