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FindingJane
Jun 07, 2017FindingJane rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
This story doesn’t veer much in terms of plotline from the original classic “Pride and Prejudice”. With a few changes in spelling, all the familiar characters are in place: Lizzie, Jane, Lydia, Darcy, Bingley, Colin, Caroline, Catherine, et al. Ms. Eulberg does play with certain aspects of Austen’s novel. She rids Lizzie of her siblings, making her an only child, and Jane her best friend and confidante rather than a younger sister. She also makes Longbourn an elite academy for upper-class students, thus placing the familiar story in a contemporary setting. However, class prejudices didn’t go out of fashion with the Regency period. Lizzie Bennet is a scholarship student, an alumnus of Longbourn only because of her brilliance at the piano. She has to work at a JOB, can’t afford couture clothes and comes from folks who’ve had to work hard for their precious daughter’s schooling. None of the other Longbourn girls are going to let her forget her low-class status. Ms. Eulberg is superb at letting us see Lizzie’s monetary concerns, her concentrated attention to the piano (almost the only ray of sunshine that she enjoys) and her determination to succeed in spite of the nearly non-stop hazing she endures at the hands of the other students. If you found yourself seething at Lizzie being insulted, physically assaulted with cold slushies or hot coffee, then Ms. Eulberg has done a solid assignment at placing you squarely in her heroine’s shoes. Lizzie’s unremitting persecution by the upper-class students makes her dislike of Will Darcy explicable; she certainly has more reason to detest his kind than Elizabeth Bennet ever did. So it’s even more delightful to read about how she slowly picks out the truth about his nature. The ending is both touching, surprising and well in keeping with the established characters of this feisty couple. This is a very good updating and redux of Jane Austen’s most famous novel and a terrific introduction of the classic for YA readers.