Gay Pride and Prejudice [Kindle Edition]

Jane Austen (Author), Kate Christie (Author)

Book Description

Because Queer People Deserve Happily Ever After, Too.

For the Bennet sisters, life in quiet Hertfordshire County is about to change. Netherfield Hall has just been let to a single man of large fortune. But while it is true that such a man is generally considered to be in want of a wife, it is equally true that not all men desire female companionship, just as not every woman dreams of being married.

Like other variations on Jane Austen's classic romance novel, Gay Pride & Prejudice poses a question: What if some among Austen's characters preferred the company of their own sex? In this queer revision of the classic original, Kate Christie offers an alternate version of love, friendship, and marriage for Elizabeth Bennet, Mr. Darcy, and others among their circle of friends. But even as the path to love veers from the straight and narrow, the destination remains much the same.

If you have an open mind, dear reader, you may discover the book Jane Austen would likely never have approved, but which, nonetheless, affords a window onto gay and lesbian life in early nineteenth century England.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kate Christie, a longtime Jane Austen fan, admits to being weary of the compulsive heteronormativity of the classics. After reading an article describing the literary mashup phenomenon surrounding Austen and others, Christie decided to try her hand at queering the canon, starting with Austen's mother of all romance novels. The author of three previous traditionally published novels, Christie lives with her wife and daughter near Seattle. For excerpts and book trailers for all of her novels, or to find out more about her background in women's history and English literature, visit katejchristie.com.

Product Details

• File Size: 539 KB
• Print Length: 362 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0985367709
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Second Growth Books (March 23, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B007O8ALGE
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #236,409 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A skilful twist on the original May 8, 2012

By Clare Ashton

Format:Kindle Edition

Pride and Prejudice is one of my favourite books, one of the few that I re-read. Loving it so much, I've been tempted into reading a couple of variants/sequels which inevitably were disappointing - well, they were just not Austen. So, Kate Christie's approach, of leaving as much of the original text as possible and embellishing it, I think a brilliant one.

Pride and Prejudice has been rewritten with a skilled and very light touch. Some of the text needs only the slightest change to support the new version of events. It is Caroline Bingley who finds Elizabeth only "tolerable", and again Caroline who later dwells on Elizabeth's fine eyes. Some needs no change at all: Charlotte Lucas for example, never thinks "highly either of men or matrimony".

But then the more substantial passages that have been added are also well written and I found the imitation of Austen's style convincing.

The extent of the queering of the story was just right for me. I thought the right characters were outed and the right couples left as straight. It made fascinating and entertaining reading, waiting for the next queer turn, spotting subtext in the original writing and reading Kate's additions.

It has a clever and satisfying conclusion and I found this a thoroughly enjoyable twist on a favourite book of mine.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish all lesbian historical fiction was more like this.... June 15, 2012

By Patty G. Henderson

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I very....very....rarely leave Amazon reviews. However, being very passionate about lesbian historical fiction, I had to leave my praise for Kate Christie's GAY PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Her expert blending of her own additions and the words of Jane Austen are done seamlessly and with delicate respect for Austen's original. There were no graphic sex scenes for the sake of modern romance requirements.

Anyone who loves Jane Austen's classic and lesbian historical fiction will find this book a must and one to surely add to the "re-read" shelf. I can hope that Kate Christie continues to write more lesbian historical fiction in this vein under her own indie imprint. I would be ready to read more. I wish more lesbian historical fiction were written in this manner and content.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderfully refreshing twist on a classic July 9, 2012

By Angie O.

Format:Paperback

I am not typically very drawn to period pieces, and I might not have found my way to this book had I not previously read (and thoroughly enjoyed) Kate Christie's work. Gay Pride & Prejudice is a departure from Christie's previous contemporary lesfic novels and a different animal altogether, but I knew, based on her other books, that this would be well worth my while. I found Christie's take on Pride & Prejudice wonderfully refreshing. It gave me an entirely new outlook on life in Victorian England. Only because certain things were not spoken of at the time does not mean that they did not exist.

It has been very many years since I read Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice, so I cannot claim to compare the two versions, but it is my understanding that Christie maintained as much as possible of the original, while keeping modifications to a minimum. She did not reinvent any of the characters, but, rather, subtly changed the dynamics in their relationships, creating a world that gays and lesbians had a place in - if not openly accepted in society, then nonetheless in the hearts of those they were closest to.

I was both happy and sad to reach the last page of Gay Pride & Prejudice. Happy because I loved the way the story concluded, and sad because I could no longer continue to crawl into this world at the end of my day to hang out with the characters I'd grown so fond of. A part of me is tempted to re-read the original Pride & Prejudice for comparison, but I'm afraid this would prove to be dull and disappointing after having read Kate Christie's version.

I'm looking forward to Kate Christie's next masterpiece - be it another twist on a classic or an original of hers. Please keep them coming, Kate!

More About the Author

Thanks for your interest in my background. I grew up in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After high school, I studied women's history at Smith College in Massachusetts (class of '93) and earned a Master's in Creative Writing from Western Washington University. I work now in academia, and spend most of my evenings writing fiction. Currently I live in Western Washington with my partner of eleven years, our two dogs, and the newest edition to our family, a baby girl. For more information on me or to read first chapters of any of my novels, check out my Web site at www.katejchristie.com.

"Solstice" (March 2010), my first published novel, deals with two of my favorite things: soccer and the city of Seattle. After college, following a hunch, I moved to the Pacific Northwest sight (site) unseen. I immediately fell in love with the water, mountains, and hills of the aptly named Emerald City. Seattle is also an awesome place for soccer players and fans, as evidenced by the tremendous fan support for the MLS expansion team, the Seattle Sounders. The Sounders weren't in existence when I wrote "Solstice," or undoubtedly they would have made an appearance in the book.

My second novel for Bella Books, "Leaving L.A." (January 2011), is set in Hollywood and Hawaii, places that vary rather significantly from the Pacific Northwest. The storyline is a bit like a tropical lesbian romance version of the movie "Notting Hill." Pam Bigelow, a reviewer for the Lambda Literary Foundation, wrote a glowing review of the novel that closes with, "'Leaving L.A.' could very well end up as one of the ten best books of 2011." Perhaps unsurprisingly, this is the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my writing. Ms. Bigelow was kind enough to add her review to the product page here on Amazon, too.

My third novel, "Beautiful Game" (July 2011), returns to the world of soccer, and is set in the early 1990s at a fictional university in Southern California. Technically, BG is actually the first sequentially of the three novels--I wrote an initial draft in 1994 while living at home after college and saving up money to move to Seattle. "Solstice" comes next, penned in 1997-98 while I was living in Seattle, working at a software company and playing tons of rec soccer. "Leaving L.A." is my latest completed novel, and was begun for NaNoWriMo 2009. Nothing like a challenge to get you writing!

Between 1998 and 2009, I wrote a couple of other novels that do not fall under the lesbian fiction umbrella. They may, however, be candidates for revision and publication at a later date. Currently I'm working on an LGBT-themed novel set in Scotland, where my grandfather, James Wallace Christie, was born in 1900. I traveled to Scotland a couple of times when I lived in London for a few months after college, and am hoping to go back again sometime soon.

Thanks for reading! If you'd like to get in touch, you can find me on Facebook or e-mail me at katechristie8 at gmail.com.