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Rumours & Recklessness
- A Pride and Prejudice Variation
- Narrated by: Stevie Zimmerman
- Length: 17 hrs and 6 mins
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Rumours & Recklessness
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Summary
Fitzwilliam Darcy is desperate. Finally confronted with a woman who ignites all his hopes, he agonizes over the cruel trick of fate which placed her in a situation beneath his notice. The morning after the Netherfield ball, he resolves to put as much distance between himself and her as possible.
That very morning, however, Elizabeth's future is jeopardized by her father's untimely accident. With Mr. Bennet unconscious and surrounded by concerned neighbors, Mr. Collins presses his suit. Elizabeth's mother frantically demands her acceptance to secure the family's welfare. With so many witnesses to his proposal and everyone expecting her to make a practical choice, Elizabeth's reputation hangs in the balance.
Without her father to defend her refusal of Mr. Collins, there is no one to speak up for her...except the last man in the world she would ever marry.
What listeners say about Rumours & Recklessness
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Alexandra
- 02-03-16
Spoiled by careless wording for the country and period
Narrator was right for the book. Pretty story and intriguing new angle. Deplorable use of the word drug - why didn't editors do something about that?
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Book Worm 93
- 15-05-22
Brilliant story, excellent performance
After reading 'These Dreams' by the same author, I was excited about reading this book. It could not be more different but is as equally brilliant. Mr Collins announces to everyone that he has chosen Elizabeth as his future wife, without asking her. Elizabeth protests, her mother insists and Mr Darcy announces that Elizabeth cannot marry Collins as she is engaged to him. This seems to take everyone by surprise, including Darcy himself! This all occurs at a time Mr Bennet is in a coma having had an accident.
This is a low angst story, with Darcy and Elizabeth working things out relatively easily. However, there is still plenty of interest, brilliant humour and fantastic characters.
So why only 4 stars?? Well, there is a storyline involving Anne De Bourgh towards the end of the book which made no sense to me. It made Lady Catherine appear positively weird as opposed to greedy, crazy or fixated. I didn't like it. Also, a lot of the plot revolved around Mr Bennets recovery and I felt that he was in a coma, then fully recovered with his injury frequently being of significance yet seemingly overlooked towards the end. The rest of the book was amazing, but the last 20% had a few things about it that I just struggled with and detracted from the story rather than adding to it.
Despite this, overall I really loved this book and the opportunity to read something with low angst, lots of interaction between Darcy and Elizabeth and a resolution that is satisfying without feeling too easy. The narration of this book is fantastic. Stevie Zimmerman is one very talented lady and truly brings this book to life!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- xyz
- 05-07-18
Brilliant fun!
Funny and enchanting 'what if' story of Lizzy and Darcey. Beautifully narrated. Will be listening again and again over the years
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JOSEPHINE
- 27-09-23
Loved every minute
A well rounded tale that took in more than just the principal characters E & D.
Very well written & one of the most enjoyable books of it's genre that I have read.
Stevie Zimmerman was excellent as always.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Mo Bass
- 11-12-22
Spoiled by incongruity
Vulgar winking by various females, maids instead of footmen serving at breakfast, inappropriate familiarity between servants and employers, a cook above stairs, a housekeeper wearing an apron........
The worst though were the jarringly inappropriate adjectives and adverbs and the stilted banter.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JLL
- 30-08-22
One of the best P&P variations
Great story, plenty of twists and turns, but not entirely fanciful (as with some variations). It’s in my ‘top 3’ of the 10 or so variations to which I have listened thus far. Stevie Zimmerman’s narration was perfection, as always.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mrs K
- 23-08-20
highly recommended
lovely and different variation. enjoyed it very much. loved that it was a longer book than most. Good narration, voices bring the characters to life.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Patti
- 09-08-19
Wonderful , I’m still smiling!
This was probably the best Pride and Prejudice Variation that I’ve read. This story fleshes out the parts we know, by adding dialog or the characters thoughts and feelings or more of the backstory. It does also make changes from the original story as the variations do but most of the characters stay true to the original. The exception to that was Lady Catherine de Bourgh. The extra storyline regarding her seemed over the top. But overall the story has suspense, romance and many smiles and chuckles. Stevie Zimmermans performance was very enjoyable too. Lady Catherine voice was at times overly strident but the rest of the characters were very well done. Also one of the reviews I read made me wonder if this was one of the “R” rated variations but all the scenes and dialogue stayed “G or PG”.
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12 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 05-03-16
Story had promise, but Lizzy's not that dizzy!
I really loved the concept of this book. The plot line was well thought out, but I found Elizabeth to be inattentive, which she is not. She made many mistakes in judgment she shouldn't have if she had stayed true to her character and listened attentively. For example, in the case of her jumping to the conclusion that her father was economizing because Darcy made him buy Wickham's debts, was totally out of character for Elizabeth. Her father had plainly said that all he did was stand around while the other men did the work. The epilogue was somewhat disjointed, and did not flow well. It did wrap up all the loose ends and stayed true to J.A. but it felt hurried with way too much information to be imparted for an epilogue.
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8 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Fabulous Mrs B
- 27-04-16
Loved it. Re-listening
This was my second time listening to this story. Very good. Love Darcy is this story. How he changes Elizabeth’s view of him. Great Jaff
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Maya
- 24-03-16
A rare Austen spin off worthy of Jane
Where does Rumours & Recklessness rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
One of the best. Well written, fun, interesting, and superbly read by Stevie Zimmerman.
Who was your favorite character and why?
Ordinarily I would say Lizzie of course who is even spunkier in this telling than in the original. But listening to the audiobook there are so many fun characterizations it's really hard to choose.
Have you listened to any of Stevie Zimmerman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Many of hers to the extent that I now seek them out. This is one of her best because of her command of the different characters, types and accents.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Not an extreme reaction but I was surprised how quickly and easily the quite long book went. Well worth the listen.
Any additional comments?
If you are a Jane Austen purist you will find much to admire in this retelling. You might wonder why the story needs retelling at all, and it doesn't really, but unlike some spinoffs this one feels really authentic and respectful without being posed or old fashioned in its writing. It's just a different perspective on some beloved characters.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Kindle Customer
- 07-04-16
Wonderful characterizations & great story!
Another great story from Nicole Clarkston, and the narration by Stevie Zimmerman is so very well done! I totally cracked up hearing her rendition of Lady Catherine in particular. Terrific job!!!
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Deborah
- 11-04-16
A good story and beautiful naration
This story was fun, well written, and moved along at a good pace, most of the time , but was a tad slow a points. Stevie Zimmerman did an excellent job narrating the story. Her character's voices are distinctive and clear making you feel as if you were watching the scenes unfold. I recommend this story for readers of JAFF.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Brooke H.
- 27-06-21
Only One Part Made Me Uncomfortable
**SPOILERS**
I really liked the over-all story! Especially the parts with Darcy and Elizabeth finding time alone together and Darcy thinking of his passions.
Except…
I was really uncomfortable of the idea of Col. Fitzwilliam and Georgianna.
She’s only 16 at the time of the book and a grown man (who is her guardian and practically a father-figure) loves her romantically? *shudders*
He even talks about remembering her childhood and how he watched her grow up from a sweet child to a young woman.
How creepy is that?!
Not to mention that that are cousins! I know that people married their cousins back then but with the knowledge that we have now of incest and inbreeding, why add another cousin-relationship that previously hadn’t existed before to the story?
The idea of Fitzwilliam and Georgianna made me want to throw up in my mouth a bit.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- bebe
- 12-10-18
Excellent Pride and Prejudice variation
A little tangled toward the middle and end, but still a very good variation of one of my very favorite books, Pride and Prejudice. This starts after the disastrous Netherton Ball. Instead of Bingley and Darcy leaving for London, they stay in the neighborhood because Mr. Bennett falls from his horse and the sickening Parson Collins tries to take over Longbourne. Darcy can not allow Collins to have Elizabeth and he intervenes. Other things involving all the P&P characters, but alll ends well with the big wedding. Quite satisfying.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Judy P.
- 27-03-16
A wonderful story.
The performance was wonderful. I was listening to the various characters not wanting to stop. The plot was well thought out and kept my attention. This is one of the better stories about Elizabeth and Darcy finding love.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Teresa Kendall
- 01-10-22
The author painfully overreaches
The premise and beginning of this story is reasonable, but the avenues she chooses to take are absurd. The alternate stories should still be true to the original characters and this is decidedly not.
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1 person found this helpful