Touted as an enhanced version of Austin's classic, it contains an estimated 30% new material. I had to pick it up despite the fact that A) I had never read Pride and Prejudice (I know I know... smack me. A bookworm who has never bothered with one of the classics, shameful really.) and B) the skeptical part of me had to see how much of a train wreck this might be. I mean, yay zombies, but inserted into a classic? Who does that successfully? I was expecting a skyscraper built into the center of an old village; what we get instead is a brand new building cleverly crafted to feel and look much older.
We follow our heroine Elizabeth Bennet - one of four sisters trained in the arts of sword and musketry - as she tries to cling to her resolve and not fall in love with the well-bred, haughty, yet very handsome Mr. Darcy (witty barbs are traded, pride is injured on both sides, zombie mayhem ensues... nothing totally out of the ordinary for the little town of Meryton) the whole while defending her family from the zombie attacks, suffering her nervous mother who's desperately trying to marry off Elizabeth and her sisters to every handsome single man who's station is above their own, and watching her best friend become one of the vile 'sorry stricken'.
If you haven't already jumped on the bandwagon, go pick this book up. If you love the classic, you'll enjoy this version since Grahame Smith has respected the style of Austin's writing and use of language... he's just enhanced it with zombies. If like me, you've never read the original, it'll give you the boot in the arse you need to go pick up a copy and give it the attention it deserves. As the back cover of the book states: "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read" Hard to argue with that logic! Though like me, you might be expecting the sorry stricken to attack, and be just a little sad that the Bennet sisters aren't raising their rifles in defense.
Thanks for the review!