Miss Bingley Requests

McCrosky (Lifting Weights) retells Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice from the perspective of Mr. Bingley’s unmarried sister, Caroline, in this ambitious pastiche, which takes some passages from the original and adds new material recounting the activities of the Bingley family apart from the Bennets, both in the country and in London. Familiar situations, such as Jane Bennet’s illness at Netherfield, appear quite differently through Caroline’s eyes, and the social machinations of Lady Amesbury, a sophisticated and well-connected widow who befriends Caroline and introduces her to a “recent but already dear, dear friend,” Stephen Tryphon, enliven the London scenes. Stephen becomes Caroline’s ardent suitor, though she has cast her eye on Mr. Darcy and becoming the mistress of Pemberley. Unfortunately, Caroline does not come off as a very pleasant character. Initially vain and self-satisfied, she becomes increasingly arrogant in an apparent effort to mask her insecurity. Still, Austen fans will likely enjoy this variation on a theme. (Nov.)