This Monday we’ll tip our bonnets to Jane Austen as we celebrate not only the 200^th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice, but also our centuries’ old love affair with the proud regency gent who still sets hearts a-flutter, Mr Darcy. The fantasy of Jane Austen’s world remains uncorrupted by our modern times; it’s still the beautiful stately home of romantic possibilities. A world of tea parties, dances and brisk country walks, of flattering empire line frocks and impeccable manners.

All of this general loveliness has given the impression that Jane Austen’s novels are only appealing to women. But Pride and Prejudice is much more than fluffy 18^thcentury chick-lit, it’s an enduring and intriguing portrait of British society and the class and gender divisions of the period.  Not to mention, Jane Austen’s novels are a hoot – peppered with dry humour, eccentric characters and pin-sharp witticisms. Filled with wise words that still ring true, it is no wonder that 200 years later we still revisit this classic romance again and again. And that dear readers, is a ‘truth universally acknowledged’.

We’ve selected a few of the most amiable and unusual variations of this honourable classic…

Featuring a pulp style retro cover and authentic sprayed coloured edge, Pride and Prejudice is given a sexy makeover. Lock up your daughters… Darcy’s in town!

Find out more here: www.pulptheclassics.com

Pride and Prejudice as you have never seen it before: artfully retold with gorgeous needle-felted illustrations. A cuddly Mr Darcy? Yes please!

Find out more here:  www.mycozyclassics.com

Two-time Rita Award-Winner Nancy Butler and fan-favourite Hugo Petras faithfully adapt the whimsical tale of Lizzy Bennet and her loveable-if-eccentric family, as they navigate through tricky British social circles.

Mitzi Szereto’s sizzling rewrite of Jane Austen of Jane Austen’s classic novel truly goes all the way! We always knew that lust was boiling under the surface of this prim and proper novel – the swooning, the tight breeches,  the irrepressible desires…

Published by Cleis, By Mitzi Szereto, 9781573446631, 224pp, p/b, £11.99