P&P and a TINY Bit About Musicians

Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Source: Purchased

TYPE OF NOVEL: Pride and Prejudice Modern Adaptations

THE PREMISE: The Bennet sisters are in a band together and they are offered the opportunity to record music for a big-time Hollywood film produced by Cade Bingley! When she isn’t working on the big film project, Lilly Bennet has her hands full with the new men in her life: the British composer she knows “doesn’t like her,” the “ridiculously attractive” actor, and the repulsive soap opera writer who is in want of a wife…

MY THOUGHTS:

I was attracted to this book because of its title and the fact that it seemed to overlap two prominent areas of my life – Jane Austen and music. And after it languished in my massively large TBR pile for several years, I specifically (and spontaneously) chose to read it this past weekend because my studio had its MEGA recital weekend. I loved the idea of seeing my favorite Jane Austen characters in the world of music and musicians…

I think my favorite part of this story were some of the male characters. My favorite was Will Darcy, a serious and standoffish composer full of arrogance. And like his Regency counterpart, he has a hard time in social situations and inserts his foot in his mouth often. But there were also some moments where he is vulnerable, sensitive, and sincere. I loved the small moments that he shared alone with Lilly and the reader could see his earnest interest and affection. In addition, Yuri Wickham was so disarmingly charming (and to continue the rhyming – not too smarmy!) For the first time in awhile, I could understand Lilly’s attraction to and interest in a George Wickham character. And lastly, I loved Colonial Liam Fitzpatrick – c’mon…a teasing yet and warmhearted Irishman? Yes, please!

However, I am sad say that there were several things I didn’t love about this modernization. Disappointingly, it had very little to do with the worlds of music and film-making. Even though the characters were all working on songs, recordings, and a film, there never were any details about it. We don’t ever learn what type of music the Bennet sisters play, the style of Will Darcy’s compositions, or what Cade Bingley’s movie is about! Instead of giving these details that would have enriched this story, the author focused on hitting all the major plot points and maintaining the preordained personalities and themes of the original story. I wouldn’t have minded if Ms. Daw stepped away from the original P&P outline more and infused her story with her own creative ideas and original twists. Especially since adhering to the Regency behaviors and norms didn’t always fit well in a modern-day story. VAGUE SPOILER ALERT: For example, seeing a character accept a marriage proposal from someone with whom they didn’t even go on a date or exchange phone numbers. Something that occurred more than twice in this story…

My expectations may have led to my overall dissatisfaction with The Pride and Prejudice of Musicians. I’ve read a fair share of modernizations that take readers to new arenas – whether they be a courtroom, a farm, a ballet company, or a marine biology lab – and I was expecting to see a richer and deeper exploration of the music world with these characters than we saw. However, other readers may not be bothered by this and may enjoy how faithfully the plot follows the P&P outline.

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