Duty Demands: A Pride and Prejudice Variation

By: Elaine Owen

Narrated by: Siobhan Waring

When Elizabeth's father dies unexpectedly, she is surprised to find that the proud, arrogant Mr. Darcy wants to marry her - and even more surprised when her uncle tells her why. But after they are married she begins to see a different side of her husband.

Darcy thinks that Elizabeth has married him for love, but slowly begins to realize that all is not as it appears in their marriage. Will he still love her when the truth is revealed? Will our two favorite characters overcome their misunderstandings and achieve a marriage based on more than duty and obligation?

This is a Pride and Prejudice variation brought to you by the author of Mr. Darcy's Persistent Pursuit, Love's Fool: The Taming of Lydia Bennet, and One False Step.

©2017 Kindle Press (P)2018 Esther Wyatt

A Story Consistent with Jane Austen novels

Many Austen continuation novels published recently, do not portray character behaviors that are consistent with the18th culture of Jane Austen Novels; happily, this is not true for Duty and Demands: A Pride and Prejudice Variation. Elaine Owen is an excellent writer: her characters are lively, life-like, and authentically reflect substance found in the original Austen novel, without plagiarizing. I enjoyed the narration of Siobhan Waring. She must be a wonderful actor; she portrayed both male and female voices flawlessly. I plan to consider buying other Audible books that she has narrated. Dr R

Lovely story

This version of P&P begins with the untimely death of Mr. Bennet and a family faced with loss and an uncertain future.

Mr. Darcy has asked Mr. Gardner for Lizzy’s hand, so there is no awful proposal, but also no declaration of love and affection. Therefore, this initial miscommunication and misunderstanding starts the marriage off on the wrong foot.

When the rest of the story unfolds, this misunderstanding has already separated ODC once, so there is plenty of angst, but also plenty of romantic moments as they resolve their issues.

Lovely Pride and Prejudice Variation!

Duty Demands begins during Elizabeth's trip to Hunsford to visit the Collins'. Before Darcy makes his disastrous proposal, Mr. Bennet falls ill and Elizabeth rushes home to Longbourn. Mr. Bennet passes before she can say goodbye and the Bennet family is forced to leave Longbourn. With no money and no home they face separation and near poverty. But before that can happen, Darcy approaches Mr. Gardiner and asks for Elizabeth's hand in marriage.

Faced with her family's overwhelming need, Elizabeth accepts. Mr. Gardiner explains that Darcy proposed because her needs are few and her expectations are low. In the beginning, Elizabeth believes Darcy to be proud and disagreeable, and still believes that he separated Jane and Bingley and stole Wickham's inheritance. Slowly, she begins to see the gentleness within the stern man. But when Darcy learns why she accepted him, even his deep love for her may not save their marriage.

This was an angst filled variation that tugged my heartstrings! I love variations that begin after Lizzy and Darcy are married, when they need to resolve their differences from a more intimate place with higher stakes. This story really took the time to develop both of our main characters and show their life together. I love angst filled stories full of action, but I also love to read those special moments and conversations between our couple. This story had both.

You do need to have already read Pride and Prejudice to understand the plot of this story, none the events before Hunsford are revisited and it's assumed we already know them. It's a clean read with all the love scenes off screen. This is already on my reread list, I highly recommend it!

The narration was wonderful, Siobhan Waring had the perfect accent for the story, and performed different voices for each character. It was a great immersive performance. I requested a copy of the audiobook, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Arranged Marriage

An excellent Pride and Prejudice arranged marriage trope. Outstanding narration and performance by Siobhan Waring. Definitely recommend.

Very Romantic

This was one of the more romance book type variations I’ve listened too. I was afraid the plot of misunderstandings and fear of communicating they’re true feelings would get old. But Darcy and Elizabeth’s characters stayed true to form. They’re reactions to the new circumstances felt right. I really enjoyed the way they grew as a couple.
Siobhan Waring’s performance was perfection. I listened at 1.25 x speed.