Pride and Prejudice

By: Jane Austen / Narrated By: Kate Reading

Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins

Kate Reading makes this my all-time FAVORITE P&P!!!

A long time ago, in an era way way waaaay back-when, there was a time you could buy a classic on Amazon for, say, nothing, or .99 and get the companion audiobook, many options, for, saaaay once again! .99-3.99. Imagine that! Imagine an audiobook addict having such a smorgasbord of narrators to chooooose from! To say I picked up as many as possible would be a gross, oh so gross, understatement.

Thus, I’ve listened to these narrators of SUCH a favorite of mine: Lindsay Duncan, Margarite Gavin (And I always wonder if that’s a typo on Audible for Marguerite Gavin…? Dunno, don’t really care as fine as it is, it’s STILL not my favorite), Carolyn Seymour, Rosamund Pike, and Emma Messenger. Yeh really, I’ve listened to Pride and Prejudice THAT many times. And I’ve gotta tell ya, Kate Reading makes this version absolute Heaven for me!

I know, I know, I’ve dinged productions in the past for using an American for most asSUREdly non-American roles. But Reading is soooo good here that I kept pausing to Google Reading to make sure that, no really, the awesome woman AIN’T a jolly ol’ Brit! She coMMANds Lizzie, she OWNS Darcy, she doesn’t make Mrs. Bennet too very shrill even tho’ we’re verrrry aware of the woman’s ever-imminent swoons from excessive nerves. And Mr. Bennet? Spot on—wry, sarcastic, annoyingly detached until it all hits the fan, and he full-on experiences what hell his uncaring attitude hath wrought.

The story? No, really, do I have to? Five girls, young women, are at the mercy of all, having little fortune for dowries and with an entail leaving dearest Papa’s estate to a male heir, the unctuous Mr. Collins, curate and sycophant-to-Lady Catherine de Bourgh extraordinaire. A young man, Bingley, enters their country environs and danged if he ain’t somewhat well-to-do. That he comes with haughty and even better-to-do Mr. Darcy, and his even haughtier sisters? Tsk tsk tsk.

And so begins an earnest tale of a scheming mama working way too hard and vulgarly spouting off waaay too much, enough to give ANYone a disgust of the family; sister Jane falling hard for Mr. Bingley the well-to-do and amiable (Tho’ EVER biddable to all who might sway him) gentleman; and a delightful pas de deux of words, manners, deeds, and missteps between Lizzie and Darcy.

The entire story really picks up speed when Darcy makes the MOST unfortunate of proposals, basically telling Elizabeth: I greatly admire you, love you love you love you, but your low birth and despicable family make m’ skin crawl. That Elizabeth has just heard dastardly information of Darcy’s pugnacious and judgmental interferences only makes her that much more delighted to spew venom right back at him.

Uhm, as things would have it, however, not all is as it seems, and the remainder of the book is of Lizzie learning the true nature of people and of her own heart, and a bit of Darcy pulling back and realizing what a toad he’s come off as (Of COURSE No Offense To Toads!). That we’ve also the stories of Jane, Charlotte, Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner (My fave secondary characters!), three lesser sisters (Tho’ one’s a stoutly unHOLy mess!), Wickham, various Militia members roaming the town with their suave Red Coats?

Well, throw in writing that is stylish as well as witty, situations that shine a light on marriage in the 1800s—Dare one say it: It really is all business?—and clever character crafting? Plus narration to DIE for? And you have, dear Accomplice, quite simply one of the BEST experiences out there! No, Persuasion will always be my favorite, but P&P is soooo wonderful, and it has a truly awesome main couple, that yessss, the entire story will NEVER be over for me. Yup, it’s JAFanFiction for me, and I look forward to dipping into m’ Library every now and again for a Listen/Review of Variations galore cuz I’m pretty gosh-darned shameless that way.

Seriously, Kate Reading knocks this out of the park with her on the money characterizations (LOVE Lady Catherine, soooo imperiously done that I deLIGHTed in wanting to throttle her!) and her perfect nuancing for each and every situation that Austen threw our way.

What a joy!

DEFINITELY worth the credit, DEFINITELY worth the time! And while I’m sore distressed that WhisperSync companion audiobooks now run 7.49-12.99? I do believe it’s worth having the Kindle to peruse as P&P is just wonderful to read. Yup, shell out that 7.49 and get Kate’s narration!

Listen to it, and I can pretty much guarantee ya that, given how very often I re-Listen to this? I’ll probably be listening right along with you…