Introduction

Join us in celebration of author Jane Austen (1775-1817) through her masterpiece Pride and Prejudice and modern interpretations and sequels and spin offs.

Also, a compilation of her letters and books about her life - including one startling new biography by an Australian writer.

Jane Austen, a clergyman’s daughter raised in the English countryside of Hampshire, was home schooled by her father.

Austen began writing the novel which later became Pride and Prejudice in 1796 ( more than two hundred years ago) and finished it the following year; she was then twenty-one years old.

The publisher Thomas Egerton paid her £110 for the copyright, and it was the only money she would ever earn from her most popular work. It is estimated that 20 million copies of it have been sold world-wide to date.

Its hero and heroine Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennet may be the most famous romantic couple in fiction after Romeo and Juliet. 

Numerous retelling and re-imaginings of the original work written have also been published.  

Enjoy !

Roshan Deva
 

1.Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen

Australia, Penguin Books Limited, 2003

Pride and Prejudice is grown-up fairy tale and a social commentary and arguably Austen’s best.

Lizzie or Eliza Bennett is an unconventional character.  In a letter to her sister Cassandra, Jane Austen wrote: "I must confess that I think her as delightful a creature as ever appeared in print”.

This mix of energy and intelligence, and her playfulness and strength of character make Elizabeth a true heroine and one of Austen’s most individualistic. To know Lizzy Bennet is to love her.
And Mr Darcy.  Tall, dark and handsome... and rich.  The ultimate romantic hero.
Darcy displays outrageous arrogance to Elizabeth, but the novel ends with him falling in love with her which was a testament to the power of a woman to tame a man.

The chemistry between her and Mr. Darcy is legendary - romantic tension,  separations, surprise twists in the plot, troubles and triumphs. Austen herself said that her novel was “light and bright and sparkling” .

Review
Amazon uk

2. Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (DVD)

BBC 1995

Pyrmont, N.S.W.,  Roadshow Entertainment, 2009.

Epic BBC production of Jane Austen’s romantic classic.

In this 5hour adaption Jennifer Ehle plays the lively and rebellious Elizabeth and the arrogant, mysterious and brooding Darcy, is played by Colin Firth and he looks the part. 
Darcy emerging from a pond wearing a wet white shirt, the scene although not part of the book, is "one of the most unforgettable moments in British TV history.”  -The Guardian.

The entire cast is brilliant and especially the combination of Ehle and Firth and Firth never did anything better than his Darcy.


Review
Amazon uk
BBC

3. Pride and Prejudice (DVD)

Burbank, California, Warner Home Video, 2006

Black & White, Subtitled

Classic, witty 1940’s movie adaptation of Jane Austen's most famous novel by screenwriter Aldous Huxley.

Greer Garson is Elizabeth—'dear, beautiful Lizzie'— poised, graceful, self-contained, witty & spirited but never vulgar, and Laurence Olivier is Darcy, that's all there is to it.  The arrogant, sardonic Darcy whose pride and snobbery went before a most delightful fall.

A most enjoyable, charming comedy of old manners.

Review
Amazon

4. Bride and Prejudice (DVD)

United States, Miramax Films, 2005

Bride & Prejudice  is a truly gorgeous Bollywood rendition of this classic story from the director Gurinder Chadha of Bend it like Bekham.  

Jane Austen begins her novel with one of the most famous lines in English literature - 'It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.”

This becomes,”Anyone who's got big bucks is shopping for a wife.” from  incredibly beautiful Aishwarya Rai (playing Lalita/Elizabeth). And good looking Martin Henderson is charming as Will Darcy.

Its modern day and the story moves between east and west – India, London and L.A. A celebration of British, Bollywood and Hollywood cinema. 

A delightful chick flick with great music and dancing.  A happy, sweet, high spirited romp!

Review
Amazon
The Guardian

5. Lost in Austen (DVD)

ITV Studios Home Entertainment, 2008

If you are an Austen fan and mad about Pride and Prejudice, watch time-swapping heroine Amanda Price swoon over the man who launched a thousand sequels (especially that version of him played by Colin Firth).

Amanda Price is unsatisfied with her modern day life in London. She longs for the romance and elegance found in the books by her favorite author, Jane Austen.

One fateful evening, finding a door in her bathroom, she is transported into the Regency world of Pride and Prejudice.  And the book's Elizabeth Bennet changes places with her.

What will become of one of the world's greatest love stories? 

Lost in Austen is a charming mini-series, with a new fun twist on Pride and Prejudice.  

Review
Amazon

6. Pride + Prejudice + Zombies (DVD)

United States, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, 2016

A major motion picture starring Lily James and Sam Riley, based on parody novel and The New York Times Best Seller by Seth Grahame-Smith.

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a zombie in possession of brains must be in want of more brains.”

A mysterious plague has fallen upon the quiet English village of Meryton—and the undead are coming to life and running riot!
The heroine Elizabeth Bennet and her sisters, have fortunately been trained by their father in martial arts and are fighting the zombie menace.  And then the dashing and arrogant Mr. Darcy arrives on the scene…and the verbal sparring and battlefield sparring amps up.
Complete with romance, heartbreak, swordfights and the zombies running loose among the aristocracy.  Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a mash up of Jane Austen’s beloved novel, a comedy of manners and classic horror. 

Twisted fun!

Review
Amazon

 

7. Death Comes to Pemberley

P.D. James

United Kingdom, Vintage, 2013

Death comes to Pemberley  is murder mystery and a whodunit for P.D. James fans and Austen fans.  James imitates Austen’s witty writing style and clearly had fun playing with the characters from Pride and Prejudice.

The story begins in 1803, six years after the marriage of Elizabeth and Darcy and this time, Darcy tells the story from his point of view.  Their life at Pemberley, Darcy's magnificent estate, seems perfect.
And then on the eve of the annual ball at Pemberley, a murder strikes in their midst and their idyll is shattered…
Death comes to Pemberley, is a treat for any fan of Jane Austen and PD James and not to be missed.  The novel has also been made into a 3-part British TV drama based on the book.

Review
Amazon
Good reads

 

8. Jane Austen's Letters

Deirdre Le Faye

Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011

For Austen enthusiasts Jane Austen’s Letters edited by Deirdre Le Faye gives an insight into Jane Austen's stream of consciousness.

Austen’s letters that remain, (much was destroyed by her family) show the same wit and trenchant observations of human nature that makes her books timeless classics.

In her Letters, we see Austen shares everyday news and opinions with family and friends.  And what a gossip she was!

Review
Amazon
Goodreads 

9. Jane Austen: A Life

Claire Tomalin

United Kingdom, Vintage, 1999

Jane Austen’s brother Henry that said "My dear Sister's life was not a life of events,"

''Of events her life was singularly barren,'' Jane's nephew once observed, ''few changes and no great crisis ever broke the smooth current of its course.''

However, biographer Claire Tomalin shows that, on the contrary, Austen's brief life was more worldly than supposed, and ''full of events, of distress and even trauma,''

Tomalin has filled the gaps, creating a portrait of the woman and the writer that produced such sophisticated, wickedly funny and well loved books. 

Review
Amazon
New York Times

10. Jane & D’Arcy

Wal Walker
McMahons Point, NSW, Arcana Gallery, 2017

A startling biography of Jane Austen and D’Arcy Wentworth, written by Wal Walker, a descendent of the Wentworth family, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in colonial Australia.

D’Arcy Wentworth was a medical student and sometimes highway robber and his family was distantly related to Jane Austens.  

Is this the real Mr Darcy ? Was he a love of Jane Austen?

Jane & D’Arcy is a very enjoyable piece of historical detective work that re-creates the romance and between Jane Austen and D’Arcy Wentworth and attempts to fill the gaps.

Fascinating!

Review
The Australian 
The Sydney Institute  

Jane & D’Arcy Volume II