This alt-universe version of Pride and Prejudice has the Bennets as lower middle class working people, in which Mr. Bennet is a barrister with a business called "Longbourn and Sons" (I see what you did there) even though he only has Mr. Collins around to inherit. Lizzie desperately wants in the family business, but of course she's a woman. She tries to drum up some business by sneaking into jail to visit a guy who's been accused of killing his divey brother-in-law....that'd be Mr. Bingley. Of course Mr. Bingley's already got a barrister, his buddy Mr. Darcy, but Lizzie is on the case to figure out whodunit anyway.
I was...mildly into this and also kind of mildly finding it hard to stick with. I got it as a library book so that made me have to get through it more. It's both kind of interesting and kind of middling? Maybe a bit slow somehow? Like I enjoy Lizzie as a more active detective, for sure, and it's less maritally obsessed. The Bingleys as a more broke family who keep having their ships pirated and a shitty brother in law is rather refreshing. One character ends up being more of a dynamic personality in this one. However, with regards to whodunit, well, you should presume that your least favorite characters in the original are Up To Something in this one. There's not that much romance in it by comparison, but this Mr. Darcy is a pretty nice bloke in the end. It did speed up with a lot more crazy action at the end, which I did like.
Though factually....I kept thinking "ain't no way a woman's going to be allowed to be a barrister" and I did some Googling and well, nope, not in Austen's time. Yes, the author took some liberties with that one, and I appreciated the author's note about the legal system back then.
Overall, three stars.
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