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Very few authors are more loved than Jane Austen. Each of her books have taught us something and we still love them. Her books inspired countless films and televisions series. Her devoted fans boast their own subculture. You might have read her books more than once. If you done so (specifically Emma), then this list is just for you. There is a broad variety of modern takes on Jane Austen books. In Jane Austen retellings, some authors take her characters or plot and re-situate them in the present day, while some stick to the early 19th century. The common thread connecting each Jane Austen retellings in the list is that they’re witty, deeply human and as compelling as Jane Austen’s work.
Death Comes to Pemberley is a crime-inflected sequel to Pride and Prejudice. It begins with a huge promise but swiftly followed by a disappointment. Lydia Bennet comes at Elizabeth and Darcy’s marital home wailing that her husband, Wickham, is dead. Lamentably, it turns out that it’s Captain Denny, his best friend, who’s been murdered; and Wickham is the prime suspect.
The title character, Sofia Khan, works in publishing in London. Her boss asked her to write a book about Muslim dating. Constantly answering questions about ‘her romantic life as a Muslim’ has exhausted Sofia; So she agrees with her boss and decided to write the book. She had recently broken up with her boyfriend Imran. To find inspiration for her book, she plunges back into dating and romance follows, naturally. Author Ayisha Malik cites Jane Austen as one of her primary influences as an author. Austen’s fans will find all of her heart and wit in this book.
Publisher Harper Collins launched The Austen Project in 2013, in which modern authors rework Jane Austen‘s six published novels. The project began with Joanna Trollope’s Sense and Sensibility. Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield is fourth such novel. It relocates the Bennet family to Cincinnati, Ohio. ‘Liz’ Bennet is a magazine writer, and her arguments with neurosurgeon Darcy frequently results in passionate moments. Meanwhile, Mr. Bingley is a doctor and he recently failed to find love on the dating reality show that gives the book its title.
Social status and Class are regular preoccupations across all six Jane Austen novel, yet her fiction rarely acknowledges the working classes. In Longbourn, a retelling of Pride and Prejudice from the servants’ perspective, author redressed this imbalance. If reading Pride and Prejudice left you little deprived then read Longbourn to inhabit the novel from different point of view.
Emma is one of the title in Harper Collins’ Austen Project series. In McCall Smith’s novel, Emma is graduated from university recently and trying her hand in interior designing. She lives in Norfolk with her father. Her social circle is somewhat modernized. John Knightley is a magazine photographer, while in original novel, Harriet Smith is a teacher’s assistant.
| # | Book | Author | Year | Our rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Death Comes to Pemberley | P.D. James | — | — |
| 02 | Sofia Khan is Not Obliged | Ayisha Malik | — | — |
| 03 | Eligible | Curtis Sittenfield | — | — |
| 04 | Longbourn | Jo Baker | — | — |
| 05 | Emma | Alexander McCall Smith | — | — |
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I’ve read three of these and watched a TV adaptation of a fourth. I enjoyed them all but of course they all pale in comparison to the originals ???? “Sofia Khan” sounds very interesting, I will have to check that out.