I'm sure you've heard by now that 2025 marks the 250th anniversary of Jane Austen's birthday! For centuries, Jane Austen and her work have been adored. Her books are being consistently reprinted and the stories have also inspired many retellings. In fact, Jane Austen fan fiction has been around since the 19th century!
Although she's written six absolute classics, Jane Austen is best-known for Pride and Prejudice, so it's no surprise that it's been used as inspiration for many other stories. If you're a fan of Pride and Prejudice and retellings, then let me recommend this collection of books that hold the essence of Lizzie Bennet's story.
Bridget Jones’s Diary
Helen Fielding
I just had to start with the book that sparked a phenomenon that has seen four books, newspaper columns and a smash-hit film series, Bridget Jones's Diary!
While it's not a close adaptation, there are many parallels between Bridget Jones's Diary and Pride and Prejudice; both protagonists are single women facing societal pressures, with overbearing mothers who are painfully embarrasing, and intent on match making.
Then of course, there's the love interests! Bridget's love interest is literally named Mark Darcy! Honourable mention to the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice and the film adaptation of Bridget Jones's Diary for both casting Colin Firth as Darcy.
If you've somehow lived your life without having read or seen Bridget Jones's Diary, this is your sign to change that!
Pride and Prejudice in Space
Alexis Lampley
What if the Bennets lived on a moon? Released earlier this year to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th birthday, Pride and Prejudice in Space blends sci-fi fantasy with classic literature and is a vibrant and exquisitely illustrated reimagining.
Elizabeth Bennet lives on a small moon in the Londinium lunar system with her parents and four sisters. While she dreams of piloting a starship rather than settling down with an eligible man, her world turns upside down when the handsome Mr. Bingley docks the Netherfield StarCruiser on the neighbouring estate. The arrival thrusts the Bennet sisters into the bustling asteroid field of the system's wider society, and Elizabeth's aspirations are suddenly in flux. Drawn into the orbit of Mr. Bingley's friend, the proud Fitzwilliam Darcy, Elizabeth is determined to dislike him despite his ten thousand aurum per year. Can the Bennet sisters navigate the perils of love and space?
Eligible
Curtis Sittenfeld
Curtis Sittenfeld wrote Eligible for the Jane Austen Project; a series where contemporary authors adapted Austen’s stories to modern-day settings. It's a funny, clever adaptation that's just faithful enough to the original while remaining surprising and fresh.
Sittenfeld has plucked Elizabeth Bennet and her family out of the regency era and thrown them into twenty first century America. Magazine writer Liz and yoga instructor Jane are both in their late thirties, single and living in New York City. When their father has a health scare, they rush home to Cincinnati only to find their mock Tudor childood home is crumbling and the family is in disarray. Worse yet, their mother is determinded to marry them both off. Enter Chip Bingley, a handsome new-in-town doctor who recently appeared on the juggernaut reality TV dating show Eligible and his not so charming friend, neurosurgeon Fitzwilliam Darcy.
Stuck Up and Stupid
Angourie Rice and Kate Rice
An ordinary girl. A Hollywood star. A love story that could change everything. This is a fun, distinctly Australian and very loose retelling of Pride and Prejudice. You'll absolutely love it!
Lily lives with her man-obsessed mother, Lydia in the quiet coastal town of Pippi Beach in NSW. When Hollywood stars Casey Brandon and Dorian Khan show up at Pippi for a holiday, Lydia and the rest of the town are delighted. But Lily couldn’t care less, especially about the extremely arrogant and condescending Dorian. Despite her best attempts, Lily finds herself spending a lot of time with the stars because her cousin, Juliet, is falling for Casey.
When the Hollywood stars leave with barely a wave goodbye, Lily knows she was right about them. But while on a holiday in LA, Lily keeps running into Dorian. Could she have been wrong about him all along?
Most Ardently
Gabe Cole Novoa
This bittersweet Pride and Prejudice remix is part of Remixed Classics, a series where authors from marginalized backgrounds reinterpret classic works through their own cultural lens to subvert the overwhelmingly cishet, white and male canon.
London, 1812. Oliver Bennet feels trapped. Everyone thinks Oliver is a girl named Elizabeth and so he's expected to mingle at balls wearing a pretty dress, and eventually become someone's wife. He finds solace by secretly exploring the city rightfully dressed as a young gentleman. On one outing, Oliver meets Darcy, a sulky young man who had been rude to 'Elizabeth' at a recent social function. But Darcy is actually a sweet, intelligent boy with a warm heart – and not to mention incredibly attractive.
As Oliver is able to spend more time as his true self, he dares begin to hope that his dream of love and life as a man could be possible. But his mother is desperate to see him engaged. Oliver will have to choose: settle for safety, security, and a life of pretending to be something he's not, or risk it all for a slim chance at freedom, love and a life that can be truly, honestly his own.
Pride and Prejudice and the City
Rachael Lippincott
Even though it's more of a 'Jane Austen vibes' story than a Pride and Prejudice retelling, I chose to include this one based on the title. Plus the premise is delightful: a swoony time-travelling YA romance set in the regency era, and a lesbian Jane Austen story.
Seventeen-year-old Audrey Cameron has lost her spark. After an embarrassing run-in with her ex-boyfriend, she's told that she needs to get back out there and take risks. What she doesn't expect is to be transported to Regency England!
Lucy Sinclair has her own problems – stifled by her father and trying to avoid an unwanted marriage proposal – but when Audrey lands into her life, claiming to be from two hundred years in the future, it's a welcome distraction.
While the girls try to understand what's happening and how to send Audrey home, their sparks make a comeback in a most unexpected way – instead of falling for their suitors and the happily-ever-afters everyone expects of them, they fall for each other. Can their love story survive impossible circumstances?
