Category: book review

A novel by J.C. Peterson

My introduction to Jane Austen was the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (you know the one, it has Colin Firth in a wet shirt) on Montana Sunday Theatre. The family, like the rest of the world, was obsessed. We recorded it on VHS and watched it over and over (to be fair, the over and over part may have just been me). Every member of our family was designated a character; mine was Mary Bennet. I was distraught. Sure, I liked reading but I wasn’t boring or ignorable. Was I?

I didn’t relish being equated to “one of literatures’ famous wet rags” because “Mary’s no hero”; she’s the easiest Bennet to remove from an adaptation, she serves no function in the major plot lines. But J. C. Peterson’s Being Mary Bennet opens with the line; “It is a truth universally acknowledged that no one should spend her eighteenth birthday at the library.” I spent my most recent birthday at the library and I loved it! There were cupcakes, quiet reading, my favourite librarian, my favourite niece and favourite sister. (It’s ok my other sisters won’t read this anyway.)

It’s only in recent years that I have come to accept that in some ways, I am Mary Bennet. We’re both from large families and struggled to be visible or acceptable. I know now that part of the reason, at least for me, was due to undiagnosed neurodivergence, living in a word that wasn’t made for me. At one time I heavily identified with a devastating line from Katherine J Chen’s Mary B “How could I, little weed, be a favourite of anyone?” (in that book Mary does become a heroine).

Reading Being Mary Bennet was almost revolutionary. I identified so strongly with Marnie as she takes a journey to kick her Mary-ness, worries that her family doesn’t notice when she’s not there, and despite trying new things still needs to organise her books “just so.” But she discovers people who love her, like they say in Bridget Jones “just as she is.”

Mary may not have main character energy, she may be inconsequential to the heroines story line but does it matter? Some people may only ever see Mary, and that’s their loss.

Novel by Gabe Cole Novoa

The dedication alone made me want to cry, the first chapter repeated the feeling. As an aim (romances that sweep trans people off their feet) it’s a noble one and it is my humble belief that the author achieves it.

There are a lot of changes from the original Pride and Prejudice on which this is based; it’s set in London, everyone is younger (referred to as boys), there are a lot of anachronisms and, oh yeah, Lizzy Bennet is Oliver Bennet. I’ve no doubt there have been queer and trans individuals throughout time, but I do doubt they would be as easily accepted as Oliver is (but then having Jane as a sister – she’d accept you no matter who you were).

For every boy who wished that Darcy would love them, this book is wish fulfilment for you. For every transman who wished for acceptance from their family, this story may tell part of your journey. Oliver fears how he will be treated but so desperately wishes to be himself (trigger warning for gender dysphoria).

Some Austenites are purists but I adore each new retelling especially when it delves into unexplored areas. Austen was inventive and revolutionary in a quiet way; I believe she’d cheer on those that follow in her footsteps.

Novel written by Ada Bright and Cass Grafton

There’s something meta about this book mentioning truth is stranger than fiction; Jane Austen appears at the museum dedicated to her, characters are linked across time and bloodlines. If you missed the first book (like me); Jane Austen has a necklace that lets her travel through time! Now you’re caught up.

It’s written by a pair who’ve produced several Austen inspired books. I’m working on a partnership myself – glad to see they work!

Rose (with her new beau) is pulled back in time by Jane Austen. The difficulties of daily life for a modern person dealing with lack of plumbing and electricity are brushed over, focusing instead on the emotional journey of the characters. Lack of medicine does play quite a large part in the plot but its the constant little annoyances, the minutiae, that are missing.

Austen family members make an appearance and are drawn in broad strokes; Mrs Austen, difficult; Cassandra, helpful; Edward, upright; Charles, mischief maker. Jane Austen herself is more difficult to pin down, a lot relies on the friendship established in the previous book.

It’s very readable, has a little bit of chemistry, but may only be interesting to those who are already fans of Austen.

It’s not clear if this sequel was planned, but a third was (the end points to it); an outline existed in July 2020 but it hasn’t been mentioned since. Let’s be fair though, the pandemic derailed a lot of plans. If it’s ever published, I’ll read it.

Review of Emmett by L. C. Rosen

In the tradition of Clueless this adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma is set in a rich kids high school. In fact Emmet would slide right into Bronson Alcott High; he’s also very like Cher – aware of his privilege, trying to do good, but pretty clueless. The Mr Elton character even responds to Emmet’s attempting to match him with “Harriet” with “as if.”

Earlier in the year I attended a script reading of Em by Sam Brooks, also a queer take on Emma with a main character named Emmet. (Someone please stage this play and invite me, I beg you.) So the name and concept is having it’s time.

I adore (most) Austen adaptations and have a soft spot for those that include diversity, which this has in spades. It’s an upbeat book but doesn’t shy away from the difficulties of sexuality, family, loss and the façade of social media. Once you get past figuring out who each character represents (took me till mid way to recognise Miss Bates) the sense of anticipation is electric; you know what’s coming, but they don’t. Oh, and the delight when you predicted correctly!

Reading about teens having sex is uncomfortable (reading about anyone having sex is uncomfortable for me) but it’s never literally shown and messages of physical and emotional safety are central. The difference in how Gen Z conduct relationships than previous generations is summed up pretty well. “I didn’t profess my undying love for you… I offered you some sex. It’s not a big deal.”

Emmet is a wonderful modernisation of Emma; they share a philosophy of ‘the ends justify the means.’ He congratulates himself on a job well done when he only made one over-worked person pass out.

Review of the novel by By Linda Corbett

Of course I was going to pick up this book, it’s a phrase very close to my heart. (Have I mentioned my whole “Jane Austen as Life Coach” thing?) Despite the few things I point out that could have been better it was an excellent read and hard to stop thinking about till I finished it. A charming Austen / cosy /chick lit read.

Maddy has the coolest job ever, but like most in Romancelandia not necessarily one you could actually make a living from, she’s an agony aunt in the persona of Jane Austen. After a firing she never investigates (hello employment laws?) she takes an unexpected opportunity to move to the country when she inherits her long-lost-black-sheep-second-cousin’s house. As all small places in books have, quirky characters abound. There’s a Mr Darcy author character, he and his dog end up “lodging” with Maddy.

There’s a romance but all sex is off page, there’s a Wickham character but he doesn’t pack much punch, there’s a mystery but it doesn’t get fully resolved. Why her cousin was ostracised is never explained and his redemption wasn’t much of one either. This could have been explored further. It would have been lovely for her to work out why her cousin chose her to inherit, why he chose never to contact the family (which could have been explained if his reasons for leaving had). Honestly, I assumed he was gay and either he excommunicated himself knowing his parents would disapprove, or they kicked him out.

It’s unfortunate that the cover and even the blurb don’t entirely match the inside of the book, though not an unheard of occurrence in publishing, still disappointing. Equally disappointing is the main character apparently being a journalist but not understanding basic journalistic principles.

Also there were bodies found during a building project? Who cares if they’re ancient! Tell us everything!!

The Bennet Women is set in an American university residence hall amongst a diverse cast of women – Black, Asian and Trans. One of the lovely things about this representation is that these identities do not define the characters. Nor are their experiences used to traumatise the character or reader – we are all aware who they are, it’s constantly in the back of their minds. There is a very satisfying scene where EJ (Lizzy) clearly articulates exactly what life is like as a female engineering student; she views this speech as a failure but I wanted to applaud.

Adaptations, fanfiction “based on” and “inspired by” stories give us an opportunity to wonder “what if?” What if Lizzy was a black woman? How would this identity influence her life, her character, her actions? It’s a delight to revisit characters and plot points with the authors new twist. Lady Catherine seemed to be absent, I only recognised her when she confronts EJ.

A lot of the conflict from Pride and Prejudice is avoided and I like that. I’m not a fan of conflict. The characters actually communicate, they go to therapy, they assess situations maturely (most of the time). It’s a relief to escape the boring trope of characters not being able to be together because “reasons.” This awareness means that Wickham’s grooming young vulnerable women goes from sub text to text, these women are equipped to recognise a predator.

Two plot points were left to drift. EJ and her family don’t deal with the borderline eating disorder she had when she was younger, it’s mentioned then brushed off. They do deal with other reasons she gave up dancing which was a wretch to her younger self. EJ and Will (Darcy) agree to take down Jordan (Wickham) but never follow through, he does get his comeuppance but we don’t get to witness it. The ending drags a little but is necessary to tie up other loose ends. But it must be pointed out that everyone knows Dr Who is not filmed in London (read the book to find out why that’s relevant).

I was lent this book by a fellow romance writer from the Wellington-Kapiti branch of Romance Writers of New Zealand (thanks Lisa!).

Who wants an up close and personal experience with Jane Austen? Me, says every Austen fan ever. This book will give you that promised experience. You’ll get to see how Jane thought, how she felt, what her daily life was like, and then, what she thinks of her popularity and the advancements in technology since her time.

This novel takes some liberties with Jane Austen’s life, but hey, it’s fiction. In fact, it’s fantasy. Time travel isn’t real people, no matter how much we wish it were. While it’s true that Mrs Austen and Jane didn’t necessarily get along all the time, there is no evidence to suggest that her mother was ever outright opposed to Jane’s writing career as she is cast here.

After a disastrous incident with a potential suitor, and a nasty gossip, Jane takes a chance and discovers a path to find her one true love which lands her in modern Bath. Here her fate is linked to that of former Hollywood darling, Sophia Wentworth (sound familiar?), who is in Bath shooting an Austen adaptation. She at first thinks Jane’s appearance is a prank pulled on her by the show for interesting behind the scenes footage.

Sophia and Jane’s stories are wound together, showing the difficulties of love and being an independent woman in any timeline. As Jane’s views widen, her life in the past begins to disappear, creating ripples into her future timeline. In the end it comes down to what is more important – her love or her art?

To start off you need to know this is a work of fiction. It’s unclear why this was created rather than researching and telling the real story about the formation of the Jane Austen Society. Especially as now this will be taken as fact rather than the history. It’s evident from the notes in the back that the author did some research about places and names, the latter to avoid naming actual individuals.

The author wanted to “write about a group of people traumatised … who came together over their shared love of … Jane Austen.” She did this very well, all the characters are leading miserable lives in what appears to be a pretty miserable time (post WWII), making this a difficult read. There is an attempt to make Chawton feel like “something out of a Jane Austen novel.”

The position and treatment of women was particularly bleak. “Austen saw what lack of money meant for the women in her life, and this consuming fear was … telegraphed most loudly in all her books.” I was glad the characters discussed Jane Austen with each other or it would have been too much to bear.

One of the characters observes; “we love Jane Austen because her characters … are no better or worse than us. They’re so eminently, so completely, human.” But the characters in this book didn’t seem very real. Perspective jumped from one to another between paragraphs though each had their own section.

Despite a couple of twists and turns Chawton cottage is secured for the society and all the characters get their happy endings, they are rushed into them in the last two chapters.

I finished this book more because I felt I should rather than from any enjoyment of the text.