A sweet, low angst variation...

...that starts in Lambton with the news about Lydia. However, the focus of the story is Darcy and Elizabeth growing closer and learning to understand each other and their own hearts. Wickham, Collins and Lady C. don't appear at all, and Caroline is limited to a little spiteful gossip. There is some scandalous behaviour for the time, but this is a clean variation and they don't go beyond passionate kisses and light petting. Pearl Hewitt's narration is average: not bad enough to put me off, but I certainly won't be looking for more by her!

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Love this author

I really enjoy these retellings and this author is one of my favourites in this genre.

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A good P & P "What if?"

Where does What Would Mr. Darcy Do? rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's one of my top 20 overall and top 5 Jane Austen variations.

What was one of the most memorable moments of What Would Mr. Darcy Do??

Darcy staying with Elizabeth at the Inn at Lambton, instead of leaving as he does in the original. This is where this variation diverges from the original.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Probably the male characters but I think female narrators always have a problem when it comes to this. It goes both ways though, I've rarely heard an audiobook narrated by a male artist who manages female characters very well either.

Pearl Hewitt narrated most of this book beautifully, however, making all the characters distinct and you can tell she's British by birth and not from the USA aping an English accent.

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

Some of it made me laugh, especially when Elizabeth was teasing Darcy and he responded likewise. I knew that there would be a "Happy Ever After", as Abigail Reynolds has always made clear that in this series of variations, the outcome is always going to be the same as the original, so I didn't cry. On a couple of occasions, though, I did wonder what torture Ms Reynolds was going to put the couple through before reaching it.

Any additional comments?

Some people complain that Ms Reynolds puts too much non-Regency behaviour (e.g. the love scenes) in her books but after all, these are modern re-tellings and variations on the original, still set in period, so I don't have a problem with it. If our beloved Jane was writing now, what would she do? Very much the same IMHO.

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