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Friday, August 16, 2013

Pride's Prejudice

I had fun reading Misty Dawn Pulsipher's Pride's Prejudice (#321), a contemporary re-telling of Jane Austen's masterpiece.  In fact, each chapter is introduced by a different Jane Austen quote from a number of  her writings.  I'm glad I won this title in GoodReads' First Reads giveaway.

This version is set in a Wyoming college town, of all places, with a brief excursion to New York City.  Part of the enjoyment was matching up the characters in Pride's Prejudice to their counterparts in Pride and Prejudice.  Ms. Pulsipher made this easy by assigning a similar-sounding name in most cases, except for that of Wickham.  You'll just have to guess which of the male characters this will be until he finally is revealed!  Many of the events of the original novel have been transmuted into this modern version as well, although I would have liked to see Beth Pride on a tour of Mr. Darcy's New York City penthouse in his absence!  I was happy that Ms. Pulsipher chose to remain faithful to the spirit of Jane Austen's work, and resisted having Beth fall into bed with Mr. Darcy before the vows were spoken - not that she didn't turn up the heat to suit today's tastes.

Though I freely admit I did feel the generational gap in reading this book, one of the things that amazed me about the college life of Beth Pride and best friend and roommate Jenna was their dorm  set up and their predilection for baking cookies at the drop of a hat in the comfort of their suite!  It is reassuring to this reader to know that dances and romance still have their place in modern life.  

If you're a Jane Austen fan who is willing to venture into a different time and place for a re-imagining of Pride and Prejudice, you will undoubtedly enjoy Pride's Prejudice.

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