Narrated by James Langton

Julia Quinn’s Bridgertons are a favorite of mine. When He Was Wicked was one of the very first audiobooks I listened to – and it remains at the top of my keeper/re-listen list as well. Simon Prebble is also one of my favorite narrators because of this audiobook. I always thought the Second Epilogues were lots of fun, but frankly, the narrator on the three Second Epilogues that were released in audio was different enough from Simon Prebble that I just didn’t like them very much. When I learned that all the Second Epilogues were being released as an audiobook, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it – how could anyone besides Prebble do the Bridgertons justice? And were they going to use the same not-Prebble narrations?

I’m happy to report I was completely wrong!  Harper Audio used a new narrator for the project. James Langton is positively brilliant in this incredibly delightful collection of Second Epilogues! His delivery is reminiscent of Prebble’s without being a copy – he has exactly the right amount of humor in his tone; his female voices are easy to listen to and placed very well in his voice; his own range is incredible – from truly basso profundo for his wonderful heroes up to all the children’s voices, again placed well without being bizarre falsettos. Every single thing about his narration is spot on – I found myself laughing again (really, the Pall Mall/croquet game is hysteria-inducing!) and wanting to go back and enjoy the 8 Bridgerton siblings all over again. He did take one sort of liberty – and perhaps it wasn’t a liberty at all: he gave Michael Sterling (When He Was Wicked) a Scottish accent! Prebble’s accent for John and Michael was upper class British but Langton’s Scots accent worked for me; after all, the Sterling family home was in Scotland, so it wasn’t an outlandish idea.

If you have not read the Bridgertons, I’m not sure whether this book will make any sense to you*. Quinn wrote the Second Epilogues partly to answer reader questions about what happened next in each of the books in the series. There are 8 Bridgerton siblings, so there are 8 books and 8 second epilogues, which are roughly 45 minutes to an hour in length each. They are read in series order, but they are not in chronological order. Quinn precedes each with a few sentences explanation. Only the last three books in the series have been recorded as audiobooks, so if you want to catch up you’ll need to get the other books in print.

The fun news for you Julia Quinn fans out there: Violet’s story is included at the end. Quinn had never wanted to write Violet’s story, mostly because when the series starts, the Bridgerton patriarch Edmund has already died, and so she felt it wouldn’t have been romance without Violet and Edmund’s HEA. She finally gave in and we get to hear from Violet’s POV for the duration of her novella, which is about the length of one of the second epilogues. It’s very touching and really wraps up the series quite nicely.

OK Harper Audio! Now have James Langton or Simon Prebble narrate all the other Bridgertons, please!

*Indeed, two of the reviewers at Audible rated it low because they didn’t realize it was not a new story, but, a collection of the second epilogues. Caveat emptor.

Melinda