Kitty Blue: Jane Austen rebooted

by Claude Crowe

Kitty Bennet is a struggling musician who retreats to the family home after a failed romance, in this warm and witty reimagining of Jane Austen's much loved 'Pride and Prejudice'. In the small outback town of Lisborne, Penelope Bennet's three daughters remain resolutely single. The girl's father is long gone and his new wife is now having a baby, much to their mother's dismay. Twenty-six year old Kitty, the middle Bennet daughter, is a struggling singer and songwriter, with a lousy taste in men. Forced to sing karaoke at downbeat bars, Kitty is beginning to doubt the wisdom of chasing her dream to be a professional musician. Her younger sister Lydia is taking drugs and her older sister Mary was born a spinster. Even without her mother on hand to constantly point it out, Kitty can't escape the feeling her life is going nowhere. Then handsome lawyer Adam Clancy arrives in town to lead the increasingly desperate search for missing mysterious indigenous artist, Murrandoo Martin, who has an explosive tale to tell. When Adam Clancy gives Kitty a job to help search for Murrandoo Martin and the sparks fly - much to the displeasure of Clancy's thirty-something executive assistant, the treacherous Blanche. However, despite spending a night together lost in the desert, Kitty's country charms do not appear to be enough to secure Clancy's interest and he leaves town without saying goodbye, later taking up with a glamorous Californian lawyer Marina Lyons. The Bennet family is rocked by tragedy and scandal, while Adam Clancy fights for Murrandoo's cause in a case that, unknown to Kitty, will ultimately save her family from financial hardship. 'Kitty Blue' is a contemporary romance with a social conscience; a retelling of Jane Austen's 'Pride and Prejudice' set in an ancient Australian desert landscape, rich in ancient indigenous history and legend. With the theme of 'heart', 'Kitty Blue' is book one in the three-part thematic Soul fiction series. Critical feedback for 'Kitty Blue': "An engaging, multi-layered story with some unique touches." "I enjoyed the references to Austen's oeuvre and the way the author evokes that time in a young woman's life when she is finding her adult self." "The Austen connection is playful and the plot comes together well."

198 pages, Paperback

First published August 27, 2013