Jane Austen’s classic stories have inspired generations of TV, film and books after she finished publishing. This collection of Austen adaptations are some of our favorite novels released recently. These entertaining reads have modern retellings, genre bending, and deep dives into supplementary characters. With something for everyone, readers won’t want to miss these!

A Crime Through Time by Amelia Blackwell

A mystery novel through time, Georgiana Darcy finds a mysterious object which transports her to a 1995 movie set where a terrible crime has just been committed. The twist? The film is an adaptation of a Jane Austen novel, and Miss Darcy might be just the person to solve the mysterious crime.

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The Miseducation of Caroline Bingley by Lindz McLeod 

After being passed over by Mister Darcy for Elizabeth Bennet, Caroline Bingley feels humiliated. She’s been told being arrogant and unkind won’t help her find a husband and she must change her ways. Naturally Caroline Bingley hatches a plan in the wake of rejection. She will convince the graceful and sweet Georgiana Darcy to teach her how to be perfect. Caroline must transform from a status-obsessed socialite to true marriage material by becoming charming and even kind which is far easier said than done. Georgiana isn’t exactly up to being Caroline’s teacher and fairy Godmother. Beneath her poised exterior are secrets and struggles of her own. As the pair works together, Caroline finds herself less worried about finding a husband and instead dealing with a forbidden attraction to Georgiana. 

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Pride by Ibi Zoboi

Zuri is proud of her neighborhood in Brooklyn, in her family, and in her Afro-Latino roots. So she immediately distrusts the wealthy Darcy family that moves across the street, representing the money gentrifying her rapidly changing neighborhood. Amidst chaos with her other siblings and college applications in this modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, Zuri finds unexpected understanding and love.

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Emmett by L. C. Rosen 

Emmett Woodhouse has it all. He’s handsome, smart, wealthy, and most of all happy. Emmett knows how lucky he is so he works to give back. Sometimes it’s charity work, but now it is matchmaking. After setting his best friend Taylor up successfully, he is now ready to set up his occasional friend-with-benefits, Harrison, who wants a boyfriend. Miles, Emmett’s childhood friend, thinks that it is a bad idea for Harrison to find a boyfriend for someone he is involved with but Emmett says that the gay life means a small pool. Emmett doesn’t like to date to keep himself clean of messiness. He knows that his brain is still developing so any relationship he could have will end and watching his dad after his mom died shows him what loss can do. As much as Emmett draws his lines in the sand, he’ll find that as he tries to find Harrison his match that those lines wash away easily. 

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Sex, Lies and Sensibility by Nikki Payne

After learning she’s her father’s secret child at the reading of his will and a viral video scandal, Nora has been kicked down. Now all Nora and her sister have left is a rustic inn in the middle of nowhere, and even worse, they must renovate it before Labor Day or lose it. Before Nora can clean the dirt off of her designer boots, she is facing three problems. She hasn’t watched enough HGTV to renovate the inn. She hasn’t seen another Black person. Lastly, a stranger is already trying to stake a claim on their property. Native Abenaki eco-tour guide Ennis “Bear” Freeman has witnessed many tourists passing through the coastal Maine backwoods and expects Nora and her sister to do the same. Instead, Nora is working tirelessly to breathe life into the inn, Bear’s unofficial headquarters. Watching Nora work her butt off ignites emotions inside of Bear that he has been ignoring for a long time. Though the pair has electric chemistry, Bear’s mysterious past might send Nora running. 

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The Stars We Steal by Alexa Donne

This romance novel puts Jane Austen’s Persuasion into a sci-fi version of The Bachelorette. Princess Leonie of a European spaceship is on the verge of financial ruin if she doesn’t find a husband fast. Unfortunately, her childhood crush Elliot, the man her parents forbid her from marrying, returns, and he’s a successful ship captain no less. Elliot seems intent on torturing her, but old habits die harder than they thought.

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The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

The ugly duckling sister, Mary, whom Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice overlooks, finally gets a story of her own. Mary goes through a transformative process to find herself, while also having romantic adventures which other sisters got to explore.

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The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell

Tessa Bright is reading to turn her acting career around with her role in an adaptation of Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. This is both the role of her dreams and a chance to honor her mom who was the biggest Jane Austen fan. There is just one tall, handsome problem–Hugh Balfour. As a serious BAFTA nominated method actor, Hugh wants no nonsense, while Tess is a bit of a reckless mess. Unfortunately sparks fly but not from their chemistry. An electrical accident transports the actors back in time to the Regency period. With no one else, Tess and Hugh must navigate 200 years in the past and try not to interfere in history. Though they should be focusing on getting home, Tess can’t help but notice that a certain someone can pull off 19th century breeches.

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Ayesha At Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

This novel is a play on the character dynamics in Pride and Prejudice between Mr. Wickham, Lydia, and Elizabeth Bennet, set in modern day. Ayesha has to put her plans of being a poet on hold so she can pay off her debts. In the meantime, she is living with her big Muslim family, refusing their wishes for her to accept an arranged marriage. Unfortunately, the only man she has been attracted to, Khalid, is so conservative that he judges every choice she makes. After hearing some disturbing rumors about his family she has to decide whether to tell her cousin–his surprise new fiance.

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Heartstone by C.J. Sanson

Set in an immersive fantasy world filled with secrets and of dragons, dragon warrior Aliza is on a royal mission to defeat the gryphons who killed her sister. She was not expecting, however, to battle alongside the haughty (and handsome) dragon rider Alastair. Nor was she expecting the connection that soon forms between them.

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The Bennet Women by Eden Appiah-Kubi

Inspired by Pride and Prejudice, this novel modernizes the favorite Bennet sisters into three college students living in a women’s only dorm called Bennet House. The romantic lives of EJ, a black engineering student, Jamie, a trans student studying French and theater, and Tessa, a Filapina astronomy major, become intertwined in the same beloved tropes from  Austen, but this time with a charming Hollywood producer and his arrogant yet famous TV actor best friend.

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Polite Society by Mahesh Rao

Ania is the modern, Indian Emma in this retelling of Jane Austen’s novel Emma. Ania is looking for her next matchmaking project, and chooses her friend Dimple for the task. However, when a possible suitor comes from America to Delhi, things don’t go to plan and Ania has to learn that matters of the heart are not as easy as she thought.

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