The Best Reader + review

Suspense and Sensibility – Carrie Bebris

From Amazon.com...

"In the spring of 1813, Elizabeth and Fitzwilliam Darcy agree to sponsor Elizabeth's sister Kitty for a season in London along with Darcy's 17-year-old sister, Georgiana. In the course of their social rounds, Kitty meets Harry Dashwood — a younger cousin of the Sense and Sensibility Dashwoods — and the courtship begins. Mr. Darcy makes inquiries into Harry's character, fortune and expectations, but no sooner does he receive favorable answers than the suitor begins to behave most strangely. Harry gives a friend the "cut direct" outside Boodle's Club, and there are rumors of gambling and worse excesses. It's up to Darcy and Elizabeth to discover the cause of these aberrations, and, if at all possible, see Kitty happily established."

I have gotten lucky – the last two books I’ve read have been amazing reads. Today I started, and six hours later finished, “Suspense and Sensibility” by Carrie Bebris. Fast paced and captivating, I couldn’t put this down. And when I did put it down in order to eat dinner, I found my mind wandering to the plot and characters.

I’ll be upfront and honest – this is probably the worst adaptation or spin off of the Pride and Prejudice characters and Regency language I’ve read. Carrie Bebris writes a whole new Elizabeth, Mr. Darcy, Kitty, etc. The language is unrecognizable as anything that Austen would have written. While this bothered me for all of two pages, once I accepted the characters and the book as a whole new and separate entity – I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
I was immediately drawn into the characters and the plot. When I wasn’t reading I found myself wondering what would happen next and how the mystery would play itself out.

Unlike most other ‘spin offs’, I will definitely purchase this book and the first book for my classroom. The problem with spin offs is that they are almost ‘too’ good – the language and characters are so similar that people who read Pride and Prejudice just delve into it. But with struggling readers, it is often impossible to get them to read classical literature such as Pride and Prejudice. But if a student had only seen the movie, they would be up to speed enough to really get into this book. The language is extremely modernized so students wouldn’t be afraid of that. And it’s a riveting read! The suspense is perfect for struggling readers.

But for those readers who, like me, are in love with the original characters and language that is Austen – keep an open mind. I’d still recommend this book, but go into it knowing that this book is best if viewed as a separate entity than Pride and Prejudice (as always, in my opinion). I will warn you, it is weird reading about how Elizabeth and Darcy would deal with the paranormal – I think, realistically, living in the Regency era, they wouldn’t be so nonchalant about the supernatural (but that’s just me).

Over all, I loved it. Go into it with an open mind and expect something different than the beloved novel. But still, great read. I’m definitely going to interlibrary loan the first book – Pride and Prescience – I didn’t realize it was a series — and all the subsequent novels.