Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

I love Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice is one of the books I've read over and over -- along with several of the other Jane Austen books.


Plot Summary: As with the original P&P, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies tells the story of the Bennets -- a family of five daughters, their parents, and extended relatives -- in 18th Century England. Mrs. Bennet is worried about finding husbands for her daughters (and someone who will provide for her in her old age, since the family estate will go to one of Mr. Bennet's cousins after his death). Mr. Bennet worries more about the minds and training of his daughters, although he's pretty much given up on all of them but the oldest two, Jane and Elizabeth.

As the story begins, Jane is in the process of falling in love with a newcommer to the area, Mr. Bingley, and Elizabeth is in the process of becoming enthralled in a contest of wills with Mr. Bingley's friend, Mr. Darcy.

Unlike the original story, this England is not at war with the French, but with the undead. The Bennet girls have been trained as martial artists and assigned to guard their section of the English countryside until their death or marriage.

My Reaction: My favorite lines from the original book are still there, but sometimes with a strange twist. If someone took one of the P&P movie adaptations, and mixed it with Shaun of the Dead and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon -- that's kind of what this book was like.

Fortunately, the storyline and 70% or so of the text is from the original Jane Austen book, it's just been adapted to include these other ideas. For example, the scene where Lady Catherine scolds Elizabeth about her poor upbringing in the original still exists, but now Elizabeth must listen to a lecture about how everyone knows ninjas are better than Shaolin monks.

I have to say -- I also had some new feelings about the original story, either because its been several years since I read it, or because I was looking at it through this new perspective. I had always sided with Elizabeth and her father and thought Mrs. Bennet's concerns about her daughters marrying well was flightly and silly.

In P&P&Z, the girls are less worried about what will happen after their father's death (and loss of their home) because they can return to the martial arts world. It was a reminder to me that in the original story, the consequences of the girls not marrying before their father's death would be much more dire -- especially for Mrs. Bennet's future. I still think Mrs. Bennet is flighty, but now realized that Mr. Bennet was rather heartless in failing to plan for the future of his family.

Bottom Line: Loved it and can't wait for the movie version.

Other Reviews of this Book:

• Sassymonkey