Title: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: A Retelling
Author: Laura Wood
Publisher: Barrington Stoke
Genre: Teen/Young adult fiction, Classic, Romance
Book format: Paperback
Sweet Strawberries: 
Description: Witty, intelligent Elizabeth Bennet has no desire for a marriage of convenience.
And when she meets the handsome, wealthy Mr Darcy, her opinion of him is quickly set. He is aloof, selfish and proud – the last man in the world she would ever marry. Until their paths cross again, and again, and the pair begin to realise that first impressions can be flawed.
But as Elizabeth and Darcy become entangled in a dance through the strict hierarchies of society, will there be space for true love to bloom?
*Free copy provided by publisher for review…
Review: This is such a great book and a perfect way of introducing the story of Pride and Prejudice to those who haven’t read it yet. Although her mother is keen to marry off all of her five daughters, Elizabeth Bennet doesn’t want to marry someone for convenience. During one ball she meets Mr Darcy who appears to be selfish, proud and rude about her. Elizabeth has no desire to ever marry him, and Mr Darcy doesn’t seem keen on the idea either, but after many encounters, could their first impressions of each other be wrong?
I have not yet read the full novel by Jane Austen though I have loved watching the 90s tv show and the more recent film of the book. The full book of Pride and Prejudice is big with much more happening than in this retelling, however, amazingly, the author has managed to fit the entire story into around 130 pages! This retelling reads really well and is so easy to get into right away. The characters are all interesting and shown well and I especially enjoyed Mrs Bennet and Mr Collins characters as there is a lot of humour around those two and what they end up saying.
The whole story is told so well and although I knew what would happen to everyone it is still such a joy to read. I have only seen the story on screen so it was also interesting to see where this book’s story changed slightly and how it ends. The chemistry between Mr Darcy and Elizabeth is brilliant and I loved moments like the failed proposal, Darcy’s awkwardness, and their dance together. The ending is good and the whole book is written in a way that just makes you feel so happy after reading it, and I love how I got to read and know the story of Pride and Prejudice in such a short form.
The book is especially made to be easier to read for dyslexics and so features a good sized text, a special font used and all the text on an off-white/cream coloured paper. The pages are also very thick which help in reading and there is a lovely small gray coloured peacock feather image at the start of every chapter. The whole story of Pride and Prejudice has been retold so well and this is the perfect sized book to help anyone who is reluctant to read the original text, maybe finding the original just too daunting in size! There is something so lovely about being able to read a classic in a retelling like this. Although it doesn’t feature every moment from the book and some details or scenes are merged into each other so that everything happens quite quickly, there is something so wonderful about the way this story reads and the easy more modern language of the text helps too.
I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who is interested in reading Pride and Prejudice and wants to get to know the story but either doesn’t have the time to read the full length novel or finds the original classic a daunting read. At just over 130 pages this book is such a wonderful quick read and is written in such a way that you really feel the drama, humour and touching romance of the story. It’s definitely a good book to also introduce a young person to the classic which they might want to read in future too.
What do you think of this book? Have you read Pride and Prejudice? Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂
The Strawberry Post 
This sounds like a great idea, particularly for people who are dyslexic 🙂 I have read the original a few times, I remember I found the writing style difficult the first time.
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Yes, it’s such a great way of introducing the classic stories, but making them so easy to get into and read! 🙂 I’ve got my copy at home of the original Pride and Prejudice, still yet to dive into it though, lol
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