Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, and her novels are still widely read today. Whether you're an Austen fan or this is your first introduction to her work, you might enjoy one of these contemporary retellings that span countries from the US to Pakistan and genres from romance to horror (or at least paranormal romance).
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Ayesha at last
by Uzma Jalaluddin Ayesha Shamsi has a lot going on. Her dreams of being a poet have been set aside for a teaching job so she can pay off her debts to her wealthy uncle. Though Ayesha is lonely, she doesn't want an arranged marriage. Then she meets Khalid, who is just as smart and handsome as he is conservative and judgmental. She is irritatingly attracted to him, but when a surprise engagement is announced between Khalid and Ayesha's cousin, Ayesha is torn between how she feels about the straightforward Khalid and the unsettling new gossip she hears about his family. Looking into the rumors, she finds she has to deal with not only what she discovers about Khalid, but also the truth she realizes about herself. Also available in Overdrive as an e-book and e-audiobook. |
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Bridget Jones's diary : a novel
by Helen Fielding A hilarious journal chronicles a year in the life of Bridget Jones, a single, thirty-something woman on a perpetual quest for self-improvement, as she struggles to cope with relationships, weight control, and the other baffling complexities of modern life. Also available in Overdrive as an e-book and in Hoopla as an e-audiobook. |
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Eligible : a novel
by Curtis Sittenfeld Liz is a magazine writer in her late thirties who, like her yoga instructor sister, Jane, lives in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they return to their childhood home in Cincinnati to help--and discover that the sprawling Tudor they grew up in is crumbling and the family is in disarray. Youngest sisters Kitty and Lydia are too busy with their CrossFit workouts and Paleo diets to get jobs. Mary, the middle sister, is earning her third online master's degree and barely leaves her room, except for those mysterious Tuesday night outings she won't discuss. And Mrs. Bennet has one thing on her mind: how to marry off her daughters, especially as Jane's fortieth birthday fast approaches. Also available in Overdrive as an e-book and as an e-audiobook. |
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Pride and Prejudice and zombies : the graphic novel
by Seth Grahame-Smith In this graphic graphic novelization, a mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton--and the dead are returning to life! Feisty heroine Elizabeth Bennet is determined to wipe out the zombie menace, but she's soon distracted by the arrival of the haughty and arrogant Mr. Darcy. The original novel is also available as an e-book in Overdrive, and as an e-audiobook in Hoopla. |
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Pride, prejudice, and other flavors : a novel
by Sonali Dev Dr. Trisha Raje is San Francisco's most acclaimed neurosurgeon. But that's not enough for the Rajes, her influential immigrant family who achieved power by making their own non-negotiable rules. Trisha has been guilty of breaking all the rules but finally has a chance to redeem herself. Up-and-coming chef DJ Caine has known people like Trisha before, people who judge him by his rough beginnings and place pedigree above character. He needs the lucrative job the Rajes offer, but he values his pride too much to indulge Trisha's arrogance. Then he discovers that she's the only surgeon who can save his sister's life. But before a future can be savored there's a past to be reckoned with... Also available as an e-book and as an e-audiobook in Hoopla, and as an e-book in Overdrive. |
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The secret diary of Lizzie Bennet
by Bernie Su A modern adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice is based on the Emmy Award-winning web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and follows the year-long video project of a grad student who becomes a reluctant celebrity while navigating the pitfalls of sisterhood and romance. Also available as an e-audiobook in Hoopla and as an e-book in Overdrive, courtesy of BPL (log in as a Merrimack Valley Patron and use your local card number). |
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The epic adventures of Lydia Bennet
by Kate Noble Based on the Emmy Award-winning web series The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, this is a new novel starring Lizzie's spunky sister Lydia as she navigates the joys and pitfalls of becoming an adult in the digital age. Before her older sister, Lizzie, started her wildly popular vlog, Lydia was just a normal twenty-year-old plotting the many ways she could get away with skipping her community college classes and finding the perfect fake ID. After her ex-boyfriend took advantage of Lydia's newfound web-fame, betrayed her trust, and destroyed her online reputation, she's no longer a naive, carefree girl. Now, Lydia must work to win back her family's trust and respect and find her place in a far more judgmental world. Also available as an e-audiobook in Overdrive, courtesy of BPL (log in as a Merrimack Valley Patron and use your local card number). |
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Unmarriageable : a novel
by Soniah Kamal A scandal concerning the Binat family has destroyed their fortune and prospects for desirable marriages for their five daughters. Alys has found happiness teaching English literature, but when the family is invited to the biggest wedding in their town in years, Mrs. Binat prepares her daughters to seek out rich, eligible bachelors. Alys's older sister catches the eye of an entrepreneur, but his friend, the brusque Valentine Darsee, is clearly unimpressed by the Binat family. Or is he? Also available as an e-book and as an e-audiobook in Overdrive. |
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Emma : a modern retelling
by Alexander McCall Smith The summer after university, Emma Woodhouse returns home to the village of Highbury, where she will live with her health-conscious father until she is ready to launch her interior-design business and strike out on her own. In the meantime, she will do what she does best: offer guidance to those less wise in the ways of the world than herself. Happily, this summer brings many new faces to Highbury and into the sphere of Emma's not always perfectly felicitous council. Also available as an e-audiobook in Hoopla and as an e-book in Overdrive. |
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If I Loved You Less
by Tamsen Parker Sunny, striking, and satisfied with her life in paradise, Theodosia Sullivan sees no need for marriage. She does, however, relish serving as matchmaker for everyone who crosses her path. One person she won't be playing Cupid for is the equally happy bachelorette down the street. Baker Kini 'Opunui has been the owner of Queen's Sweet Shop since her parents passed away and her younger brother married Theo's older sister and moved to Oahu. When Theo fails to heed Kini's warnings about her meddling, Theo has to face the prospect of Kini ending up with someone else, just as she realizes she's loved Kini all along. Also available as an e-book in Overdrive, courtesy of BPL (log in as a Merrimack Valley Patron using your local card number). |
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Polite society
by Mahesh Rao A modern retelling of Jane Austen's Emma with a touch of Crazy Rich Asians set in Delhi, in which the daughter of a wealthy Indian family aspires to match-make for her friends and family, only to find herself caught up in an unforeseen scandal--and an unexpected match of her own. Also available as an e-book in Overdrive, courtesy of BPL (log in as a Merrimack Valley Patron using your local card number(. |
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The boy is back
by Meg Cabot A viral scandal draws notorious celebrity golfer Reed Stewart back to his tiny Indiana hometown, where he reunites with small business owner Becky Flowers in ways that challenge their perceptions about each other. Also available as an e-book in Hoopla and as an e-book in Overdrive. |
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By the book
by Julia Sonneborn Anne Corey, an English professor in California, is determined to score a position on the coveted tenure track at her college. All she's got to do is get a book deal, snag a promotion, and boom! She's in. But then Adam Martinez--her first love and ex-fiance--shows up as the college's new president. Anne should be able to keep herself distracted. After all, she's got a book to write, an aging father to take care of, and a new romance developing with the college's insanely hot writer-in-residence. But no matter where she turns, there's Adam, as smart and sexy as ever. As the school year advances and her long-buried feelings begin to resurface, Anne begins to wonder whether she just might get a second chance at love. Also available as an e-book in Overdrive. |
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Recipe for persuasion : a novel
by Sonali Dev When chef Ashna Raje is asked to join a hit reality show teaming chefs with celebrities, she thinks, what's the worst that could happen? Being paired with her first love, Rico Silva, that's what. But as every minute they spend together rekindles feelings that pull them toward their disastrous past, will letting go again be another recipe for heartbreak, or a recipe for persuasion? Also available as an e-book in Overdrive and as an e-audiobook in Overdrive courtesy of BPL (log in as a Merrimack Valley Patron using your local card number). |
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Jane of Austin : a novel of sweet tea and sensibility
by Hillary Manton Lodge Just a few years after their father's business scandal shatters their lives, Jane and Celia Woodward find themselves forced out of their San Francisco tea shop. The sisters pack up their kid sister Margot and Jane's tea plants, determined to start over yet again. But life in Austin isn't all sweet tea and breakfast tacos. Their unusual living situation is challengingb and unspoken words begin to fester between Jane and Celia. When Jane meets and falls for up-and-coming musician Sean Willis, the chasm grows deeper. In this modern spin on the Austen classic, the Woodward sisters must contend with new ingredients in unfamiliar kitchens, a dash of heartbreak, and the fragile hope that maybe home isn't so far away. Also available as an e-audiobook in Hoopla. |
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Sense & sensibility
by Joanna Trollope A modern retelling of the Jane Austen classic follows the Dashwood sisters after the death of their father, as they must come to terms with the cruelties of life without the status of their country house, the protection of the family name or the comfort of an inheritance. Also available as an e-audiobook in Hoopla and as an e-book in Overdrive. |
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Sense and sensibility and sea monsters
by Ben H. Winters Following up on the success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies comes a new tale that combines a Regency classic with monster mayhem, in which a Jane Austen novel is expanded with all-new scenes of giant lobsters, rampaging octopi, two-headed sea serpents and other biological monstrosities. Also available as an e-book in Overdrive. |
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Midnight in Austenland : a novel
by Shannon Hale Leaving her stressful family life behind to enjoy a two-week vacation at a theme resort where employees and guests dress like characters from Jane Austen's novels, Charlotte wonders if she has stumbled on a murder scene when her hosts behave suspiciously, a situation that is complicated by a prospective romance. Also available as an e-audiobook in Hoopla and as an e-book in Overdrive, courtesy of BPL (log in as a Merrimack Valley Patron using your local card number). |
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Northanger Abbey
by Val McDermid Issued as part of a series designed to introduce Austen's classics to a new generation of readers, a modern retelling finds bookish minister's daughter Cat Morland joining her well-to-do friends in Edinburgh and falling for an up-and-coming lawyer who may harbor unsettling secrets. Also available as an e-book and as an e-audiobook in Hoopla. |
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Murder at Mansfield Park
by Lynn Shepherd An irreverent retelling of Mansfield Park transforms the meek Fanny Price into a spoiled, condescending, and generally hated heiress while depicting Mary Crawford as a sweet-natured neighbor who comes into her own when the vindictive Fanny is murdered. Also available as an e-book in Overdrive, courtesy of BPL (log in as a Merrimack Valley Patron using your local card number). |
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Seeking Mansfield
by Kate Watson In this contemporary retelling of Mansfield Park, 15-year-old Finley Price's efforts to step out of the shadows and join the prestigious Mansfield Theater capture the attention of an infuriating Hollywood It-Boy instead of the adorable boy next door. Also available as an e-book in Hoopla. |
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Sanditon
by Kate Riordan Based on the manuscript Jane Austen wrote in the months before her death, Sanditon tells the story of the joyously impulsive, spirited, and unconventional Charlotte Heywood and her spiky relationship with the humorous, charming (and slightly wild) Sidney Parker. When a chance accident transports her from her rural hometown of Willingden to the would-be resort of Sanditon, she finds herself caught up in a whirlwind of romance, betrayal, and changing alliances--where nobody in Sanditon is quite as they seem. Also available as an e-book and as an e-audiobook in Overdrive, courtesy of Minuteman Library Network (log in as a Merrimack Valley Patron using your local card number). |