Of Memories and Men

A Pride and Prejudice Variation

By: Jae George

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

This novel of 67,000 words is a sweet and clean variation of Pride and Prejudice written from a Christian perspective. The characters meet as children and grow in understanding of themselves and each other over the period of Elizabeth at age five until her marriage. There are no super-villains to wreak havoc on our heroes or heroines in this low-angst retelling.
Except: Summer 1796 -

On a mild summer day in Hertfordshire, Lady Anne Darcy sat in the shade of the terrace overlooking the generous expanse of manicured lawn behind their leased estate. Netherfield Park was an agreeable location to rest. It was close enough to London to be convenient for her husband, James, to conduct business with his solicitors and manage his various investments. More importantly, it was free of the stench of London during the heat of summer and gave her ladyship a quiet place to recover from the birth of her baby daughter.

Hearing raucous laughter, she looked up to continue her watch of the children of various ages and sizes gamboling about the green space before her. She smiled as she realized that one little girl was engaged in warfare with the group of boys, slashing her stick sword about with abandon.

That would be little Lizzy Bennet of Longbourn, only five years old and small at that, but giving as good as she gets, her ladyship thought with a smile. What a delightful child. So full of life and energy. I know that her being here playing with the boys would distress her mother, but having been a pampered and constrained child myself, I am vicariously enjoying her freedom. You will be trussed up into stays and fancy dresses soon enough, Lizzy. Enjoy the day.

Good story. Deserves a real narrator.

Definitely enjoyed the story. I thought it could’ve been much better had there been an actual narrator. Same problem. No inflection. No differentiation of character by voice. Too many mispronounced words. If you’re going to do virtual voice, do it well.

Elizabeth is a charming little girl

Here we meet Elizabeth as a little girl. In this P&P version, the Darcy's own Netherfield and visit there annually. Elizabeth knows Darcy and Wickham from the time she was a small girl. She knows that Wickham is a nasty character and she thinks Darcy is wonderful, until she overhears him say something hurtful about her at a ball. The story progresses however and Darcy discovers Elizabeth's value. Quite enjoyable.

Interesting take on P&P

In this book both mr and Mrs Darcy is still alive. It starts when Lizzy is pushed by Wickham at age 5. The Darcy’s own Netherfield. Great story. Great Jaff.

Time with Lady Anne Darcy

I like this author’s ability to change the course of the classic story by delaying the death of a character. In this version, Lady Anne Darcy lives to see Georgianna as a young teen. It was fun to see how she might have influenced all the characters we love to read about.