Bespelling Jane Austen: Almost Persuaded / Northanger Castle / Blood and Prejudice / Little to Hex Her [Anglais] [Broché]

I'm a devoted Janeite, and while I'm not a purist, I'm quite selective when it comes to Austen sequels and variants. I recognize there are (relative) classics and clunkers in the ones set in Regency times and more modern settings, but I find myself consistently preferring the updated-to-contemporary-period retellings and revisions. I suspect it is because there's less of a direct comparison to the original Austen oeuvre--and no one alive benefits from that comparison in my fond eyes and heart.

In BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN, one gets two novellas of each era...with the twist of paranormal activity enthreaded in each tale. Mary Balogh, a Regency romance writer of great repute, returns PERSUASION's Anne Elliot to her time period, but renames her Jane (!) Everett. Captain Wentworth has also been renamed (Captain Mitford). Using reincarnation as her "supernatural" device, Jane and Captain Mitford have loved but lost one another again and again in past lives, but determine not to do so this time around. Jane is "Almost Persuaded" (the name of Balogh's novella), but...

Colleen Gleason (whose Gardella series has made me a devoted fan) upgrades NORTHANGER ABBEY to NORTHANGER CASTLE. I think revisioning one of the Thorpes into a vampire is perfect casting--I just wish she had chosen a different Thorpe. But then, both are innate bloodsuckers, so it works brilliantly. I won't say what profession Thaddeus Blanchard (ne Henry Tilney) has now taken up, but he is related to Victoria Gardella. Catherine Morland is now Caroline Merrill, and while they both have a penchant for reading Gothic novels and possess wild imaginations, Caroline is braver and more observant in many ways. She deserves her mate! While there are one or two allusions to the Gardella series, you should not have any problem following this story even if you've never read any of them.

The last two novellas (the modernized ones) are written in first person, as opposed to the third person that the first two are written in. This augments and furthers the sense of freshness and modernity. BLOOD AND PREJUDICE is quite faithful to the names of the original P&P characters and on the first page, we learn that Lizzy works at Longbourn Books. How perfect is that? The author, Susan Krinard, is faithful to Austen's innate values as well--that is, if Austen had written Darcy as a vampire. I find Krinard more faithful to Austen than vampiric traditions, and that's my preference as well.

I was surprised that my favorite of these four is EMMA, updated as LITTLE TO HEX HER, by Janet Mullany. She is not as faithful to EMMA as Krinard is to P&P, even though she, too, kept the names of most characters (Miss Bates is now Missy Bates, however). This Emma Woodhouse runs a dating service in Washington, DC (again, the perfect occupation!) for the magical--Naiads, Witches, Vamps and Werewolves, for example. George Knightley works in high finance and owns the building in which Emma is living; they dated in college but Emma broke up with him shortly after they made love for the first time. Not very Austenesque. However, whilst not as true to structure, Mullany truly gets the spirit of Jane Austen yet modernizes the situation in such a way that I could appreciate it as a stand-alone, without constantly thinking about the original. And oddly, I find that works best of all for me in this particular genre.

As I thought about this review, I have discovered one other thing about my preferences: I really prefer full-length novels to novellas. You can not possibly have the wonderful character development that takes place in any of Jane Austen's novels, even NORTHANGER ABBEY, in 100 pages or less.

One last note: often, in a book with four different authors, you feel there is a weak link. I did not feel that way with BESPELLING JANE AUSTEN. Perhaps the authors managed to bewitch me, too.

Bespelling Jane Austen / 978-0-37377-501-9

I've always been fond of Jane Austen, and I've enjoyed the paranormal Jane Austen novels that have been coming out of the woodwork; I felt that zombies was precisely what "Pride and Prejudice" was lacking the first time around, and I absolutely adored "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters". And while "Bespelling Jane Austen" looks at first glance to be capitalizing on all the hype, this collection of novellas is really quite solid, and I enjoyed very much the chance to read the Advance Review Copy that was sent to me from the publisher.

This collection of novellas is not, unlike "PPZ" and "SSSM", a direct port of Austen novels, with new text woven in and around the original Austen text. Instead, these shorter renditions of Austen's novels are more like modern `adaptations' of her stories, not unlike the Shakespeare adaptations that maintain the underlying themes but with new settings, characters, and dialogue. Austen "purists" will likely not enjoy these adaptations, if only because of the more modern emphasis on physical passion and sensuality, but Austen lovers who enjoy seeing her delightful themes in new situations and experiences will find much here to enjoy.

"Almost Persuaded" by Mary Balogh, takes a serious and surprisingly deep look at the theme of reincarnation, applied against Austen's backdrop of marriages impeded by social distance. Two soulmates come together in the persons of Jane Everett and Captain Robert Mitford. The captain is of relatively low station and the lady is the daughter of a proud baronet, and yet they come to know - supernaturally - that they are immortal souls who have been trying and failing over a series of lifetimes to chose their eternal love over the concerns and trivialities of mortal lives. Though each party recognizes their mutual love and the importance of their choice, it is difficult to cast aside their social training to satisfy an attraction that does not make logical sense. This first novella in the series is, in my mind, easily the best - and it was here that I realized that "Bespelling Jane Austen" is not another Austen parody like "PPZ", but rather a serious adaption of her themes. Although there is no indication that Austen believed in reincarnation, "Almost Persuaded" seems very much like a story she would write, if she had.

"Northanger Castle" by Colleen Gleason, is a fun little story that stars as protagonist the character of Caroline Merrill - a young girl who has read far too many gothic novels and whose overactive imagination fancies every man she meets a letch who locks up his madwoman wife in the attic, or a deserving orphan girl with a terrible secret, or a scheming lady slowly poisoning her unsuspecting husband's tea, or - worse of all - a vampire with red eyes and long fangs. The twist, of course, is that Caro's daytime fancies are not too far off from the truth - a twist that the reader can hardly fail to see coming, but which is cute in its own right. This story does not contain the same depth and complexity as the previous one, but is a fun romp to the end, even if the end is a bit abruptly resolved.

"Blood and Prejudice" by Susan Krinard, is another "Pride and Prejudice" adaptation featuring Mr. Darcy as a vampire - not the first adaptation to do so, but if the premise lacks originality, it does at least nicely account for Darcy's self-importance and egotism in a modern setting (given that the social birth position must vanish somewhat with modern American settings). The adaptation isn't a poor one, although I confess to not being the biggest of "Pride and Prejudice" fans. The writing isn't stellar - young lady protagonists in modern settings realistically probably don't reference "Casablanca" and "The Seven Year Itch" that often, but the character in question is an antique book buff, so I'll let it go. Authorial intrusion lines, though, such as "Since this story is rated for general audiences, I won't say what I really thought of Darcy," are really inexcusable, and lines like "I sat frozen, my mouth as dry as a quote from Oscar Wilde," really do feel like the writer is trying too hard. Overall, though, the story isn't too bad - although the elements are lifted so strongly from Austen, with just a vampire theme added, that long-time fans may get a little bored at the repetition. The ending, too, somehow left a bad taste in my mouth - likely because I'm more of a "Sisters of the Moon" fan (where Elizabeth's actions would fall under the moniker of "blood whore") than a "Twilight" fan (where Elizabeth's actions line up nicely for the Team Edward fans).

"Little to Hex Her" by Janet Mullany, is an "Emma" adaptation, which I was wary of - for one, because the premise (protagonist runs a dating service in a Fantasy Kitchen Sink setting in Washington D.C.) seemed a little overly zany, and for another because I've never really like Emma or Mr. Knightley. Surprisingly enough, Mullany address the later problem head on in the foreword, and makes good on her word by giving both the characters a bit of a status upgrade to not be quite so tedious. As for the former, the zany setting is handled surprisingly well, and comes off as some of the better world-building and world-mixing techniques that I like so much in the "Sisters of the Moon" series. The plot isn't entirely without holes - I can't help but feel that Knightley could be a bit less of a jerk about Emma being potentially date raped by a vampire (short story: she agreed to the sex, but not - to her recollection - the biting) - but the overall presentation is fun and enjoyable. This novella is definitely the one with the highest sex content, however, so be aware of that going in.

Overall, I enjoyed this series, and it's nice to see a paranormal Austen adaptation that doesn't take the easy route and republish an entire Austen novel but with some random fantasy element copy-pasted in.

Note: I received a free Advance Review Copy of this book from the publishing company via NetGalley.

~ Ana Mardoll

It's no secret I'm a huge Austen fan. I love rereading Jane Austen, I love the stories that put a twist on her classics so when I was given the chance to read Bespelling Jane Austen it was like an early birthday present to me.

Almost Persuaded - This is very losely based off of Persuasion; the story of a woman who meets the man she was persuaded to turn down in her youth and discovers she still loves him. Almost Persuaded is the story of reincarnation. The story moves quickly, and reads a little cheesey, but it's cute and in the spirit of a true Austen heroine Jane goes after what she wants. There are some questions at the end of the story that are left unanswered, but I chose to believe that the story has a happy ending.

Northanger Castle - Based on Northanger Abby, this story stays true to Caoline's obsession with novels and falling into the trap of an overactive immagination. I really liked this story. It has all of the same awkward interaction of Northanger Abby, but in a new setting. I really enjoyed the twist on the characters in this version. I won't give it away, but it's really good.

Blood and Prejudice - This is the first one in the book that departs from the origional setting. A contemporary, business setting, the Bennetts have a family business that is in danger of being bought and maybe even shut down. The traditional roles of Darcy and Bingly are altered, but the characters go through many of the same motions. I thought this story was a little ambitious; it set out to cover the entire plot to Pride and Prejudice in a novella form. It was interesting and I thought that maybe if the plot had been scaled back and the characters allowed to develop and breathe a little it would have been a more captivating read - but it's fun and interesting and people who are familiar with the story will fill in the blanks regardless.

Little to Hex Her - This was my favorite of the whole set. I'm sorry - I probably shouldn't chose favorites, but Little to Hex Her, a take on Emma, was so wonderfully done. In spirit to the origional Emma's tendency to match-make and always know best, in Little to Hex Her Emma is a match maker. There is boy drama galore, a shunned exlove interest to contend with, and moody werewolves and overly snappy vampires. I highly suggest Little to Hex Her.

I really suggest this anthology. Even if you aren't an Austenite, you'll enjoy them!