[amazon_link id=”147676316X” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ][/amazon_link]Title : The Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet
Author : Bernie Su, Kate Rorick
Genre : Romance
Publisher : Touchstone
Pages: 400
Publish Date : June 24, 2014
Source : Netgalley / Publisher ARC
Rating : 2.5/5

I am a certified fan of Pride and Prejudice. I have read the book too many times to count. I have listened to the audiobook a number of times. And I have watched/tried to watch all tv/film adaptations of the novel. My favorite one is the 1995 BBC adaptation starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle. So ofcourse when I see this Lizzie Benett spinoff, touted to be a modern interpretation of P & P, I am all over it.

This book is an adaptation of the web series which is availale to watch on Youtube here. You know the story of course. This book follows the original plotline, where all situations have been upgraded to a more modern version.

Lizzie here is a student doing a bunch of video blogs for her thesis project. Her elder sister Jane is still nice and kind, and gentle and considerate and works for a pittance in the fashion industry. Lydia is still the trouble-making and boy-crazy younger sister to the prudent and smart Lizzie. Bingley is now Bing Lee , a soon to be doctor, who has taken up residence in a mansion. He has brought along with him his sister Caroline and his standoffish and icily rude friend William Darcy. Bad guy Wickham is a semi-sleazy swim instructor.

The characters are a little younger than in the original, or maybe they just appear younger. In Victorian England our Lizzie is a veritable old maid at 20, but their comportment and the formality of the era might have added to us perceiving them to be older. Nevertheless I was a little perturbed to see Bing Lee a young medical student (no one has any sense at that age!) and his friend Darcy, the owner and brains behind a computer gaming corporation.

The book reads like it is geared towards the YA market. The characters seem a little underdone and rough around the edges, and it seems post-read that the book has been contrived to fit around the P & P storyline. While the original Lizzie was a character in her own right, the book’s interpretation of her just seems like a superficial copy – which is a pity, since in the web series she does seem to possess a witty, sparkly personality.

I remember years ago that an Indian tele-serial had been based upon P & P. That had actually done quite well, because in modern day Indian society, marriage to a suitable young man is still the supposed goal of every young woman. In present day American society, the “man in want of a wife” scenario does not fit quite as well. I have watched a couple of the vlogs this book is based upon, and Mrs. Bennet’s Victorian mindset is much easier to take on film rather than in print.

This book might work as a companion to the web series (which is quite fun), but unfortunately (for me and all other readers) this does not work on its own. The authors seemed to have a fairly vivid imagination; I wish they’d put it to work on an original storyline.