Vanity and Vexation: A Novel of Pride and Prejudice

by Kate Fenton

Book Overview

A clever and cunning modern day retelling of the adored Jane Austen novel

"Tall, dark, and arrogantly handsome---not to mention distinguished, powerful, and rolling in money. Mr. Darcy? No, that's just the woman director of Pride and Prejudice," reports Nicholas Llewellyn Bevan, impoverished novelist and occasional (reluctant) journalist, when a TV production company trundles into his sleepy North Yorkshire valley. Amusedly he watches...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312328028
• ISBN13: 9780312328023
• Release Date: July 2005
• Publisher: St. Martins Press-3PL
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

One of the Most Fun, Clever, and Romantic Updates of P & P

The writing is very crisp, funny, and often surprisingly romantic, making this a very worthwhile update of P & P. The characters are expertly fleshed out and the book never felt gimmicky to me, either. There's also a great deal of wit and intelligence in the writing, making this a book you'll want to savor rather than devour in one sitting. I loved Nick, warmed to Mary (as I was supposed to) and also enjoyed all the supporting characters. This is a light read, but it also has depth, so I didn't feel dissatisfied at the end.

PLEEZE LET ME RAG ON YOUR "REVIEWERS"

THE POMPOUS HOLIER THAN THOU DRIBBLE OF SOME "CRITICAL" SUBMISSIONS IS MORE THAN I (I REPEAT, I) CAN BEAR IN SILENCE. THESE REVIEWERS COULD LEARN FROM MY PREVIOUS SENTENCE. IT IS NOT, DUCKY, ALWAYS ABOUT _YOU_. IF YOU DON'T LIKE "LIGHT AND FLUFFY" WHY DID YOU SELECT TO READ LIGHT AND FLUFFY -- JUST SO YOU COULD DUMP ON IT?! "NONE OF THE NUANCE ONE FINDS IN JANE AUSTIN [SIC] WAS PRESENT IN THIS BOOK." DUH! DID YOU NOTICE IT'S NOT AUSTEN?! AND CERTAINLY DOES NOT PRETENT TO BE AUSTEN. I BELIEVE A BOOK OR FILM _REVIEW_ SHOULD REPORT WHAT THE THING _IS_ AND NOT WHAT THE "REVIEWER" WANTS IT TO BE. IF THE THING IS NOT WHAT YOU EXPECTED, THEN YOU MISJUDGED YOUR CHOICE. THAT DOES NOT MAKE THE AUTHOR/CREATOR BAD OR WRONG. I AM TIRED OF WHINEY WANNABE CRITICS-AT-LARGE AND I QUESTION NOT ONLY THEIR JUDGMENT BUT EVEN THEIR ABILITY TO R-E-A-D FORGAWDSAKE. I PLACE A 5-STAR RATING BECAUSE I DON'T WANT THE BOOK TO SUFFER BECAUSE SOME OF THE "REVIEWERS" DESERVE NOT MORE THAN ONE STAR. joyesb@pacbell.net

Good summer read

An enjoyable summer read. The story follows the making of a movie version of Jane Austin's "Pride & Prejudice" and a contemporary parallel with reversed gender roles. Well written and entertaining.

Bridget Jones's Diary Lovers! Enjoy this Inverted Version of Pride and Prejudice

This was such a fun book to read. It is the story of "Pride and Prejudice" in our time period. So if you are looking for a book that carries on the Regency style period and Jane Austen's style of writing this is not it! I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed watching or reading Bridget Jones's Diary. It is similar to BJD in the language mostly. One, the author uses profanity occasionally and Two, some words or phrases may be hard to understand if you are not British or in this case Welsh. The author did a fantastic job of not only bringing Pride and Prejudice to the 21st Century but also inverting all the character's genders. Can you imagine the proud, arrogant Mr. Darcy as a woman? You will find character traits of Elizabeth Bennet in the mystery thriller novelist Nick Bevan and Mr. Darcy with film director Mary Hamilton. Also it is hilarious to spot others like Lady Catherine and Mrs. Bennet in the opposite gender roles. This book will test your knowledge of "Pride and Prejudice" with its many parallels. You can compare what you know from "Pride and Prejudice" and discover that the author used it and reversed it in her story. It was a wonderful read, I enjoyed the author's intelligent writing. I personally wish she did not include profanity but I wasn't turned off by the use of it. Nevertheless, it was a very funny, entertaining, and intelligent story of "Pride and Prejudice" in the 21st Century with the genders switched.

Pride and Prejudice (with a twist)

"Lions and Liquorice" is basically a modern adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" with a few curve balls thrown in along the way. It is a must read for any "Pride and Prejudice" fanatics or someone who must know the gist of the original story, but can't quite get it.