A Pride and Prejudice book flight is the trio recommendation by the book whisperer this week.
Linda Sullivan says, “Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has been on my ‘to be read list’ forever, but for one reason or another, I pushed it to the bottom of the pile. Finally, finally, I read the classic, along with two retellings, Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin and Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld.”
Pride and Prejudice was published in 1813, and since then, there have been numerous retellings. In fact, nine movies have been made. In Bridget Jones Diary, Bridget Jones navigates the dating world with a comical reference to the original story. Linda recollects some of the 2018 Hallmark Christmas movies’ characters with variations of the names Fitzwilliam, Darcy, Elizabeth and Bennett.
She says, “It’s a classic for a reason but NOT one of those boring classics you were forced to read in high school. Sorry, English teacher friends!”
In Ayesha at Last, Jalaluddin puts a contemporary spin on the original classic while telling a Muslim love story. Jalaluddin is a
Canadian writer for the Toronto Star as well as a high school teacher, an occupation she shares with her protagonist, Ayesha, in this debut novel.
Linda says, “I learned so much! Switching between the actual book and the audio version helped with pronunciation of unfamiliar words. Also, I took the time to look up the meaning of those words and traditions.”
Linda hesitates in her recommendation of Eligible by Sittenfeld. She says, “The author took a lot of liberties with Austen’s story. The premise and the names were the same, but it was more of a parody.” Elizabeth Curtis Sittenfeld who goes by Curtis writes comedy so it was not out of the box for her to write this novel as such. In reading reviews, they were equally commending and criticizing. So read for yourself.
Linda says, “I’m so glad I read these three books one after the other.”
Remember: Knox County Online Library to search for Linda’s recommendations each week.
All of us have a story and I want to tell yours! Send them to susan@knoxtntoday.com