Narrated by Laura Paton

Laura Paton does an excellent job narrating this abridged version of the Heyer classic, Faro’s Daughter. Ms. Paton’s voice is beautifully modulated and a pleasure to listen to. Her reading is calm and steady, with no distracting habits or pauses to pull the listener out of the story. I would enjoy it even more if her male voices were a little lower, but she does distinguish well between all her characters. Her tone for men is different enough for the listener to know they are male. Ms. Paton’s narration style is more elegant than animated, but she is a good fit for Heyer’s work. While listening to the book, Ms. Paton disappears and the reader is immersed in the story, which is perhaps the highest praise I can give any narrator.

My only complaint about the listening experience, besides the fact that I can never be truly satisfied with an abridged version of such a wonderful book, is the publisher’s decision to insert short clips of music between each of the 40 chapters. Due to the abridgement the chapters are quite short, between 5 and 8 minutes on average, so the musical interludes are frequent. I didn’t time them, but I would guess the music plays for about 15 seconds. That isn’t long, you say? I say hum to yourself for 15 seconds and then tell me if you want that every 8 minutes for the entire 4 hours and 38 minutes of the book. I admit the music is better than my humming, it’s quite pretty in fact, but I still find myself taken out of the story. I am also irrational enough to wish the publisher had used the extra 9.5 minutes for more Heyer instead of music.

Our hero, Max Ravenscar, is a wealthy gentleman out to save his impetuous young cousin Adrian, Lord Mablethorpe, from marrying a woman who runs the faro table at her aunt’s fashionable gaming club. Deborah was born on the edge of respectability to a father too fond of gambling. At his death, she goes to live with her aunt, where she eventually ends up working in her aunt’s club to help make ends meet. Deborah is so offended when Max tries to “buy her off” to keep her from marrying Adrian, something she has no intention of doing, that she lets him believe he’s failed in his efforts to separate her from his cousin. This begins the match of wits between Deborah and Max, each taking chances and determined to win.

This being Georgette Heyer, there is also some intrigue, a secondary love story, several misunderstandings, and a great many smiles. I’ve read Faro’s Daughter and had the good fortune finding a rare copy of the Chivers unabridged audiobook (1995, at present unavailable in the U.S.) narrated by the wonderful Eve Matheson. The original runs close to 9 hours, so this abridged version is roughly half the length. I will put aside my great love for Heyer’s writing and language and confess this abridgement does an excellent job of keeping the spirit and fun of the story intact. My one complaint with the abridgement is that while the development of the secondary romance is preserved, there is little development in the primary relationship. Of course, as in many Heyer romances, the relationship development between the main characters is light to begin with, which is all the more reason to preserve any details in the abridgement.

Faro’s Daughter is lively fun for lovers of Georgette Heyer and traditional Regency romances. It will also appeal to listeners tired of the ubiquitous titled heroes, and those who enjoy clever humor. While I will always prefer my Georgette Heyer unabridged, I can still highly recommend this abridged version adeptly narrated by Laura Paton.

Carrie