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Title: La Danse de la Folie

Author: Sherwood Smith

Narrator: Heather Wilds

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-22-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 33 votes

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

This light-hearted Regency folly stars Miss Clarissa Harlowe who wants a quiet life - but falls in love with a smuggler, the marquess of St. Tarval.

Tarval's sister, Lady Kitty, is determined to write a dramatic Gothic to save her brothers mortgaged estate - if she can reach London. Clarissa's much-pursued cousin, Mr. Philip Devereaux, is inexplicably intrigued by Lady Kitty, who is doing her best to encourage the match between him and Clarissa, except that Clarissa is now betrothed to...Lord Wilburfolde.

And so the mad change partners in the dance of love.

Editorial Reviews:

La Danse de la Folie is from accomplished YA writer Sherwood Smith. Performed by classy British narrator Heather Wilds, this cheerful and entertaining story about unrequited love between Lords and Ladies is a throwback homage to the high-society Regency novels of Jane Austen and similarly classic tales of manners and murmurs.

The plot primarily concerns a young woman, Clarissa Harlowe, who falls for a wealthy and handsome smuggler with a heart of gold, but there are many misunderstandings and twists along the way.

Members Reviews:

respectably Heyer-like with added touches

If you like to relax or treat a head cold with a Heyer-like escape, you know how rare such reads are. I've given up trying authors who are supposed to Heyer-like; however, I really needed a break from reality when I saw this among Audible's new releases. This is the best-of-its-classification I've come across in many listens: "sweet" without being saccharine or too silly, well-written, and well-narrated. Although it has an expected plot and Regency-a-la-Heyer world - like Heyer, it's just very diverting and witty.

I was always uneasy with the undertones of family violence/threat of violence in many Heyers and Heyer-homages (Heroes who feel like "boxing ears" or "shaking" women); this novel is refreshingly free from such patterns. And the author manages to avoid remixing Heyer's overused cliches while including mixing reader favourites (and nods to Austen). I hope Smith has more like these! I am tempted to rate as five starts, just because it can't be easy to strike the right balance in these novels, and attempts at old fashioned Regencies are getting rarer, even with the explosion of contemporary stories cloaked in Regency clothes (often losing even the clothes).

A pleasant listen - regency soap opera

This book is quite nice to listen to if you're in the mood for light fiction. The narrator came to life when taking on the voices of the evil Balderson sisters, but failed to engage my interest in the principal characters. The story is very much in the style of Georgette Heyer, with a host of minor characters.

Good story, terrible narration

The story is quite sweet, but rather spoiled by bad reading. The narration picked up somewhat by thecend, but I would recommend to read it in print.

Performance and Story.Meh

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

No - juvenile story and poor narration.

The title sounded inviting and the reviews were good!? However, the writing is more on the level of a fifth grader's fun and action-filled novel. The narration sounds like a fake British accent. Could not get past the first few chapters. The book seemed too silly to continue.