Gay Pride and Prejudice

by Kate Christie

Because Queer People Deserve Happily Ever After, Too. For the Bennet sisters, life in quiet Hertfordshire County is about to change. Netherfield Hall has just been let to a single man of large fortune. But while it is true that such a man is generally considered to be in want of a wife, it is equally true that not all men desire female companionship, just as not every woman dreams of being married. Like other variations on Jane Austen's classic romance novel, Gay Pride & Prejudice poses a What if some among Austen's characters preferred the company of their own sex? In this queer revision of the classic original, Kate Christie offers an alternate version of love, friendship, and marriage for Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and others among their circle of friends. But even as the path to love veers from the straight and narrow, the destination remains much the same. If you have an open mind, dear reader, you may discover the book Jane Austen would likely never have approved, but which, nonetheless, affords a window onto gay and lesbian life in early nineteenth century England.

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Queer, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Retellings

360 pages, Paperback

First published March 23, 2012

About the author

Kate Christie, author of In the Company of Women, Gay Pride & Prejudice, and the Girls of Summer series, was born and raised in Kalamazoo, MI. A graduate of Smith College, she lives near Seattle with her wife, their three daughters, and the family dogs.

To join her mailing list and receive email notifications of new releases, giveaways, and other news, visit https://katejchristie.com/mailing-list/.

Reviews

[Clare Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite books, one of the few that I re-read. Loving it so much, I’ve been tempted into reading a couple of variants/sequels which inevitably were disappointing – well, they were just not Austen. So, Kate Christie’s approach, of leaving as much of the original text as possible and embellishing it, I think a brilliant one.

Pride and Prejudice has been rewritten with a skilled and very light touch. Some of the text needs only the slightest change to support the new version of events. It is Caroline Bingley who finds Elizabeth only “tolerable”, and again Caroline who later dwells on Elizabeth’s fine eyes. Some needs no change at all: Charlotte Lucas for example, never thinks “highly either of men or matrimony”.

But then the more substantial passages that have been added are also well written and I found the imitation of Austen’s style convincing.

The extent of the queering of the story was just right for me. I thought the right characters were outed and the right couples left as straight. It made fascinating and entertaining reading, waiting for the next queer turn, spotting subtext in the original writing and reading Kate’s additions.

It has a clever and satisfying conclusion and I found this a thoroughly enjoyable twist on a favourite book of mine.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, it was a good read. I understand the author's point in trying to work mostly with Jane Austen's text, but I think my only qualm with the book is that that didn't always WORK. There were some points where she merely switched Darcy and Caroline's dialogue, especially in the beginning, with no regard for how their different personalities/position in society would affect how they sound. Like the first "fine eyes" conversation, for example--that made no sense with the personalities switched. Similarly, there were times when Darcy and Caroline would need to be mentioned together--"Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley had done such-and-such," "Lizzy thought Mr. Darcy and Miss Bingley were proud," and that got cumbersome.

However, the author did an excellent job when she allowed herself to stray away from the canon text a little bit. The insight into Caroline's past was perfect, as was the development of her relationship with Lizzy. The final domestic resolution also fit very nicely into the personalities of everyone as they were already established, and the dynamic between Darcy and Caroline--when it wasn't tied up in Austen's language--was genuine and compelling. I think it was actually my familiarity with the original Pride & Prejudice that made me more critical, because I was so familiar with the characters that I wanted them to either match their Austen counterparts better, or to have more of an original twist. The author's original writing is very good and would certainly have stood on its own.

[Terry Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life for the Bennet sisters in the quiet rural County of Hertfordshire, England, is all set to change dramatically. A rich, single gentleman has arrived at Netherfield Park. Mrs Bennet is delighted. Surely one of her daughters will make Mr Bingley a good wife? After all, she does have five of them for him to choose from.

Elizabeth though has other ideas and marriage isn’t one of them. Elizabeth has been seeing Charlotte romantically for quite sometime. It’s only when Charlotte decides to marry Mr Collins, that Elizabeth must re-think her options. It’s not that Elizabeth doesn’t have choices. Men do ask for her hand in marriage, but not all women feel desire towards men, nor do all men feel desire towards women. There are some who prefer the company of their own sex. What will Elizabeth decide to do? Will Elizabeth ever find another to love?

First of all I’ll start by saying I haven’t read Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, so I have nothing to compare this version with. I have no idea how much of the text is Kate Christie’s and how much is Jane Austen’s. I have seen the film version though, so I do know the original story. In my opinion, this book is as true to the original story as possible.

This is a wonderfully refreshing and cleverly written new take on a much loved classic. I think Kate chose exactly the right characters to write in as gay. She didn’t make the story all about the gay characters, which simply wouldn’t have sounded right. The dialogue is written in the style of the time the original book was written.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, even though I’ve never been too fond of reading the classics, I much prefer the film versions. I’ve always found reading them hard going, if only they were all re-written with Kate’s skill, I may have enjoyed reading them more.

I would love to see this version of Pride and Prejudice made in to a film or even a TV drama.

Well done Kate on what must have been a very difficult and time consuming task to get spot on.

[Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book took me a very long time to read. I am more excited about the fact that I am FINALLY FINISHED than actually reading the book itself. I wouldn't say the book is bad (thus the rating), just a little disappointing and I think when I was reading I mostly wanted to be reading Pride and Prejudice instead.

And don't get me wrong, the idea of Caroline/Lizzie for P&P is a dream! But where the book falls flat isn't so much the writing (it does a better job than most picking up on Austen's prose style), but that not enough is changed from the original. The parts with Caroline and Lizzy that were completely them I really enjoyed, but the parts that were this weird mashup of the original storyline were hard to slough through (which was most of the book, sadly).

I think the problem lies with the Darcy. The author did not seem to know what to do with him once Caroline was the player and the book lost its spine of the romance between Lizzy and Darcy--unfortunately the Caroline/Lizzy did not make up for it. There wasn't enough back and forth and the times they ran into each other still folded around the circumstances of Darcy.

Instead of going to Pemberly like the original, why not go visit the Bingley home? There were plenty of places that could have been twisted a little more into the story that the author was trying to tell, but weren't and it made it very hard to finish.

Then again, three stars! Because, well, I love the concept, I did actually enjoy the pieces that were newer and the beginning of the novel I tore through, because it starts off great! I'd say my only real irritation with the book (other than not changing enough of it to suit the Caroline storyline) was Mr. Bennet. He was extremely unlikeable and I really don't like when books paint Mrs. Bennet as completely one-dimensional.

[charlotte, · Rating 1 out of 5]

Rep: lesbian mcs, gay side characters

it just didnt work for me tbh

[beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Shamelessly read this version of Pride and Prejudice, which is basically just the original, but what if many characters were gay (the inclusion of Mr. Bennet in this is hilarious). The writing was mostly the original text, but tweaked, with a small amount of original writing that blended well. It was alright, you could pretty much tell what the original plot was too, so I basically feel that I've read P&P. The character swaps, for example Mr. Darcy for Miss Bingley, didn't always seem to work, but the relationship between Elizabeth and Charlotte, and how each had concealed this, felt like a fairly believable depiction of 19th century lesbians. It sort of reminded me of Gentleman Jack. I wished several times that I was reading a book about 19th century lesbians that was actually supposed to be gay, though.

Overall, fine, got me to actually read a book I probably wouldn't have been too bothered to otherwise. It becomes tedious near the end, and I doubt it'll go down as my favourite Austen (I've bought a lovely copy of Emma that I'm going to read soon). Quite frankly, I don't think I'd care too much for the relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy; there wasn't anything particularly exciting and electric about it. Elizabeth was also too conventionally 'good' for my taste; Lydia, for all the family detested her, was a much more exuberant character. But then I've heard of Austen's penchant for moralising, so.

[Jamie (TheRebelliousReader) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. Read for the Jane Austen July 2023 challenge - Read a retelling of a Jane Austen book. Uninspired title aside this was pretty good. I have a thing for Jane Austen retellings so much so that I have a dedicated folder for them on my kindle. This one particularly interested me because P&P is my favorite book of all time, I like Kate Christie’s writing style, and also sapphic Elizabeth and Caroline! Yes, to all of that. This was very slow going, a lot slower than the original story but I didn’t mind it all that much. There was a chunk of the middle that wasn’t the most interesting thing to read but the ending pulled through for me. This was a very interesting character study of these beloved characters through a Queer lens and I ended up thoroughly enjoying this.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Part of me wants to give two stars, but the integration of her original writing with the original text is so seamless and I'm so impressed by it that I'm bumping up to three stars. A lot of modern regency writing really struggles with an authentic voice so I was genuinely really impressed!

The one thing that I struggled with is I don't think this project of reworking the original text is worthwhile. The story of P&P itself is best translated into a lesbian context in modernized versions, something that's been done before (but I wouldn't mind seeing more of!). The way that their relationship unfolds just doesn't make sense for two women in the 1810s, despite the tweaks that Christie does to make it make sense (although I love the marriage of convenience solution they come up with). Darcy is a huge issue because he's still there and his actions are still there--he's still the one that helps with Wickham (even if Caroline helps with the money), they still go to Pemberley, etc. Even though they just become friends, it's kind of awkward, especially when a lot of Caroline's dialogue just used to be Darcy's and they're swapped (they have different personalities and it doesn't make sense).

The reality is that the way two women had to navigate relationships was different than the traditional narrative and a courtship-type story would be different, I would rather see stories trying to piece together how women would make a relationship possible rather than use a heterosexual framework and try to pastiche lesbians into it. I appreciated the reference to the Ladies of Llangollen and the marriage of convenience conclusion was definitely a step in the right direction, but a fully original regency story with that type of ending would have been more satisfying to me. (Also why didn't we get to see much about Rémy????) Alternatively, the same background of Pride and Prejudice, but just with a lot more reworked. I wish the author had been less afraid to really turn the whole text inside-out and come up with something that made a little more sense and was more original, especially considering how much I enjoyed her take on Austen's voice! I really love lesbian regency romances, but part of me wouldn't even consider this in the genre because of how little it really deviates from the original text.

[Reverenddave · Rating 1 out of 5]

Apparently inspired by PP&Z a book which retained 80% of Jane Austen's original text and inserted 20% new, zombie-related prose, this book takes that approach to the extreme. At times it seems barely doing more than a simply Ctl + F and swapping Mr. Darcy's name for Miss Bingleys. While I can understand the intention and appreciate the fact that this is the rare book that (with one or two minor blunders) tries to alter or engage with the sexuality of the characters in a way that stays true to the social mores that give the book such power, so blatant a swap simply doesnt work. Mr Darcy's words coming from Miss Bingley is passable at first but increasingly problematic and essentially falls apart completely with the first confession of love at Rosings. At the same time, this approach so closely mirrors the original book that when it begins to fall apart it has very little else new to offer the reader - besides the orientation pivot - that wasnt already provided in a better form by JA.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pride and Prejudice has long been one of my favourite books.

Interested to see how the author would address changing the roles and dialogue to fit the mashup premise of queering this classic.

Overall I would say that I appreciated the obvious time and scholarship that has been applied to this book and that I found myself hurrying to the conclusion simply to enjoy the author's wit and ingenuity.

Perhaps my review is slightly coloured by the absolute joy I always find in Jane Austen's dialogue and characters (can there ever be to more unwise, stupid, selfish and self centred characters than Lydia and Mrs Bennett

[Soph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was surprised at the couple that became the focus of this story - I struggled to imagine these two together, and that did ultimately reflect on my experience of it. I love a queer version of a classic story and this novel perfectly met my expectations in that sense. I found it a delightful, funny narrative and loved picking out the suggestions of queer background characters throughout. My only real complaint is that the main couple was not really what I expected, but I would highly recommend Gay Pride and Prejudice all the same (even to readers who hadn't read the original before).

[Miriasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

The text is mostly the original but with the wonderful edits of many characters being of a certain "persuasion." It feels perfectly set in time and place and all feel in character. It's a wonderful concept and makes me lament copyright laws that this can't be done to modern books as well, at least not yet. If you are LGBTQ+ and/or enjoyed Pride and Prejudice I recommend this book!

[Mariah Lebron · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was hard at first to understand but when I reread the first couple pages it was much better.

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I applaud Christie for writing a lesbian retelling of Pride & Prejudice using the original setting and much of the original text. The idea of Elizabeth entering into a lavender marriage with Darcy is a novel one and works well - particularly when you take into account Lizzie’s feelings regarding the effect eloping has on friends & family.

One of the main tricks Christie has used to preserve original text is to give much of Darcy’s original dialogue & actions to Caroline. This is mostly effective, although occasionally doesn’t make a lot of sense, particularly in the case of Caroline’s (first) proposal. It seems baffling that she would risk so much with so little encouragement. In the original, Darcy is a man of independent means assuming a woman would be lucky to marry him and be conferred his wealth and status. Whereas Caroline, although part of a wealthy family, is not independently wealthy. She does not have a household of her own, and in numerous ways is hampered by the limited position that woman are afforded in society. She and Elizabeth would be unable to marry or to have any legal or social recognition of their relationship. Although there were no explicit laws against female homosexuality, as there was for male homosexuality, there were strong social barriers and they would have had a great many difficulties. Not to mention Caroline’s precarious position - her preference for women was previously discovered and she was almost ruined. Her sister is keeping an eagle eye on her and determinedly hampering any chance of a happy relationship. Caroline makes her declaration to Elizabeth on the grounds that she cannot keep silent any longer as her feelings are too strong to be repressed. It’s romantic I suppose, but what of the huge potential consequences. She suspects that Elizabeth and Charlotte were intimate friends of more-than-usual closeness, she believes there is a frisson of attraction between her and Elizabeth, but there is no firm knowledge of either Elizabeth’s sapphism or for any kind of reciprocity of feeling. I feel that their interactions thus far in the book make for far too tenuous a foundation for such a risky declaration. This could have been greatly offset if Christie had added in a few scenes between Caroline and Elizabeth prior to the proposal. Two women would have been able to socialise together in ways that an unmarried woman and a man would not have been permitted to, and it’s a shame the plot didn’t take advantage of that.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and would happily read similar retelling of Austen’s other works.

[No' · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a careful and smart rewriting of Pride and Prejudice with queer characters and I loved it. It follows precisely the OG novel, and by that I mean some part are almost copy and paste from Jane Austen. But what makes this novel so good and clever are the numerous ways that it differs : the gayness is threaded into the story with talent. Changes are made but the overall story is the same. And it's still an exciting story to read because the need to see how everything will settle is huge. I really must highlight the cleverness of this rewriting, its fidelity and creativity are impressive. I really like this way of reappropriate classics and making it queer in a manner that makes sense and feels truly natural. Maybe Jane Austen wouldn't have like it, maybe it would have make her laugh, it doesn't really matter now ; the point is that representation is important, and I didn't know I needed a gay Elizabeth Bennet in my life until it was provided to me. I'm grateful, and I invite everyone to read it : fan of P&P for it's a nice way to reread the story, people who never read it but want to with a bit more queerness to it, or people liking some good gay historical fiction.

[Doug Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This retelling of Pride and Prejudice hews much closer to the original than is often the case with this type of mashup. Although that may give some pause, this reader found it to be an interesting way to place LGBTQ relationships into an historical framework without altering the underlying story beyond all but passing recognition. A very good read.

[Misha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a truth universally acknowledged that I will read any interesting take on Pride and Prejudice. Toss in a couple of gay romances and I'm going to read it ASAP.

I've seen some criticisms about parts where Kate has just adjusted some dialogue so that it's Caroline Bingley instead of Darcy, but this didn't bother me much. The changes and adjustments were organic enough and close enough to the original style that I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

[Anna Sharman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliantly done

If you didn't know better you could easily mistake this for Jane Austen - the plot and dialogue is expertly woven between new and old. Much much better that P&P&zombies. The romance many of us have been waiting for!

[Meggs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this! I have never read Austen’s original text, but I decided to pick it up anyways. I typically only read contemporary fiction, so this was a nice change of pace.

The story was beautifully constructed, if a bit slow at the beginning and a bit rushed at the end. The cast of characters is fantastic, and I found myself falling in love with some (Lizzy, Jane, the Bingleys, Mr. Darcy, Mr. Bennet, etc.) and vehemently hating others (Lady Catherine, Lydia, Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins, Mr. Wickham, etc.) It made for quite enjoyable discussions and reflections all around.

I would certainly recommend this to anyone looking for a queer retelling of Austen (and who isn’t, am I right?)

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another #Pemberlittens Pride and Prejudice retelling.

I get what the Author was trying to do but it doesn't always work. Obviously she was trying to stick with original characters, timeline, and most of the plot which limits how you tell the story. Lots of just giving Darcy's dialogue to Caroline Bingley. Quite frankly I still don't like Miss Bingley and it's hard to imagine her character being likeable much less loveable.

Overall story remains the same with just a bit of added content. Honestly I think it would have been a more interesting read with short section on how we got to the Epilogue and then wrote a continuation from there.

[Glyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Confession time: I don't think I've ever managed to read through the original P&P. For some reason, I find Austen's writing to be incredibly difficult to get through, and I much prefer watching adaptations of her work.

But. I couldn't resist picking this book up, and I found it very hard to put down (ba-dum tsh). I don't know what it was, but I found myself totally engrossed.

The queering of the text is well-done, and it's interesting seeing how it changes dynamics (ie Mr Bennent's disinterest/disregard for his wife gains a new meaning, as his interest lies elsewhere and he just needed a wife).

The scene where Elizabeth comes out to Jane gave me such a rush of emotions, it was so sweet. I also adore the dynamic between Caroline and Darcy, where they're queer bffs who tease each other.

I feel like I should have more to say so I'll just end this review here. This book is great, I need more books like this in my life.

[Marie (UK) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This would get 3 stars - only because i love pride and prejudice- but it is done so badly that i cannot bring myself to rate it that highly. Kate Christie has changed less than 10% of the narrative. The words are the same, the characters identical except that 60% of them have turned into Gay or Lesbians. I am not sure what the author is trying to achieve but in my opinion she has not authored this book at all. Elizabeth Bennet, Caroline Lucas, Caroline Bingley, Darcy and even Wickham turn into LGBT characters in such an insipid way that it does not even add anything to the LGBT genre.

In all honesty I cannot understand why it would be accepted by publishers. I shall have to go into a darkened room and lie down whilst sighing heavily and see if can get into the spirit of the book

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this was overall a well done work. The conclusion of the adjusted plot was really well done and the ghost writing was on point. I enjoy and admire Austen and I loved diving into the idea of “yes, but how about gay?!” Definitely a worthwhile premise.

My only issue was that I think by spreading the original characters out into multiple characters it did dilute them a bit too much. I see how it was done as a way to take the essence of the original and sort of redirect it towards this new trajectory, but I felt more disconnected from these characters than I did from the original. Admittedly, it’s been several years since I’ve read the original though.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A queering of Pride and Prejudice -how delightful!
I loved this book and thought Kate Christie did a great job making just enough changes that the same-sex attractions seem realistic. Her additions fitted well with Austen's original style.
The new Mr Bennett was particularly funny.
A great read, if you like the classics but heterosexual romance isn't your cup of tea!

[Ty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was torn about giving this 3 or 4 stars. I will say that my ultimately landing on 4 stars had more to do with my love of Austen's original work than this retelling. As much as I enjoy the idea of a queer version of this work, this certainly had some flaws. Still, this was an enjoyable read, and quite faithful to the world we've learned about from Jane Austen.

[Denise · Rating 1 out of 5]

OMGoodnes!!!!! This author took JA's Pride and Prejudice and replace Darcy with Caroline. Just move some sentences around and changed the he for her, nothing new nothing more. Very boring if you are expecting a different plot.

[Cab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pride and Prejudice has always been one of my favorite books but the new twists in this one make it even more special.

[Cori Kane · Rating 5 out of 5]

http://kanebookworm.wordpress.com/201...

[m · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything I ever needed

[Victoria-Melita Zammit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember being very apprehensive about Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, thinking the idea was absolutely ludicrous and nobody would want to read something like that. But guess what. I wanted to read something exactly like that, it seems, because I bought the book for EUR3 in Ireland a few years back and read it through rather quickly. Eventually, I realized that if there was a book like this, there must be other version of it. The most promising one was Kate Christie’s Gay Pride and Prejudice, so I bought and read that too. Suffice to say, I am not disappointed in either purchase.

This novel just grabs the original story and asks ‘But what if our two favourite lovers were actually gay?’. It proceeds to answer that question very beautifully.

In this version of the story, Elizabeth is not interested in men at all, and her and Charlotte have been in a relationship for the better part of two years. Jane, who knows of this relationship, is still in love with Bingley, who is thankfully straight, but who was forced to move from his original home in London because of disgrace brought upon him by his youngest sister, Caroline, who was in a relationship with a married woman (gasp!). Throughout the novel, Elizabeth tries to figure out why Darcy intrigues her so much, Charlotte tries to convince Elizabeth that they can never be happy, and Caroline just falls in love with Elizabeth in the most bumblingly adorable way.

The novel gives a happy ending that, quite honestly, I wasn’t expecting. Maybe I’m just used to stories involving LGBT characters ending badly for them (god knows, the amount of research I’ve done on the topic for university has always proven exactly that), but in this version of the story, not only is everyone happy, but nobody gets hurt! Well, Lydia does, but she always does in any version of this story, really. But…still!