If You Like….

In honor of the release of Jane Austen Made Me Do It tomorrow, I decree this a special Jane Austen-themed “if you like”.

If you like modernizations of Austen stories, you’ll probably like:

— Melissa Nathan’s Pride, Prejudice and Jasmin Field and Persuading Annie;

— the movie, Clueless (aka Emma in LA);

— Shannon Hale’s Austenland;

— Beth Patillo’s Jane Austen Ruined My Life.

If you like continuations of Austen novels, you’ll probably like:

— Elizabeth Aston’s Mr. Darcy’s Daughters;

— Jane Aiken Hodge’s vaguely depressing and yet intriguing Austen sequels;

— the BBC mini-series, Lost in Austen, which flips P&P on its head while still in progress.

If you like mystery novels involving Austen or her characters, you’ll probably like:

— Stephanie Barron’s Jane Austen and series, starting with Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor;

— Carrie Bebris’ Pride and Prescience and sequels.

I know I’ve left tons of things out, so let the games– er, recommendations begin! What are your favorite Austen spin-offs?

16 Comments

  1. Amanda LB on October 10, 2011 at 9:53 am

    I loved According To Jane by Marilyn Brant where a teenage girl has the voice of Jane in her head and the story continues through her college years and into adulthood.

  2. Jessica S. on October 10, 2011 at 10:08 am

    I loved “Bride and Prejudice,” aka Austen Goes Bollywood.

    I also loved both Clueless and Mr. Darcy’s Daughters and the sequels.

  3. Virginia on October 10, 2011 at 11:20 am

    A Walk with Jane Austen by Lori Smith. It’s a memoir about Lori’s journey to follow Jane Austen’s footsteps around England.

    I just watched Lost in Austen a couple weeks ago and really enjoyed it!

  4. Joanne M. on October 10, 2011 at 11:38 am

    I enjoyed The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen by Syrie James.

    Also recommend Darcy’s Voyage; Only Mr. Darcy Will Do, both by Kara Louise.

    Monica Fairview also has some good Austen-inspired books.

  5. Allison on October 10, 2011 at 12:18 pm

    I agree – Only Mr. Darcy Will Do by Kara Louise is a favorite of mine, a P&P alternative that is VERY well done.

  6. SarahC. on October 10, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    I would also recommend Abigail Reynolds’ P&P ‘what if’ stories, such as “Mr. Darcy’s Obsession”, and her modernizations, “The Man Who Loved Pride and Prejudice.”

    And for another nice modernization, this time of ‘Emma’, Juliet Archer’s “The Importance of Being Emma” is also a lot of fun.

  7. Jeffrey on October 10, 2011 at 12:26 pm

    1) Pamela Aiden’s These Three Remain (beautifully written and faithful to the intent of the original)
    2) Joan Aiken’s Jane Fairfax – I normally haven’t cared much for Aiken’s sequels but this one was very well done.
    3) Emily C A Snyder’s Nachsturm Castle – This is a dynamite 139 page Gothic thriller sequel of Northanger Abbey (perfect for Halloween)
    4)Laurie Viera Rigler’s Confessions Of A Jane Austen Addict and Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict – Although not technically “sequels” they are two of the best Austenesque fantasies I have ever read with romance and comedy all beautifully combined.

  8. Loramir on October 10, 2011 at 12:51 pm

    I never can seem to get into actual sequels to Austen novels, and only a few modernizations of the story really work for me, but I am addicted to Darcy’s-side-of-the-story variants. I own three different versions:

    -Mr. Darcy’s Diary, by Amanda Grange
    -Darcy’s Story, by Janet Aylmer
    -The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy, by Mary Street

    They’re all very good. Of course, they all are pretty similar in plot, but each has certain little details that make me like that particular version of Mr. Darcy. I think The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy is probably my favorite of the three. I really like Darcy’s relationship with Bingley in that version, and his gradual transformation really works for me in that one.

    There’s also a trilogy called Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, by Pamela Aidan. It’s been a long time since I read it, but I only read it once and didn’t like it as well. While the other three books pretty much just follow the plot of P&P and summarize the time when Darcy is in London or otherwise not doing anything P&P-related, Aidan adds quite a lot of extra plot and adventures to fill in the time when Darcy isn’t around in P&P. Some of these, to my recollection, struck me as kind of improbable and out of character (and a few were just plain bizarre), and I didn’t like this series quite as well as the other three.

  9. Celeste on October 10, 2011 at 5:04 pm

    Bridget Jones’ Diary by Helen Fielding is a most fun modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice. For a continuation novel, Colleen Mc Cullough’s The Independence of Miss Mary Bennet was a good read despite having few P&P characters.

  10. melody burns on October 10, 2011 at 6:49 pm

    I watched Lost in Austen recently and I did not like the lead actress, though everyone else was great. Alex Kingston was terrific as Mrs. Bennett. Rebecca Ann Collins has written way too many bad P&P sequels. I enjoyed, despite
    Mr Darcy’s unlikely behavior, the Pamela Aiden books. I wish she would have finished the series. The Elizabeth Aston series just missed in every single way.
    I find most Austen “sequels”to be out of character from the originals. I have started many that I never finish. Austenland was good. I look forward to the film version. The casting looks good.

  11. Susan on October 10, 2011 at 7:40 pm

    I enjoyed the Pamela Aidan trilogy.
    IMO, Austenland by Shannon Hale is the best of the P&P/Austen-inspired novels. I was very pleased to hear that a movie was in the works for that too. I know filming is completed, so hopefully we won’t have to wait too long for it to be in theaters. It’s an indie, so I hope it’s not limited release.

  12. Jenny on October 10, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    A Visit to Highbury and Later Days at Highbury by Joan Austen-Leigh are two of my favorite Austen sequels. They take place during and after Emma, partly from Mrs. Goddard’s point of view. The author doesn’t attempt to retell the same story, but has her own entertaining characters interact with those in Emma.

  13. AngelB on October 10, 2011 at 11:43 pm

    Okay…I have to throw in
    Pride, Prejudice & Zombies (and subsequent) sequals

    and

    Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters.

    🙂

  14. Am7 on October 11, 2011 at 5:13 pm

    okay two things..
    first off I like Jane Austen and do not like the spinoffs and modernizations as much.
    I really did not like Mr. Darcy’s Daughters and neither did any of my friends who read it. It lost any of the original flavor, and had very little to do with the original book. Plus I didn’t buy that Elizabeth and Darcy would abandon such a big family of daughters at those ages, not after what happened in P&P. They’re just too smart and weary.

    That being said I did like Jane Dawkins’ Letters from Pemberley. I didn’t like the next one More Letters from Pemberley as much, but it was okay.

    I liked Karen Joy Fowler’s Jane Austen Book Club, which made good points about Jane Austen’s books.

    I adore Bride & Prejudice.

  15. Cristina on October 13, 2011 at 10:05 am

    I’m looking forward to reading P.D. James’ new novel Death Comes to Pemberley: Elizabeth investigates the murder of Wickham.

  16. Jenny on October 26, 2011 at 2:46 pm

    Enthusiasm – it’s in Teen Fiction. Very cute.

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