Accomplished

In Quain’s witty debut, a Pride and Prejudice remix, white high school junior Georgiana Darcy struggles to rebuild her reputation following a disastrous sophomore year. When Georgie’s former boyfriend, white Wickham Foster, is caught dealing Adderall from her dorm room at esteemed Pemberley Academy, it’s a surprise to everyone, including herself, that she doesn’t get expelled. But “brother-equivalent of a helicopter parent” Fitzwilliam—Georgie’s legal guardian after gaining emancipated minor status from their perpetually absent mother three years prior—persuades the academy to keep her enrolled. Navigating societal expectations surrounding her family name, and the student body’s ire, she finds an unlikely ally in senior and handsome trombonist Avery Simmons, also white. The two develop a plan to patch up Georgie’s crumbling social status, which includes setting Fitz up with self-assured Lizzie Bennet, even as Wickham tries inserting himself back into Georgie’s life. The rapid-fire banter, while good-humored, occasionally stalls forward momentum, and situations surrounding the Darcys’ financial privilege are left largely unexamined, but hard-earned character development and dynamic relationships are keenly explored. Quain uses the source material’s infrastructure to establish the narrative’s stakes and emotional gravity while skillfully setting it apart from its Austenian roots. Ages 13–up. Agent: Moe Ferrara, Bookends. (July)